Forgiveness and Insight

So far, so good...I went to Institute again tonight. Hopefully next week doesn't throw me off having no class because of the holiday. Tonight's conversation was based around D&C 64 and forgiveness. Some of the questions asked were about how we felt when we know we are forgiven, from who do we need to ask forgiveness, and how we should be willing to forgive others. One thought that was mentioned tonight was about how some people have a gift of the spirit of forgiveness. Being able to forgive people just comes easier for some than others, so I had to ask myself am I one of those people? With the little things, yes, I think I can forgive easily...but what about larger things? A few years ago I was faced with a situation where I knew I had to forgive someone, but every time I thought of this person, I just felt anger. It took a lot of prayers and thought to get past the anger and to the point where I could say that I gave forgiveness. There are some occasions still that my mind wanders to this situation and I have to ask myself if I still feel the same...sometimes I have to think for awhile, but other times I can just brush it aside. To end the night, we read a quote from Elder Neal A. Maxwell: "We cannot repent for someone else. But we can forgive someone else, refusing to hold hostage those whom the Lord seeks to set free!"

Insight from tonight:

I realized tonight that a person in my ward that I look to in matters of being social and active with others has a hard time being social in similar ways as I do. I have thought over the last few months that I have really wanted to get to know this girl more so that I could have another friend but also so that I might be able to ride her coattails along the way and immerse myself in the ward. I realize now that she could be thinking the same thing about others.