Sunday, August 28, 2016

Church Services This Week at Elkhart Second Ward South Bend Stake Elkhart Indiana 28 August 2016

Sacrament Service
One of the speakers spoke of three prophets Elijah, Enoch, and Lorenzo Snow.

A sister that moved here from Green Bay Wisconsin spoke to us about her conversion.

She and her husband served as missionaries in Oklahoma on a genealogy mission.

She talked about taking pictures of records in a courthouse in Oklahoma.

Alma 32:21
21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.

“...can be told that faith—the kind of faith that moves one to get on his knees and plead with the Lord and then get on his feet and go to work—is an asset beyond compare, even in the acquisition of secular knowledge. I do not minimize the need for study and labor. I would add to these faith and prayer, with the sacred promise that “God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost.“ (Gordon B. Hinckley, “God Shall Give unto You Knowledge by His Holy Spirit”, BYU Speeches Sep 25, 197)

“Knowing that service is what gives our Father in Heaven fulfillment, and knowing that we want to be where He is and as He is, why must we be commanded to serve one another? Oh, for the glorious day when these things all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts. In that day there will be no need for a commandment because we will have experienced for ourselves that we are truly happy only when we are engaged in unselfish service. Let us use the freedom which comes from self-reliance in giving and serving.” (Elder Marion G Romney, The Celestial Nature of Self-reliance, October 1982 General Conference)

A sister spoke on keeping our faith, even though we may feel that our prayers are not being answered.

“The trouble with most of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the telephone and ordering groceries—we place our order and hang up. We need to meditate, contemplate, [and] think of what we are praying about and for.” (President Gordon B Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 469)

She said that our prayers are always answered, just not in the way we are looking for or the way we want.

We need to pray for those in our stewardship and we need to learn how to pray. We cannot pray away someone else's agency.

She said we can learn a lot from the hymns about prayer.

3 Nephi 11-20 has lots of Christ's prayers.

Sunday School
I ended up visiting with an old friend that was returning to activity in the hall during Sunday school.

Elders Quorum
The lesson was based on Elder Gerrit W. Gong’s April 2016 conference talk, Always Remember Him

We accidentally watched a video from Elder Holland's conference talk “Always Remember Him“

Elder Gong had several points in the talk on how to always remember:
  1. Confidence in covenants
  2. Acknowledge his hand in your life
  3. Trust in repentance
  4. Remember that he always welcomes you home
  5. The sacrament
  6. Remember be anyway remembers us

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Church Services This Week at Oak Ridge Ward Layton North Stake Layton Utah 21 August 2016

Sacrament Service
From the Bulletin:
Article of Faith 11
11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

A missionary spoke to us that recently returned from a mission.

If we are to receive guidance from the spirit, then we have to learn to hear the spirit and learn the heed what the spirit says.

Joshua 3:5
 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

Sunday School
Book of Mormon lesson 29
A brother in the group shared that it was President Monson birthday today.  He said he was in the military with President Monson. President Monson married this brother and his wife in the temple.  His secretary told president Monson that he couldn't make it and president Monson told his secretary that his secretary probably hasn't been in the navy, so did not understand being there for his shipmates.

A testimony is a lifelong work and takes effort.

“If it were not for the perfect, sinless life of the Savior, which He willingly laid down for us, there could be no remission of sins.
                       
“Therefore, repentance means more than simply a reformation of behavior. Many men and women in the world demonstrate great willpower and self-discipline in overcoming bad habits and the weaknesses of the flesh. Yet at the same time they give no thought to the Master, sometimes even openly rejecting Him. Such changes of behavior, even if in a positive direction, do not constitute true repentance.

“Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which sincere and meaningful repentance must be built. If we truly seek to put away sin, we must first look to Him who is the Author of our salvation.“ (Ezra Taft Benson, “A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign, Oct. 1989, 2)

We must frequently talk to our children about the gospel and not just assume they are getting it.

“You have an alarm system built into both body and spirit. In your body it is pain; in your spirit it is guilt—or spiritual pain. While neither pain nor guilt is pleasant, and an excess of either can be destructive, both are a protection, for they sound the alarm ‘Don’t do that again!’
                   
