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 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)
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