Lesson for December 27, 2015

Lesson for December 27, 2015 Today our lesson was given by Maggie Kopp on the Atonement using two Conference talks: “Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ” by Elder Oaks and “He in Whom We Have Trusted” by Elder Haynie . She wanted to talk about the Christmas story and beyond. Alma 7:10-12 about the birth of Christ and His life as he takes upon him the pains and sicknesses of His people and death so he knows how to succor us. Elder Haynie told the story of when he was a child and they dug a hole in the field. They made it into a swimming hole and he was covered with mud. His grandmother would not let him in until he was hosed off from all the mud. It was warm in his house and he got dry, clean clothes. This story symbolizes how we get dirty from our sins and then repent and take advantage of the Atonement. No unclean thing can enter into the kingdom except those who have washed themselves in Christ’s blood. 3 Nephi 27:19 Elder Haynie talked about Alma 34:15-16 and how all who believe on Christ’s name will be able to take advantage of the Atonement and bring about the great and eternal plan of redemption. We strive to do good, but when we fall over and over again, we have a way back through our faith in the Atonement. We can make progress. Exercising faith was a point Elder Oaks emphasized. He said that the Atonement can help to bind up our wounds of physical illness, emotional wounds, disappointments, etc. Mortality can be unpleasant and tough. We can use the Atonement for all kinds of problems. Even death can be not as difficult to handle if we have an eternal perspective. As women we might wonder how Christ could understand us with our female problems, but somehow He does. Elder Oaks said Christ will succor His people in all things because he descended below all things, so he knows how to lift us and give us the strength to endure in all things—if we just ask. Heavenly Father will lift us. We need to stay positive and remember to ask. He can change our attitudes about things even if He doesn’t change our circumstances. He can take the pain and bitterness from us. We need to work with Him. We need to believe in the scriptures and exercise faith and invite the power of the Atonement into our lives and accept His will. Trusting God can give us peace and knowing that at some point He will make it right. Repentance helps us feel that something is happening. You get something back and you can go somewhere. Experiencing forgiveness is real and can feel concrete and real. The challenge is that if you are experiencing something where you need to ask, feel gratitude for the Atonement, and ask for forgiveness. Christ knows who we are and what we need and he will be there for us.

Lesson for December 13, 2015

Lesson for December 13, 2015 Today our lesson was given by Kristine Hansen on “A Christ-Centered Life.” She started by asking if anyone reread Joseph Smith’s account and one sister said he mentioned that he would be a great disturber of the devil. He also said his name would be had for good and evil. The Lord chose him because he could be trusted to stick with the truth of his story. There is no more thrilling challenge than to try to live according to Christ’s way. We are truly successful if our lives parallel the Savior’s. It’s comforting because it is something we all can do. We don’t need special talents or achievements to be like Christ. The only way to come back to the presence of the Father is through Christ. Jesus is the Way. The goal is to become perfected through Christ. We know this because of many things Christ has said. We need to trust in Him and hunger and thirst after righteousness. He would not give us that commandment if we could not do it. In 2 Peter 1:5-7 it says to use all diligence to add the qualities of Christ to our natures, one at a time in stair steps. If we have faith in Him, we’ll do what He says. In Young Women’s theme when they incorporated virtue it was difficult to explain the concept, but the leaders eventually said that all the other parts of the theme made up virtue. It is not just chastity, but it is conforming one’s life to moral principles. We should let all the beautiful and praiseworthy things fill our lives. So now we’ve moved from faith to virtue and the next one is knowledge. All true knowledge is valuable. If we have knowledge and test it, then we can add more knowledge. We must seek knowledge by faith. There is universal truth and if we know that, we can discern what is true in what we learn so we can judge what we should do. Knowledge can be the basis of revelation. Our Heavenly Father wants us to know what will save us, including secular knowledge. After knowledge we need to learn temperance, which means being restrained and moderate in all things, especially in controlling our appetites, desires, and emotions and how we spend our time. Even though some things have not been revealed yet, we can be temperate and be patient, the next step up. Patience is another form of self-control, which is being tolerant and waiting on the Lord for the answers, and replacing anger with something useful. The opposite would be a lack of faith. The next step is godliness, which is being more like God and possess His attributes. Then we would have to see people as God sees them and see the goodness. Godliness, kindness, and charity are really all the same step, since He is kind and has charity for all. These things are the fruits of all the other attributes of the steps already attained. Being kind is seeing others as being the same kind as us and feeing a kinship with them. President Benson said that the pure love of Christ is charity, then we must ask how we come to know God. Note that Peter promised that if we have charity and all these virtues abound in us, we can be more like Christ. These attributes can be the instruction manual for how we raise our children. The Lord will help us through His grace. He will help us because He wants us to become more like Him because He loves us and wants us to be with Him forever. It is more the direction we are going than the speed we are going.

December 15, 2015 is our Relief Society party

Lesson for December 6, 2015

Lesson for December 6, 2015 Today our lesson was given by Jessica Lewis about the divine calling of Joseph Smith. She quoted Bruce R. McConkie who spoke in 1976. He said that we worship and rejoice in Jesus Christ and that He is the Lord of all and the author salvation. He also spoke about Joseph Smith, Jr., who was the first in this dispensation to hear the voice of God and Jesus Christ. We all need that Spirit to enlighten us and powerfully testify to us of the divine calling of Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ. Kelsey told about her testimony of Joseph Smith. She served her mission in Taiwan. She said that every time she shared the story of Joseph Smith, the light and Spirit came into the room. Even if we already know Joseph Smith is a prophet, we can have that testimony confirmed again. That is our goal for the coming week, is to know again that Joseph Smith is a prophet. Because of him we have the Book of Mormon, temples, the priesthood, Relief Society, the nature of the Godhood, the plan of salvation, prophets, apostles, a sense of community, the Joseph Smith translation, the eternal nature of marriage, the divinity of women, eternal progression, the salvation of little children, the ordinances of the gospel, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price and many more things. Gordon B. Hinckley said that an acquaintance of his said he could accept everything about the Church except Joseph Smith and President Hinckley said that is a contradiction, since all things about the Church come from the revelation of Joseph Smith. If the Book of Mormon is true, so Joseph Smith must be a prophet and vice versa. If you reject Joseph Smith, you reject modern revelation and that puts you back with everyone who says that God has ceased speaking. Some people are put off because Joseph Smith was not human. But he was human and he made mistakes. That gives us hope that even if we are not perfect, we can receive revelation. Neal L. Anderson said that one reason the Lord allows evil to happen is so we will go to our knees and ask God for confirmation. Prophets are not called because they are perfect, but because they are willing to serve and humble enough to receive revelation. It is a blessing that Joseph Smith is so polarizing, so it’s all or nothing, so his prophet-hood is so clear. If you can get a testimony of that, you know the rest is true, too. The striking factor of Joseph Smith’s life is how much Heavenly Father is real and loves His children. But Heavenly Father knows who we are and we should not doubt that He loves us immensely. Our scriptures are evidence that He loves all of us and reached out to His children. His care for us touches us all differently. Neal L. Anderson gave a talk about Joseph Smith in 2014. There is so much opposition to Joseph Smith because he was so polarizing. Many years ago they had given a survey to missionaries about where their testimonies fell about Joseph Smith and most ranked theirs at the bottom, but it is important to know Joseph Smith. It is strange that so much persecution is heaped on an obscure boy. President Uchtdorf said to doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We can take our questions to God, rather than our friends. The small things affect us and those we love. If any doubts come, pray about them and be willing to accept the answer. The book They Knew the Prophet has many first-hand accounts by people who knew the prophet. You don’t have to research everything bad that is said, but focus on what is true. You have to trust in your testimony and choose to stay solid, choose faith, and you will be happier and your life will be happier. The fact that Satan tried to destroy Joseph Smith is a testimony of how important he is. One web site is Fairmormon.org often has good information that tells the real story, if you have questions. You need to go to the source. When you think that Joseph Smith had a second grade education and did so much in 14 years, from translating the Book of Mormon to the D&C and Pearl of Great Price, he had to have had God with him. Charlene Farnworth said she does not know of a time in her life when she did not know that Joseph Smith was the prophet. Her fourth great-grandfather was asked by Wilford Woodruff to write about the martyrdom because he was there. Joseph and Hyrum were sent to jail for treason, not tried, but jailed. Her great-grandfather was Brother Markham. He wrote his experience and it has affected Charlene so she feels solid in the gospel. Our testimonies would be strengthened if we would read Joseph Smith’s account.