This post is going to be more serious than most of my posts. I have recently been thinking a lot about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how we must have a change of heart to live with God. I was in my D&C class the other day and we were talking about reaching the end goal of getting to the Celestial Kingdom. Brother Bott, my D&C teacher, said that we will all go to the kingdom that we want to go to. We will be judged according to our desires. If we want to live with God in the Celestial Kingdom we will. But we show that desire through our actions.

As I was thinking about this, it hit me that we must repent and have a change of heart, not to say that we did it, but to really change our desires. In the Bible Dictionary it talks about how repentance denotes a change of mind, i.e., a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. That really is what repentance is. It is changing our desires. And this takes time. It is not a one step and you are done.

Elder Bednar, in his talk about changing cucumbers into pickles, he said, "The spiritual rebirth described in this verse typically does not occur quickly or all at once; it is an ongoing process—not a single event. Line upon line and precept upon precept, gradually and almost imperceptibly, our motives, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds become aligned with the will of God. This phase of the transformation process requires time, persistence, and patience." This is tough for me because I like to do things now and see the fruits of my labor now. But I know it is true. As we really work on having a change of desires, then the Lord blesses us with it. I have found, even just praying for it in my morning and night prayers, the Lord does grant us with the change of heart.

I just wanted to share what I have been thinking about. This is the best news in all the world. Jesus really is our Savior and through His atonement we can repent and change our desires so that we can live with Him again someday.