The hope of the atonement! Goodmorning brothers and sisters! My name is sister Shumway, I'm from Gilbert, Arizona and I've been a missionary for 9 months. And I've been in your ward for about 5 weeks and it is so much fun! One of my favorite general conference talks was given by president Boyd K Packer in 1995, and it's titled the brilliant morning of forgiveness. In this talk, President Packer answered a question that I didn't even know that I had. We know that repentance is a process. First we have to recognize our mistake and feel Godly sorrow, second confess and forsake, third make restitution, and fourth strive to be better! But the third step, restitution, can be really hard, maybe even impossible in some cases. President Packer said… "To earn forgiveness, one must make restitution…But sometimes you cannot give back what you have taken because you don’t have it to give…There are times you cannot mend that which you have broken. Perhaps the offense was long ago, or the injured refused your penance. Perhaps the damage was so severe that you cannot fix it no matter how desperately you want to. Your repentance cannot be accepted unless there is a restitution." So what can be done? What can we do when we are incapable of making some kind of restitution and the repentance process is halted? Our only hope comes from the Savior's atonement. President Packer continues…"Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ. When your desire is firm and you are willing to pay the “uttermost farthing,” the law of restitution is suspended. Your obligation is transferred to the Lord. He will settle your accounts." I love this so much because it brings me so much hope! I make a lot of mistakes and I get really anxious if I can't fix everything right away. But fixing everything is really hard, especially when I seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. Sometimes repentance feels out of our hands, but it's okay because we are in His hands♡ I loved the conference talks about repentance this past conference. I especially loved the hopeful story elder k Brett nattress gave about a boy who made really poor choices after graduating high school. After some time, buried in sin, this young man lost the light in his eyes. Until he felt the spirit again at his younger brother's mission farewell. He realized that he wanted to be forgiven, but it was hard for him to have the faith and hope that he could truly be forgiven. But alma 22:16 promises, "If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest." Of course, this young man did receive forgiveness as he sincerely repented. He served as an incredible missionary and eventually married in the temple. He had so much joy! We know that Heavenly Father loves us and He wants us to have joy, that's why He provided a Savior for us. God promises that as long as we repent, we will be forgiven, and i love the hope that that brings! But it can be tempting to have fun now and repent later. But we don't want to add to the Savior's suffering by delaying our repentance. 2 Nephi 4:31 says, "Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?" And I'd like to add to that…that I may not add to the trembling of my Savior as He bore the weight of the sins of the world. President Nelson once expanded on the definition of "repent". He said, "when Jesus said 'repentance' His disciples recorded recorded that command in the Greek language with the verb 'metanoeo'. This powerful word has great significance." He then breaks down the word into the prefix meaning "change" and the 4 suffixes meaning "the mind, knowledge, spirit, and breath". President Nelson continues "thus when Jesus said 'repent' He asks us to change- to change our mind, knowledge, and spirit- even our breath…this requires total change…to repent fully is to convert completely to the Lord Jesus and His Holy Work." I am so thankful for the hope of the atonement that allows us to repent and change. Even if we were able to change on our own, it wouldn't really mean anything without the atonement of Jesus Christ, He is the one that truly cleanses us. I have received so much hope through the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ, because I know that it is what allows Him to come after us when we are lost and broken. Elder Holland said, "however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines." We know from the parable of the lost sheep that the Good Shepherd will go after His sheep to bring the back to the safety of the fold. Elder uchtdorf said in his talk He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home "...what must the sheep do to qualify for this divine help?... Does it need to be able to use a GPS to define its position?... Does the sheep need endorsements by a sponsor before the Good Shepherd will come to the rescue? No. Certainly not! The sheep is worthy of divine rescue simply because it is loved by the Good Shepherd." Of course, a loving Savior does not ever force us to come back to Him. "He will not rescue us against our will". Our Heavenly Father has given us our own agency, and it is a trial of our faith to choose Jesus Christ over the world. We are never forced to choose Him, but the invitation is always there. “Turn … to me.” “Come unto me.” “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.” This is how we show Him that we want to be rescued. It requires a little faith. But do not despair. If you cannot muster faith right now, begin with hope. If you cannot say you know God is there, you can hope that He is. You can desire to believe. That is enough to start." Brothers and sisters, I know the power of the atonement is real, the hope that it brings is real. Jesus Christ makes the restitution for our mistakes when we cannot, He allows us to be forgiven, and He will always come to our rescue. I pray we can have the faith to reach out to Him when He calls us back. In the name of Jesus christ amen♡