I am very pleased and humbled to be able to speak, today, in

front of you. I, too, will speak on the topic of forgiveness. First,

though, I would like to give you a little bit of background information
about myself and my wife so that you can get to know who these
random married people in your ward are. Julie and I met at a football
game last October. I gave my friend some extra tickets that I wasnt
using. He told me he was bringing his roommate. Instead of a big and
hairy man, he brought the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I
immediately was so jealous of him. I sat in the press box that day with
my family but I would have given anything to sit next to her in the
worst seats in the stadium. She was not quite as impressed with me.
When she met me, I was wearing clothes that I bought right after my
mission. When I came home from eating nothing but brats in
Wisconsin, I weighed 40 pounds more than I did when she first laid
eyes on me. Needless to say, the clothes were huge on me. She
thought I was a wannabe gangster. Fortunately, I did not know that
this was her first impression of me. Also fortunately, she was not
dating my friend. So, after days of begging for her phone number, my
friend finally gave it to me. Not being able to pass up a free dinner,
Julie agreed to go out with me the next Thursday. We have basically
been inseparable since. After a lengthy courtship of three months, I
asked for her hand in marriage. Three months after that we were
married for time and eternity in the Oqquirh Mountain temple. I can
say with absolute assurity that marrying Julie is the best decision I
have ever made. I love her more than I ever thought was possible.
Now, back to the topic of forgiveness. As I was pondering what I
would say on the topic, a straightforward but not so simple question
popped into my mind. The question was, why should we forgive? I
do not think there is necessarily one right answer. However, recently I
read an article that posed one answer to this important question. No,
it was not an article in The Ensign. Nor was it from The New Era or any
other religious magazine. Instead, I received an answer to this
question through an article in Sports Illustrated. God speaks to us in
languages that we can understand. I do not understand a lot of things,
but I understand sports; particularly baseball. This article explained an
infamous incident in baseball that happened just a few months ago. In
a ball game, a young pitcher for the Detroit Tigers threw what should
have been a perfect game. For those who do not follow baseball, a
perfect game for a pitcher is when the pitcher pitches the entire game
without allowing a single hitter to get on base. It is an extremely rare
feat. In fact, in over 100 years of major league baseball, it has only
happened twenty times. This pitcher was born and raised in
Venezuela. His family had worked hard to keep food on the table and
to make sure he was raised a good man. Eventually, he immigrated to
the US to further his dreams of being a great pitcher. However, his
career before this game had been pretty mediocre. Finally, he had his

chance to be placed in a very special group of pitchers. This dream

came crashing down when on what would have been the final out of
the ballgame, the umpire mistakenly called a runner safe when he was
clearly out and thus broke up the perfect game. Instead of yelling at
the umpire and embarrassing him, the pitcher calmly went back and
got the next hitter out to end the game. Soon after, the umpire
watched the replay and realized he had made a huge mistake. He
quickly went to the Tigers locker room to apologize through tears to
the pitcher he had taken a perfect game away from. Instead of feeling
anger and bitterness, the pitcher frankly and completely forgave him
as the two men embraced. The perfect game, looking back, would
have been just one highlight in an otherwise weak career. The scene
of two men in heartbreak, asking for forgiveness and offering it will last
much longer as a testimony to their character. They were recently
awarded for their sportsmanship for turning an incident that could
have made both men bitter and sad, into an event that reached part of
the divinity in them. I found myself secretly getting weepy over this
incident and realized that an answer to why we forgive is that
forgiveness heals both the forgiver and the forgiven and brings peace,
charity and love in the place of anxiety, hate, contention and prejudice.
Now obviously, it is much easier to forgive when the offender
sincerely and humbly apologizes and asks for forgiveness. Often, when
we try to forgive those who have wronged us but who do not seek
reconciliation, they mock our attempts or are defensive of their
actions. In these cases, we need to remember the Saviors example on
the cross when He called out to our Creator about the wicked men who
had crucified Him, saying, Father, forgive them for they know not what
they do. Christ, in His infinite love and compassion, not only did not
ask for the Father to punish those who had put Him through such
agony, He actually asked God to have mercy upon them. When we are
wronged, we need to strive to have the hope that our offenders will
change and that the Lord will be merciful to them. Even if the guilty
parties do not repent, having forgiveness in our hearts allows us to feel
peace and move on with our lives. I met a couple in Wisconsin who
were converts to the Church. Shortly after they joined the Church,
their son went on a mission to Texas anxious to share the message of
the Restored Gospel. While on his mission, he and his companion were
brutally murdered by a man they were trying to bring back into activity.
This man was a psychopath who felt nothing resembling remorse for
his actions. Due to legal loopholes, he was able to flee the country and
has never been brought to proper justice for his despicable crimes.
The missionarys parents were devastated. Anger and bitterness soon
prevailed in their home. They were mad at the man who killed their
son and they were bitter towards God. The event nearly destroyed
their marriage. After years of brewing and being mostly inactive in
Church attendance, their Bishop made a bold move. He asked them if

they would speak in church that Sunday about forgiveness. When the
couple told me this story, I was petrified. I feared the worstthat
maybe it enraged them so much that they beat up the Bishop.
Instead, they accepted the offer and began studying for the topic. They
decided they needed to forgive the man for their own benefit, not
because the man was deserving of any compassion or forgiveness. A
new spirit prevailed in their home. Their marriage instantly became
better.
I asked this couple how they could possibly forgive these
atrocities. He told me it was by learning more about and putting his
faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. I
believe this is the key to being able to forgive those who wrong us,
regardless of whether they make restitution or not. In the end,
according to the law of justice, none of us really deserve to be
forgiven. Without a Savior, we would all be doomed to follow Satan
into an eternity of misery and endless damnation. However, Christ has
intervened. He has made it so that we can be saved through His
merits and not our own if we will believe in Him and strive to do His
will. In Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5 we read, Listen to him who is
the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him
Saying; Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin,
in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which
was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be
glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on
my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.
Through the Savior, we can all receive the strength we need to forgive
ourselves and those who have wronged us.