A note from Dad

 June 10, 1015

YOU GO HERMANA

Hermana Rigby,

Can you really believe you made it to your last lap?  I am so thrilled for you and even more proud of you!  Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU!  I really hope you can now take a step back and identify the reality of “these things” that have been added to your life.  I challenge you to write them down one by one in your journal as you contemplate what God has given you these past 16+ months.  What eternal truths have you locked in your heart and deep in your soul.  How has your relationship with THEM blossomed?  What eternal friends have you gained.  What do your spiritual muscles look like (you are buff for sure)? How are you now better prepared to face the joys and challenges of your future?  What impact will all of this have on you as a daughter, as a sister, and as a future mother?  What past pains are now treasures? What are the lessons God wanted to you to learn?  What blessings, treasures, and obstacles does he want you to remember and carry with you?  And how will these remembrances help you in your future?  What has he taught your mind, your heart, and your spirit?  What have you learned from others – other members, other missionaries, other individuals are seeking or not seeking? 

 

It is time for you to focus on what your mission cap stone will look like as you prepare to close this journey and what treasures you will take with you as you journey home.  I am so incredibly grateful that you endured and kept running your race, even though at some point you wanted to slide of the track quietly.  I am so personally grateful that you endured, that you kept running, and you kept your commitment to Heavenly Father to serve.  I am so personally grateful for the miracles that I know I received because of your desires and sacrifices.  Thank you my sweet and incredible daughter!  Though you are only 5’3” or maybe now taller, you are a giant in my eyes and I am blessed to walk in your shadow!

 

Kill these next few weeks and open the door of faith, desire, and endurance in the life of your companion.  Ask her inspired questions and truly listen to her desires, doubts, and challenges.  Then allow the list of your treasures to flow from your lips and heart.      For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt 6:21).  Help her connect to heaven!

 

Please take my challenge and start recording these wonderful THINGS that you have been given!  Pray for Him to help you remember and write them down! 

 

Love you to the MOON AND BACK . . . . . . . . . . Daddy Travis!

 

 

One more thing.  Here is a list from this past conference – all the times the word repent was brought up.  It is beautiful to see the definition of “repentance” change from the time I was very young.  It is not dreadful or fearful anymore, rather beautiful as it is a gift!

 

President Camille Johnson: By virtue of His atoning sacrifice, and when we sincerely REPENT, the Savior heals us from sin, as He did with Enos. His infinite Atonement also reaches our griefs and sorrows.

Elder Cook: For those who have REPENTED of sins, He has “taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.”

President Eyring: “And that REPENTANCE and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Elder Anderson: Although we cannot change the past, God can heal the past. Forgiveness can come through the miracle of His atoning grace as you turn to Him with a humble and REPENTANT heart.

President Lund: “Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of REPENTANCE, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins” (Doctrine and Covenants 13:1). do bless all of us through the keys of the very “ministering of angels, and of the gospel of REPENTANCE, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins” (Doctrine and Covenants 13:1).

Elder Palmer: I have prayed that you will feel the witness of the Holy Ghost as you now hear this loving invitation and magnificent promise from our Saviour, Jesus Christ:

“Will ye not now return unto me, and REPENT of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?”

 

Elder Stevenson: We rejoice that because of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice, we can be forgiven and cleansed of our sins as we REPENT. This brings us peace and hope while making it possible for us to return to God’s presence and receive a fulness of joy.

Elder Christofferson: Elder Kearon’s phrase cited earlier about worshipping “in a way that transforms us” is significant. True worship is transformative.

This is the beauty of the covenant path—the path of worship, love, and loyalty to God. We enter that path by baptism, pledging to take upon us the name of Christ and to keep His commandments. We receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the messenger of the Savior’s grace that redeems and cleanses us from sin as we REPENT. We could even say that in REPENTING we are worshipping Him.

 

Sister Runia: The invitation to REPENT is an expression of God’s love. Saying yes to that invitation is an expression of ours.

Today I want to speak to those of us who sometimes feel, “REPENTANCE and forgiveness seem to be working for everyone but me.”

It saddens me to admit this, but I used to measure my relationship with the Savior by how perfectly I was living. I thought an obedient life meant I would never need to REPENT. And when I made mistakes, which was every single day, I distanced myself from God, thinking, “He must be so disappointed in me.”

I testify that while God cares about our mistakes, He cares more about what happens after we make a mistake. Are we going to turn to Him again and again? Are we going to stay in this covenant relationship?

Maybe you hear the Lord’s words “If [you] love me, keep my commandments” and feel deflated because you haven’t kept all the commandments. Let me remind you that it is also a commandment to REPENT! In fact, it might be the most repeated commandment in the scriptures.  In Alma’s soliloquy, “O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of [my] heart … and cry REPENTANCE,” he wasn’t trying to shame us by pointing out our mistakes. He wanted to cry REPENTANCE so that you and I could avoid suffering in the world. One reason Alma hated sin is because it causes us pain.

