December 29, 2013 Fifth Sunday Lesson

December 29, 2013 Since this was the fifth Sunday, we had a combined meeting that continued the theme of goal setting. Bruce Roundy and Laura Card spoke. Brother Roundy told of several aspects of goal setting found in Preach My Gospel and the scriptures. He told of how when he was in graduate school, he was one of the few students who had a family, had to work, went to classes and had homework, and had church callings. He was able to complete his degree successfully and get a good job as a professor by trusting in the Lord and receiving the clarity of mind necessary for writing papers and proposals and teaching. Sister Card gave some practical advice based on Task Oriented Goal Setting principles. In order to succeed, a person not only needs a goal, but needs to ask “What can I do?” “How do I do it?” and “How much do I want it?” She cited scriptures that contain the phrase “endure to the end,” and also movies that reflect such eternal truths as “Baby steps” (What About Bob?) to suggest that small steps are effective; “Keep on swimming,” (Finding Nemo) to suggest that persevering is necessary; “Never give up; never surrender” (Galaxy Quest) to suggest that giving up is not an option, although she also quoted Better Off Dead, “Go straight and if something gets in your way, turn” to suggest that flexibility is also important. The combined messages from Sacrament meeting and the fifth Sunday meeting is that goal setting is important and necessary to accomplish anything worthwhile.