The Parable of the Cell Phone

So confession time...every Saturday I work at the Logan temple and every week I walk past a sign that tells me to turn off my cell phone and every week my phone stays very much on and very much on silent. Yesterday I walked past that sign and finally felt a twinge of guilt that I hadn't actually turned my phone off, but I justified that I at least had it on silent, but then I couldn't remember whether my new phone that I hadn't quite figured out yet was on silent. In the act of pulling it out to check if it was indeed on silent it fell to the floor. My new smart of phone of one week fell to the floor, the back came off and the battery sprang out. I was terrified that the screen would be damaged and I'd be shopping for a new one. Yet when I picked the phone up the screen didn't have a scratch and the phone having lost its battery was effectively turned off.

Standing there looking at the phone I realized something that I thought was rather profound. I had already thought I should be obedient, but dragged my feet, so Heavenly Father helped me along to follow what I knew I should have done in the first place and he did it without any damage to my cell phone. I think that many times in our lives Heavenly Father provides us ways to follow His words and do what we feel we should even when we are hesitant and He does it in such a way to keep us from harm or permanent damage because He loves us. Yet if we let those moments continually pass us and ignore the mercy he extends us sometimes harm comes our way. Still the Atonement can and will make us new as we go back to Him and seek the help He always offers to us. So let us take Him at His first offer and allow Him to work in our lives for good and help us avoid the other possibilities.

But if we sometimes miss those gentle promptings and tender mercies and go blundering ahead trying our own way, I know Heavenly Father will still accept us back. I know He will still receive us and our efforts with open arms. It is never too late to return to the love and grace of our Savior. We are never so far gone or have too many haunting memories to return to Him and find peace. We are loved, we are known and we are forgiven, always and completely forgiven.