The Prodigal Son...how often do I let others repent? My new comp...multitasking. Pics!

Hi guys!! :)

Wasn`t General Conference just the BEST?!?! I LOVED IT!!! :) I went in with my questions and I got multiple answers to each question! It was wonderful! There was one talk in which the speaker's opening line was almost word for word what I had been most worried about for the past several months! It was so great! My testimony of the Lord's modern day prophets and apostles was strengthened, and I am so grateful that we can go back and rewatch/reread the talks that were given! :)

On the sad side, I got sick again this week. During the two hour break between sessions on Sunday, we went back into one of the back rooms of the church building, did a bit of planning, and when I couldn`t handle it any more I put my jacket over myself, laid my bag under my head and fell asleep on the ground for about an hour and a half. I was surprised at how well I slept; I guess that`s part of being a missionary! You can pretty much fall asleep anywhere! Hopefully this will help all of you gain a bit more respect for the missionaries around you when you recognize that they`re running around half-exhausted every day. :)

I was watching a video this morning about the Prodigal Son and the parable found in Luke 15. It struck a cord deep down somewhere in my soul; I would like to try and put that into words this week. For those of you who know the story, bear with me; for those of you who don`t, go look it up in Luke 15. To summarize the first part of the parable, a man had two sons. The younger brother asked for his inheritance from his father, took it and traveled to another country, where he spent it all in sin. After a time, a famine came into that country, and he ended up in very humble circumstances, starving himself while feeding pigs (which, to the Jews hearing this story, was about as low as one could get). He then "came to himself'," and decided to return to his father and ask to be his servant. He was humble, and penitent, and when his father saw him coming a long way off, he ran to him and took him in his arms and kissed him. He showed incredible love and mercy, and even threw a party in celebration of his son's return.

Now, the Savior could have ended this parable here. And it would have shown a great lesson in how great the heavens rejoice in a penitent sinner. But He didn`t. He chose to continue, to teach another lesson.

Luke 15:25-32: "Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found."

So this is the question I want to ask to all of us: how often do I let others repent?

Forgiveness just doesn`t seem fair sometimes. Somehow, justice seems robbed if sin is forgiven, right? Or worse, when I`m living so righteously, why should someone else who has done less work than I receive so great a reward? Isn`t God fair? Shouldn't I be better off than someone who sins "more" than I?

I invite all of us who have had this line of thinking to repent.

We don`t decide who God forgives. We don`t know their hearts. "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." (D&C 64:9-11) There is no qualifier for this scripture. All men means all men. Everybody. Everywhere. That is the commandment. And we know that every commandment is given so that we can be happy. The elder son did not understand this. Why was his father so happy? Because he had chosen to forgive. Why was the son so angry and unhappy? Because he had chosen not to forgive.

God doesn`t forgive us because of our own merits; when we come to Him asking with a pure heart for His forgiveness, He forgives us because of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. And we are striving to become like our Heavenly Father. So we need to forgive others, not because of what they do, but because of what Jesus Christ did.

My invitation for this week is to start the path to forgiving that person who comes to mind right now as I have talked about forgiveness. And to ignore that little annoying voice in the back of your head that is saying, "That`s not fair. What they did is unforgivable." That phrase is false doctrine. There is nothing that we cannot forgive. God will forgive who He will according to His laws, but of us it is required to forgive all men.

I know that healing and peace come through forgiveness. And our Savior will help us to do so; He is the Master of forgiveness.

I love and miss you all!

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

My new companion, Elder Valencia, who I walked in to find brushing his teeth while on the exercise bike. While not the safest option, he is a great multitasker! :)