Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] I got one. Oh, good job!

Keep your line tight. Bring him this way. Oh, that is huge. [LAUGHTER] That is a beast! And I caught her. Look at that! [LAUGHTER] Oh, my heavens. You proud of me, Uncle Ed? Yeah, that is incredible. But, uh, remember whose fly you caught that on, huh? Your fly doesn't have anything to do with it. Yeah, and what does? It's all in the wrist, Uncle Ed. Yeah, all right.

Well, uh, you just remember who taught you how to fish, okay? Who's been catching all the fish today?

Hey, Skip, we need to talk.

Thought we came here to fish.

I talked to your mom.

She's pretty worried about you. Aw, she's worries too much. You know Mom. Well, I'm worried too.

I mean, what's been going on? Nothing's been going on. Everything's just fine.

Come on, we've always been able to talk. I just don't think there's anything to talk about. Oh, don't give me that.

I'm just having a good time. A good time? Yeah, a good time.

I thought you like going to church. I do. I just got tired of playing the good Mormon boy and missing out on all the fun. Besides, it's nothing serious. What, so does that mean you're giving up your plans of going on a mission? Of course not. I'll just quit everything before I go.

Look, that is not how it works. Sure it is. You were really wild before your mission, and you still went.

I'm just doing what you did.

[OWL HOOTING] Oh, yeah, here's the salt.

I get the feeling you think repentance is easy--some sort of quick fix. Here you go. Look, I know I got a lot of things I've got to stop. I've got time. You're missing the whole point. Repentance is hard. It's not just stopping; it's changing. And that just-- just doesn't happen overnight. You thirsty? Yeah, please.

Thanks. Yes it does. What about Alma the Younger? He did some pretty serious things, and he repented in only a few days. He even became a prophet.

So you think Alma's repentance was easy? Yeah. And, uh, I can prove it to you, if you had your Book of Mormon. All right.

Thanks. We learned about Alma in seminary. Good.

Where was it? What? You know, Alma's repentance.

Okay, let me help you prove me wrong.

Try Alma, chapter 36, verse 6. Oh, yeah. "For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way. "And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.

"I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth. "But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. "Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments. "So great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

"Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

"And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul." Alma did some really terrible things, that's why he suffered so much, right?

I mean, not everyone who sins has to suffer like Alma, do they? What do you mean? I thought that when you repented, Christ suffered for your sins, and then you didn't have to. Well, Alma's suffering served a completely different purpose. I don't follow you. Well, the purpose of Christ's suffering was to pay for the sins of those who repent, right? Right. The purpose of Alma's suffering was to change his attitude about sin. I mean, repentance requires more than just stopping. It means changing your heart. And sometimes, changing your heart can be very painful. But when you change your heart and you have the right attitude, then you can go to the Lord and ask for his gift of forgiveness. What do you mean by right attitude? Just that you wished you would have never sinned in the first place, and that you never want to do it again. You mean, I have to suffer in order to be forgiven? No, you have to suffer in order to change. There's a lot more to repentance than I thought.

She's a beauty. Can you get over that? Come on. Got him. All right, look at that! Yeah! You got her? Okay, good. Yeah, that new fly did the trick. Yeah. That is sweet. That's my biggest one of day, by far.

So what was it like for you? What's that, Skip?

When you repented before your mission?

It was hard.

When Alma said, tormented with the pains of hell, that's what it was like.

I felt empty and dark inside. I felt like a hypocrite and a liar.

I realized I had to change.

I'd do anything to get rid of the way I felt. So what did you do? I changed.

See that?

Got another one.

[DUCKS QUACKING] You okay? Yeah.

I thought this was so easy--just repent before my mission.

Now it seems so hard.

Well, I won't tell you it's not hard, but I will tell you it's worth it. Did you read the rest of Alma's experience? No. I couldn't.

Every-- every time I start reading it-- it just makes me feel worse. Well, this time it gets better, a lot better. Alma 36--I think it's about verse 16. Alma says, "As I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. "Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. "And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

"And what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!" I have repented of my sins and have been redeemed of the Lord.

Behold, I am born of the spirit.

I felt the same things Alma did--the joy, the peace, and happiness.

I felt the Savior lift the burden of my sins from me. When I turned my heart over to the Lord, he helped me change. He helped me where I couldn't help myself. He did it for Alma, He did it for me, and if you turn to Christ in faith, He'll do it for you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

God Has Delivered Me

Description
(Alma 36) A young man who plans to sin now and repent later discovers new insights into the process of repentance as he comes to understand the suffering and change Alma the Younger experienced in his conversion.
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