We are new to Utah. In Indiana when it dumps snow on you there is a lot of grumbling about the mess it has made and how hard it is to get around and how cold it is. Today it dropped enough snow to make the roads slippery and driveways a little treacherous. As I listened to people at church I heard no complaints, but I heard a lot of gratefulness for the moisture. I guess we are behind for the season. It appears that winter is the time we get our moisture into the ground and into the reservoirs. Although I do seem to recall seeing them dumping water down the river out of the reservoir in the fall this year. I have a lot to learn about the area here.
Priesthood Opening
Isaiah 1:15-19
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many aprayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of bblood.
The bishop said that this is the season for giving. He said to keep our eyes open for people that we have means to give to.
Elders' Quorum
Chapter 22: Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths 261–270
"A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge..." (History of the Church, 4:588; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 10, 1842, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Wilford Woodruff. )
Ignorance generally leads to dependence. With knowledge we become independent. With knowledge we are able to lift others and help them become independent.
The BYU motto is Enter to learn, go forth to serve.
Joseph loved knowledge for its righteous power.
It is not wisdom to gain knowledge all at once, but little by little that we may comprehend it.
Sunday School
Book of Mormon Lesson 46: “By Faith All Things Are Fulfilled” 202
Faith and hope are an anchor. It holds us holds us in place. No one can take our faith and hope, but we can give them away.
Ether 12:5-6
5 And it came to pass that Ether did prophesy great and marvelous things unto the people, which they did not believe, because they asaw them not.
What does it mean to have no witness until a trial of our faith.
-We only reach or search for the light when it is sometimes dark.
-Loss of job
-Health problems
-A doctrine issue that is new to us that we come upon.
Brother of Jared was mighty in writing.
Ether 12:26-27
26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: aFools bmock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my cgrace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them.
Sacrament Service
First Speaker
Joshua 24:23-24
23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange agods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.
He talked of him and his wife being prompted that they need to move and go to school in a different town. He said he feels a little like Lehi who was commanded to leave everything behind, take his family, and go. This brother doesn't know where they are going to live or where he is going to work.
Even though we did a much longer move recently and was very nerve racking coming to a new state and finding a house long distance, we did have a job waiting for us.
Second Speaker
A returned missionary that just got back from the South Side of Chicago.
The only thing we have that is our own is our agency.
Gifts we can give to God
-Time - Prayer, scripture study, serving others
-Our weaknesses and burdens-
-Matt 11:28,30
30 For my yoke is aeasy, and my burden is light.
-Ether 12: 27
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my cgrace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them.
-A soul (missionary work) -
-D&C 18: 10
10 Remember the aworth of bsouls is great in the sight of God;
Third Speaker - Stake High Councilman
He talked of his admiration for Christmas movies. He referenced a few of them.
-The Grinch - "No one should be alone on Christmas" -
-Matt. 25: 40, 45-A Christmas Carol - Scrooge goes to his nephew and asks if he can have Christmas dinner with him. Instead of scorning Scrooge for having been so mean to him he forgives him and takes him right in. -
- Doctrine and Covenants 64:10
10 I, the Lord, will aforgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to bforgive all men.
-It's a Wonderful Life - The main character has a wonderful life, but doesn't know it.
-Doctrine and Covenants 84:33,38
33 For whoso is afaithful unto the obtaining these two bpriesthoods of which I have spoken, and the cmagnifying their calling, are dsanctified by the Spirit unto the erenewing of their bodies.
- We give Him our will and He gives us all he has.
From the Bulletin:
The Best Christmas Ever - By President Thomas S. Monson
Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interesting in people than things. To catch the real meaning of the "spirit of Christmas" we need only to drop the last syllable, and it becomes the "Spirit of Christ." In the early 1930's Margaret Kisilevich and her sister Nellie gave a Christmas gift to their neighbors, the Kozicki family, which was remembered by them all their lives and which has become an inspiration to their families.
Home to Margaret back then was Two Hills, Alberta, Canada - a farming community. Margaret and Nellie decided to invite the Kozicki family, by the way of the children, for Christmas dinner. They also decided not to tell anyone in their family of the invitation. Their father was th first to notice a team of horses and a sleigh packed with 13 people coming down their lane. He, being a horse lover, could recognize a team from a long distance. He asked his wife, "Why are the Kozicki coming here?" Her response to him was, "I don't know." The adults ate first and then the plates and cutlery were washed, and the children ate in shifts. It was a glorious feast, made better by the sharing of it. After everyone had eaten, they sang Christmas carols together, and then the adults settled dow for another chat Margaret and Nellie took the children into the bedroom and pulled from under the beds several boxes filled with hand-me-downs they had been given by their mother's merchant friends. It was was heavenly chaos, with an instant fashion show and everyone picking whatever clothes and footwear they wanted. Early in the afternoon, before it got too cold and dark with the setting sun, Margaret's family bid farewell to their friends, who left well fed, well clothed, and well shod.
If we are to have the very best Christmas ever, we must listen for the sound of sandaled feet. We must reach out for the Carpenter's hand. With every step we take in His footsteps, we abandon a doubt and gain a truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment