Repentance

What is repentance and why would we use it in our lives? Repentance is one of the first principle of the gospel and is essential to our temporal and eternal happiness. It is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart that gives us a fresh view about God, about ourselves, and about the world. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. By doing so we can lift that burden as mentioned by Elder Ballard. Our repentance should be motivated by the love for God and to have the sincere desire to obey His commandments. 

So why would we go through the repentance process? Well I would like to share an analogy to help answer that question. Take for instance a car that has a flat tire. Say that that flat tire represent the mistakes you have made or a sin you have committed. So you made the mistake and you decide not to fix it and you continue to drive on the flat tire. By doing so you are only making it worse and possibly damaging you car as well. We can relate to that as if you made a mistake and you don't repent you can possibly damage yourself as well as others whom you may love, but we can prevent that damage to our car. We can fix our tire or replace it with a new tire. By doing so we are preventing that potential of a harmful damage that can happen as we continue to drive on a flat tire. With that replacement with that tire we can also be relieved of that burden knowing you have a flat tire. The same goes with the repentance process, we can lift the burden and all the things that has troubled us from our mistakes.

I can promise you that as you make those necessary repentance process we can avoid hard feelings or serious negative consequences when we chose to not fix our mistakes. Know that by repentance we can lift those heavy burden off the shoulders and we can be made light again.

You Will Be Freed

Addiction is a very serious and real thing that is out there. We must be careful in what we do and how we act. With agency, a special gift from our Father in Heaven, comes consequences, both good and bad. What is addiction and why do we need to watch out for it?

Addiction " is a persistent dependence on a harmful behavior and substance" (M. Russell Ballard). So as we become addicted to something we limit our agency to act or choose. We also tend to disrupt our ability to listen to the spirit, and when that happens, we lose our companionship of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can not stay in our presence when we choose not to listen to the spirit.

I know that many people who struggle with addiction feel a sense of shame and feel unloved. That they feel discouraged that they can't change or recovery from addiction. "Yet with God, nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37). That through Jesus Christ and his Atonement we can be fully healed and cleansed from all sins. Know that Heavenly Father will always provide us a way and will give us strength when we need it. All we have to do is to ask for his help to overcome these obstacles. I know that the Lord is our Shepherd, and that we can recover and return to him to be free from the traps and snares of addiction. Know that "[we] can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth [us]" (Philippians 4:13).

Do You Love Me?

General Conference is coming up really soon already! I believe now is a good time to reflect on past General Conferences and refresh our memory on talks that has been given. I have decided to go over the talk Elder Jeffrey R. Holland sopke on, "The First Great Commandment." I hope to talk about this talk in a way of how much we think and care for our Savior. That we can take the time to ponder how much we are grateful for him for what he did.

I will paraphrase the story that Elder Holland spoke on last October. Jesus Christ has repeadedly told his Apostles that he wasn't going to be with them physically present with them for very long. When Jesus crucified the Apostles were left alone. With Jesus Christ gone the Apostles didn't know what to do and all the Apostles turned to Peter, the senior Apostle, as to what to do. Here Elder Holland gives his "nonscriptural liberty in [his] portrayal of this exchange." "Peter said to his associates: "Bretheren, it has been a glorious three years. None of us could have imagined such a few short months ago the miracles we have seen and the divinity we have enjoyed. We have talked with, prayed with, and labored with the very son of God Himself. We have walked with Him and wept with Him, and on the night of that horrible ending, no one wept more bitterly than I. But that is over. He has finished the work, and he has risen from the tomb. He has worked out His salvation and ours. So you ask, 'What do we do now?' I don't know more to tell you than to return to your former life, rejoicing. I intend to go fishing." At least six of the ten remaining apostles were in agreement and went to there normal day to day lives.

So Peter and some of the others went back to fishing and they were having no success from the night before catching no fish. Jesus Christ appeared to them in his resurrected body, though they did not recognize him immediately. Jesus told them to cast the net on the right side of the ship and of course they received multiples of fish. Peter recognized his Savior and jumped out of the ship to meet Jesus. Now here is the point I want to focus on. Jesus after greeting Peter and the others, asked Peter, "Peter, do you love me more than you love all [these fish]?"(John 21:15) Peter readily replied "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee."(John 21:15) Jesus again asked Peter the same question. Peter, being a little confused answered the same reply a little hesitant this time. Again Jesus ask him the third time if Peter loved him more than the fish. Peter being really confused this time and maybe pondering this time seeking and honest confirmation in his heart to the answer he had readily given the first two time and he said yes, he loved him more than the fish.

So the question I have is, do we really love our Savior or do we just profess that we believe in him and love him? I really want you to imagine and ponder on this. Imagine that Jesus ask you three time if you love him more than anything else than what the world has to offer. Do you really love your Savior who made it possible for you to return to your Heavenly Father? Do you love Jesus Christ who paid for our sins and made it possible for us to have a resurrected body? I think it is important to ponder this question just as Peter pondered the question Jesus asked him the third time. We can show our love for our Savior by doing our best, to follow the commandments which he has given us. "We need to understand at least one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all-Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,and thy soul, and all thy strength, and with all thy mind."  Know that the Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father Loves us and he wants what is best for us.