Lessons I learned from Inmates

Before my mission I went to college. While at college I participated in a travelling show choir. One of our shows was at a local prison. There we did two shows with a variety of music from patriotic, to spiritual, to Broadway, and don't forget to throw The Beach Boys in there. I was excited about this opportunity. A group of us arrived early to set up the key boards and sound equipment. We rolled in all of the equipment,  it was checked, and then we passed through some security doors. The music equipment was quickly set up and before we knew it the rest of the choir and inmates were coming through the doors for the performance. Both performances went very well, but there are a couple of moments which I will never forget.

First, we sang an Acapella version of America the Beautiful. As we sang I looked around and saw these tough men crying. They were crying in gratitude for the country which they lived in. I would have thought they would have been a little frustrated, but they were not. They realized the great country that we live in.

Second, I remember the spirit that was present. We sang spiritual songs about Christ's Atoning sacrifice, leaving a good example for our posterity, and forgiveness. Out of all of the performances that we did that year this was the one that will stick in my mind the longest because of what the spirit taught me after.

After the performances we packed up and left. It was a spiritual feast where I saw men cry, pray, and give thanks to God while we sang about their Savior and Redeemer. As I was thinking about the experience after the spirit taught me why the spirit was so strong there. It was because the Atonement was in use. These inmates were actively repenting, changing, and pouring their lives through the strainer of the Atonement and allowing Christ to remove the impurities. We went into a building with bars, walls, and security cameras ,but while we were performing all of those things went away. We all felt free and close to our Savior. The Savior has figuratively spent many long, sleepless nights there with some of those inmates helping them through whatever they were going through. Christ never left them. Neither will he leave us.  Bars nor high security buildings will keep him out.  Only a closed and hardened heart.

I hope that I will actively use the Atonement always like those inmates were. They showed heroic faith in their relationship with which they had with their Savior. Christ is there ready to help us on condition that we let him. I pray and hope that we do, and in the process the chains of the adversary are shattered