Church Services This Week at Sullivan Hollow Second Ward Weber Heights Stake Ogden Utah 9-21-08

Announcements:

• The general Relief Society meeting will be on Saturday, September 27, 2008, at 6:00 p.m., mountain daylight time.
• General Conference will be held October 4-5. The priesthood session will be shown at our stake center.

Priesthood Opening
Mosiah 18:9-10

9 Yea, and are ^awilling to mourn with those that ^bmourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as ^cwitnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the ^dfirst resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being ^abaptized in the ^bname of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a ^ccovenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

Elders' Quorum
Chapter 17: The Great Plan of Salvation p.206–16

1 Nephi 13 talks of many plain and precious things that were taken from the scriptures, that would become the Bible, after the apostles died. One example that was given in the lesson of things that had been altered or removed was Hebrews 6:1, which reads: "1 Therefore ^aleaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto ^bperfection; not laying again the foundation of ^crepentance from dead works, and of faith toward God

Leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ does not let us go on unto perfection. Joseph Smith said that the work not had been removed from before the word leaving to have it read"1 Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God."

We talked about why God gives us things without giving us everything. For example, details about the spirit world we lived in before we came to Earth. A couple of points came to my mind when as we talked about it that I include here below.

1. The Bible states "In the beginning..." This is the beginning of the Earth, not the beginning of everything. So the things that God reveals to us generally have to deal with Earth life and how we are supposed to get through it and a small bit about what is to come after this life. The things in the scriptures are generally for this finite experience.
   
2. I have not yet studied particle physics because I'm not ready yet. I have not studied all of the preparatory things I need to be able to understand those more advanced things. Perhaps as I learn more about the things I need to learn in my life and I learn more of the basic things of particle physics I may study more about advanced things. For right now, me knowing or not knowing all about particle physics does not help me achieve my life goals.
3. I am a convert to the Church. When I first joined the Church some things confused me and even shook my testimony because I didn't understand basic doctrines. Many of those things are doctrines that today I feel are very simple and easy to understand.

Sunday School
Book of Mormon Lesson 36: “On the Morrow Come I into the World” p.160
3 Nephi 1-7
The teacher shared a story about two guys that could somehow see evil spirits. They went to this city and the one guy stated that the city must be a very righteous city since he had only seen one devil there. The other guy knew more about the city said that the city was so wicked that it only took one devil to keep it in subjection. They came upon a man that was surrounded by seven large devils. The first man stated that he must be a very wicked man. The second man who knew the man with the devils around him stated that he was the only righteous man in the city and it took seven of the strongest devils to try to tempt him and they still could not slow down his works of righteousness.

We talked about Samuel the Lamanite prophesying about the signs that would be given to signify the birth of Christ.

3 Nephi 1:5-7, 9

5 But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were ^aspoken by Samuel, the Lamanite.

6 And they began to ^arejoice over their brethren, saying: Behold the time is past, and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled; therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain.

7 And it came to pass that they did make a great uproar throughout the land; and the people who believed began to be very sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken might not come to pass.
9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the ^aunbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be ^bput to death except the ^csign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.

The nonbelievers were:

1. Telling the people that the time had past.
2. Creating a great uproar that the prophesies were not true.
3. Condemning the believers to be put to death if the sign didn't come by a certain date.

We should endure to the end even when the opposition feels overwhelming. We should fall back on our foundation of the things that we have already struggled with and know to be true. Once we have a testimony of something that the spirit has shared with us we should not let others make us forget where we have been and what we have learned from our experiences.

Even though the signs had been given and they were wonderous still Satan was able to get people to teach the people that the signs were not a sign from God, but there was some other explanation.
3 Nephi 1
22 And it came to pass that from this time forth there began to be ^alyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those ^bsigns and wonders which they had seen; but notwithstanding these lyings and deceivings the ^cmore part of the people did believe, and were converted unto the Lord.

The harder you work at collecting light and knowledge when you have it, the more you can see during the dark times.

Sacrament Meeting
First Speaker
A missionary that just returned from a mission to Eugene Oregon.

He talked of being of service to others.

He quoted from Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk “Witnesses unto Me”.

"As the resurrected Jesus concluded His earthly ministry, He gave this paramount charge to His Apostles and those who would follow them:

'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' 1

'Ye shall receive power, … and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.' 2"

He talked about being a missionary through living the gospel.
"Above all else we can live the gospel. Surely there is no more powerful missionary message we can send to this world than the example of a loving and happy Latter-day Saint life. The manner and bearing, the smile and kindness of a faithful member of the Church brings a warmth and an outreach which no missionary tract or videotape can convey."

It is our job to create an atmosphere where the spirit can teach. Serving others is a good way to create such an atmosphere.

Matt. 25: 40
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have ^adone it unto one of the ^bleast of these my ^cbrethren, ye have done it unto me.

Second Speaker
He spoke of enduring to the end.

1. 2 Ne. 32: 9
   9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must ^apray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall ^bpray unto the Father in the ^cname of Christ, that he will ^dconsecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the ^ewelfare of thy soul.
2. Ancient battles lasted we hand to hand combat and lasted for many hours or even all day. If you lacked endurance, no matter your skill with the sword, you would lose.

Do we apply the gospel as a matter of process or as a matter of dedication?

From the Bulletin:
"How do you involve God?" You ask. - Unknown

In happy moments, praise God.
In difficult moments, seek God.
In quiet moments, worship God.
In painful moments, trust God.
And in every moment, thank God. - Anonymous

President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency: "The purpose of God’s creations and of His giving us life is to allow us to have the learning experience necessary for us to come back to Him, to live with Him in eternal life. That is only possible if we have our natures changed through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, true repentance, and making and keeping the covenants He offers all of His Father’s children through His Church." (Education for Real Life, Ensign, October 2002, 16).

We can make things so much easier.
Elder L. Tom Perry, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stated "First, we need to be obedient to the laws of the Lord. This is one of the first lessons taught to Adam and Eve: obedience brings faith. It brings forth the blessings of heaven. Disobedience brings forth heartache and despair. (D&C 82:10)

Following the law of obedience comes the requirement to give of ourselves in service to our Father in Heaven's children. Sacrificing what we have to benefit our brothers and sisters is the crowning test of the gospel. One of the purposes of the mortal experience is to see if we will follow the Savior's counsel to "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33).