On a different day, I needed to use the seem ripper again. It was a small project, so it didn’t seem as bothersome to me to grab the seem ripper and undo the threads that needed to be fixed.

As I was doing this, I thought about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There is so much about the Atonement that I am learning and coming to understand, but repentance is what calls to my heart.

What an amazing gift. I made big mistakes in my life. I make little mistakes every day. The big mistakes were harder for me to repent for. The small mistakes can be just as hard for me to repent for though.

I have been learning about daily repentance. What an amazing teaching from our Prophet, Russell M. Nelson.

In reading the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:12, He says, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness daily. Satan wants us to think of repentance as a punishment. He doesn’t want us to participate in the most sacred gift that Jesus Christ offers to us. He wants us to ignore this blessing. He puts so much effort into convincing us that we don’t need to repent.

Don’t listen to him! Daily repentance brings us close to Jesus Christ. Through daily repentance, we can push Satan out of our lives and bring Jesus in, which will bless us every day.

As I grew up, I came to think of repentance as something that I didn’t want to do. Just make good choices and you won’t need to use it. I was not really worried about repentance until I made some horrible mistakes. Mistakes that I didn’t believe I could repair.

I didn’t even think about repentance. Satan had done a great job keeping me from it. When I needed it most, I didn’t understand the power of it. How completely I could be forgiven. I was under Satan’s power.

This was not my favorite time. It was dark, gloomy and difficult to go through. It felt heavy and everyday seemed to last forever.

Once I was able to understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of what repentance can do, I felt hope again. It was the most amazing feeling. I felt the Spirit confirm to me that yes, it is true. Through the power of repentance, I could truly be forgiven completely.

Like the seem ripper, I could use the tool of repentance, and take out my grief, pain and suffering from my sins and prepare to begin anew. There was so much joy in my heart. I can’t even begin to describe it.

In the Book of Morman, Mosiah chapter 27, there was a young man named Alma the Younger. His father, Alma was the High Priest to King Mosiah. Alma the Older went and taught the gospel and baptized people. His son, Alma the Younger went about with his friends, which happened to be the sons of King Mosiah, and together they led people away from the church and into iniquities.

Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah went about secretly to destroy the church and lead people away from the Lord. One day they were rebelling against God and an angel appeared to them. The angel spoke with a voice of thunder and the ground they were standing on shook. They were so astonished they fell to the earth and couldn’t understand what the angel said.

The angel spoke again telling Alma to stand forth and asked why he was persecuting the church of God. “For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it, and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.”

The angel continued saying that the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people and of Alma the Older, that Alma the younger might be brough to the knowledge of the truth; “Therefore, I have come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.”

“And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also behold me before you? And I am sent from God.”

“And now I say unto thee Alma, go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more, that their prayers may be answered, and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off.”

Then the angel left them. Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah fell to the earth again in astonishment from seeing an angel of the Lord. They knew that there was nothing but the power of God that could shake the earth and cause it to tremble as it would part asunder.

Alma became dumb, that he could not open his mouth, and he became weak, and couldn’t even move his hands. His friends carried him back to his father and told Alma the Older what had happened.

Alma the Older immediately knew what had happened was the power of God. He caused the priests to come together to fast and to pray for God to open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and that his limbs would regain their strength.

They fasted and prayed for two days and two nights. Then Alma woke and stood up. He bid them to be of good cheer because, “I have repented of my sins and been redeemed of the Lord.”

He goes on to say, “My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.”

Fast forward to the end of Alma the Younger’s life and he is talking with his sons. He shares what he experienced during the time when he was struck dumb and couldn’t move for three days and three nights.

He tells his son Helaman in Alma 36:12 “I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.

Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

And now, for three days and for three nights, was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul. As I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my hearth: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain.”

I love this last sentence. Alma the younger compares the joy he feels of the forgiveness and mercy he received to greater than the pain he suffered just seconds ago when he was tormented by his sins.

I too have experienced this great joy that he speaks of. It is exactly as he says, the joy is greater than the gall of bitterness that he felt, even unto wanting to be extinct both soul and body. The light is marvelous.

I know that this can seem like it is just a story, but it is a story that I have lived. And just like Alma the Younger, I am dedicating my life to God and to teach others about Him. My life won’t be easier because of this, but it will be filled with a true joy.

Okay, what does this amazing story have to do with a sewing tool. Thinking about how I understood repentance growing up is how I think about the seem ripper when I sew. I was glad to have it, but didn’t want to use it. Ever.

Now I understand what an amazing tool the seem ripper is for me to have to use at any time I make a mistake. A small mistake that can be fixed quickly or a large mistake that will take more time to repair.

I am still fighting my brain and Satan that both try to get me to think of repentance as something I don’t want to do. I am trying to be more intentional with my thoughts about repentance to correct the many years of teaching myself the wrong way to think about it.

I am earnestly trying to repent daily like the President Russell M. Nelson has suggested and even Jesus Christ showed us in the Lord’s prayer.

I hope that this story helps you to see the beauty of using the Atonement of Jesus Christ and be able to think of repentance as a great gift that brings us peace and joy. All because of Him.

The most important thing about daily repentance is that we are striving to become better every day. We are reflecting on our actions each day and trying to do better the next day. This is hard, it is easy to get discouraged. I choose to reflect instead on the personal and spiritual growth that it provides me.

I can feel the spirit confirm truths to me at a much greater rate than I could when I wasn’t doing this. It brings me closer to God and to Jesus Christ and it is easier for me to deflect the thoughts of Satan.

I wish for you to have this in your life as well. It will never be the same. Joy is in your future. True Joy.