To receive a remission of our sins requires that we “come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits” (D&C 20:37).
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) taught what it means to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit: “Godly sorrow is a gift of the Spirit. It is a deep realization that our actions have offended our Father and our God. It is the sharp and keen awareness that our behavior caused the Savior, He who knew no sin, even the greatest of all, to endure agony and suffering. Our sins caused Him to bleed at every pore. This very real mental and spiritual anguish is what the scriptures refer to as having a ‘broken heart and a contrite spirit’” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson [2014])