Church Services This Week at Weber Heights Stake Conference Ogden Utah 16-17 March 2013

Adult Session of Stake Conference
Luke 22:32 - is the theme of this stake conference.
32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

"A testimony is spiritual knowledge of truth obtained by the power of the Holy Ghost. Continuing conversion is constant devotion to the revealed truth we have received—with a heart that is willing and for righteous reasons. Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. We should know the gospel is true and be true to the gospel." (Elder David A Bednar, Converted unto the Lord, October 2012 General Conference)


Things to teach our children to help them be converted.
1. They are children of God.
2. He has a plan for us.
3. He can be trusted.

It is important that our children know who to follow, God or Satan.

"Faith is not bravado, not just a wish, not just a hope. True faith is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—confidence and trust in Jesus Christ that leads a person to follow Him." (Dennis E. Simmons, “But If Not …,” Ensign, May 2004, 73)

Faith is more than mental consent.

"Consider, for example, the Savior’s benediction upon his disciples even as he moved toward the pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary. On that very night, the night of the greatest suffering that has ever taken place in the world or that ever will take place, the Savior said, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid’ (John 14:27).

“I submit to you, that may be one of the Savior’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed;" (Elder Jeffrey R Holland, Come Unto Me, Ensign, April 1998)


"We are all invited to follow Jesus’s teachings and to minister to others. This invitation is not limited to angelic sisters. As I share a few everyday examples of members who have learned to first observe and then serve, listen for the teachings of Jesus they illustrate." (Linda K Burton, RS General President, “First Observer, Then Serve”, General Conference, October 2012)


We are called to minister, to sheppard, and...

Sorry, I missed the last thing we are called to do and I can't find anyone who remembers. I was trying to type and it went by too fast.


We are full time finders for the full time missionaries.

Elder Wynn R Dewsnup, an Area Seventy spoke to us.


He said that he heard one of the brethren say that "Preach My Gospel" will be used until the final minutes of this dispensation.


The Twelve in Jesus's day had been taught by the Savior for maybe just over 12 months. Elder Dewsnup said to contrast that with the 50 years that President Monson has been an apostle. Must have been very overwhelming to the original Twelve.


When Peter denied Christ he had not yet received to gift of the Holy Ghost.

General Session of Stake Conference
"We promise that as you keep the covenants you have made and these standards, you will be blessed with the companionship of the Holy Ghost, your faith and testimony will grow stronger, and you will enjoy increasing happiness. " - For the Strength of Youth


The new youth curriculum encourages more participation. Previously they would ask the kids questions and move on and now they ask a question and wait for an answer as long as it takes.


The new curriculum for youth is like a spider's web that the youth can cling to and grasp concepts they need to survive and grow.


John 17:3
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.


We are here on earth to be prove and to re-establish our relationship with Heavenly Father.


Pray with purpose. Discuss your life's opportunities with God.


Read the scriptures everyday. We become what we think about.


Only read your scriptures on days that you eat.


Attend our meetings and prepare beforehand to attend our meetings.


The Sacrament is our weekly interview with the Father and the Son.
But what I desire to point attention to is the fact that revelation is not restricted to the prophet of God on earth. The visions of eternity are not reserved for Apostles—they are not reserved for the General Authorities. Revelation is something that should be received by every individual.” (Bruce R McConkie, How to Get Personal Revelation, Teaching Seminary Preservice Readings Religion 370, 471, and 475, (2004), 47–50)

Father will be as involved in our lives as we allow Him to be.

Are we seeking to be the type of individual that Father would have us be?

People are constantly trying to find some new thing to make them happy. The only way to be happy is by being obedient to the principles Father has given us. That is why it is called the plan of happiness.

If you want to learn something and remember it well repetition is a good method. Children are often taught that way. We also go through repetition in the sacrament derive each week.


Helaman 5:12
12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. - find scripture


1 Timothy 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;


Do we see this this going on around us? People who have left the ways of God and seem to have no conscience? Do we see this within ourselves? Do we continue on in our favorite sin with our own agenda and dull our conscience.


2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.


Surely we see all these things around us, but do we see them in ourselves. Do we love pleasure more than God? The things we watch or listen to, do they put our entertainment above our allegiance to God?


We can no longer survive on borrowed testimony.


Testimonies are like muscles. If they are not exercised they atrophy and die.


Our commitment needs to be into the deepest part of us. If it were possible even in our DNA.


President Vaughn J. Featherstone (Temple statement for Utah South Area - Given in the Manti Temple April 1987) promised if members of the Church would spend half a day in the Temple each month the following blessings would result:

1. A man would become mighty, and a woman powerful.
2. It would serve as great "insurance protection" for your marriage.
3. The blessings of the eternal God will be called down upon you, and great spiritual growth will be yours.
4. Unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when Satanic forces tempt them.
5. Your families will draw close to the Lord and there will be no empty chairs in the Celestial Kingdom.
6. Your children will go on missions.
7. Your children will get married in the temple.
8. The veil will be thin, you will have spiritual growth, and many spiritual experiences will distill upon you.
9. You will be prepared for exaltation-with a celestial body, a celestial mind and a celestial personality.
10. You will become receptive to divine guidance and receive spiritual perception to help you grapple with your problems and cares.11. You will see clearly how to make critical decisions that weigh heavily on your mind.

