Repentance is always the right thing to do, and now is always the time to start (Alma 34:33 I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance). Thanks for the help! Satan knows its your weakness and he knows when youre down on yourself you are more likely to cave in. Repentance is the way provided for us to become free from our sins and receive forgiveness for them. For example, if a person has been excommunicated and then rebaptized, he cannot serve as a bishop. Because of the intricacies of each individual case, this process can take a long time to complete. Using will power to effect change in life is often not effective. I have asked repeatedly for help from the Lord and He does help me, but I not enough it feels like. Scott, The day before you leave to go to the MTC, you will be given a final interview by your stake president and set apart as a full-time missionary. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sinsbehold, he will confess them and forsake them. (D&C 58:43) For small sins, that confession can be to God in prayer, but for major sins, it is important to confess to both God and to your priesthood leader. In the Old Testament, two Hebrew words help us understand repentance. It started with masturbation and pornography. -Mosiah 3:19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.. I have repeated personally and gotten rid of anything that will tempt me. I have been struggling with pornography and masturbation for about 2 years now. We are engaged in the work of Almighty God. What does repentance entail? Greda, Im sorry about the hard things you are going through right now. The privilege of repenting is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Good luck, and God bless. Livvi, Im sorry about those things that happened when you were younger. Just like when the Nephites went to battle against the Lamanites and prepared themselves with defensive armor, you must be prepared to defend yourself from Satans temptations each day. My understanding is that you have the veil over your mind so you cant remember the valiant wonderful person you were in the preexistence and that you still are deep down inside. Remember the words of King Benjamin from the Book of Mormon: I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. Missionary work will be good for you. Good luck with your mission prep and well pray for you to resolve these issues quickly and completely so you can be in the full-time missionary force soon. If these steps have been accomplished, where does a 1 year waiting period fit in? Never forget Christs atonement for you, and focus on it is wonderful, good great and you should. Good luck and God bless. Please know that this is something many young men struggle with, so you are not alone. The short answer to your questions is no, you do not need to confess all your past sins when you join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an adult convert. Repentance is the key to avoiding misery inflicted by traps of the adversary. That means you have more power than he does and never ever feel sorrow or pity for him. Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice. I pray that you can stay worthy as you continue to prepare for your mission. I plead with you to be the men and young men the Lord needs you to be. And also please know that God loves you and with strengthen you and support you. I am curious if my boyfriend can be married in the temple with me. We all need to repent in order to be worthy to return to live with our Heavenly Father. Sorrow for Sin. Because of His atoning sacrifice, He shoulders the pain that we experience, which gives us the ability to overcome these hurts and to heal and forgive our spouse. It sounds like you have taken many of the right steps to repent and be clean. I started dating a guy in October who was a member but had been in the same position as me but had repented of all his sins. So I took that and said to myself Im not. What if I broke the law of chastity 5 years ago and I have a change of heart and I stopped doing that? How did repentance and forgiveness bring Alma joy? I am 18 years old and have been a member of the church since I was 8. Repentance is one of the first principles of the gospel and is essential to our temporal and eternal happiness. The evidence of repentance is transformation. But all thats left is seeing a bishop. And for a while I hated the church and wanted to break free from it and my parents rules. or whatttt? Ive been doing all I can to stay away from it, and even telling my boyfriend to help me be strong and to expect me to be clean, no matter what. Become one with her. The bishop of the ward where you are currently living has the keys of the priesthood to preside over you and he has been given the gift of discernment from God (see D&C 46:27). He knows you better than anyone else does, he created you, he knows Satan and You and he knows you can succeed!! Do I still need to confess to the bishop even though it has been 7 years and my mistakes were before I was baptised? Lora, I understand how embarrassing it can be to talk to your bishop about these things, but I hope in the strength of the Lord (Alma 46:20) you will find courage to do so. Therefore, such sins need to be confessed to both the Lord and His priesthood representatives in the Church. Maedros. