Josh's 10-18-10 e-mail

This week I was reading about Alma the Elder and the Younger. If you look closely, their lives before the gospel didn´t look very great. Alma the Elder was a priest for wicked King Noah who broke many commandments. It took Abinadi until the second try to convert Alma. Afterwards he became a prophet and very loved person by the people. Alma the Younger as we know enjoyed on the weekends to try to get members to fall away from the church. He was touched by an angel and also like his father became a prophet, a chief judge, and a respected person. One of Alma the Younger's sons didn´t do the greatest things ether. As a missionary he committed a serious sin. During these chapters I was thinking about how they repented, not what sins they did. I believe the same applies for us. We don´t look at these men with guilt or vengeance, we look at them with honor and respect. We look at what they did afterwards, not what they did before. They repented and I know God forgot their sins. We need to live without guilt in our lives. If we repent, the only thing we need to worry about is not to do it again, not that we did it. If God forgets, should we? How we need forgiveness in this days of trouble! Forgiveness for others, but also for ourselves. One of the hardest trials we can have in our life, is finding the courage to forgive ourselves.