From D. Kelly Ogden’s book “Before You Get to Heaven”
One day I sat at my computer working on a paper. By late afternoon I must have typed twelve to fourteen pages of original thinking. Then, after the full day’s work, tired and ready to close everything down, I inadvertently trashed the document. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I had lost many hours of work. As I sat agonizing over my loss thinking ahead to the next day’s work of trying to resurrect all those thoughts, and feeling miserable about having to do it all over again, a thought came to my mind: “Call your friend Jim.” Jim was a computer troubleshooter; if there was a problem with computers, he could fix it. I called him and he said my document was still there. “But no,” I countered, “I trashed it and can’t bring it back up.” By that a time I had turned off my computer and was about to leave for home. “It’s still there,” Jim repeated.
The next day Jim came to my office with a collection of recovery programs in his hands. He tried one and nothing happened. My heart sank anew. He tried another and then I began to see paragraph after paragraph of my document appearing on the screen. My eyes grew bigger as my smile as I saw every paragraph of my writings reappear on my computer. I did have to reformat a little, but it was all there.
Jim taught me something: it is still the
Part of the full repentance process, then, involves your ongoing commitment to good works on behalf of others. It’s another way that you show Heavenly Father that you have repented and changed. And what are some of the good works you can do? Giving your best time and resources to the Lord and his work, daily prayer, scripture study, serving others, regular worship in the temple, fasting, avoiding temptations (including certain kinds of music, literature, movies, and Internet sites, and so on.
One of my BYU students commented on his conversion and continual repentance: “I was raised in another Christian church and taught that men were saved by grace and not works. I thought that baptism was all that was required to be reconciled with the Father. Somehow I knew that this must not be the full truth. I felt very out of touch with the Lord, and I knew that I needed more light. I was reading The Miracle of Forgiveness, by Spencer W. Kimball when I learned what was missing. One night I poured out my soul to Heavenly Father. I had been so afraid and confused. I was willing to do anything to follow his will for my life. After many hours of tears and heartfelt sorrow I committed to living his gospel. After telling my family and talking to a bishop, I was baptized and received the Holy Ghost.
“I’ll never forget the peace and joy I felt. I didn’t care what I would face in trials and pain because I knew I had finally found what I had been seeking for so long.
“I know that repentance is a continual process. I have gotten off track and have been through even more sorrow than before. This is because I had made a covenant with the Lord and I had become lazy in my commitments to the gospel.”
President Spence W. Kimball suggested that the most important word in the English language is the word remember. The Book of Mormon has a number of verses beginning: “O, remember, remember”! (Alma 37:13; Helaman 5:9; 5:1; 14;30, Mosiah 2:41) That Is out problem: We seem to forget too quickly how much we owe the Lord; we become lazy in our commitment to he gospel; and our good works taper off. It takes constant effort to remember, but your daily prayers will help, as you ask Heavenly Father, “Who can I help?” and “How can I help them?” ~~D. Kelly Ogden, 8 Mighty Changes God Wants for you Before You Get to Heaven (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004) p. 67-70re until you type over it. It is still there until you cover it over with something else. As I thought about it later, a wonderful gospel principle came to mind. Now I wouldn’t want anyone to take my analogy too far, bur in a sense what I experienced with my computer is like my sins—-they are still there until I repent and cover them up with good works. That is what Jesus has done for us. The Hebrew word of repentance is kippur (as in Yom Kippur, the day of atonement), and the basic meaning of kippur is to cover up. The Savior has suffered for, and covered up, the sins of us all—pending our complete repentance. ~~D. Kelly Ogden, Eight Mighty Changes God Wants for you Before You Get to Heaven, (Salt Lake City:Deseret Book, 1989) p.67-70
