Spiritual Laundry, Part 1

So I'm trying something new or once! I'm going to break up the topic I want to write on over a series of a few blog-posts. I want to talk about everyone's favorite thing... doing the laundry! Ok, so not everyone's favorite, but we can all relate. Each week you have to take all your old, dirty, smelly clothes, take the time to sort them. Then you have to start the wash, come back in 40 minutes to an hour, load them up in the dryer, and then come back in another 40 minutes to an hour and get your fresh, warm clothes!

"Boy... you stanky"

 If you really want to put the extra effort into it you can buy certain laundry supplies to make your clothes smell like evergreens or flowers or the ocean or cotton-candy... Well, I'm not sure if they have cotton-candy scent yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did. Regardless, doing the laundry is something we do each week (at least I hope) so we can stay clean, fresh, and still be able to be around people without driving them away due to our odor! Through a combination of water and heat our clothes are made brand new!

The scriptures teach of a good parallel for the purifying power of water and heat!

When I was eight I did something, and still do, similar to doing the laundry. I was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost! My father, holding Priesthood authority , took me into the water and as I was immersed and came forth (symbolic of the death/resurrection of Christ, also called baptism by water), my sins, like dirt and odor in laundry, were washed away through Jesus Christ (Alma 7:14).
Afterwards I received the gift of the Holy Ghost (called baptism by fire in the scriptures, see 3 Nephi 12:1-2). The Holy Ghost, can guide us and direct us. Like laundry after it has been in the dryer, the Holy Ghost can also give us feelings of comfort, peace, and warmth (Luke 24:32 and 3 Nephi 11:3).
I know that through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ we can be cleansed from our sins, those mistakes dirty our soul and create a rank smell of remorse and distaste in our mouths. As we are made clean we can be able to return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. No one wants to be in our presence when we have gross, smelly, mouldy clothes, and likewise, we cannot remain in our Heavenly Father's presence when we allow ourselves to be covered in gross, smelly, and mouldy sin, for "no unclean thing can dwell" in the presence of God (1 Nephi 10:21). We can be made clean and pure though, and I am so thankful to our Savior Jesus Christ for this!

To be continued...