We Saved the Ballston Mall

"The A is on fire."

Sister Calder's words stopped my singing, and my only reaction was "What?"

Her hands clutched the wheel, and her head tilted toward the parking garage ahead of us. "The A--it's in flames."

She was right. The letter A had ignited (an impressive feat considering the rain that Virginia was experiencing). We looked at each other and started to laugh.

Hermana Quinones leaned forward from the back seat. "Sisters, what do we do? Do we call someone? Do we call 911?"

Her face was crinkled from laughter, and I'm sure mine looked the same: a strange mix of panic and what-is-happening-to-us hilarity. "I don't know," I said. "Do we have the number for the police department?"

We didn't. So, dutiful citizens that we were, we called 911. Hermana Quinones talked with the perplexed operator, confirming that yes, the letter A was aflame.

When we drove by later that night, following-up on our 911 report like dutiful missionaries, a fire truck was sitting outside the parking garage. The letter A was charred and ugly--and the letter N was spouting flames.

Now the Ballston Mall Parking Garage is missing the letters A and N; they stand as black reminders that we saved the Ballston Mall.

Every time we drive past that memorial, I remember how we went right to the source--we called 911. Those small flames, if left unchecked, could have taken our beloved mall from us . . . But they didn't. The same thing happens with sin in our lives. Small rebellions, if left unchecked, can rule our lives.

Luckily, we have repentance! I love what Elder Neal A Maxwell said about repentance in the October 1991 conference: "No part of walking by faith is more difficult than walking the road of repentance" (Repentance).

I'll admit it; repentance takes courage! However, The Lord gives us this assurance when we do: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isa. 1:18).

I will add my testimony that even if things are in flames, they will be extinguished with repentance. And they won't leave a black mark on the side of the building; they won't leave a black mark on our souls. The Lord heals everything, and He loves you. I promise that repentance is healing.