Sunday April 13, 2008 - Sunday Services Sullivan Hollow Second Ward

Ward Home Page

Priesthood Opening
Someone shared a scripture that they said they thought of as they listened to the prophet and apostles speak last weekend.

Amos 3:7 -"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, ^abut he ^brevealeth his ^csecret unto his servants the ^dprophets."

They announced a DI drive. Deseret Industries is an organization that collects used items and sells them. The proceeds go to pay the employees who would otherwise have trouble getting work. I knew that part, as it is like Goodwill in Indiana. What I did not know was that DI is owned by the Church and it is part of the Church welfare system. My friend told me that people that have financial hardship can get vouchers from their bishop to get a bed of something from DI. A little like getting an order of food from the store house.

They took volunteers for something they called a 40 day fast. I guess the ward is collectively fasting for 40 days. A member takes a day of the 40 days until they filled up all the days. The days were not filling up, so the bishop reemphasized the importance of what they were doing. He had the members of the priesthood remind him why they were fasting. They said for missionary work and for the extra power that fasting brings. The bishop stated that this is not The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Tourists. It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are to be saints, followers of Christ, not just tourists that watch the work of Christ.

Elders' Quorum

Chapter 6: The Mission of John the Baptist p. 79–87

The instructor passed out a handout with the following images on them.

The excavated remains of the baptism site in Bethany Beyond Jordan, in modern-day Jordan. (Wikipedia)

John the Baptist Baptizing Jesus (LDS.org)

John the Baptist Conferring the Aaronic Priesthood (LDS.org)

The handout had the below text.

Begin Handout

Brief Description of John the Baptist

Scripture about John the Baptist

Luke 7:28 - No greater prophet

Isaiah 40:3-5 - Prophecy

John 1:22-23 - Prophecy Fulfilled

Malachi 3:1 - Prophecy

Luke 1:17, 76, 77 - Prophecy to his Father

D&C 84:28 - Ordained of God at Eight Days of Age

Brief Description of Life:

1. Born of Zachariah and Elizabeth, Birth foretold by Gabriel.

2. Zachariah was a priest, so John had the priesthood.

3. Preached and baptized in the River Jordan (see photo).

4. Knew he was a precursor to Jesus (John 3:22-36).

5. Imprisoned and beheaded by Herod Antipas.

"Post-Life" Description

Ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to the Aaronic Priesthood on May 15, 1829 (JSH 1:68-70).

Priesthood Timeline (Dennis Roberts)

D&C 13.........................................................................(1829) Aaronic Priesthood

D&C 128:20.................................................................(1829) Melchizedek Priesthood

D&C 20:38-50.............................................................(1830) Apostle, Elders, Priests, Teachers, Deacons

D&C 41:9-10................................................................(1831) Bishops

D&C 52..........................................................................(1831) High Priests

D&C 81:90....................................................................(1832) First Presidency

Teachings of Prophet Joseph Smith, 38-39............(1833) High Council

D&C 102.......................................................................(1834) Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

D&C 107:23-24...........................................................(1835) First Quorum of the Seventy

End Handout

Zachariah was probably familiar with the prophecies about a forerunner to the messiah. This must've been a similar shock to them like the news Mary and Joseph received as well.

It is a miracle that he was not killed sooner. Based on Jewish traditions he should have been executed for blasphemy.

Joseph Smith in commented on John being the greatest prophet (Luke 7:28) stated, "He was entrusted with a divine mission of preparing the way before the face of the Lord. Whoever had such a trust committed to him before or since? No man."

Sunday School
Book of Mormon Lesson 13: The Allegory of the Olive Trees p56
We came up with a brief list of symbols and meanings used in the allegory.

Symbol	Meaning
Vineyard	World
Grafting	People
Master	Christ
Pruning	People
Fruits	Works
Branches	Groups of People
Servant	Prophets

This is only a partial list that the class came up with.

Pruning, grafting, and digging - Christ works hard for the world and the individuals int eh world. Many things need to be done to make the tree grow in the best ways for it and for the vineyard.

Wild branches grafted in to tame them. This is also done to bring variety and to strengthen the tree after it had been pruned.

Someone brought out that sometimes those who have seminary as a class in school take it for granted. She said something about those out East have to get up early in the morning for seminary and are more dedicated. I don't know if one could say that those I grew up with who had early morning seminary were more dedicated, but it bring out an interesting idea that people might be grafted from other parts of the country into Utah and that that could be another meaning of the allegory.

