Paisley: Hey everybody, welcome back. Paisley. Imperfect here
and today, I'm going to do something that I don't usually
do. I'm going to use one of the talks that was in the Come
follow me,
part of the curriculum for Come follow me this week, we're going
to talk about President Nelson's talk. We can do better and be
better.
First of all, let me just say this and get this off of my
chest. I don't think that it is a coincidence that we study the
Book of Mormon every election year. I also don't think that
it's a coincidence that we get to the part about the wars and
all of the political turmoil and ugliness, the secret
combinations murdering of chief judges. I don't think that it's
a coincidence that we get to all of that part right about now
in an election year. I hope that you're noticing the parallels
and seeing some of the similarities between their time
and ours. I also find it interesting that this talk was
included this time
in the second paragraph, President Nelson says, recently,
I have found myself drawn to the Lord's instruction given through
the Prophet Joseph Smith. And he quotes DNC 69 and 11 nine, and
says, Say nothing but repentance unto this generation.
By the end of this episode, hopefully that will feel a
little less scary than it does right now. I know when I first
read that, I was like, oh, because we're we're watching
what happens to the Nephites as they refuse to repent.
Okay, so
right now where we're at in the in the Book of Mormon, we have
two prophets. We have a Nephite prophet Nephi and we have a
Lamanite prophet Samuel. Both of them are preaching repentance,
and it's shortly before Jesus comes again,
again, parallels shortly before he comes again, and amid so much
public turmoil
and political turmoil. It just, I don't know. It's just not
feeling like a coincidence to me this year. So what does our
Prophet say about repentance? This talk that I'm going to be
pulling my notes and stuff from was given in the April 2019,
General Conference, and it was during a priesthood meeting. A
lot of it is very specific to the men of the church, but there
is still a lot for us women to learn. And I want to point out
something that kind of blew my mind when I read it. I'll start
with a quote. He said, Too many people consider repentance as a
punishment, something to be avoided, except in the most
serious circumstances. When I first read that my my eyes kept
reading, but my brain went somewhere else, so my mind
wandered a little bit, and my mind wandered to
the plan of happiness, plan of salvation, plan of redemption.
Pick your favorite title,
the plan of happiness, salvation, redemption is a gift
that our Heavenly Father gave to us, and he gave us that plan so
that we could learn and grow to become as he is. However, this
plan falls apart without our Savior. So if Jesus Christ had
not been willing to give and sacrifice his life for us, the
whole plan would have been void and pointless. Jesus's sacrifice
of His life made repentance possible for us. He paid so that
we don't have to if we accept His sacrifice, that makes
repentance a gift. So repentance is a gift, not a punishment,
okay? But and to President Nelson's point, too many people
consider repentance as punishment instead of a gift,
instead of an opportunity, instead of a chance to change,
chance to make something right and learn to become more like
our father and our Savior. He continues, but this feeling of
being penalized is engendered by Satan. He tries to block us from
looking to Jesus, Christ, who stands with open arms, hoping
and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse, strengthen, purify and
sanctify us. That feeling that repentance is a punishment comes
from satan our Savior would rather we consider repentance as
a gift. Feeling otherwise is exactly what Satan wants us to
feel, because then we won't do it. We won't repent, and if we
don't repent, i. Then we can't heal. We can't be forgiven,
cleansed, strengthened, purified, or sanctified, any of
those things that President Nelson mentioned, we, in
essence, become subject to the devil. So here's some more, and
some hope for this, for those of us who are trying to wrap our
brains around repentance as a gift rather than a punishment.
President Nelson says repentance is the key to avoiding misery
inflicted by traps of the adversary. The Lord does not
expect perfection from us at this point in our eternal
progression, does not expect perfection from us at this point
in our progression. That means we don't even have to be perfect
at repenting, but it gets better, he says, but he does
expect us to become increasingly pure. Daily repentance is the
path to purity, and purity brings power. Personal purity
can make us powerful tools in the hand of God. And then check
this out, whether you are diligently moving along the
covenant path, have slipped or stepped from the covenant path
or can't even see the path from where you are now, I plead with
you to repent. Experience the strengthening power of daily
repentance, of doing and being a little better each day, two huge
things in that. Number one, everyone is equal when it comes
to repentance, whether you're diligently on the covenant path,
or you can't even see the path from where you are at you I need
to repent and become a little bit better each day. And that's
the second big thing in that it doesn't matter where you are,
where you live, where you've been, it's time to just start
getting a little bit better, a little bit better every day.
That, according to President Nelson, that is what repentance
looks like. Us getting a little bit better every day. That is
what real repentance looks like. And what's more is that we can
ask God for help, and he will give it to us. He gave us this
gift of repentance, and He will even help us use it. President
Nelson put it this way, prayerfully, seek to understand
what stands in the way of your repentance, identify what stops
you from repenting, and then change repent. All of us can do
better and be better than ever before. So maybe I'm a little
bit late to this game, and maybe all y'all have figured out
already that becoming a little bit better every day equals
repentance. You know, if you were to put the math equation
together, a little bit better plus every day equals
repentance. For whatever reason, I had not put that together, but
a little bit better every day. Sorry, I have to go pick up my
kids in a minute, a little bit better every day. Equals
repentance. I've been talking about becoming a little bit
better every day for months, and still did not put it together.
But now that I have put those two, two things together, a
little bit better, plus, every day equals repentance, now I
feel like I know how to repent. I know some of the things I need
to work on, and it doesn't feel scary or ugly or punishing
anymore. President Nelson said, Nothing is more liberating, more
ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than
is a regular daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an
event. It is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace
of mind. Okay, I can do this. I can repent and become a little
bit better every day, and heavenly Father will tell me the
things that I need to get better at. It's a long list, and it
feels like every time I go through one of these talks, it
gets a little bit longer, but I can do it, and if I can do it,
you can do it for sure. Thank you, everyone again for being
here with me today. Keep learning, keep growing, keep or
start repenting and be of good cheer. Thanks everyone. Bye.