One of the things
we all ask ourselves is, Have we been forgiven? How do we know if the Lord
has actually forgiven us? Well, sometimes we have
to just go forward, and with time we find there
is a feeling of peace, and we feel the Holy
Ghost in our lives. Sometimes, we remember,
but we remember in peace, and it no longer has the
pain of guilt and sorrow that it once had. About the time the book
was going to the publisher, I was made aware of
an unusual experience of one of my brethren of
the General Authorities. His name was Elder
Robert E. Wells. I had never heard
him tell this story. And although he had given
many conference talks, he never spoke about it. The difficulty he
had was when he was young, maybe only
about 30 years old, he was a banker
in South America. And he was an adventurous
man, and he had an airplane. And in one case he
and his wife were each flying airplanes
coming back from Uruguay to Asuncion, Paraguay. And, sadly, they hit
some bad weather. And suddenly he lost
contact with his wife, and his wife's plane went down. She was killed, as well as
two of their dear friends. He had three little
children in his home. And the pain would not
leave him, the guilt. He wondered if he had done
enough to prepare that plane, if he had taught her well
enough how to use instruments. And he felt enormous amounts
of guilt for what he had done. And more than a
year had passed, he told me, when, as he was
praying deeply, he said, "one evening about
one year later, while on my knees in
prayer, a miracle occurred. While praying and pleading
to my Heavenly Father, I felt as though the
Savior came to my side. And I heard an audible
voice speaking these words: 'Robert, my atoning
sacrifice paid for your sins and your mistakes. Your wife forgives you. Your friends forgive you. I will lift your burden. Serve me. Serve your family. Serve your employer. And all will go well with you.' From that moment,
the burden of guilt was amazingly lifted from me. I had been rescued." This power of forgiveness comes. It is real. It is not something that is made
up in our heart or in our mind. It comes from outside
of us into us, because of the power of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ and His love and
care for each of us.