Last weekend we had a nice visit with Jon and Lesa, Darrell, Eve, Jonba, and William came down from Cedar City. I attached the pictures of Jonba and Willilam, embracing in a hug after not seeing each other for over seven years. It promted me to think about the Prodigal son and his embrace by his father when he returned. Now, neither William or Jonba are the Prodigal son; but we all are. We all have need for the atoning compassion of our Savior.
I loved this talk by Brent H. Nielson given in 2015 April Conference Sunday morning session. Please take a few minutes and listen to it. I love the conclusion that I've highligted below in yellow.
"Some of you, like the Nielson family, have family members who have temporarily lost their way. The Savior’s instruction to all who have 100 sheep is to leave the ninety and nine and go after and rescue the one. His instruction to those who have 10 pieces of silver and lose one is to search until you find it. When the lost one is your son or your daughter, your brother or your sister, and he or she has chosen to leave, we learned in our family that, after all we can do, we love that person with all of our hearts and we watch, we pray, and we wait for the Lord’s hand to be revealed.
Perhaps the most important lesson the Lord taught me through this process happened during our family scripture study after my sister had left the Church.Our son David was reading as we studied together Luke 15. As he read the parable of the prodigal son, I heard it differently that day than I had ever heard it before. For some reason, I had always related to the son who stayed home. As David read that morning, I realized that in some ways I was the prodigal son. All of us fall short of the glory of the Father (see Romans 3:23). All of us need the Savior’s Atonement to heal us. All of us are lost and need to be found. This revelation that day helped me know that my sister and I both needed the Savior’s love and His Atonement. Susan and I were actually on the same path back home.
The Savior’s words in the parable as He describes the father greeting his prodigal son are powerful, and I believe they may be the description of the experience you and I will have with the Father when we return to our heavenly home. They teach us of a father who loves, waits, and watches. These are the words of the Savior: “When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).
May you and I receive the revelation to know how to best approach those in our lives who are lost and, when necessary, to have the patience and love of our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, as we love, watch, and wait for the prodigal. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
I ask your forgiveness for anything I've done through out the years to hurt any of you. I love you all dearly and hope that we may all be more forgiving and loving to each other.
That's it! Love you all and have a great weekend.
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