Obrando en la Viña: Because FALL.

Daniela, a recent convert of Hnas Hughes and Aranda, in the Limarí branch

"For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard; wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard." (Jacob 5:66)

The fall of Adam created the natural man. It worked like a charm. And we began to be born into the world--fallen, wicked creatures. Not of any fault of our own; simply because that's the way things were.

So God gave Adam a very special commandment. A new law. The law of sacrifice. To sacrifice the firstlings of his flocks, the firstfruits of his fields.

"And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.

"And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?"

Why?

"And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me." (Moses 5)

And thus, Adam left behind a little piece of his natural man, choosing to obey the Lord without question rather than get hung up on the "why" of His commandments. He put a piece of his natural man on the altar, and God replaced it with a little more faith. A little more obedience.

He had come to understand the Savior's atoning sacrifice. He was ready to be the father of nations.

Abraham prayed all his life for a son. He and Sarah were stricken in years when he came. Isaac was God's miracle. He was the answer to prayers.

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

"And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

Abraham was so righteous. He was God's prophet. So why would a Father who loves us command him to sacrifice his only son?

But Ahraman didn't ask why. He didn't question. He simply went and did.

"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him." (Genesis 22)

Abraham chose faith over fear. He chose the will of God over his own will. He demonstrated in action that his love for God was greater than even his love for his own son. He put his son on the sacrificial altar...the firstfruits of his loins...and God made him a little more holy. He made him a little more godly.

The Lord stopped his hand and made him sacred covenants.

He had come to understand the Savior's atoning sacrifice. He was ready to be the father of nations.

"And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth."

We are a whole lot of trees. We were born into this world fallen and carnal. We are the natural man. A whole lot of trees in a carnal, fallen forest.

But the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been since the fall of Adam. And he will be forever... We natural men and women cannot return to the presence of God. We cannot be saved in this lost and fallen and imperfect state.

So what did He do to make us perfect? What did He do to make us holy?

He gave His own life (Mosiah 3:19), and then He gave us the law of sacrifice.

Every time God asks us to sacrifice, we lay down part of our natural man.
A pair of jealous eyes...
A pair of lying lips...
A couple of rebellious thoughts...
A hand full of disobedient fingers...

And when the fire consumes them, our eyes, our lips, our thoughts, and our fingers are purified. They become something a little more holy. The fire washes away the impurity and sin...

Jacob 5 is a parable of vineyards and an awful lot of trees. But it is also a parable of sacrifice. Of the role of sacrifice in allowing us to become...

"For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard...

"Wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow..."

As we give up our nature so He can replace it with goodness...

"That the root and the top may be equal in strength..."

So we sacrifice and sacrifice until we reach 50/50...

"Until the good shall overcome the bad..."

And then we sacrifice some more until we reach 90/10...

"And the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire..."

Until the purifying fire of our sacrificial altar casts away all impurity...

"That they cumber not the ground of my vineyard..."

Because there is no room for sin in our spirits--we are children of GOD...

"and thus (by sacrifice) will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard."

Every time we pay tithing...every time we lay down our sins and pour out our hearts and repent...every time we forgive or we love or give a little more for our calling... Every time we help a child to read the scriptures or we tell our mom we love her or we call Grandma just to see how she's doing. Every time we choose to forgive rather than be offended. Every time we choose to hug rather than hitting or yelling... Every time we put our nature on the altar, He is making something more out of us.

God cannot change us unless we choose to sacrifice our will.

Unless we watch the flames consume it.

Unless we let Him have our all.

But if we sacrifice to love Him...if we give our all to know Him...

We will reach 50/50. We will reach 90/10. We will sacrifice the bad, and He'll replace it with the good. Until the good shall overcome the bad, until we all reach our potential...until we have driven the bad from our vineyard.

The fall of Adam created the natural man.
But we are NOT natural men.
We are children of God.

And He is hewing down our vineyards...

...So He can build celestial forests.

I know that,
Because He's been doing it for a year and a half within ME.

I love you all, dear family and friends.
Thank you ALL for your support throughout this time in the mission...
I'm excited to leave a little of my natural woman behind with my HEART here in Chile. I look forward to hugging you all soon.:)

I LOVE YOU!