Weld Your Broken Life Back Together

                                                              A Welded Repentance






     Welding is a process that not many people really know a ton about. There are a couple of pretty simple elements to welding. We need to have two pieces of metal that we to put together first off. After we have these two pieces of metal, we then need to space them a correct amount of distance from one another. Once placed in the correct position it is time to really get down to the actual welding. Whether it is mig, tig, or stick welding it doesn't matter, because the same system works for them all and for the type of metal that you are welding together and what is necessary for certain jobs. At times you are welding aluminum together and at other times you are welding one inch sheet metal into a dump truck bed. No matter what the job is, the same principles are still present.

     We turn on the welding machine and place the end of the stick or wire close to our metal and as we get it close it will "strike and arch". At this instant is where you can be a good welder or more of a poor welder. You must stay calm and not jump, because it will shock you at first when it begins. As you stay calm and begin to move the rod and use the heat that it is producing and the new metal that it contains, you start to actually weld. The metal melts and forms a pool in between these two pieces of metal and you start to work this pool, or what is often called a puddle. You can work this in a number of different directions. For example you can move in a circular motion, a zig-zag motion, or a U shaped motion. While you work this puddle you move from one end of the gap between the two pieces of metal to the other end. When you start moving away from the starting end and getting closer to the other end the first end begins to cool and shrink in size, therefor making the gap on the other end get bigger. This gap getting bigger will make the final process harder, but when you take your time and continue to move you can finish welding the metal together.



     Once cooled you will be able to see a ridged path down the gap that you just filled up. There are a couple things to take into account here to know how good of a welder a person is. The ridged path might be really rough and look terrible, a lot like if a 8 inch twizzler were to stay the same width but be pushed into only a 5 inch length. I hope you get the visual there, if you don't grab a twizzler and try it. At the same time, with this type of a weld you will have deep grooves in the metal right next to the actual weld on either side that are nearly broken clean through the pieces of metal. Now on the other end of the spectrum you will have a weld that is perfectly smooth and would look like on solid and long tootsie roll that was smoothed out a little on the top and looked like glass. This is obviously the more  preferred type of weld to have, because there is also to grooves on the side of this weld when you are finished.


     One more perk that comes with this last type of weld is that when a weld is done like this the actual weld itself becomes the strongest part of the metal that you now have in one piece. If done correctly and with enough heat, once pressure is applied to the metal, the weld will stay strong and one of the side pieces will break instead.



     If a side piece breaks, don't be worried. You can grab your rod and go to work on connecting that back to your other piece again. With time you can end up having one piece of metal that is nothing but welds instead of any of the original metal. This one piece that you now have though, will be much stronger because of the heat and the pressure that has been applied to it. And then followed up with a good cooling process that is best done just setting out in the room temperature. If the metal is placed in water directly after being welded, it will actually be weaker than if is sits out until it can be handled.

     The welding process is such a great connection to how we can repent in our lives. We have to do a couple of simple steps no matter what the sin. First we have to realize that we have sinned, or we have to see that a piece of metal is broken. Next we need to see that with the metal broken it isn't a good thing, or in other words, we need to feel bad for the sin committed. Once we realize there is a problem and know that it needs to be fixed, we stop doing that sin right then. Or, we will stop putting stress and pressure on that piece of metal. Once we see that there is something broken, we need to take it to the shop to get worked on. In the Gospel it is called confessing and taking the problem to God so that you can begin to be healed. Now we are going to actually begin more of the fixing. When you have metal broken sometimes you will need to beat it in to place with a hammer and then bend it some more, and tweak it here and there. This is making restitution. We have to do what we can do and then God will make up for what we can't do. You won't ever be able to look at the metal and make it mold back together. Just like by yourself you will never be able to repent of a sin. God now will be able to help you through it because of the Atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. Once you have beat the metal into a pretty good position you will turn on the welder so that we can use the heat and actually weld the broken pieces back together.

      Often we find ourselves with more than just ourselves tied up in a sin and if we do then we need to get both people together to solve the problem and then let the Atonement work once we have forgiven each other and done the things that we can do. These type of breaks are often easier to fix, while sometimes harder. It's like having a metal hammer and the end breaks off of it, so you bring them closer together and then weld them right back together. On a regular occurrence the problem is within yourself, much like if a flat sheet of metal had been worn for years in the middle, and finally had a big hole appear in it. This is so hard to fix because you don't have extra metal or another piece to join it with. You have to just build up the metal with welds from the edges of the metal until you fill the whole in the sheet. When we have big internal sins and problems for long periods of time it will wear and tear on you. There will come a point when the only option you have is to use the Atonement to fill the gaps. It is never an easy fix, but these repentance points will make us stronger once we go through the actual repentance process. You see the sheet of metal will never be able to fix itself or become whole again with out a welding machine, and someone to run the machine.


     It is such a blessing in our lives that Jesus Christ our Savior Atoned for each and every persons sins that will every walk this earth. Because of that we can be made whole, and that is the only way. "For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." - (2 Nephi 25:23) I know that the Atonement is real and that you will be more blessed through it than by any other means. I invite each and every person who reads this post to take this and apply it in your life today. If your life has a broken crack or a thin worn sheet... go to God, pray, find a friend, and get help so that you can become whole again.