Kenz in Knox: The Debt Has Been Paid

You may recall a few weeks into our time here in Oak Ridge we had a late night Beatles concert next door in our duplex... oh good times! Especially now that time has passed we can look back and laugh more now than before when we were dragging our mattresses into the other room at 2:00 a.m.!!!

I must admit that we have been holding that against our dear sweet neighbor for the weeks since... He doesn't know it of course... we haven't outright asked him what the heck he was doing that night but we have placed a few innocent questions randomly in conversations. "So do you like The Beatles???" "What is your favorite song of theirs?" "Is it 'Imagine' perhaps???" He hasn't fessed up and so we have this behind the scenes "grudge" about it. But this week he made up for it. Because smarty pants me locked us out of the house. Keys, phone, tablets, wallet, everything locked inside of the house. Before y'all judge me let me just defend myself and say that it is muscle memory that I always turn the bottom lock first thing after we get in the house, it's a habit, one I grew up with actually. So we were coming in for the night after having been on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders serving in Chilhowee area (side note last time I was there I met a guy who is obsessed with fishing and hunting and all things outdoors and I took him a Browning hat and he was over the moon excited, I love me some backwoods redneck buddies:) Anyway we were coming back from that so we had our bedding and bags to bring in and I said to Sister Allen "We'll have to make two trips..." So we did! I remember we went in, threw the keys on the table, dropped our bags on the floor and then I shut the door behind us as we went to go grab another load. When we got back I turned the knob and it didn't budge... oh. no. We tried breaking in using the card I use to log into the speed checker box in the car... it got absolutely destroyed in the doorjam. We tried to remove a screen and see if the window would open... no luck. Our only other option was our next door neighbor. We knocked on the door and he gave us this little wimpy bookmark that was laminated... ripped that to shreds! Then he gave us a butter knife, no luck with that either. Finally he came out with a flashlight and a butter knife and tried his hand at it... no dice... He walked back to his apartment deposited the knife and came back with a crowbar... nope... He walked back yet again and came back with the butter knife AND crowbar and with about 1,000 prayers and a swift hip bump to the door it flew open and we were saved!!! Eaten alive by mosquitoes and dripping with late night humidity but home safe and sound at last!!! Thank goodness for good neighbors. He looked at us and said "Ok... Now girls... don't lock yourselves out anymore..." And needless to say his debt from the Beatles episode has been paid! Now we owe him one... His favorite candy is "Boston Baked Beans" they are candy coated peanuts and I personally think they're gross but they're his fav so the next day we gave him a box of those with a note that said "Thanks for always BEAN there for us!" He was touched... We do love our crazy-doomsday-weed smoking-ex marine-book-of-mormon-lovin-bestie!!!! He's a good one!!! But something I want to focus on in this letter is that line "the debt has been paid"

I read this story shared by President Packer that ties in perfectly, it is a little long but I absolutely love it, I promise it is worth reading. The point he makes is that we are all indebted by sin but can be saved from it through The Mediator, our older brother Jesus Christ.

“Let me tell you a story—a parable.

“There once was a man who wanted something very much. It seemed more important than anything else in his life. In order for him to have his desire, he incurred a great debt.

“He had been warned about going into that much debt, and particularly about his creditor. But it seemed so important for him to do what he wanted to do and to have what he wanted right now. He was sure he could pay for it later.

“So he signed a contract. He would pay it off some time along the way. He didn’t worry too much about it, for the due date seemed such a long time away. He had what he wanted now, and that was what seemed important.

“The creditor was always somewhere in the back of his mind, and he made token payments now and again, thinking somehow that the day of reckoning really would never come.

“But as it always does, the day came, and the contract fell due. The debt had not been fully paid. His creditor appeared and demanded payment in full.

“Only then did he realize that his creditor not only had the power to repossess all that he owned, but the power to cast him into prison as well.

“‘I cannot pay you, for I have not the power to do so,’ he confessed.

“‘Then,’ said the creditor, ‘we will exercise the contract, take your possessions, and you shall go to prison. You agreed to that. It was your choice. You signed the contract, and now it must be enforced.’

“‘Can you not extend the time or forgive the debt?’ the debtor begged. ‘Arrange some way for me to keep what I have and not go to prison. Surely you believe in mercy? Will you not show mercy?’

“The creditor replied, ‘Mercy is always so one-sided. It would serve only you. If I show mercy to you, it will leave me unpaid. It is justice I demand. Do you believe in justice?’

“‘I believed in justice when I signed the contract,’ the debtor said. ‘It was on my side then, for I thought it would protect me. I did not need mercy then, nor think I should need it ever. Justice, I thought, would serve both of us equally as well.’

“‘It is justice that demands that you pay the contract or suffer the penalty,’ the creditor replied. ‘That is the law. You have agreed to it and that is the way it must be. Mercy cannot rob justice.’

“There they were: One meting out justice, the other pleading for mercy. Neither could prevail except at the expense of the other.

“‘If you do not forgive the debt there will be no mercy,’ the debtor pleaded.

“‘If I do, there will be no justice,’ was the reply.

“Both laws, it seemed, could not be served. They are two eternal ideals that appear to contradict one another. Is there no way for justice to be fully served, and mercy also?

“There is a way! The law of justice can be fully satisfied and mercy can be fully extended—but it takes someone else. And so it happened this time.

“The debtor had a friend. He came to help. He knew the debtor well. He knew him to be shortsighted. He thought him foolish to have gotten himself into such a predicament. Nevertheless, he wanted to help because he loved him. He stepped between them, faced the creditor, and made this offer.