Someone pointed out that those that were nourish on poor ground might mean those in the middle east where it was harder for Christ's Church to grow, whereas in America it was designed to be a place where one could worship God.

Again someone contrasted Utah with other parts of the country. They said that in other parts people have to plan to go to the temple and even stay overnight in a hotel. They also said that some have to travel to get to their ward buildings.

The gathering of Israel and the restoration are the grafting back in the branches.

Other servants - Missionaries and general church membership.

The bishopric called upon certain member of the ward to share experiences that we had with listening to General Conference last week. I had never seen anyone do a testimony meeting like that. I think it was just a special thing because of general conference.

The first person called upon talked about President Monson's talk from the priesthood session. President Monson had talked about a young boy wathing him and mimicing everything he did as he sat on the stand. He ended up wiggling his ears to give the boys a challenging thing to do. The speaker today wondered how many kids have watched him and the other priests as they have blessed the sacrament. He said that he would watch the olded boys when he was a little kid.

One guy talked about the statistics about how much service the Church gave last year. He said he felt very proud and the he reflected on if he had done his part as he heard a talk on being good neighbors.

One person related how he had a relative that called President Monson Little Tommy Monson because she knew him when she was young. It reminded me of my mission president who was a cousin of his and was always referring to him as Tommy.

Sacrament Meeting
There were two letters from the first presidency read today.

The first was a reiteration to stop sending letters to the first presidency with doctrinal issues. The Lord has set up His Church in an orderly way. Much like when Moses put leaders over smaller groups of the children of Israel. Those leaders then reported to him.

The second was stating that the story that has circulating that a Church leader has stated that those who were members of the church in Gordon B. Hinckley's day would have those in the after life bow to them because of their greatness. The letter stated that this is false doctrine and that no leader of the Church had ever said this.

Post Church
They had something after church called a second Sunday social. They had little snacks and people sat around and talked. I had never heard of that, but I think I have heard of a "linger longer", although I don't recall being in a ward that ever did that.

Sunday March 30, 2008 - Services South Ogden Sixth Ward

Joint Relief Society/Priesthood Meeting
The pews in this chapel were huge. Even the pews on the sides were full sized pews. Every ward I have been in that I can recall had little pews on the side that would barely hold a small family. Generally smaller families would sit in them or single people.

1st Speaker
To help us be one Christ organized His Church.

To help us be one Christ set up authority. Matt. 16: 19 - And I will ^agive unto thee the ^bkeys of the ^ckingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt ^dbind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The people went to Peter to get a "ruling" on circumcision.

The apostles died and the rulers of Rome took over the Church. Through the reformation people tried to bring back the

D&C 132: 8 - Behold, mine house is a house of ^aorder, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.

2nd Speaker
-Heber J. Grant set up the Church's welfare plan.

The speaker talked a bit of prayer and cited some scriptures.

Matt. 6: 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy ^acloset, and when thou hast ^bshut thy door, ^cpray to thy Father which is in ^dsecret; and thy Father which ^eseeth in secret shall ^freward thee openly.

D&C 109: 8, 16

8 Organize yourselves; ^aprepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a ^bhouse of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of ^corder, a ^dhouse of God;

• • •

16 And that this house may be a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of glory and of God, even thy house;

He also quoted some from Mark Twain's Huck Finn, "It made me shiver. And I about made up my mind to pray and see if I couldn’t try to quit being the kind of boy I was and be better. So I kneeled down. But the words wouldn’t come. Why wouldn’t they? It weren’t no use to try and hide it from Him … I knowed very well why they wouldn’t come. It was because my heart warn’t right; it was because I weren’t square: it was because I was playing double. I was letting on to give up sin, but away inside of me I was holding on to the biggest one of all. I was trying to make my mouth say I would do the right thing and the clean thing. But deep down in me, I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it. YOU CAN’T PRAY A LIE … I found that out."

The bishop was the last speaker.
He talked about the challenges we have in our homes. One he mentioned was self control. He stated that as we keep our covenants we will find peace and joy.

"The opposite of fear is faith."

Sunday School
As we looked for the Gospel Doctrine class we were told they had two of them since the class was so big. That was something I had never seen in a ward. One was in the Relief Society room and one was in one of the seminary class rooms. Both of these were interesting to me.

Let's start with the seminary class rooms. Where I am from seminary is held early in the morning before school. I knew they has seminary as a part of school generally in Utah, but I hadn't expected that there was enough students in one building that they would need two class rooms. Ours are also either held in the teachers home or in a small classroom in the church with folding tables that they take down at the end of class. These classrooms were large rooms and they had actual school desks that stayed set up all the time.

