The Best is yet to be.

I have been studying a talk given by Elder Holland this week. It is called "The Best is yet to be." It is really important that we look to the future with hope and faith that God has something better in store for us than what we have now. Even if what we have now is good. We need to keep the faith that there is something better. I love the paragraph about let the people repent. I have seen a lot of this here. There is a man named Brother "N", he was excommunicated. He is so humble and kind and loving. The branch members I can tell don't believe he has changed. They remember what he was, not where he is now. He had his Stake interview and he got the ok to be baptized again. Some of the ward council heard this and was surprised. It broke my heart that they couldn't see who is is now. I am sure it is hard, I never knew him any other way then how he is now. I know we can be forgiven because God loves us. I know there are always better things in store for us if we keep having faith.

Some of the highlights of the talk by Elder Holland are: Remember Lot's wife? What was so wrong with her looking back? Apparently what was wrong wasn't just that she looked back, in her heart she wanted to go back. She looked back longingly.  Her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. She doubted the Lord's ability to give her something better than what already had. She was looking back perhaps resenting the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. When we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future.
Forgive and Forget: There is something in many of us that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life-either ours or the mistakes of others. When something is over and done with, when it has been fully repented of, it is not right to go back and open some ancient wound that the Son of God himself died to heal. Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and repent. Dismiss the destructive, and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future. God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and with His help, where you are willing to go.