“‘I will pay the debt if you will free the debtor from his contract so that he may keep his possessions and not go to prison.’

“As the creditor was pondering the offer, the mediator added, ‘You demanded justice. Though he cannot pay you, I will do so. You will have been justly dealt with and can ask no more. It would not be just.’

“And so the creditor agreed.

“The mediator turned then to the debtor. ‘If I pay your debt, will you accept me as your creditor?’

“‘Oh yes, yes,’ cried the debtor. ‘You save me from prison and show mercy to me.’

“‘Then,’ said the benefactor, ‘you will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will provide a way. You need not go to prison.’

“And so it was that the creditor was paid in full. He had been justly dealt with. No contract had been broken.

“The debtor, in turn, had been extended mercy. Both laws stood fulfilled. Because there was a mediator, justice had claimed its full share, and mercy was fully satisfied” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1977, 79–80; or Ensign, May 1977, 54–55).

Don't y'all love that?!?!?! Because of the mediator, that "friend who knew him well, knew him to be shortsighted, and loved him" because of Him, the debt was paid. We all have that friend... that friend is Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for Him. So grateful that He sees my shortsightedness and wants to help. He pays my debt. He paid my debt. I remember hearing once in seminary "Christ paid the debt He didn't owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay..." it struck me then and it strikes me now. He loves us that much. To go through all that He did. All that we do. So that we wouldn't have to go through it alone... I'm indebted to Him. It reminds me of a scripture in Mosiah 2 verse 24 "...Ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?" All that we are is made possible through Christ, all that we can become is possible through Christ. We had a lesson this past week and I said in referencing to the Plan of Salvation that "This plan is made possible only through Christ and only because of His Atonement." ...I know I've said that before, I know I've learned it before, I know I've read it before, but for some reason saying it that time was different. I meant it more than ever before. I know that it is true. He makes all things possible. Because of Him this work goes forward, the plan is possible, the debt is paid. Only through Him. We really are so indebted to Him.

And so I want to wrap up by sharing an experience that I am indebted to Him for:

The Elders in the other ward had a baptism this week so we decided to invite our two progressing investigators to it. One has a date to be baptized and the other... spoiler alert he is on date now as a result of what happened. So let me share real fast... the one on date had been struggling receiving his answer about whether or not this is all true. We had a lesson with him with a member who told him straight up: the more specific your prayer the more specific your answer. I sware we've told him this already but this time it clicked so thank goodness for ward members!!! He encouraged him to go to his car turn down the music and pray out loud and express to Heavenly Father that he had hope in the gospel and the plan of salvation but wanted to know if it is true and ask: is it true? Is the gospel true? Is the plan of salvation true? So this experience happened the night before the baptism... at the baptism the next morning he told us the result of what happened. He said "I almost called you guys but didn't... last night on my drive home I prayed out loud... and I got a warm feeling inside... and it was amazing..." Oh. My. Goodness. There have been times during my time here when I've honestly doubted I would ever in the course of my mission hear words similar to those. But Heavenly Father is so good and Christ is so merciful that they grant me faith promoting experiences and ultimately prove me wrong. Ok so there is miracle #1 at the baptism... one of our investigators has received a spiritual witness that what we teach and what he has learned is true. I'm so happy and so grateful! Miracle #2 happened at the very end when we were cleaning up. It was just missionaries and the investigators left... there were two sets of elders and Sister Allen and I talking to these two men and one of them, the one not on date... whoa wait back up... This is the one that has done a complete 180 in a week... in 7 days we went from walking out of a lesson with him to picking up the phone to hear that he knows he needs to read the Book of Mormon and agreed to read part of it over the phone with us. At the baptism he said that he was over 60 pages into it. He is changing, he is repenting, and we get to be a part of it!!! But anyway as awe-inspiring as that was at the end of the meeting as we are all grouped up suddenly he blurts out "So what are the qualifications for baptism? How do I do it?" As Sister Allen and my mouths gaped open one of the elders across from us took it in stride and shared that he needed to go through the missionary lessons, come to church at least twice, and keep the commandments. He told him that basically he needed to just keep listening to us and we would help get him there if that is what he wants... Y'all... if you could have met this man when we first did... And then see what he is becoming... it is absolutely incredible. The gospel makes "bad men good and good men better" it does, it really really does! It's the most breathtaking thing to be a part of. Sometimes it's breathtaking because you are holding your breath hoping, wishing, and praying, or cringing from discomfort... but other times it is breathtaking because you see and understand Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ a little better and come to see more clearly their work and their glory "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." The moment that their purpose becomes our purpose and the moment we believe that it can happen... that is truly breathtaking. And I am indebted in my experience.

I'm so grateful to be here, it's been a dark and bumpy road at times but it's also been the most joyful and bright sunshiney experiences I've ever been a part of. 9 months of the most rewarding mess I never knew existed. 9 months of experiences I'll never forget nor regret. So here's to another 9. I know they will continue to be soul-searching, gut-wrenching, heart-warming, and awe-inspiring and I'm excited for what they hold. For the people I have yet to meet, the self I have yet to develop, and the Savior I have yet to find in greater abundance.

9 months down 9 to go. I'm ready. How bout' you?

Hope y'all stay blessed this week. Enjoy the eclipse and as our Stake President so profoundly pointed out: look at your own life and the ways that you "block out the Son" and remove them. More light is available to us than we can imagine and the debt for its cost has been paid. You are priceless in the eyes of the Lord, don't let anyone tell you different, including yourself.

Have a peachy sunny day y'all!!!

Love,

Hermana Hall