WEBVTT

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Paisley: Hey everybody, welcome
back. Paisley. Imperfect here

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and today, I'm going to do
something that I don't usually

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do. I'm going to use one of the
talks that was in the Come

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follow me,

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part of the curriculum for Come
follow me this week, we're going

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to talk about President Nelson's
talk. We can do better and be

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better.

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First of all, let me just say
this and get this off of my

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chest. I don't think that it is
a coincidence that we study the

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Book of Mormon every election
year. I also don't think that

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it's a coincidence that we get
to the part about the wars and

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all of the political turmoil and
ugliness, the secret

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combinations murdering of chief
judges. I don't think that it's

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a coincidence that we get to all
of that part right about now

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in an election year. I hope that
you're noticing the parallels

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and seeing some of the
similarities between their time

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and ours. I also find it
interesting that this talk was

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included this time

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in the second paragraph,
President Nelson says, recently,

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I have found myself drawn to the
Lord's instruction given through

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the Prophet Joseph Smith. And he
quotes DNC 69 and 11 nine, and

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says, Say nothing but repentance
unto this generation.

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By the end of this episode,
hopefully that will feel a

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little less scary than it does
right now. I know when I first

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read that, I was like, oh,
because we're we're watching

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what happens to the Nephites as
they refuse to repent.

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Okay, so

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right now where we're at in the
in the Book of Mormon, we have

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two prophets. We have a Nephite
prophet Nephi and we have a

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Lamanite prophet Samuel. Both of
them are preaching repentance,

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and it's shortly before Jesus
comes again,

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again, parallels shortly before
he comes again, and amid so much

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public turmoil

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and political turmoil. It just,
I don't know. It's just not

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feeling like a coincidence to me
this year. So what does our

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Prophet say about repentance?
This talk that I'm going to be

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pulling my notes and stuff from
was given in the April 2019,

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General Conference, and it was
during a priesthood meeting. A

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lot of it is very specific to
the men of the church, but there

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is still a lot for us women to
learn. And I want to point out

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something that kind of blew my
mind when I read it. I'll start

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with a quote. He said, Too many
people consider repentance as a

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punishment, something to be
avoided, except in the most

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serious circumstances. When I
first read that my my eyes kept

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reading, but my brain went
somewhere else, so my mind

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wandered a little bit, and my
mind wandered to

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the plan of happiness, plan of
salvation, plan of redemption.

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Pick your favorite title,

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the plan of happiness,
salvation, redemption is a gift

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that our Heavenly Father gave to
us, and he gave us that plan so

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that we could learn and grow to
become as he is. However, this

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plan falls apart without our
Savior. So if Jesus Christ had

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not been willing to give and
sacrifice his life for us, the

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whole plan would have been void
and pointless. Jesus's sacrifice

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of His life made repentance
possible for us. He paid so that

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we don't have to if we accept
His sacrifice, that makes

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repentance a gift. So repentance
is a gift, not a punishment,

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okay? But and to President
Nelson's point, too many people

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consider repentance as
punishment instead of a gift,

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instead of an opportunity,
instead of a chance to change,

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chance to make something right
and learn to become more like

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our father and our Savior. He
continues, but this feeling of

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being penalized is engendered by
Satan. He tries to block us from

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looking to Jesus, Christ, who
stands with open arms, hoping

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and willing to heal, forgive,
cleanse, strengthen, purify and

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sanctify us. That feeling that
repentance is a punishment comes

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from satan our Savior would
rather we consider repentance as

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a gift. Feeling otherwise is
exactly what Satan wants us to

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feel, because then we won't do
it. We won't repent, and if we

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don't repent, i. Then we can't
heal. We can't be forgiven,

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cleansed, strengthened,
purified, or sanctified, any of

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those things that President
Nelson mentioned, we, in

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essence, become subject to the
devil. So here's some more, and

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some hope for this, for those of
us who are trying to wrap our

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brains around repentance as a
gift rather than a punishment.

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President Nelson says repentance
is the key to avoiding misery

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inflicted by traps of the
adversary. The Lord does not

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expect perfection from us at
this point in our eternal

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progression, does not expect
perfection from us at this point

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in our progression. That means
we don't even have to be perfect

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at repenting, but it gets
better, he says, but he does

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expect us to become increasingly
pure. Daily repentance is the

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path to purity, and purity
brings power. Personal purity

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can make us powerful tools in
the hand of God. And then check

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this out, whether you are
diligently moving along the

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covenant path, have slipped or
stepped from the covenant path

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or can't even see the path from
where you are now, I plead with

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you to repent. Experience the
strengthening power of daily

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repentance, of doing and being a
little better each day, two huge

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things in that. Number one,
everyone is equal when it comes

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to repentance, whether you're
diligently on the covenant path,

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or you can't even see the path
from where you are at you I need

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to repent and become a little
bit better each day. And that's

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the second big thing in that it
doesn't matter where you are,

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where you live, where you've
been, it's time to just start

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getting a little bit better, a
little bit better every day.

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That, according to President
Nelson, that is what repentance

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looks like. Us getting a little
bit better every day. That is

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what real repentance looks like.
And what's more is that we can

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ask God for help, and he will
give it to us. He gave us this

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gift of repentance, and He will
even help us use it. President

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Nelson put it this way,
prayerfully, seek to understand

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what stands in the way of your
repentance, identify what stops

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you from repenting, and then
change repent. All of us can do

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better and be better than ever
before. So maybe I'm a little

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bit late to this game, and maybe
all y'all have figured out

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already that becoming a little
bit better every day equals

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repentance. You know, if you
were to put the math equation

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together, a little bit better
plus every day equals

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repentance. For whatever reason,
I had not put that together, but

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a little bit better every day.
Sorry, I have to go pick up my

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kids in a minute, a little bit
better every day. Equals

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repentance. I've been talking
about becoming a little bit

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better every day for months, and
still did not put it together.

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But now that I have put those
two, two things together, a

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little bit better, plus, every
day equals repentance, now I

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feel like I know how to repent.
I know some of the things I need

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to work on, and it doesn't feel
scary or ugly or punishing

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anymore. President Nelson said,
Nothing is more liberating, more

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ennobling, or more crucial to
our individual progression than

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is a regular daily focus on
repentance. Repentance is not an

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event. It is a process. It is
the key to happiness and peace

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of mind. Okay, I can do this. I
can repent and become a little

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bit better every day, and
heavenly Father will tell me the

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things that I need to get better
at. It's a long list, and it

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feels like every time I go
through one of these talks, it

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gets a little bit longer, but I
can do it, and if I can do it,

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you can do it for sure. Thank
you, everyone again for being

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here with me today. Keep
learning, keep growing, keep or

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start repenting and be of good
cheer. Thanks everyone. Bye.