The Relief Society room was the size of a small cultural hall. It had three doors and a folding divider in the middle. My experience with Relief Society rooms are that they are generally a small corner of the building, just a little bit bigger than a large classroom. Our RS room is not big enough for our gospel doctrine class. Their classes combined appeared to be twice the size of ours.

All right enough tourist commentary. Let's get to the lesson notes.

Book of Mormon Lesson 12: “Seek Ye for the Kingdom of God” p51

D&C 107: 99 - Wherefore, now let every man learn his ^aduty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all ^bdiligence.

D&C 58: 27 - Verily I say, men should be ^aanxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

Thoughts precede actions. One will more often give into temptations that they have been thinking about than temptations that we do impulsively. One's mind is a buffet and we are what we eat.

Thoughts that could affect us adversely could be negative self thoughts as well as temptations.

Sacrament Meeting
It was very loud in the meeting. It could've just been kids, but I'm not sure. Just seem a lot louder than my ward in Indiana.

The bishop announced a baptism that was coming up. It sounded like the missionaries would be bringing more than one person. It sounded like perhaps they would be bringing anyone who was ready by that date and it was not because there was one person that was ready for baptism. It kind of makes more sense about the way we were taught in the Missionary Training Center (MTC). The instructors always said, in giving us examples on how to invite someone to be baptized, "We are holding a baptism on ____..." Back home and even in my mission I only ever saw baptisms help for just one person or a family. Where their are more children being baptised you probably just schedule a baptism service for a certain day during the month and everyone just goes that day. Although when my oldest son was baptized there was talk that we might have to double up with another child's baptism if they were going to be baptized in the same month.

1st Speaker
She talked about preparing ourselves for conference and being ready to receive message for our lives and not just endure it. She said that when she was a kid they called it pajama church, since they got up, had breakfast, and turned on the TV and sat around and watched conference in their pajamas. Now more commentary on this from a "tourists" perspective. The day is usually well on its way by the time conference comes on in Indiana and when I was a kid you had to go to church to watch. Fortunately in the last few years the Church has had it on the internet. Generally all we have been able to get is audio, but the video stream gets more reliable each time.

She pointed out that God speaks to our leaders to teach them how to lead the entire church. We can listen to them to learn how to hear God to lead our own lives.

She said that we should not just say, "That was a great talk." We should apply each talk to our lives. Don't just turn on the TV and watch, but prepare in advance. Think during the week about your challenges and pray that you might be strengthened and inspired. Perhaps go to conference with a specific question you need answered. She talked about a couple that had ben raised differently. In the husband's home as a child the mother took care of the dishes. If the wife's home both had pitched in to get it done. They joked that they would take th question to conference. One of the speakers stated that men needed to help their wives around the house.

She quoted President Hinckley, "I will be a better man if I listen and apply these things to my life."

She recommended that we get to know our new prophet.

She noted that people, like her, that live in Utah should be grateful that they can turn ont heir TVs and watch conference. She said that not everyone in the world has that opportunity.

She said something about having gone to a marrieds ward. That was new to me. I have heard of singles wards and we have those in Indiana. I even saw as I was preparing to travel to Utah that there was a retireds ward. I guess I kind of understand the singles ward thing as it is important for singles to interact with other single people of their faith, but the retireds and marrieds wards concept is a little bit harder for me to get my head around why that would be important. Those groups do have unique needs and maybe it makes the congregation stronger having that commonality together.

After she spoke a lady played the chelo for us.

2nd Speaker
He said that he pondered what made up a good talk. He said that generally talks started either with a joke or a lie. He said, "I couldn't think of a joke, so I'm glad to speak to you today."

He talked about serving his mission in Norway. He said it is eight hours ahead of Salt Lake City, so the 12:00pm session of conference came at 8pm for him out there.

I was a little bit surprised at all the talk of how the rest of the world has things different than Utah. I guess some folks there notice the differences as they went other places as much as what I was noticing in coming to Utah.

He said that he likes snowmobiling and he just recovered from an accident where a guy in front of him had set off an avalanche and he got stuck in it. We have a lot of snowmobiling in Indiana, even though I have never done it, but one thing we never here about is an accident that was caused by someone setting off an avalanche.

The speaker noted that he wants to do better at forgiving.

Matt. 6: 14-15

14 For if ye ^aforgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye ^aforgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Moroni 10:32-33

32 Yea, ^acome unto Christ, and be ^bperfected in him, and ^cdeny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and ^dlove God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be ^eperfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye ^asanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the ^bblood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your ^csins, that ye become ^dholy, without spot.

He said that he has a testimony of paying tithing. He said that money has been tigh now that he has a wife, but they have continued to pay their tithing. He said that he has been surprised at how money has come in from places he would've never thought of.

Saturday October 6, 2007 - Afternoon Session of General Conference

Saturday Afternoon Session of the 177th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

M. Russell Ballard - Apostle
Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits (Text, Audio, Video)

He spoke of the increased attention the Church has been receiving due to its "rapid growth, by events like the Winter Olympics here in Salt Lake City, and by the prominence in their chosen professions of many of our individual members."

We as members are so proud of what we have and want everyone we know to have it. "Even questions on one specific aspect can be difficult to answer because every question seems to be connected to other questions." When someone says, "Tell me a little about your church." They mean little not, “Tell me everything you know and then send others to tell me everything else.”

He gave several simple statements that could be shared on the topics of Facts, Faith, Family, and Fruits.

An example of a fact is:

Mormon is a nickname. Saint means member.

An example of faith is:
"And we believe in the Book of Mormon and other books of scripture which support and authenticate the Bible and testify of the ministry and divinity of Christ and of God’s ongoing revelation to man. Indeed, the Book of Mormon is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” "

An example of family is:
"Latter-day Saint families are encouraged to hold family home evenings weekly, usually on Monday nights. This provides a regular and predictable time for parents to teach values to their children and to have fun together. We invite those not of our faith to adopt this practice with their own families. "

An example of fruits is:
"...those who are married in and attend the temple regularly have a divorce rate far below the national and world average."

Joseph B. Wirthlin - Apostle The Great Commandment (Text, Audio, Video)

Elder Wirthlin began to shack a bit during his talk. The shaking increased as he spoke, but he finished his remarks. Elder Nelson got up and stood with him for most of the talk to make sure he was ok.

He spoke of the discord that was happening in the Church in the first century. He quoted Paul, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not ^acharity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. " (1 Corinthians 13:1)

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation. It takes us as men and women of the earth and refines us into men and women for the eternities.

"The means of this refinement is our Christlike love. There is no pain it cannot soften, no bitterness it cannot remove, no hatred it cannot alter."

"Brethren and sisters, as you prayerfully consider what you can do to increase harmony, spirituality, and build up the kingdom of God, consider your sacred duty to teach others to love the Lord and their fellowman."

Bruce D. Porter - Seventy A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit (Text, Audio, Video)

Broken heart and a contrite spirit is what is necessary as an offering to God.

What does a broken heart mean? It means to do the will of God and not your own. That your heart is dedicated to God. In that state our heart is totally open to hear and listen to God. A broken heart can be molded by God.

What does a contrite spirit mean? It means that we are humble and teachable.

Eric W. Kopischke - Seventy Preach My Gospel—the Unifying Tool between Members and Missionaries (Text, Audio, Video)

He talked of the manual "Preach My Gospel" that the missionaries use to teach the Gospel. He said that if we wanted to be able to help the missionaries we should be familiar with how they teach. He also stated that we could use it to learn how to teach our own families the principles that the missionaries teach people new to the Church.

Michael J. Teh - Seventy Out of Small Things (Text, Audio, Video)

Am I my brother's keeper. Alma said, “And now, . . . ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

“Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.”(Mosiah 18:8–9)

Service should be regardless of race, standing, and relationships.

He quoted one of the Hymns,

Has anyone’s burden been lighter today
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?
Then wake up and do something more
Than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love. (“Have I Done Any Good?” Hymns, no. 223)

Keith K. Hilbig - Seventy
Quench Not the Spirit Which Quickens the Inner Man (Text, Audio, Video)

He quoted 1 Thes 5:19 - "Quench not the Spirit." He spoke of living in such a way that the spirit can always be there to guide us. He said, "...we too must be careful not to hinder, disregard, or quench the Spirit in our lives."

As I looked up verse 19 I noticed verse 20 that says "Despise not prophesyings." It seems as though these days people are immediately skeptical of anything you say came from a prophet.

To say that the Holy Ghost quickens us means "enlightens and enlivens" what is inside of us.

He list a few things we can measure how much effort we are putting into keeping the spirit with us or how much effort we are putting into quenching it.

1. Do I spend more time with sports than Church attendance or callings?
2. If I have a free day, do I choose to attend the temple or to visit the mall?
3. Do I resort to computer games or surfing the Internet rather than offering meaningful service to others in my home and community?
4. Do I read the newspaper religiously but find it difficult to read the scriptures daily?

