From the Bulletin
Joseph Smith History 1:17
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
Sacrament Service
A sister that recently returned from a mission to Tonga spoke to us.
It is a law in Tonga to observe the sabbath. No swimming on the sabbath. No shops can open.
Matthew 22:36-39
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Moroni 7:48
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
“Charity, like faith, leads to action.” (Preach My Gospel, Chapter 6)
Moroni 8:16
16 Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear.
When we have Christ like love we worry about others instead of ourselves.
Moroni 7:47
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
A high councilman spoke to us on family history work and Elijah.
“This restoration was accompanied by what is sometimes called the Spirit of Elijah—a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family. Hence, people throughout the world, regardless of religious affiliation, are gathering records of deceased relatives at an ever-increasing rate.”(Elder Russell M. Nelson, “A New Harvest Time”, April 1998 General Conference)
He talked about the New Family History Center in Layton.
The high councilman that spoke also talked a bit about the history of Francis Peak that is east of Kaysville. I think it is the one with the two white spheres on top of it. He said that someone he met, a neighbor or something, said that it was named after one of his ancestors.
Sunday School
Dnc 4
We shouldn't wait until we have all the knowledge of everything to share the gospel and the doctrines of the Church.
As members of the Church, don't shelter ourselves from others.
Avoid contention. Use mildness and meekness when we teach.
Open your mouth and it will be filled.
Elders Quorum
My lesson on Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Gordon B Hinckley, Chapter 6, “How Mighty a Thing Is Prayer”
This is what I prepared and then things went another way.
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First paragraph of From the Life of President Hinckley
“‘None of us can really make it alone,’ said President Gordon B. Hinckley. ‘We need help, the kind of help that can come in answer to prayer.’ President Hinckley practiced this principle in the decisions he faced as President of the Church. Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said of him: ‘He is a bright man with extraordinary judgment, but when he comes up against an insoluble problem, he goes to his knees.’”
What do you think about that?
How long does it take us to realize we have an insoluble problem and take it to the Lord?
Next Paragraph
“President Hinckley and his wife, Marjorie, also practiced this principle in their home. Their son Richard said: ‘I can’t remember a day when we didn’t have family prayer. When it was his turn, Dad prayed very sincerely but never with a theatrical or emotional air. We learned much about the depth of his faith by listening to him pray. He addressed God with great reverence, as he would perhaps a wise and revered teacher or mentor, and he referred to the Savior with deep feeling. As a child I knew they were real persons to him—that he loved and revered them.’ 3 Marjorie observed: ‘I think family prayer had a great deal to do with the way our children responded to us. Even though Gordon didn’t preach to them, they heard everything we wanted them to hear in family prayer.’ 4”
I find it tough to not rush through family prayer. What are your experiences with that?
2nd paragraph under section 1 on Page 109
“Never forget who you are. . . . You are in very deed a child of God. . . . He is your Eternal Father. He loves you. You can go to Him in prayer. He has invited you to do so. . . . What a wonderful thing this is. He is the Greatest of All. He is the Creator and Governor of the universe. And yet He will listen to your prayer! 9”
Do we really believe that we are a personal child of God or does it not seem real as there are billions of us here on Earth?
Have you felt the power of the Creator and Governor of the universe taking time to make miracles in your life?
Further down in that section he says:
“I offer a plea that each of us will seek to live closer to the Lord and to commune with Him more frequently and with increased faith.”
Last paragraph before section 2 on page 110
“The marvelous thing about prayer is that it is personal, it’s individual,
it’s something that no one else gets into, in terms of your
speaking with your Father in Heaven in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Be prayerful. Ask the Lord to forgive your sins. Ask the Lord
for help. Ask the Lord to bless you. Ask the Lord to help you realize
your righteous ambitions. . . . Ask the Lord for all of the important
things that mean so much to you in your lives. He stands ready to
help. Don’t ever forget it.13”
Since prayer is personal, I will now ask all of you to think about something personal about pray to share publically right now.
First paragraph under section 2 on page 110
“There needs to be a new emphasis on honesty, character, and
integrity in our time. Only as we build again into the fiber of our
lives the virtues that are the essence of true civilization will the pattern
of our times change. The question that confronts us is, Where
shall we begin?”
This is how we become men. We constantly strengthen our character and integrity and continually rededicate ourselves to that work. So where do we begin? How do we start that process and what does that process look like?
Last paragraph on page 110 through fifth paragraph on page 111
“I submit that a return to the old pattern of prayer, family prayer in the homes of the people, is one of the basic medications that
would check the dread disease that is eroding the character of our society. We could not expect a miracle in a day, but in a generation we would have a miracle. . . .
“There is something in the very posture of kneeling that contradicts the attitudes described by Paul: ‘proud . . . heady, highminded.’
“There is something in the very practice of father and mother and children kneeling together that evaporates others of those qualities he described: ‘disobedient to parents, . . . without natural affection.’
“There is something in the act of addressing Deity that offsets a tendency toward blasphemy and toward becoming lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. [See 2 Timothy 3:1–4.]
“The inclination to be unholy, as Paul described it, to be unthankful, is erased as together family members thank the Lord for life and peace and all they have. And as they thank the Lord for one another, there is developed within the family a new appreciation, a new respect, a new affection one for another. . . .
“In remembering together before the Lord the poor, the needy, and the oppressed, there is developed, unconsciously but realistically, a love for others above self, a respect for others, a desire to serve the needs of others. One cannot ask God to help a neighbor in distress without feeling motivated to do something oneself toward helping that neighbor. What miracles would happen in the lives of the children of the world if they would lay aside their own selfishness and lose themselves in the service of others. The seed from which this sheltering and fruitful tree may grow is best planted and nurtured in the daily supplications of the family. . . .”
Have you found any of this to be true in your family with your family prayers?
Paragraph that start on the bottom of page 111 and goes
“I was touched . . . by the heartbreaking statement of a young [missionary]. He said, ‘I have been here for months. I can’t learn the language. I dislike the people. I am depressed by day and weep at night. I wanted to die. I wrote my mother and pleaded for an excuse to return home. I have her reply. She says: “We’re praying for you. There is not a day passes that all of us do not kneel together in the morning before we eat and in the evening before we retire and plead with the Lord for his blessing upon you. We have added fasting to our prayer, and when your younger brothers and sisters pray they say, ‘Heavenly Father, bless Johnny . . . and help him to learn the language and do the work he was called to do.’”’
“This young man then went on to say through his tears, ‘I will try again. I will add my prayers to theirs and my fasting to their fasting.’ “
“Now, four months later, I have a letter from him in which he says, ‘A miracle has happened. The language has come to me as a gift from the Lord. I have learned to love the people in this beautiful land. God be thanked for the prayers of my family.’”
Drawing on the powers of heaven.
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This is what we ended up talking about:
Before class started I felt like I should ask the class for synonyms for the word prayer. Words or phrases that aren’t necessarily dictionary definitions for prayer, but definitions that are what prayer is synonymous with to us personally.
We also talked about speaking with respect in our prayers is critical for them to be productive.
Someone brought up not bringing trivial things into your prayers. Then we had a discussion to explore if there was value in the trivial. There were some thoughts that as long as respect is present there was nothing trivial. Additionally, some expressed that there could be value in praying for the trivial in that it may be something that is weighing on us and there is value in talking it out with Father. Perhaps, he will help us get to the bottom of what is really bothering us or perhaps the discussion with Him will lead to something else we are not expecting, but our heartfelt prayer allowed the conversation to get started.
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