Repentance

I have listened on the television to Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, speak about repentance to a group of younger adults. His message was a call to repentance and an explanation of the doctrine behind the principles of thereof. The message in its entirety can be found here. It is powerful.

I felt a desire to share part of this talk here. He explained,

Another condition of repentance is suffering or punishment for the sin. In the words of Alma, 'repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment' (Alma 42:16). Where there has been sin, there must be suffering.

He continues a few paragraphs later,

Am I suggesting that the benefits of the Atonement are not available for the person who heedlessly sins? Of course not. But I am suggesting that there is a relationship between sin and suffering that is not understood by people who knowingly sin in the expectation that all the burden of suffering will be borne by another, that the sin is all theirs, but the suffering is all his. That is not the way. Repentance, which is an assured passage to an eternal destination, is nevertheless not a free ride.

Now, a few more paragraphs later, he says:

Why is it necessary for us to suffer on the way to repentance for serious transgressions? We often think of the results of repentance as simply cleansing us from sin. But that is an incomplete view of the matter. A person who sins is like a tree that bends easily in the wind. On a windy and rainy day the tree bends so deeply against the ground that the leaves become soiled with mud, like sin. If we only focus on cleaning the leaves, the weakness in the tree that allowed it to bend and soil its leaves may remain. Merely cleaning the leaves does not strengthen the tree. Similarly, a person who is merely sorry to be soiled by sin will sin again in the next high wind. The susceptibility to repetition continues until the tree has been strengthened.

Are we Weeping Willows or soaring Redwoods? What has the Savior Jesus the Christ done for you? He has changed me. I am a different person because of His Atonement. I have no more disposition to do those sins of which I have truly repented. He who Loves has changed me into a new man. That reminds me of some scriptures:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2Corinthians 5:17)

And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)

And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. (Mosiah 5:2)

I tell you those scriptures are literally true. Jesus Christ can change a person's desires and disposition by His Atonement through The Spirit. I am far from a finished product of Jesus the Christ but I feel that I am on my way there. That is quite exciting, to me. Bettering myself is one of my great goals in life and the best way to accomplish that is through the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Check out the link at the bottom of my page if you are interested in finding out more about it.)

Anywho - I love Elder Oaks. He is such a great Apostle. I love his deep voice and frank way of speaking. He even looks like a type of stereotypical Apostle, maybe. That is a silly observation, however. Any man who is called as an Apostle will have the Spirit testify of his calling.

The United States of America

After watching the documentary "A More Perfect Union" on BYU-TV I feel greatly impressed to write down my feelings for the United States.

Watching a flag fly can stir powerful emotions within my soul. We who live in America should count our many blessings. We are free, rich in many ways, and well-taken-care-of. I do not think I ponder often enough the tremendous amount of skill, talent, time, effort, tears, blood, prayers, dedication, focus, and aid that has gone into and still goes into The United States of America.

A few scriptures about America:

“Behold this [America] is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12)

"And never could be a people more blessed...and more prospered by the hand of the Lord. And they were in a land that was choice above all lands, for the Lord had spoken it." (Ether 10:28)

This is truly one of the best countries ever to grace the face of the Earth on which we live. The Lord Himself protects our liberty. The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the Book of Ether which seems almost given for the purpose of teaching the sacred nature of The United States of America.

With the election for president coming up, let us remember the importance of such things. I strongly encourage you, reader, to examine the issues carefully and vote with care this November. If you happen to believe in personal revelation and that the Lord can guide us in our life, also make it a certain matter of prayer and pondering.

I will close with a couple of quotations for your thought:

“America's future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live.” (Jane Addams - Nobel Peace Prize Holder)

“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.” (Thomas Jefferson - Writer of The Declaration of Independence)