Elder Jeffery R. Holland - Apostle The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent (Text, Audio, Video)
He opened by stating how we are often concerned that others see us as Christians. I still sometimes wonder if Christian really mean follower of Christ today or if it is just a title meaning protestantism with the foundation of creeds and such that Elder Holland touches on in his talk.

He discusses two main things that generally have people calling us non-Christian. "...our view of the Godhead and our belief in the principle of continuing revelation leading to an open scriptural canon."

He quoted the first Article of Faith, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” (Articles of Faith 1:1)

He had some good things to say about God The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost being one in "every significant and eternal aspect imaginable except believing Them to be three persons combined in one substance,". He sighted lots of scriptures that show them as separeate beings.

Elder Russle M. Nelson - Apostle
Scriptural Witness (Text, Audio, Video)

He talked on people disregarding scripture. People do this with modern day scripture, but I have also seen people doing it to the Old Testament as well. Some read it, but mostly ignore what is in it for more than just inspirational stories, since they feel that it is mostly irrelevant to us because Christ did away with it all.

He sited verses 6-8 of 2 Nephi 29, but I think the entire chapter is so powerful that I quote it all here.

THE SECOND BOOK OF NEPHI

CHAPTER 29

Many gentiles shall reject the Book of Mormon—They shall say: We need no more Bible—The Lord speaks to many nations—He will judge the world out of the books thus written. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 But behold, there shall be many—at that day when I shall proceed to do a ^amarvelous work among them, that I may remember my ^bcovenants which I have made unto the children of men, that I may set my hand again the ^csecond time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel;

2 And also, that I may remember the promises which I have made unto thee, Nephi, and also unto thy father, that I would remember your seed; and that the ^awords of your seed should proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed; and my words shall ^bhiss forth unto the ^cends of the earth, for a ^dstandard unto my people, which are of the house of Israel;

3 And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A ^aBible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.

4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a ^aBible; and it shall proceed forth from the ^bJews, mine ancient covenant people. And what ^cthank they the ^dJews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?

5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have ^acursed them, and have ^bhated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.

6 Thou fool, that shall say: A ^aBible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?

7 Know ye not that there are more ^anations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the ^bisles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the ^cearth beneath; and I bring forth my ^dword unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the ^atestimony of ^btwo nations is a ^cwitness unto you that I am God, that I remember one ^dnation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two ^enations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the ^asame yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my ^bwords according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one ^cword ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my ^dwork is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my ^awords; neither ^bneed ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.

11 For I command ^aall men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall ^bwrite the words which I speak unto them; for out of the ^cbooks which shall be written I will ^djudge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.

12 For behold, I shall speak unto the ^aJews and they shall ^bwrite it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall ^cwrite it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto ^dall nations of the earth and they shall write it.

13 And it shall come to pass that the ^aJews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the ^blost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.

14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the ^ahouse of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the ^blands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in ^cone. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my ^dpeople, who are of the ^ehouse of Israel, that I am God, and that I ^fcovenanted with ^gAbraham that I would remember his ^hseed ⁱforever.

He also quoted from Ezekiel 37:16–17 which talks about the record of Judah (the Bible) and the record of Joseph (The Book of Mormon).

16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one ^astick, and ^bwrite upon it, For ^cJudah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and ^dwrite upon it, For ^eJoseph, the ^fstick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become ^aone in thine hand.

Sunday April 22, 2007

Sacrament Meeting
One of the speakers quoted from the hymn Praise to the Man, "Sacrafice brings forth the blessings of heaven." He then quoted from the prophet Joseph Smith "...a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation;"

Another brother spoke on the service that his wife and he gave in the bishop's
storehouse the last two years. He also spoke about fast offerings. He
talked about that we have been told to give the cost of two meals to the
poor. He said that is the minimum and we should give ten times that much
when we are able.

Sunday School
People were saying that Jesus was a good man, but he deceived the people. (John 7:12) I
have heard people comment the same thing about the Church. They say it teaches good principles and the people of the church are generally good people, but the Church deceives people.

"If any man will do his will he will know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17) - If we want to know if something is true then live it and find out. If we want to know if God will keep his promise to poor out blessing when we pay tithing then we should do the test that Malachi gave us about trying it and see if the Lord will not do it. The same is true for any principle of the gospel.