Church Services This Week at Sullivan Hollow Second Ward Weber Heights Stake Ogden Utah 10 March 2013

Elders Quorum

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow Chapter 5

What is the purpose of the full time missionaries' calling?

• To teach, not to find
• To suppose us in our missionary work.
• To proclaim that Jesus is the Christ.
• To make sure. That no effort goes wasted with any of Father's children.

Sunday School

Doctrine and Covenants 25

Even though this section was given to Emma Smith, we are told in verse 16 that it is for all.

16 And verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my voice unto all. Amen.

Verse 2 - Very similar to other places where the Lord says that the righteous will prosper in the land.

Verse 3 - What does it mean to be elect?  This is related to the word election.

“The elect are chosen even “before the foundation of the world,” yet no one is unconditionally elected to eternal life. Each must, for himself, hearken to the gospel and receive its ordinances and covenants from the hands of the servants of the Lord in order to obtain salvation. If one is elected but does not serve, his election could be said to have been in vain, as Paul expressed in 2 Cor. 6:1.” (Bible Dictionary Election)

Verse 4 - Murmuring doesn't get us anywhere.  We may think it makes us feel better, but it just burrs us up and keeps us discontented.

Verse 5 - What was Emma's calling at this time?  To be his wife and a comfort and a support.

Verse 7 - Were Emma's assignments,to expound scriptures and to exhort the church, normal things that women did in the early to mid 1800s?

We read part of the preface to the hymn book.

We should fill our homes with worthy music.

Sacrament Service

You will get more out of the lesson if you read the lesson sometime before class.

"There are … many members of the Church who are lax and careless and who continually procrastinate. They live the gospel casually but not devoutly. They have complied with some requirements but are not valiant. They do no major crime but merely fail to do the things required—things like paying tithing, living the Word of Wisdom, having family prayers, fasting, attending meetings, serving. …

… The Lord will not translate one’s good hopes and desires and intentions into works. Each of us must do that for himself. …

Only the valiant will be exalted and receive the highest degree of glory, hence ‘many are called, but few are chosen.’ (D&C 121:40.) As the Savior put it, ‘… strait is the gate, and narrow the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.’ And conversely, ‘… wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.’ (Matt. 7:13, 14.)" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, Chapter 1, “To Live With Him Someday”)

Matthew 11

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Look at your schedule and find where you can allocate time for personal study.

"We can so live that we can call upon the Lord for His protection and guidance. This is a first priority. We cannot expect His help if we are unwilling to keep His commandments." (President Gordon B Hinckley, OCTOBER 2005 General Conference, IF YE ARE PREPARED YE SHALL NOT FEAR)

The reason we can not expect his help is that things work a certain way and if we are not doing the instructions he has given us, we can’t expect it to work.  He wants to help us, but we have to do things the way things work.

"Seeking for and obtaining a testimony of spiritual truth requires asking, seeking, and knocking (see Matthew 7:7; 3 Nephi 14:7) with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in the Savior (see Moroni 10:4)."

Asking, seeking, and knocking should be done persistently.

1 Corinthians 13:12

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

In this life we only see a small glimpse of what reality is.  With the veil between us and Heavenly Father, we can barely make out bits and pieces.  He gives us instructions to fill in the gaps and we must seek to thin the fog by drawing closer and closer to him.

"As children, we learned how to keep darkness away by turning on a light. Sometimes, when our parents went away for the evening, we would turn on every light in the house! We understood the physical law that is also a spiritual law: light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

Light dispels darkness. When light is present, darkness is vanquished and must depart. More importantly, darkness cannot conquer light unless the light is diminished or departs. When the spiritual light of the Holy Ghost is present, the darkness of Satan departs." (Elder Robert D Hales, Out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light, April 2002 General Conference)

"“The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart! …

“… Let honesty, and sobriety, and candor, and solemnity, and virtue, and pureness, and meekness, and simplicity crown our heads in every place; and in fine, become as little children, without malice, guile or hypocrisy. And now, brethren, after your tribulations, if you do these things, and exercise fervent prayer and faith in the sight of God always, He shall give unto you knowledge by His Holy Spirit, yea by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost [see D&C 121:26]." (History of the Church, 3:295–96; paragraph divisions altered; from a letter from Joseph Smith and others to Edward Partridge and the Church, Mar. 20, 1839, Liberty Jail, Liberty, Missouri; parts of this letter were later included in the Doctrine and Covenants as sections 121, 122, and 123)

""When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave." (Joseph Smith, The King Follett Sermon, April 7, 1844)

Church Services This Week at Sullivan Hollow Second Ward Weber Heights Stake Ogden Utah 3 March 2013

First hour I was helping in primary while the women had a visiting teaching conference or something like that.

Sunday School
The restored church was officially organized on April 6, 1830.

What events happened between the first vision and 1830 that prepared the earth and also Joseph Smith for the organization of the church?

How did the coming forth of the Book of Mormon prepare for the organization of the church?
Section heading Doctrine and Covenants 20, “The Book of Mormon proves the divinity of the latter-day work”

The Book of Mormon and the Bible support each other.

Often the words of the Bible are taken to mean different things.

The Church was first called The Church of Christ, but the Lord set forth the more specific name of the Church.

From the Bulletin
A testimony is spiritual knowledge of truth obtained by the power of the Holy Ghost. Continuing conversion is constant devotion to the revealed truth we have received—with a heart that is willing and for righteous reasons. (Elder David A Bednar, Converted unto the Lord, October 2012 General Conference)