Oh. My. Gosh! You wouldn't believe what I remembered back to this week!!!
My birth!! Just kidding... That'd be crazy. What I actually remembered was this:
One summer day when I was working at Precision Time IWSC, I sat peacefully thinking about the past, imagining the future, and kind of zoning out while polishing some watches, when I got a frantic tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find my beloved brother(Ethan) standing there. I take off my earbuds and immediately his words pierce my ears. "Please! Help me!" was the cry! For what? I knew not. Interested, I listened on.. "Marcelo is making us clean the boneyard!" I was a little confused, because that was kind of our job everyday. I was like, "What?...". and Ethan went on to tell me the dirty deets... "When Alec and I were looking for parts in the boneyard, I thought it'd be funny to fart into the fan... I thought it was going to make a funny noise and echo around-" choking as he tried to hold back tears (laughing tears but...) "It was a silent one!!!! And it smells so bad! David, not knowing what had happened, thought it was so bad that he went to talk to Marcelo about it! When Marcelo came down he started coughing and said 'shi-! something must have died in there!'", assuming that a rat must have perished and the remains were now spoiling. "He told us we have to take everything out and find it!" This time there was despair in his voice..."Please help us.. This is too big of a job for us to do alone." This time I was the one laughing! I literally fell on the floor! HAHAHAHA! Man, I felt some sympathy, and I tried to ask him why he hadn't just told Marcelo the truth. He said he was too embarrassed and he would rather face the punishment than ask for forgiveness. I shook my head in disbelief and started busting up laughing while we walked downstairs...
Super good memory... And I really wanted to share it with you, BUT what is the lesson here? It is far better to repent now than to face the consequences later! Alma 32:32-34 says:
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.
You don't stand before Marcelo after and say, it was only a fart after you've cleaned the boneyard! It just doesn't work like that. If you don't want the punishment, which I promise, you do not want the punishment, then repent now! Repent when it happens and see that burden of sin lifted from your shoulders! I love this Gospel! I love this church! and I love Christ! I'm so thankful that God sent him into this world so that through him all mankind may be saved, and return to the presence of our God, the Celestial Kingdom! (in this analogy, the soft-seated, air conditioned IWSC) instead of living in outer darkness or a lower kingdom (the boneyard) for the rest of eternity. I love God and I love you guys!
elder fraga
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