Because he did not grow up in Bethlehem some of the people were saying that because he grew up in Galalee that he came out of Galalee and not Bethlahem, thus they thought he couldn't be a fulfillment of the prophecy.

Priesthood
Hand out from bishop and his two counselors, which reiterated his challenge for us all to pray morning and night. The letter quoted 2 Nephi 32:8-9. They testified that Heavenly Father does answer prayers. They then said, "Many blessings are withheld from us only because we do not ask Heavenly Father for them. May we always have the spirit of prayer foremost in our
thoughts."

We then went into the lesson. The instructor used as the basis for his lesson the talk from President Monson from the priesthood session of the last General Conference. 6.7 billion people in the world. Contrasting this with the number of Priesthood holders is very, very small. We have a lot of work to do.

What state of spirit are we in when we are called upon to use our priesthood? Are we arguing with our wife? Are we watching something we should not? We should prepared to serve at all times. Do we ask ourselves before we do or say something, "I am carrying the
priesthood of God with me, should I do this?"

Saturday March 31, 2007 - Morning Session of General Conference

General Conference
News Story from Deseret News
Morning Session
F. Michael Watson (Audio, Text ) gave the statistical report. A hundred thousand or so short of 13 million. Just under 300,000 convert baptisms this year.

Elder Richard G. Scott - Apostle (Audio, Text)
Prayer
The most powerful being in the universe encourages us to have audience with him on a daily basis. This is extended to everyone no matter of worldly status. The audience can be for as long as we want.

Prayers could be improved by:
1. Trying to ask for what he wants for us and not what we want for ourselves.
2. When we don't feel like praying or don't feel worthy of prayer is when we need to pray the most.
3. Don't wait until we encounter a totally over powering problem to go to God in prayer.
4. Do your part to study the problem and work on a solution yourself while waiting on the Lord.

Answers don't necessarily come while you are praying. They come as we exercise faith through our obedience.

Elder Jay E. Jensen - Seventy(Audio, Text)
Music in our meetings should not be a performance. Music becomes a performance when it draws attention to itself.

Music has great power. We can prepare ourselves to receive the messages of church meetings by coming early and listening to the prelude music.

Sing hymns as lullabies for our children.

Inappropriate music drives the Spirit from us.

Elder John B. Dickson - Seventy(Audio, Text)
Directed to the youth of the church.
Word of Wisdom
He said that we are less tempted by things we haven't partaken of. That is a different that what some say about trying something to find out you won't like it or the teaching that one should take time to "sow their wild oats" before they settle down.

Choose before you have to choose. Choose now that vulgar words and jokes will never fall from your lips. Choose now that you will never lie or cheat.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - Apostle(Audio, Text)
He talked of James counseling us that he that bridals his tongue control the entire body is a perfect man. A horse can be controlled with a bit in his mouth. A boat is controlled with a comparably small rudder. The savior said, "Not that which goeth into the mouth ^adefileth a man; but that which cometh out of the ^bmouth, this defileth a man." (Matt. 15: 11)

He condemned abuse (verbal, physical, emotional, sexual, or any kind) and also gossip and backbiting. He said to speak positively about everyone including ourselves. "The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh, but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones."—Apocrypha., Ecclesiasticus 28:17 He noted that verbal abuse knows no gender.

One should never call their children names. We should also be careful when comparing children. When we say that one child is smart and one is pretty. All the children here is that one of not smart and one is not pretty.

He said that we should be cheerful. No misfortune is so bad that whining can't make it worse. There was undoubtedly someone in the golden age of society who complained that everything was too yellow.

Elder David A. Bednar - Apostle (Audio, Text)
He talked of how a pickle is created by a specific process. If you alter that process it does not become a pickle. You must prepare the cucumber by cleaning it properly and submerse it in salt brine for a certain time. If you just sprinkle it with salt or just occasionally dunk it in the brine you will not get a pickle.

We must be prepared and follow the process to become born again. Just occasionally reading our scripture, praying, going to church, giving service, performing any of the other parts of the gospel of Jesus Christ does not make us born again. We must be totally immersed in the gospel. Also, the process takes time. It does not happen immediately. One must keep immersed and keep at it.

President Thomas S. Monson - 1st Counselor to the Prophet (Audio, Text)
He shared some thoughts on the hope we have after death. Death is not like some imagine. It is much like going into another room.

He quoted from Acts 7 to talk about the resurrection. "55 But he, being full of the ^aHoly Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the ^bglory of ^cGod, and ^dJesus ^estanding on the ^fright hand of God," We see here the distinct beings, God the Father and His son Jesus Christ.