Luke 17:32

I often assign religious couples that I see in therapy to read and/or watch a talk given by Elder Holland. It is entitled Remember Lot's Wife. I watched this devotional (maybe sang at it, too? I can't remember) at the beginning of 2009 and often think back on it. I think it is so important to remember Lot's wife and what happened to her. I was reminded of this as I watched the most recent Mormon Message.

The most recent Mormon Message was created around the premise "Look Not Behind Thee" (Gen 19:17).

I encourage you to watch at least the Mormon Message. 

For those of you wanting to go the extra mile, I encourage you to watch Elder Holland's devotional. You can watch it at http://www.byub.org/talks/talk.aspx?id=3403. Watch it with your loved ones if you want.

Some of my favorites from this talk: 
"Faith is always pointed toward the future"

"There is something in us, at least in too many of us, that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life ‐‐ either mistakes we ourselves have made or the mistakes of others. That is not good. It is not Christian. It stands in terrible opposition to the grandeur and majesty of the Atonement of Christ. To be tied to earlier mistakes ‐‐ our own or other people's ‐‐ is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist."

"I can't tell you the number of couples I have counseled who, when they are deeply hurt or even just deeply stressed, reach farther and farther into the past to find yet a bigger brick to throw through the window "pain" of their marriage. When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound which the Son of God Himself died trying to heal. Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change, and improve."

"If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. Don't keep going back with your little sand pail and beach shovel to dig it up, wave it around, and then throw it at someone saying, "Hey! Do you remember this?" Splat! Well, guess what? That is probably going to result in some ugly morsel being dug up out of your landfill with the reply, "Yeah, I remember it. Do you remember this?" Splat. And everyone comes out of that exchange dirty and muddy and unhappy and hurt, when what our Father in Heaven pleads for is cleanliness and kindness and happiness and healing. Such dwelling on past lives, including past mistakes, is not right! It is
not the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

"We can be so hard on ourselves, often much more so than with others! Like the Anti‐ Nephi‐Lehies of the Book of Mormon, bury your weapons of war, and leave them buried.Forgive, and do that which is harder than to forgive. Forget. And when it comes to mind, forget it again. You can remember just enough to avoid repeating the mistake, but put the rest of it on the dung heap Paul spoke of to those Philippians."

"Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant, and live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, trust and divine love transform your life today, tomorrow and forever. That is a New Year's resolution I ask you to keep."