Repentance

Hello!

This week has been fabulous! We had a baptism for Jay, but the other one.....that's a sad story we don't need to dwell on. But we had a great week. Jay's baptism was fantastic and so much of his family came which was unexpected. 

Dallas Daze 

This week the members we live with were out of town, and they have a Roomba to vacuum their house. It's name is Fred according to them so Fred goes off and does his thing every Thursday. Well it would be a missed opportunity if we didn't take advantage of the situation and give Fred some personality while he had some freedom so see the attached pictures. I also won 8 stuffed animals out of a claw machine and it was legit. 

This week I pondered a lot on how I could better team repentance in its true light and really a concept of life in general that motivated me even more to spread the word. I thought about football. Now obviously there are many many many many analogies that come from football and I would like to focus on the game as a whole, not just part of it because it really teaches powerful principles. 

Imagine yourself, born into a family with no concept of God, no belief in Christ. As sure as they live and Christ being the key to happiness in this life and the next, truly without a knowledge of them one can be spiritually deaf and blind. Put yourself on the field as a running back, the one that runs the ball. Simple enough but imagine being blind folded and ear plugged and then being left in a field that you yourself don't even know your in. You feel a ball type thing in your hand and it's all you've got to you. So you hang on for dear life. All the sudden some force comes smacking you down to the ground! Pain and rough ground come and hands are all the sudden grasping endlessly for the object in your hands. You get a feel that you have something some other force wants and this is life to you. 

This is what life is like without the gospel. Being born Into a family with said knowledge you at least are able to see and hear and have some guidance on choosing a coach and players. But many are left on a field to get bruised and battered. The enemy team constantly grasping for the ball, which is their agency. Now as we learn about the savior we learn we have many who are willing to be our coach, and many are good, they've got good play books that can get some yards but the enemy team is dang good at defense. And so we are stuck in this battle of how on earth we can obtain a first down and make our way to the end zone. Well we eventually sooner or later discover the savior is a pretty darn good coach, because other coaches can supply maybe a couple players to help, but with the savior you've got 10 guys with you to help. These are commandments and teachings. They know the play perfectly. That ball is hiked and they go, they're the best blockers in the business but man say you didn't choose to follow the word of wisdom, your lineman is gone. Some defensive player comes barreling through and hits you hard before you even get 1 yard. So you call that player back in. You run a play but oh man you decided to be dishonest today, your lead blocker isn't there. Hit hard again. You gotta have all the players on the team to get somewhere, you can't leave holes. Now repentance is this, does the game end after one play? Are football games played to only have one play to score and if you don't, ah man tough luck. No! The game gets going again! The only reason it doesn't is because you decide to stay grounded and wallow in the hit you endured! Yes sin hurts, yes it seems hopeless at times and like you'll never make yards! But you've got your coach, picking you back up, telling you to run it again, it's not him keeping you down, it's ourselves. So get back up and run that play again. Follow your blockers, don't miss a single one, you need em all to cover the gaps. Sometimes to help us learn we gotta tell the coach what we did wrong so he can help us see what we gotta do right, that's why Christ had offensive coordinators, defensive coordinator, line coaches. He's got help to assist us with each play and of what we can do differently. After trial and error you realize you just made a first down, man that's a milestone! A checkpoint! This is baptism! So in this game you make first downs, until you reach the end zone. You follow the coaches plays, follow your blockers, make first downs, get hit a lot but you get back up. You're not condemned for getting tackled, you are encouraged to get up and go. You do this and make it to the end zone. 

In this life we learn of Christ, we one day choose to set him at our head. We mess up with some commandments and get knocked down, but mistakes happen, get back up and go. We follow ordinances such a baptism. Milestones on our journey to the end zone. There is an enemy team and they wanna take you down, they want you to give up your agency so the can score and take you down for good. So hang onto the ball and don't let go. Follow those blockers, have a full team. The game was already won. Christ took care of it, he alone won this game already, so you keep trying, don't give up. Make headway and don't run backwards and you will make it to the end zone. 

I thought of this because I viewed repentance for so long as bad, as something I shouldn't be needing to do if I was only good. And it was a fear. But just like it's what makes sense to get up and run the play again, the savior is not angry that we got tackled, he's broken hearted when we choose to stay down, so put on his armor, warn your neighbors and take off the blindfold and ear plugs. Let em know there's a team for them, a team that has already won the game. Get your first downs, follow the ordinances of God. And don't give up your agency to the adversary. Don't let them score on you. 

Keep.getting. up. and don't ever stop trying. The other team is vicious, but the savior has the perfect playbook. Put on the whole armor of God, let the full team on the field, and win. 

I know repentance is true. I know God lives. I know there is one team, one true team, that Christ is the head of. There are many copies with similar play books, but go for the source. Seek Christ as your coach, we can't afford to have any gaps. 

I love y'all and hope you're well. 

Love elder Hiatt.