Lesson for Septemer 25, 2016

Lesson for September 25, 2016 Today our lesson was given by Kristine Hansen about three conference talks: “Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins” by Elder Bednar; “The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness” by Elder Duncan; and “He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home” by President Uchtdorf. President Uchtdorf told of visiting Dresden and the church that was nearly destroyed. After the reunification of Germany, the city decided to rebuild the church, using the blackened stone among new white stones. The scars are a reminder of what happened, but of hope and man’s ability of creating new hope from rubble. How much more capable is our Heavenly Father of making something beautiful out of our hopelessness or despair. No life is so shattered that it cannot be restored. He told of the parable of the lost sheep. All of us are at some point in our lives, the lost sheep. Over the centuries this parable has been seen as a call to bring back the lost sheep. But could it be possible that the parable is about the Savior’s mission to reach out to those who are lost. What do the sheep need to know to be reached out to? Does it need specialized technology or sponsorship? No, the Good Shepherd knows and loves us and he will reach out to us. Perhaps He will reach out to us more than once. There is a catch. We have to want to be rescued. We have to have hope to be able to feel the love that is reaching out to us. Obedience is the life blood of faith. It is by obedience that we gather light to our souls. Sometimes we feel like a piece of iron being hammered into shape, but that iron is our support. Kristine had us look at D&C 93 where it says that intelligence is light and truth and God’s glory is also light and truth and Satan doesn’t have it. If we want to have light and truth, we need to keep the commandments. If we keep them long enough, we will gather enough light and truth to be filled. D&C 130 tells us that whatever light and truth we gather in this life will rise with us in the resurrection. If we gain more of that light and truth in this life, we will have more light and truth in heaven. We could read the scriptures, but if we didn’t keep the commandments we wouldn’t get what we should out of them. Through obedience and diligence through living the gospel. If we know what we should do, but don’t actually do it, we won’t gain what we should. Being a member of the Church is not checking off a check list, but doing what we should by light and truth and becoming the type of person who does those things out of light and truth and love. No matter how dark our world seems, the Lord will seek us out, especially if we signal that we are ready to be healed. Chelsea Jolley said her daughter deals with severe depression and sometimes feels that she is too far down for Heavenly Father to reach. Chelsea said she has to remind her daughter that there have been times when her Heavenly Father has stepped in to help her. A lot of her help has to be when she is ready. If we seek him the Lord will find us. Elder Bednar talked about the process of spiritual rebirth. It takes a lifetime to be spiritually reborn. The ordinances of exaltation and redemption some through channels. If we recognize this, we have the power to be lifted up through the power of the gospel. The baptismal covenant contains having His spirit to be with us, and the initial cleansing, remember Christ, and remembering Him. This ordinance is not enough. We need the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Ghost for the ongoing cleansing of our souls. Members of the Lord’s restored Church can have the companionship of the Holy Ghost that gives us an ongoing cleansing. We will be warned and prompted to repent. But even that is not enough, so we need the sacrament to help us be cleansed every week. If you take it 48 times a year from 8-78 you will take it over 3,000 times. It gives us access to the Lord’s power of Atonement and to be made pure and holy so we can stand spotless before Him in the final day. The act of partaking of the sacrament does not remit sins, but preparing to take it worthily does help us retain a remission of our sins by leading us to repent weekly and have the Spirit of God with us. That is the promise of the sacrament and helps us to retain a remission of our sins, by being worthy to take the sacrament every week. If you keep working at it, you can be clean and ready to enter the presence of God. We should not want to be baptized again to feel renewed, but we should feel it many times in our lives through preparing to take the sacrament. The gift of the Holy Ghost, taking the sacrament, and other ordinances are an interwoven network of events to help us retain a remission of our sins. Elder Duncan’s talk about forgiveness is lovely because we can get rid of burdens of bad feelings toward others, we can retain a remission of our sins because God will forgive us, and others will forgive us. Our families are those we should practice the forgiveness that we are required to give all men. When someone hurts us on purpose, it is so painful for so long. We don’t forgive others for them, we forgive others for ourselves. Elder Duncan said we sometimes can’t forgive because it does not feel like justice. We have to remember that God will forgive and we are required to forgive. One sister’s father said that when someone makes him angry that person is taking up rent in his brain and he says it isn’t worth it to be damaged further by that person. Have you ever see someone more like Heavenly Father sees them by forgiving them. One sister said that one sister companion on her mission needed some forgiveness because they talked and forgave each other and understood that they were not enemies and that they served each other. They are still in contact and their friendship is special. The forgiveness we give to others can redeem them and change their lives. The forgiveness the Lord gives to us can change us. If we seek Him out, the Lord will lift us up on His shoulders and make us who we can be.