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.”
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“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.”
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“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.
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