'Atonement can clean, reclaim, sanctify our lives'
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The atonement of Jesus Christ is available to all, Elder Shayne M. Bowen of the Seventy declared Saturday afternoon.
"His atonement is infinite. It applies to everyone, even you. It can clean, reclaim and sanctify; even you. That is what infinite means. Total, complete, all, forever."
Describing a park and the regional airport in his hometown of Idaho Falls, Idaho, where the areas were once sanitary landfills, Elder Bowen said city fathers would not be pleased if he decided to try to dig up his old garbage. "I suppose that they would wonder why anyone would want to destroy something so beautiful and useful in an attempt to dig up old garbage."
Continuing, Elder Bowen explained: "Just as the landfill requires dedicated work and attention, laboriously applying layer after layer of fill to reclaim the low-lying ground, our lives also require the same vigilance, continually applying layer after layer of the healing gift of repentance.
"Just as the city fathers in Idaho Falls would feel badly about a person trying to dig up their old garbage, our Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ feel sorrow when we choose to remain in sin, when the gift of repentance made possible through the Atonement can clean, reclaim and sanctify our lives.
"When we gratefully accept and use this precious gift, we can enjoy the beauty and usefulness of our lives that God has reclaimed through His infinite love and the atonement of His Son and our brother Jesus Christ.
"I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that His atonement is real, and that through the miracle of forgiveness, He can make each of us clean again, even you."
