A Great Feeling

By Jane McBride

(Based on a true story)

Paulo had messed up. What could he do?

After Paulo came up out of the baptismal font, he and Dad got dressed in dry clothes. Then Dad and Grandpa and the bishop laid their hands on his head and confirmed him. Now he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I feel so great,” Paulo said. He touched his heart. “In here.”

Mom hugged him tight. “That’s because you received the gift of the Holy Ghost when you were confirmed.”

Paulo nodded. He didn’t want to do anything to make that great feeling go away. He wanted to always follow Jesus.

But the very next day, his little brother Carlo broke Paulo’s toy plane. Paulo had saved up for months to buy it!

“Look what you did!” Paulo yelled. “Why can’t you leave my stuff alone?”

“I’m sorry,” Carlo said. Tears rolled down his cheeks. “Maybe we can fix it.”

“It won’t be the same!”

Carlo ran out of the room crying.

Paulo sighed. He wished he hadn’t gotten so mad. Hadn’t he promised when he was baptized that he would always follow Jesus? He knew Jesus would have been kind.

“I promised I would try to be like Jesus,” he told Mom, his voice shaking. “But I’ve already messed up! How do I get back that good feeling from my baptism?”

Mom hugged him tight. “We all mess up. But Jesus gave us a way to have the Holy Ghost with us again after we do something wrong.”

Paulo could guess what she was going to say. “You mean repentance, right? I have to ask for forgiveness.”

Mom nodded. “And when you take the sacrament, you’ll renew the promise you made to follow Jesus. Then you’ll be just as clean as you were right after you were baptized and confirmed.”

Paulo went to find Carlo. “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he said. “Let’s fix the plane together.”

Carlo smiled, and Paulo felt like he had done what Jesus would do. When he said his prayer that night, he asked Heavenly Father to forgive him and to help him be nicer to Carlo. A warm feeling filled his heart.

That Sunday at church, Paulo paid extra attention to the sacrament prayers. He listened carefully to the words and remembered how he’d repented that week. As he took the bread and water, he felt Heavenly Father’s love for him. And it was such a great feeling!

Keep Your Wings Shiny!

• When airplanes are new, their wings are shiny and bright. Air flowing over the wings keeps the plane in the air.

• When ice and snow build up on the wings, air can’t flow smoothly over them. Then the airplane can’t fly safely.

• Before the airplane flies, people use big hoses to spray off the wings and make them shiny and bright again.

• Then the airplane can fly as well as when it was new!

• When we are baptized, we have no sins and we’re given the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us learn and grow.

• When we make wrong choices, it’s harder to feel the Holy Ghost.

• When we repent and pray for help, Heavenly Father forgives us. Our sins are taken away. The Holy Ghost can be with us.

• Because of the Savior’s Atonement, we can repent every day! On Sunday, the sacrament helps us be clean, remember Jesus, and have a happy new start.