Wrapped Up In Sin

   Back when I was growing up, my summer days were mostly spent in my pond. The pond was located out in front of my house. I would be playing on the raft and then hop on the log near by and engage in a log role competition. As a young child the possibilities of what I was going to do next were endless. Maybe I would go and swing on the rope or swim to the bottom and get some seaweed; piling it up in preparation of a seaweed battle. Canoe vs. raft. Last one standing wins.

   This is what I was doing on one particularly hot summer day. I would swim to the bottom about 10' down and pull out the seaweed, dragging it to the top and throwing it into the canoe. Then repeating the process. I would wrap the seaweed around my arms and torso so that I could carry more.
   On my last dive down I wanted to get as much as possible so I stayed down longer wrapping the seaweed around myself. As I tried to swim to the top I quickly found that I had too much. I couldn't make it. I was all out of breath and started to panic. I was tearing at the seaweed all around me. There was so much and everything was getting darker. With the last of my strength, I pushed as hard as I could off of the muddy bottom of the pond, propelling me upward. As my face broke the surface I took a massive breath. The seaweed pulled me back down. I was able to remove the last of it and make it to the surface again. Needless to say I learned my lesson.
   Looking back it frightens me to know how close I came to drowning. I barely made it. A lot of times in our lives we start to slowly wrap ourselves in sins. If we repent soon enough they won't drown us, but the longer we stay there and wrap ourselves up, the harder it gets to get to the surface.When we reach the surface after what seems to be a last ditch effort, we are cleansed through the Atonement and that burden is taken from us.
   We all need to learn our lessons and make sure that we don't go back, if we do it could be our last dive. Don't get wrapped up in sin! It will drown you! Always stay close to the surface and close to the Savior.