Brother Wiser asked me to speak on repentance. I’m not sure why, since the only thing I’ve ever done wrong in the last 12 years is say yes to giving this talk. We all have to pay the consequences for our mistakes, but for this mistake, you guys will suffer much more than me!
Seriously, though, I’m glad to be able to give this talk today. I’m going to change the subject just a tiny bit. I wanted to talk about the Atonement, which is actually what makes repentance possible.
Yesterday, I watched a video with my family, and I thought the story would go really well with my talk. I’m sure most of you have heard the story of Dick and Ricky Hoyt, but in case some of you haven’t, I’d like to tell it.
Ricky Hoyt was born almost fifty years ago. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, which caused some brain damage. The doctors told his parents that they should just give him to a home for children with special needs because he would never walk or talk or do any of the things that other children would be able to do. The Hoyts decided right away that they could never give up on their son. They loved him and treated him as normally as possible. His brothers would even push his wheel chair around with a hockey stick attached so that he could play street hockey with the neighborhood kids. His mom and dad would take him swimming and to the park. When he was about ten years old, he was given a machine as part of an experiment that would help him to talk. He would use his head to put pressure on a metal bar to spell out the words that he wanted to say. When he got very good at using it, he told his dad that he wanted to run in a race that his town was having to raise money for a boy who had become paralyzed. He said that he wanted people to see that nothing could hold him back. So, his dad pushed his old wheelchair in the race. They came in last. After they got home, Ricky told his dad that when he was being pushed in the race, it was the first time that he didn’t feel handicapped. So, Ricky’s dad, Dick, decided that they would become runners. He began training right away. In the past thirty years, they have run over one thousand races, including 25 Boston Marathons and six Iron Man triathalons.
In the video that I watched, I saw Dick Hoyt pulling his son on a raft through the water during their last Iron Man. For 2 and a half miles, with a rope around his waist, he swam. Then he lifted his 44 year old son from the raft and ran to the transition area where he lifted him into the seat on the front of his specially made bicycle. He biked for 112 miles, with Ricky on the front of the bike smiling and waving his arms. Then, he put Ricky into the special running stroller and ran 26.2 miles. He pushed Ricky up hills and down hills, sometimes barely able to run. As they crossed the Iron Man finish line, both men had tears running down their faces. (And so did my mom, by the way). It was amazing to me to see this kind of love. The things that Dick Hoyt put himself through for his son, Ricky. He went through a lot of sweat and pain. He was 66 years old when they finished this last Iron Man.
After my family watched the video, we talked about how we’re kind of the same as Ricky Hoyt. Most of us are not handicapped like Ricky, but we all have special needs. We all need someone to push us through our own race, to help us get to the finish line.
That person is our Savior, Jesus Christ. He suffered so much for us. His pain, his agony, his sweat is what has made it possible for me to finish my own race and make it back to my Father in Heaven. When I can’t swim, he pulls me. When I can’t run, he pushes me.
I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I am grateful for the sacrifice that he made for me. I am grateful for the Atonement.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Here's the video that we watched as a family:
