Lesson for April 26, 2015

Lesson for April 26, 2015 Today our lesson was given by Kristine Hansen. It was a Teaching for Our Times lesson about “The Music of the Gospel” by Elder Anderson. She had Sara Campbell dance, first without music and then with music. What was it like to watch her? It was beautiful, but odd to dance without music. Sara said she felt awkward. How does it change to dance with music? Sara said it said it gave her a reason to dance. It also gave emotion and instruction. He told the story of the young doctor on the Navajo reservation and an old man came in, but did not talk. Finally the old man said he danced, then the doctor thought the old man must be a tribal healer and asked if he could teach him. The old man said he could teach him to dance, but not to hear the music. How do we hear the music? Kristine said her grandmother was the north star for her—a woman who heard the music. One woman said she heard the wrong music for a long time, and it made her miserable, so she wanted to come back to hear the music of the gospel. Another sister likes to think about the why when she hears the music. Heidi said it was helpful for her to have visiting teachers and other teachers who helped her, so she wasn’t alone as she tried to hear the music. Another sister said she knew what to do to hear the music—read the Book of Mormon and pray. Sometimes it is really basic stuff that helps you hear the music. Sister Cook said after her mother died, she felt all alone. All the static in the world got to her. Her brother said he was going to join the LDS Church and she was happy for him. She had to reach a certain point in her life where she was willing to hear it. It was like coming home and hearing what she had known sometime before. Emily Campbell said there was a time after Tori died that she did not feel the Spirit. She wanted to believe, but couldn’t, so she prayed for help with her unbelief and the answer came very strongly, but only after a long time. Kristine said this lesson reminds her of last month’s lesson where it taught us to stay in the boat, even if we can’t hear the music. The lesson said we must walk the same path we did when we first heard the music—exercise faith in Christ, repent, and continue on, taking the sacrament, then we will feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. Kristine said she only really knows when she has it when it departs and she is shocked enough to try to get it back. We need to feel like things are possible. Jill Judd said we need to find even little things to repent of every day. How can we help family members hear the music? Elder Anderson said no influence should be exercised just because you are the dad or the mom or the loudest or the strongest. It should be by persuasion. Some concrete things are to sing a lullaby of love unfeigned and the lullaby of long-suffering. You feel the music when you practice service. Adele Hickman said her granddaughter started to throw a fit and Adele pointed to her sign that says better not cry, better not pout and the little girl stopped. When Adele’s daughter came to get the little girl, Adele told her what happened and the daughter said to the little girl, “That goes for our house, too.” The granddaughter said, “But we don’t have a sign in our house.” A sister said her parents taught her things and let her make choices that helped her make choices later. Sister Harker said when her boys were younger, they decided to go home after Sunday School. Brother Harker went home and found them watching television. He turned off the TV and said if you won’t go to priesthood, priesthood will come to you and proceeded to give them a lesson. Amy said she is good about telling why her children should do things, but she needs to provide more experiences with the Spirit so they can learn to hear. Claudia Laycock’s sister went inactive, but the family stayed in touch. Her psychiatrist told her that her problems were from her family. She called Claudia and Claudia told her that it made no difference if she was in or out of the Church, they would still love her and eventually she came back to Church. Sometimes it’s the way you pray to God, too. But you have to continue to love them and be constant in that love and pray for them. You cannot threaten them or force them in any way. Sometimes you have to go to them. Part of the problem is that you think you have control is a fallacy. It’s ridiculous to think you can’t love someone who does not do what you want them to. Sara Campbell’s brother came home from his mission and he went inactive. The thing her family did right was to keep treating him like normal and inviting him to everything, made it not such a big deal, and eventually he came back. However, it is good to talk about your church activity and your experience. You still have to model the dance so others can see the sweetness. If some of the family orchestra is out of tune, then keep practicing and you will feel joy, although there are problems.