The Parable of the Chocolate Cake

This is an entry taken directly out of my mission journal about a humbling learning experience I had. I call it the Parable of the Chocolate Cake and I hope it serves as a simple example of our Savior’s love and sacrifice.

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May 2nd,

I learned a thing or two from my companion this morning when she decided to bake a chocolate cake from scratch to share with the other missionaries at our last zone meeting of the transfer. I thought it was silly of her to do. Our schedule hardly allows us to grab an apple before we head out the door, let alone bake a cake, but she’s a stubborn and independent young woman. I consented and tried to help, but she was going to make it, and make it her own way. We were missing ingredients, but that certainly didn’t stop her. It sure would have stopped me this particular morning. She took the slightly burnt cake out of the oven and dumped it onto the counter where she proceeded to cut off the burnt edges. She then took the now crumbling cake and glued it all together with sweetened condensed milk.

As I looked at the pitiful cake, my cynicism couldn’t be stopped. I lamented the wasted time and the prospect of presenting this cake to the other missionaries. I took a bite, expecting the taste to be as bitter as my thoughts and was taken by surprise by the sweet savor that filled my mouth. My cynicism melted away with the hunk of chocolate cake in my mouth and was replaced with regret. My companion had created a masterpiece. What the cake looked like or whatever ingredients were missing, it didn’t matter. It was made with love and sacrifice, and our entire zone could taste it.

I was humbled again today by that chocolate cake. I realized that I’m just like it: I’m missing ingredients. I’m a little singed by the fires of the adversary, but my Savior loved me enough to cut off those hard, crusty edges, and glued my crumbly parts together with His sweet love. He did it because He wanted His children here to get a taste of what I had to offer. He wanted to present me to the people He loves here so they can experience the sweetness of His love that he has given to me.