“Be grateful for both. If the nerve endings in your hands were altered so that you couldn’t feel pain, you might put them in fire or machinery and destroy them. In your teenage heart of hearts, you know right from wrong. (See 2 Ne. 2:5.) Learn to pay attention to that spiritual voice of warning within you. Even then, you will not get by without some mistakes.” (Elder Boyd K Packer, To Young Men and Women, General Conference April 1989)

”The joy that follows the remission of sins comes from the Spirit of the Lord. (See Mosiah 4:3, 20.) It is a fulfillment of the Lord’s promise that “I will impart unto you of my Spirit, … which shall fill your soul with joy.” (D&C 11:13.) As the Apostle Paul taught, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.” (Gal. 5:22.) It comes in the same way to everyone—to rich and poor, to the prominent and the obscure. In conferring his greatest gift of mercy through the Atonement, God is not a respecter of persons.” (Elder Dallin H Oaks, Joy and Mercy, General Conference October 1991)

Elders Quorum
Teachings of Presidents Howard W Hunter chapter 13
2 Nephi 6:14

“Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.
Whenever the Lord has had a people on the earth who will obey his word, they have been commanded to build temples in which the ordinances of the gospel and other spiritual manifestations that pertain to exaltation and eternal life may be administered. In cases of extreme poverty or emergency, these ordinances may sometimes be done on a mountaintop (see D&C 124: 37-55). This may be the case with Mount Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration. The tabernacle erected by Moses was a type of portable temple, since the Israelites were traveling in the wilderness.“(Temple, Bible Dictionary

How do you encourage others to go to the temple?
-Go yourself.
-Take others with you.
-Get a babysitter and let them know where you are going.
-Bring up that you went to the temple in daily conversations.

The teacher recommended the book Pure in Heart by Elder Oaks.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Church Services This Week at Oak Ridge Ward Layton North Stake Layton Utah 14 August 2016

Stake Priesthood Meeting
A counselor in the stake presidency spoke to us.
Doctrine and Covenants 84:34
34 They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.

Doctrine and Covenants 84:38
38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's Kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.

Inventory with our wives and grown children how we are doing at spending time each week to prepare our children for the onslaught the adversary is preparing.

The other counselor in the stake presidency spoke to us.

We need to move from priesthood authority to priesthood power.

I fear that there are too many priesthood bearers who have done little or nothing to develop their ability to access the powers of heaven. I worry about all who are impure in their thoughts, feelings, or actions or who demean their wives or children, thereby cutting off priesthood power.“ (President Russell M Nelson,  The Price of Priesthood Power, April 2016 General Conference)

Pride turns off priesthood power. Humility turns it back on.

What is the price to develop such priesthood power? The Savior’s senior Apostle, Peter—that same Peter who with James and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery8—declared qualities we should seek to ‘be partakers of the divine nature.’9 “ (President Russell M Nelson,  The Price of Priesthood Power, April 2016 General Conference)

We should be thoughtful and careful.

The stake president spoke to us.

2 Nephi 28:19-21
19 For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish;
20 For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

As we seriously study we will better understand priesthood power

Doctrine and Covenants 84:33
33 For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.

Go nowhere that your priesthood can't go with you.

The tough part of that reality, however, is that for Him to give you that increased power you must go in service and faith to your outer limits. “ (President Henry B Eyring, O Ye That Embark, October 2008 General Conference)

Sacrament Service
The youth speaker spoke on agency and accountability.

We can choose what we want to do, but we cannot choose the consequences of our choices.

Agency and accountability go hand in hand.  Many glory in being able to make their own choices, but many also try very hard to remove the consequences of those choices.

He never said it would be easy, only that it would be worth it.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

A member of the stake young men presidency spoke to us.

The beauty of the gospel is that it is not subjective. Our standard is always the same.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:18-21
 18 Therefore, it must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory;
 19 For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father;
 20 That bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified.
 21 And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.

