We had a huge class in Doctrines of the Gospel tonight, but most were from temple housing which means they are from Tonga, Samoa, or Kirabus. We are glad to have them, but the Tongans have a hard time listening--they talk a lot and loudly.
I had the hardest time explaining why we do not earn the atonement. I was shocked when I asked, "How many of you think you have to earn the atonement?" Every hand went up. I certainly was not prepared for the discussion that followed. I told them that the atonement was freely given to every person who has ever lived on the earth and that what we earn is spirits that will be able to live with God. I tried to restate it so they could understand, but finally, I just said, "You are going to have to trust me! We are moving on." Well the class and I moved on, but good old Jimmy Narayan did not. He has everything ever printed by the church on his phone; he just sat and looked for something that would prove me wrong. What he found was a quote that goes something like this: we do not earn the atonement, because it was freely given, but we do earn exhaltation. I was proud of Jimmy. When we got to a good place, he raised him hand and told the class that I was right and read the quote. Nice.
Ended the class with a talk by Elder Bednar called In the Strength of the Lord. I had the class read most of the talk and the discussion after was wonderfully spiritual.
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