Sometimes I have to remember, like a Post-it note on my forehead, that the commandments are the path away from pain. And REPENTANCE is too. Our prophet said, “The Savior loves us always but especially when we REPENT.”

So when the Lord says, “REPENT ye, REPENT ye,” what if you imagined Him saying, “I love you. I love you.” Picture Him pleading with you to leave behind the behavior causing you pain, inviting you to step out of darkness and turn to His light.

 

The invitation to REPENT is an expression of God’s love.

Yes, your REPENTANCE doesn’t burden Jesus Christ; it brightens His joy!

Let’s teach that!

Because REPENTANCE is our best news!

We don’t stay on the covenant path by never making a mistake. We stay on the path by REPENTING every day.

And when we’re REPENTING, God forgives without shaming us, comparing us to anyone else, or scolding us because this is the same thing we were REPENTING of last week.

Coming unto Christ is saying, “Will you help me?” with hope, a revealed assurance that His arms are extended to you always. I believe this fresh view of REPENTANCE means that even though we don’t have perfect obedience yet, we try affectionate obedience now, choosing to stay, again and again, because we love Him.

 

Bishop Causse (Presiding Bishop): Through Jesus Christ and His Atonement, we can find the strength to endure and ultimately overcome all of life’s challenges. As Alma taught, the Savior took upon Himself not only the sins of the REPENTANT but also “the pains and the sicknesses of his people” and “their infirmities.” Thus, beyond redeeming us from our mistakes, the Lord’s mercy and grace sustain us through injustices, deficiencies, and limitations imposed by our mortal experience.

 

Elder Gong: God’s plan of moral and mortal agency allows us to learn by our own experience. Some of our greatest life lessons come from things we would never choose. In love, Jesus Christ descended below and ascended above all things. He rejoices in our divine capacities for creativity and delight, kindness without hope for reward, faith unto REPENTANCEand forgiveness. And He weeps in sorrow at the enormity of our human suffering, cruelty, unfairness—often brought by human choice—as do the heavens and the God of heaven with them.

President Oaks: By far, God’s strongest mortal help was His provision of a Savior, Jesus Christ, who would suffer to pay the price and provide forgiveness for REPENTED sins. That merciful and glorious Atonement explains why faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel. His Atonement “bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead” (Alma 42:23), and it “atone[s] for the sins of the world” (Alma 34:8), erasing all of our REPENTED sins and giving our Savior power to succor us in our mortal infirmities.

One of the most significant of God’s helps for His faithful children is the gift of the Holy Ghost. The importance of this gift is evident in the fact that it is formally conferred after REPENTANCE and baptism by water, “and then [the scriptures explain] cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost” (2 Nephi 31:17). Persons who have this remission of sins—and then regularly renew their cleansing by daily REPENTANCE and living according to the covenants they make through the ordinance of the sacrament—qualify for the promise that the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Lord, “may always … be with them” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77).

 

Many of such deviations occur when members fail to follow the fundamental spiritual maintenance plan of personal prayer, regular scripture study, and frequent REPENTANCE.

Elder Whiting:  President Russell M. Nelson has taught that “overcoming the world is not an event that happens in a day or two. It happens over a lifetime as we repeatedly embrace the doctrine of Christ. We cultivate faith in Jesus Christ by REPENTING daily and keeping covenants that endow us with power. We stay on the covenant path and are blessed with spiritual strength, personal revelation, increasing faith, and the ministering of angels.”

Elder Kim: If we sincerely REPENT, humble ourselves, and trust and rely on the Lord, our hearts will be softened.

What can we do to not harden our hearts?

First, we can practice daily RENTANCE.

Our Savior taught, “Whoso REPENTETH and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive.” Our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, taught:

“REPENTING is the key to progress. Pure faith keeps us moving forward on the covenant path.

“Please do not fear or delay REPENTING. Satan delights in your misery. … Start today to experience the joy of putting off the natural man. The Savior loves us always but especially when we REPENT.”

 

Daily REPENTANCE will bring humility to our hearts. We want to become humble before the Lord, like a little child who obeys their father. We will then always have the Holy Spirit with us, and our hearts will soften.

Elder Tai: The scriptures and the Lord’s prophet teach us that we can consistently experience God’s love when, through the grace of Jesus Christ, we repeatedly REPENT, frankly forgive, strive to keep His commandments, and selflessly serve others. We feel God’s love when we do things that draw us closer to Him, such as conversing with Him daily through prayer and scripture study, and stop doing things that distance us from Him, such as being prideful, contentious, and rebellious.