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. To repent, we must admit to ourselves that we have sinned. Ive even fasted for forgiveness, and I dont usually fast for medical reasons. So please call him and make an appointment to see him right away. We love you. But Satan Remembers, he knows and he knows as long as he can get you to even let a little tiny thought enter your mind, he can work with that. Although I never really gained my own testimony of the gospel. Godly sorrow does not come because of the natural consequences of sin or because of a fear of punishment; rather, it comes from the knowledge that we have, through our actions, displeased our Heavenly Father and our Savior. General ConferenceNo Ordinary Blessing, I Can Find Answers through General Conference, Strengthening Families by Increasing Spirituality, The Sealing Ordinance Links Families Eternally, Relief Society History: A Look at the Lords Vision for His Daughters, Preparation of All Kinds Blesses Saints in Joplin, Missouri, New Mission Presidents Blessed for Exercise of Faith, Seven Sisters Let Their Light Shine in the Mission Field at the Same Time, Repentance and Forgiveness in Marriage, Ensign, Sept. 2011, 1417, School of Family Life, Brigham Young University. Ive since realized how terrible of a decision it has been and I regret everything. Up until about January I was still doing the same things I thought knew was wrong. The words the Lord has inspired in the revelations and in present-day teachingshigher, holier, accelerate, increase, strengthen, greater, transform, remodel, improve, enhance, change, deepen, stretchare words of spiritual growth (see RussellM. Nelson, Becoming Exemplary Latter-day Saints, Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 11314). You should know that you are talking to one of the most logically thinking people you can find. The repentance process may seem long and difficult, but with the help of the Lord and your family and friends, I know that you can do it. The only problem is, I always remember this past problem or mistake Ive made. It's about 1 he 40 minutes from hitting the button to the end but the time it takes doing the veil varies according to how many patrons there are. I met this RM who also broke LOC before his mission and broke it again after his mission, he confessed it to the bishop and the bishop gave a warning that if he does it again he will be excommunicated and so he repented. When we keep this commitment, we will never experience the pain of that sin again. God bless you, and good luck with all your mission preparation. While working towards a temple marriage when dating, a couple must keep God's law of chastity, one of the basic guidelines of LDS dating. Have courage and dont get down on yourself. I finally have come to my senses and I want to repent and never do this again. A few weeks ago I tried smoking marijuana for the first time and I have used it twice since then. I pray that you can continue to prepare and that youll make an excellent missionary some day. Willing restitution shows the Lord that we will do all we can to repent. In many of these cases, the young people have developed their testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and they desire to serve a mission. These same principles apply within a marriage, and perhaps more so. Have courage to move forward with faith. President JamesE. Faust (19202007) said: Our Redeemer took upon Himself all the sins, pains, infirmities, and sicknesses of all who have ever lived and will ever live. But I have yet to do so. I am really not sure and I dont know why. Most law of chastity violations are serious sins and require confessing to the bishop. See Jude 1:1721; 2Nephi 2:25, 27; 28:20; see also 1Nephi 8:1012, 2123; 11:2122; 12:17; Doctrine and Covenants 10:22; Moses 5:13. I want to clear something up. Good luck, and may God bless and be with you. The LDS Church Handbook for bishops and stake presidents says that a person who has been guilty of serious violation of the law of chastity must fully repent before they can go on a mission and partake of the other privileges mentioned above. He will send his Spirit to prompt and direct you. Good luck and God bless. Heavenly Father and Jesus will always help us repent. Privileges like taking the sacrament each week, holding a calling, going to the temple, and going on a full-time mission. I am obviously too old now to serve a mission anyways and this is not my question. receive (and retain) until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of His holy prophets' (Acts 3:19 to 21). Thank you. Repentance includes the following elements: Faith in Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The things you are experiencing will help you grow. But i have another question im sorry, i promise this will be the last.. if its a sexual intercourse violation, do you have an idea how long or how many months his repentance process might be before he becomes a ward mission leader? I have been so against the church for the past couple years and really dont know how to go about this. We know that men are free according to the flesh. It might take several years depending on the severity of your transgressions and your current repentance. Nick, Im sorry to hear about the difficulties you are having. Im not a homosexual. Do I need to go to the bishop about it still? Here is what God requires for full and complete repentance, astaught in the scriptures and by living prophets: While I have given a list of six specific steps here to help young people begin the process of repentance, please remember that to repent is not something that you can superficially do by checking off some boxes in a checklist. Hi, I am 16 years old and I broke the law of Chasity. Autumn, The Lord has said, By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sinsbehold, he will confess them and forsake them. (D&C 58:43) If you stopped 5 years ago, then it sounds like you have done the forsaking part of the process. Im now at the point where i want to serve a mission. Ive broken the law of chastity last week but want to serve a mission. By so doing, we become better people and better spouses. Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available to men, women, and children everywhere. (https://www.lds.org/liahona/2018/04/as-we-go-forward-together?lang=eng) Good luck and God bless. They can only do that if they understand repentance and the power of the atonement. I even considered her as a best friend before. In closing, I would like to briefly discuss the blessings of repentance. I repented of these things, fasted and prayed with all the energy of my heart. Chagrin is not repentance. As for your concerns about what others will think of your, I will remind you that the Lord told Joseph Smith on multiple occasions, fear not what man can do (D&C 122:9, see also Moroni 8:16 and D&C 3:7). In order to reach that goal, I encourage you to keep reading and studying the scriptures daily and keep praying daily and attending Church meetings. We went to the Apartment about 10PM,but we got reported that we came back by 11PM,I accpet my transgression that I shouldnt have gone and watch a soccer match at all. Also how long would i have to wait to get a temple recommend to do baptisms for the dead? If all you can do is a few hours, then do it and thank Heavenly Father and Christ and the Holy Ghost and those angles send to help you and take courage from it and increase from there. Our sincere sorrow should lead us to forsake (stop) our sins. Im 18 and its currently January, I hope to put my mission papers in April. The fact that you want to go on a mission and you want a temple marriage, and that you have other righteous desires shows me that the seed of Gods word has been planted in your heart and that it is sprouting because of your faith (see Alma 32: 28-30). As far as I know, there is no mandatory repentance time for masturbation. However, when young people often ask me how long the repentance process will take, what they mean is, how long will they have to go without some of the privileges of Church membership after they have committed serious sin? While only the Lord can forgive sins, these priesthood leaders play a critical role in the process of repentance. Now, to make the repentance complete, you need to also confess. Ive found that immediately singing a hymn, even if its in my mind helps, though I also find that things such as running to read the scriptures, isnt always helpful, because it ticks Satan off and he turns up the heat. I hope that I am not too far so as not to be able to serve a mission in the future, as I have surpassed the age limit to serve. If you are planning to go on a mission anyway, you will have several interviews with your bishop in the mission application process. While God might forget the sins, the Church has a long memory. I am not sure, but I know that happened about 2 or 3 years ago. Please help us. But one thing that bothers me a lot is what our teacher in the young women class taught us about getting married in the temple. It was also the first time I prayed in four years on my and for myself. However, im not sure if he resolved things about it with his bishop because ive never really had the courage to ask him about it but im assuming he did. Some people are baptized in as short as two or three weeks after meeting the missionaries, and some take many months or years. I just want to ask in what way I need to confess, especially because I dont find it comfortable to talk to a man about this stuff. Repentance is the way provided for us to become free from our sins and receive forgiveness for them. If left untreated, it builds up over a number of years to the point where it destroys love. For serious sins, such as sexual intercourse outside of marriage or other serious violations of the law of chastity, I strongly encourage you to confess both to the Lord and to his representative in the Church, your bishop. If the Holy Spirit is prompting you to talk to the bishop about it, then you definitely should. Good luck and God bless you. In other cases, the level of resentment reaches a point where the spouse is unable to forget about it and move on with the relationship. It sounds like you have learned that lesson and youll be a better women for it in the future. Hello. He will use that against you. We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. I have sincerely repented two months ago, started reading the D&C, and have never experienced the spirit so strongly before. You may try reading a book called Will Power is Not Enough. It was written by an LDS author and talks about tapping into the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to overcome addictive behavior. I want to serve a mission but dont want to go and have my sins always on my mind. What steps do i need to take? In addition to recognizing our sins, we must feel sincere sorrow for what we have done. You are among the finest, most valiant men who have ever come to the earth. I suggest going to your new ward tomorrow and talk to the clerk right away and ask for an appointment to meet with the bishop. True love is developed by those who are willing to readily admit personal mistakes and offenses.1. I really dont have anyone to talk to anymore about this problem because the only person I trusted not to run their mouth about it was my bishop and he just got called to another position as 1st counselor in the stake presidency. 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