Sacrament Service
First Speaker
Mosiah 3:19
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
When we receive criticism, resist the temptation to burr up against it. Also, resist the temptation to get depressed by it.
John 8:30-31
30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
“My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” (President Russell M. Nelson, “Joy and Spiritual Survival”, October 2016 General Conference)
“As humans, we have an earthbound point of view, but God sees the grand overview of the universe. He sees all creation, all of us, and is filled with hope.”
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“But my dad was more practiced at zooming out and taking the long view. He’d learned from experience that worry feels a lot like love, but it’s not the same. He used the eye of faith to see that everything would work out, and his hopeful approach changed me.”
(Sister Tamara W. Runia, “Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens”, October 2023 General Conference)
Next Speaker
“the adversary does not want us or our loved ones to return home together. And because we live on a planet that is bound by time and a finite number of years, he tries to perpetuate a very real sense of panic in us. It’s hard to see, when we’re zoomed in, that our direction matters more than our speed.” (Sister Tamara W. Runia, “Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens”, October 2023 General Conference)
3 Nephi 5:13
13 Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.
1 Nephi 18:8
8 And it came to pass after we had all gone down into the ship, and had taken with us our provisions and things which had been commanded us, we did put forth into the sea and were driven forth before the wind towards the promised land.
“One Sunday, while I was preparing to partake of the sacrament after several weeks of stake conference assignments, an interesting and powerful thought passed through my mind.
“As the priest began offering the blessing on the bread, words I had heard so many times before pressed forcefully upon my mind and heart. “And witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them.” How many times have we witnessed unto God that we are willing?” (Elder Kevin W. Pearson, “Are You Still Willing?”, October 2022 General Conference)
“The promptings for us to do good come from the Holy Ghost. These promptings nudge us farther along the straight and narrow path of discipleship. The natural man doesn’t automatically think of doing good. It isn’t natural. How many people worry about the car behind them or the person below them? The natural man just doesn’t do it. For us, however, these promptings enlarge our awareness of other people’s needs and then prod us to act accordingly. This is why, I believe, when the Lord speaks of enlarging the soul, he adds, in the Doctrine and Covenants, that it must be done ‘without hypocrisy’ (D&C 121:42). Our personal righteousness, more than we know, governs how much good we can do.” (Elder Neal A Maxwell, “The Pathway of Discipleship”, BYU Devotional January 4, 1998)
Mosiah 3
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
“God won’t force us to do good, and the devil can’t force us to do evil.3 Though some may think that mortality is a contest between God and the adversary, a word from the Savior ‘and Satan is silenced and banished. … It is [our] strength that is being tested—not God’s.’(Hugh Nibley, “Beyond Politics,” BYU Studies, vol. 15, no. 1 (1974), 8.)” (Elder Jörg Klebingat, “Valiant Discipleship in the Latter Days”, April 2022 General Conference)
“Jesus, whose work this is. He has shown the meaning of the mortal experience by the eloquence of his example and by his having shown the way to us in every particular, including his gallantry during the agonies of the Atonement, of which he declared, ‘And would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink’ (D&C 19:18). Not shrinking is more important than surviving, and Jesus is our exemplar in every way. I salute him for the eloquence of his example.” (Elder Neal A Maxwell, “The Pathway of Discipleship”, BYU Devotional January 4, 1998)
Sunday School
Growth is going to hurt. You have to accept that in order to effectively grow. If we can’t get past that some degree of discomfort, pain, adversity, sadness, and so on is part of this mortal journey, then we will be constantly confused, depressed, scared, and so on and probably not grow much and likely become bitter to some degree.
Writing in our journal can help us in our scripture study.
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