Moses 1:39
39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

I hate to just attribute a quote to a person without knowing where they stated it, but the speaker attributed the next one to Elder Holland and I seem to remember him saying it as well.  I just don’t know where, so if anyone has a link to the talk he gave it in, I will cite it here.

The future of this world has long been declared; the final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team’s jersey we want to wear!”

A stake high councilor spoke to us.

Video - “You Can't Close My Heart “

On June 14, 1989, the government of Ghana banned all activities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the country. Foreign missionaries were sent home, meetinghouses were locked, and Church members were forced to keep a low profile during this time, which came to be known as the ‘freeze.’”
“The Church authorized members to hold meetings in their homes. Sundays were spent singing hymns, reading scriptures, and partaking of the sacrament in families and small groups.”
“Active and dedicated home and visiting teachers also played an essential role in holding the Ghanaian members of the Church together during the freeze. Newer converts remained in contact with fellow worshippers thanks to these important visits. Members began to realize that though the physical presence of the Church was missing, they were still enjoying the blessings of living the gospel.”

Doctrine and Covenants 93:19
19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.

“In other words, true and perfect worship consists in following in the steps of the Son of God; it consists in keeping the commandments and obeying the will of the Father to that degree that we advance from grace to grace until we are glorified in Christ as he is in his Father. It is far more than prayer and sermon and song. It is living and doing and obeying. It is emulating the life of the great Exemplar.”
...
“To worship the Lord is to follow after him, to seek his face, to believe his doctrine, and to think his thoughts.
           
“It is to walk in his paths, to be baptized as Christ was, to preach that gospel of the kingdom which fell from his lips, and to heal the sick and raise the dead as he did.” (Bruce R McConkie, “How To Worship”, General Conference October 1971)

Sunday School
Book of Mormon lesson 28
“The great enemy of charity is pride. Pride is one of the biggest reasons marriages and families struggle. Pride is short-tempered, unkind, and envious. Pride exaggerates its own strength and ignores the virtues of others. Pride is selfish and easily provoked. Pride assumes evil intent where there is none and hides its own weaknesses behind clever excuses. Pride is cynical, pessimistic, angry, and impatient. Indeed, if charity is the pure love of Christ, then pride is the defining characteristic of Satan.” (President Dieter F Uchtdorf, “In Praise Those Who Save”, April 2016 General Conference)

Alma 32
This chapter has a hypothesis, has an experiment, and makes some conclusions.

Elders Quorum
Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Howard W Hunter Chapter 12
Drinking water on the surface is not satisfying. The taste is bland. There are no calories. Yet, when we really drink it in we feel how good it is deeply, even though at first look there is nothing appealing over other drinks.

Sunday, August 07, 2016

Church Services This Week at Oak Ridge Ward Layton North Stake Layton Utah 7 August 2016

From the bulletin
2 Nephi 4:15
15 And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.

Sacrament Service
The sabbath has a different spirituality than other days of the week. We should take advantage of that the sabbath is different.

Sunday School
Book of Mormon lesson 27
What is the effect of counterfeit money on an economy and on individuals. What is the effect of a counterfeit gospel on the world, on the country, and on individuals?

Many counterfeit gospels don't always claim to be gospels and yet people follow them as gospel.  Things like atheism, extreme environmentalism, and other extreme activist ideas.

Corrihor attacked the history of forefathers, who perhaps the people never knew. He tried to stir up doubts about those that went before to make the people doubt their religion, to get them to forget their own personal revelation. We see the same today with attacks on early church leaders and it causes some to doubt what they have already received from the Holy Ghost.

Elders Quorum
Russell M Nelson, The Price of Priesthood Power, General Conference April 2016
Our priesthood is incomplete without our wives.

We as priesthood holders generally do not take it seriously.

We always have to be diligent, because we are never safe from the adversary, no matter how far along in our study of the gospel we are.

The day star referred to in 2 Peter is Christ.
 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

The word of God is referred to as an iron rod. Why iron? Iron is common and not precious to the world like gold. Iron is durable and take a lot of work to mold it. It takes hard work from us to keep ourselves attached to that rod.