“But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.” (Alma 36:12). When preparing a field for planting a farmer first breaks up the hard packed earth with a plow by gouging deep furrows into the soil. This process still leaves big clods of dirt that would make it difficult for new plants to grow and establish roots. So, after the plowing, a farmer uses a harrow, which is a metal frame filled with either disks or teeth that is dragged across the length and breadth of the field to break down all of the soil into a uniform consistency and to create a good tilth ready for planting. In the Parable of the Sower, the Savior describes different kinds of soil and whether or not they were able to provide good environments for seeds to grow. It is not that the good soil was of a superior composition chemically or organically, but rather that it had been prepared. It was plowed and harrowed up so that there were no stones or thorns or the soil was too hard packed for seeds to get in. If we through our rebellious choices or merely through our complacency and inaction have allowed our soil to become hardened so that no seeds can get their roots into us, then there are ways that the Lord will help us to prepare our soil once again. When we follow after our own desires rather than give heed to the Lord's direction, we are bound sooner or later to face the consequences of our actions. The hard truth that we cannot always find happiness in wickedness will gouge furrows into our heart like the blade of a plow. After we have faced the hard reality of our situation, we will start to feel guilt for the things we have done. As Alma describes, our souls will be harrowed up by all of our sins. This is painful. We may be afraid to carry on with the process. But if we stick it out, our guilt will prepare our hearts to receive the word of God and because our soil has been properly prepared, those seeds from God will fall among good ground and bring forth thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.
