"And  there came a voice unto me,  saying:  Enos,  THY SINS ARE  FORGIVEN THEE, and thou shalt be blessed."  (Enos 5)

All of the above doctrines pertain to a remission of sins. Perhaps  a remission of sins is more important than we might have thought. This  leads us  to one of the most important questions that can ever be asked. the  How  does Lord  forgive  sins?   Does He forgive them one at a time?  Or  does  He forgive them all at once?  The answer may surprise you.  It has been suggested that  inasmuch  as we sin one sin at a time perhaps that is the  way  that  we should repent of them.   In fact,  that is the very approach that I took while in  Korea.   The war was over and I had a lot of time on my hands.   I thought that a program of self-repentance would be just the bill.   I'd  probably  have more  time  while in Korea than any other time in my life.   So I analyzed  my weaknesses,  put  the  worst one at the top of the list,  jumped on  my  white charger  and rode off in a blaze of glory,  knowing that perfection  was  just around the corner.   Well, you can guess what happened.  Nothing -- absolutely nothing.  Several weeks went by and I was beginning to get discouraged because I  wasn't able to conquer the first sin on the list and would you believe that I never ever got to the second sin.   When I left Korea 13 months later I  was still working on the first -- and not getting anywhere.   Maybe I'm just weak. Surely you've never had any experience like that, have you?

On another occasion I heard a president of an Elder's Quorum testify that he  had been using the above plan of repentance for ten long years and that he was  not  one bit better a person than when he started the program  ten  years ago.   After my experience in Korea, I knew what he was talking about.  Two of us in the church are weaklings.   If there are two weaklings in the church who can t seem to repent of sins one at a time,  maybe there are more.  Maybe you are one of them. Be honest now.  If you aren't honest,  you're going to the Telestial Kingdom anyway.

Now for you folks that have been successful in repenting of sins one at a time,  don't let me discourage you. Some people just have more backbone than others.  If you are one of them, more power to you.  However, be sure that you don't pick up two bad habits for every one you conquer.

It  has been my experience that repenting of sins one at a time  is  very difficult.   But you say, "If that method doesn't work, is there a method that will work?"  Yes,  there is a better method -- why not repent of your sins all at once, yes, all at once?  You may as well do it the easy way.  Let us assume you are a criminal and have robbed a dozen banks.   Suddenly you find yourself face to face with the judge and he says to you,  "Son,  I'm the judge.  I have power to punish you or pardon you.  You can have it whichever way you want it. First  of  all  I want you to admit everything you have  done  is  wrong,  and second,  I  want  a promise that you will never repeat your crime.   "You  say that all that I have to do is confess to you my crimes and promise that I will never do them again,  and you will permit me to walk out of here a free  man?" And  the  judge answers,  "That is exactly right.   If you will confess  every crime that you have committed and if you really mean it when you promise to go straight,  I'll let you off this time but if I ever find you in my court again I'll exact full payment."  Not quite believing,  you say,  "Judge,  you have a deal."  Now,  can you imagine anyone turning down a proposal like that?  Well, thousands  or even millions of people are turning it down every day.   One  of the reasons is that they just don't understand.   Don't you see?  The judge in the story is the Master.  Does He not have the power to punish or pardon?  And who  is  the  criminal?   That is you and me.  Maybe we  had  better  get  to confession  before  it's too late.   Why do we always have to hide  our  sins? Surely the Lord knows what our sins are.  Why does He demand that admission of guilt?   I don't know,  but one thing that I do know,  is that He does.  It is the beginning of repentance and it is so simple.   Perhaps that is why most of us  have  overlooked  it.   What do you think Enos was doing in that  all  day prayer?   He was confessing his sins to the Lord.  The whole tenor of the Book of Mormon bears that out.  What did the Lord say to the Prophet Joseph Smith?

Nevertheless,  he has sinned;  but verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, forgive  sins  unto  those  who CONFESS THEIR SINS before ME and ask forgiveness, who have not sinned unto death.  (D&C 64:7)

We  have just discussed personal confession where we initiate the action. Sometimes the Lord initiates the action in answer to prayer.   We talked about that in Alma's situation.   In Alma's case the Lord opened the bag of sins and laid them  before  him.   Sometimes  confession of  sins  is  by  revelation, sometimes  you do it,  and sometimes it is a combination of both.   Listen  to Alma describe how it happened to him:

Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things;  but God has,  by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself. For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way. And behold,  he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.  (Alma 36:5-7)

But I was racked with eternal torment,  for my soul was harrowed up  to the greatest degree and RACKED WITH ALL MY SINS.

YEA,  I  DID  REMEMBER  ALL MY SINS AND INIQUITIES,  for  which  I  was tormented  with  the  pains of hell;  yea,  I saw that I  had  rebelled against my God,  and that I had not kept his holy commandments.   (Alma 36:12-13)

And now,  for three days and for three nights was I racked,  even  with the pains of a damned soul.
And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the MEMORY OF MY MANY SINS, behold, I remembered also to have  heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart:

O  Jesus,  thou Son of God,  have mercy on me,  who am in the  gall  of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.  And  now,  behold,  when I thought this,  I could remember my pains  no more;  yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more."  (Alma 36:16-19)

And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the  most bitter  pain and anguish of soul;  and never,  until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy,  did I RECEIVE A REMISSION OF MY SINS. But behold, I did find peace to my soul.  (Alma 38:8)

In addition  to the six important factors affecting receiving a remission of  sins discussed in this chapter,  another essential factor,  perhaps even the  most factor, is discussed in chapter 20.