RS Lesson Recap: September 23

Today Tori shared thoughts from the talk from Elder Wilson, entitled "Only upon the Principles of Righteousness" 

The talk starts off with a story about the young newlywed couple on a car trip. This story shows the concept unrighteousness dominion. This reduces the power from heaven. We cannot force others to do the right thing because it is not God's way.

"We simply cannot force others to do the right thing. The scriptures make it clear that this is not God’s way. Compulsion builds resentment. It conveys mistrust, and it makes people feel incompetent. Learning opportunities are lost when controlling persons pridefully assume they have all the right answers for others." - Elder Wilson

This year the theme for primary was agency. It is an important concept that children must be able to choose. We learn how to foster this concept of agency with leading and parenting our children.

"Wise parents must weigh when children are ready to begin exercising their own agency in a particular area of their lives. But if parents hold on to alldecision-making power and see it as their “right,” they severely limit the growth and development of their children.

Our children are in our homes for a limited time. If we wait until they walk out the door to turn over to them the reins of their moral agency, we have waited too long. They will not suddenly develop the ability to make wise decisions if they have never been free to make any important decisions while in our homes. Such children often either rebel against this compulsion or are crippled by an inability to make any decisions on their own." - Elder Wilson

Several sisters shared their thoughts on raising children by righteous principles. We never have to rely on the phrase, "because we say so." We can rely on the scriptures to back us up. In the words of Joseph Smith we "Teach correct principles and allow <them> govern themselves. Out Father in Heaven is our example. He doesn't take away the consequences when we sin, but he always loves us. Kids are different. Some will more naturally obey and some will be more resistant, but we should still teach the principles like prayer. These are the tools for everyone. We can incorporate this concept in daily life as we set consequences for behavior but we allow children to make the choice. We also should teach them the blessings of being obedient. The framework must be set. See Doctrine and Covenants 82:8-10.

One sister shared that she felt that she wasn't punished, but her parents expressed their disappointment. One day her father told her that "the trust bank was empty". That made a significant impact on her.

George Albert Smith said in his creed that he would not force people to choose the right but love them into doing so.

If we are going to help those in our stewardships make the all-important link with heaven, we must be the kind of parent and leader described in Doctrine and Covenants, section 121. We must act “only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.”⁹President Henry B. Eyring has said, “Of all the help we can give … young people, the greatest will be to let them feel our confidence that they are on the path home to God and that they can make it.” - Elder Wilson

Sometimes we want to take over to fix things for those we love. When we jump in we are not just failing to trust that person but we are not trusting The Lord. He loves all of us and he will let us know when we need to jump in.

One of the most difficult part if stewardship is understanding where agency ends and stewardship   Begins. The answer was trust The Lord. Children do not always choose the right, but remember that the choices children make are not always the final choices.

"Respect Agency. A governing doctrine of the universe, applicable in all ages including the eternities before God formed this earth, is that God has granted to people their agency—the right to choose between good and evil. Because we have agency, it is fair and just that we account to him for our use of it, whether good or bad. If we had no agency, God would be responsible for us and everything we did, which would result in our never really knowing the depth of our personal convictions regarding either good or evil.

This is not a neutral world. Good and evil bombard us and our children. Teaching our children correct principles allows them to make informed choices. But when children make choices contrary to gospel teachings, they always suffer the consequences, some of which are serious. In theDoctrine and Covenants we read, “My people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer (D&C 105:6; emphasis added)." - "When Our Children Go Astray" - Elder Carmack, Ensign 1997

In 1929 Elder Orson F. Whitney of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “You parents of the wilful and the wayward! Don’t give them up. Don’t cast them off. They are not utterly lost. The Shepherd will find his sheep. They were his before they were yours—long before he entrusted them to your care; and you cannot begin to love them as he loves them. They have but strayed in ignorance from the Path of Right, and God is merciful to ignorance. Only the fulness of knowledge brings the fulness of accountability. Our Heavenly Father is far more merciful, infinitely more charitable, than even the best of his servants, and the Everlasting Gospel is mightier in power to save than our narrow finite minds can comprehend” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1929, 110).

RS Recap: Sept 16th

Chapter 16: "Offer up thy sacraments upon my Holy Day"

Sara was garden yesterday afternoon and she could hear her neighbors over the fence singing. As a conservative Jewish family, they were observing their Sabbath.

As a young adult she was able to spend a semester abroad in Jerusalem. There are three Sabbaths in Jerusalem for the 3 major religions. On Friday afternoons if you were in the Jewish part of town there was a bustle to prepare for the Sabbath. It was a wonderful feeling to be in a place where all people kept the Sabbath and she was able to observe the parrallels with the Jewish Sabbath and our Sabbath.

Jewish concept of the Sabbath as joy. To miss the joy is to miss it all. Centered in the creation story (then repeated as law in the 10 commandments). God himself rested. Jews say God still created on the Sabbath, he created “tranquility”. The Sabbath is the reward for all creative endeavor. It is what all creation was designed for. “The Sabbath has kept the Jews”, through out their history: loss of prophets, temple, land, dispersal across the globe---they have retained the tradition of the Sabbath and they have retained their identity. “To make a man forget he is a son of a king is a great evil”. On the Sabbath we remember we are sons and daughters of a king. Your ability to work the other six days of the week is enhanced by not working on the Sabbath. Even Pharoh let the slaves rest. The Jews have several concepts of the Sabbath we can learn from: It is a sanctuary in time. It takes discipline to prepare for it. It requires special dress, tablecloth, food.

mother is responsible for an atmosphere of reverence in the home, to create a mood of joy. Husband and children help, but she does most of thepreparation. Covering her head with a scarf, the mother lights the Sabbath candles within a few minutes of sundown and waving her arms to welcome in the Sabbath---a beginning of sacred time in She makes a special woven bread called challah. The two strands symbolizes the law and the prophets or again, remember and observe.

One the Sabbath the family attends services and the return to the center of the Sabbath - the home. They bless and pass the bread on the Sabbath. They then fill a cup with wine to overflowing, as a symbol of God's blessing and pass that. The Father may read scriptures or give blessings on the Sabbath. They discuss the week, share stories and sing. 

If we think about the time of the Savior, there is a lot of trouble over the Sabbath. He was often caught up in discussion about doing incorrect actions. He taught the Sabbath was for man not man for the Sabbath, to miss the joy is to miss the meaning of the Sabbath. It takes discipline to prepare of the Sabbath. It is a day when heaven and Earth unite and we can relate with our Father in Heaven. The Sabbath is a feast, the best meal of the week, the poor are welcome to share as is the stranger. By
resting on the Sabbath, we are reminded that we are free-- the Sabbath frees us from our weekly concerns and schedules. During the week we are slaves to our jobs, creditors, to providing for our needs.

In class we discussed the traditions that we have for the Sabbath. One sister shared that growng up in her famly women didn't wear pants on Sunday or in other words they wore Sunday clothes all day to help to remember that it was the Sabbath. Some keep electronics off or only use devices to help us remember the Lord. There is a time to prepare a meal together. It may be a simple meal but it is a time to spend time together and talk with family. Some discuss what they learned in church that day. Some play sacred music all the time. It is a sacrifice to not play sports or attend parties on Sunday, but others see how important it is to us.

1. The Sabbath is a Hallowed, Holy day. To hallow is to : respect, honor, greatly revere, to set apart as holy. To be holy is to be sacred, whole, solemn, set apart, to sanctify, pure.

Ezekiel 20:20 “… hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you,
that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.”

Isaiah 58: 13-14 “…turn away from doing thy own pleasure on my holy day and call
the Sabbath a delight….”

George Albert Smith's mother taught him, “you will be happier if you do not do that”. He  wanted to play ball with his friends on Sunday after church. Rather than say “no you can’t do that”, his mother
encouraged him to think of the Sabbath as a blessing, not a burden and keep it holy.

2. Attending church is an important part of keeping the Sabbath holy.

Moroni 6:5-6---names are taken and we meet to be nourished by the good word of God and to speak of the welfare of our souls.

Matthew 18:20---where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. We need to be together to strengthen and serve each other.

D&C 59:9-15: to keep thyself unspotted from the world, rest from labor and go to house of prayer and pay thy devotions to God. Do it with cheer and a glad heart.

3. Partaking of the emblems of the sacrament is a sacred privilege.

3 Nephi 18:1-12: “if ye do this ye are built upon my rock”

4. Partaking of the sacrament worthily renews and increases our spiritual strength. George Albert Smith  observed that men and women who go from year to year without taking the sacrament “gradually lose the Spirit”

1 Corinthians 11:23-30 reminds us that the sacrament is a time for “a man to examine himself”. George Albert Smith counsels us: hands should be clean, hearts pure, divested of all enmity toward our associates, be at peace with fellow man, have within our hearts a desire to do the will of God and keep his commandments. Take the sacrament with humility.

Thought Questions:

What can you do in your home to show greater reverence for the Sabbath?
How can we help our families see the Sabbath as a blessing (not a burden)?
How would all society benefit from honoring the Sabbath?
What are the benefits you gain from worshipping together each week?
How do you make the ordinance of the sacrament more meaningful?
How can you help your children do this?
What qualifies you to take the sacrament worthily?
How does this increase your spiritual strength each week?

Lesson Summary: September 2nd

Today Catherine shared thoughts about relief society and finding our meaning.

She bagen by posing the question, "What think ye of Christ?" Christ posed this question to the thinkers of the day. How do our thoughts of Christ shape our day and direct our actions.

One venue to come to know Christ and ourselves is the Relief Society, an organization run in conjunction with the priesthood. What is the greatest desire of our Bishop? "That the members of the ward will seek to know from God what next step He wants for them to take and then to have courage to take it."

The Holy Ghost is the only mechanism to come to know this. John 14:26, Moroni 10:5, 2 Nephi 32:5.

When Catherine was in graduate school she desired to take a very challenging semester of courses, which her father advised here not to do. However she felt close to the Spirit and knew it was right and she was successful.

"It is as obligatory upon a woman to draw into her life the virtues that are fostered by the Relief Society as it is an obligation for the men to build into their lives the patterns of character fostered by the priesthood." - Boyd K. Packer

 

We are to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen home and families, assist those in need. The kingpin is the powerr of the relief society.

"There is a power in this organization that has not yet been fully exercised to strengthen the homes of Zion and build the Kingdom of God—nor will it until both the sisters and the priesthood catch the vision of Relief Society." - Spencer W. Kimball

“Cannot you see why the Lord has put it upon the … Relief Society to visit these homes? Because, next to the Master himself, there are none in [the] Church who have a more lovely touch, a more complete understanding of the hearts and the lives of these individuals. -Harold B. Lee

“There are many sisters who are living in rags—spiritual rags. They are entitled to gorgeous robes, spiritual robes. … It is your privilege to go into homes and exchange robes for rags.” - Spencer W. Kimball 

By reaching out and serving others we can see just how much he loves you. One sister shared about an impression she received when a friend in need came to visit to bring together friends to sing hymns of comfort and clear direction.

The Lord's work is light. When we go to provide service and we get momentum to move into the realm of God, overcoming our natural selves, the service feels easy and light.

As you consider the way you want to minister remember the many ways you are a leader, in your families, communities, workplace and elsewhere. See the leadership training http://www.lds.org/service/leadership.

We need to make our visiting teaching a soulful experience that both we and our sisters feel.

There was a special speaker in priesthood today to speak about finding balance in life. This is a good opportunity to discuss with husbands or others about our relationships.

Heather C. has been called to be a counselor in the Relief Society. She recounted a dream in which she was shown a humble shack and told it was her house. While at first dismayed, she then felt that she was grateful and could fix it up. As she worked a man came and asked her what she was doing. When she told him that this was her house he insisted that it was not. He then guided her to a beautiful mansion that was her house. Likewise we are not shacks, but are mansions. When we keep the commandments, feel of Christ in our life and feel his guidance we can recognize that.

Kim H. was called as a counselor in the area of community service and missionary work.The stake is now focusing on service and community service to share the gospel through those means. "The For, brethren, ye have been called unto ^aliberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love ^bserve one another (Gal. 5:13)". The Mormon Helping Hands shows our love for others.

Tori bore her testimony of finding God's desire for our lives. As she prepared for law school she knew it was the right thing, but it was difficult. As she took the LSAT the words of "How Firm a Foundation" came to mind. Through a tumultuous 3 years of law school that hymn and the scriptures from whence they were derived Joshua 1. The Relief Society and visiting teaching have been integral in feeling the support of the Lord.