Lesson for 26 March 2017

Today our lesson was given by Kristine Hansen on “Am I Good Enough?” by Elder Cornish. Kristine asked all of us to visualize a place we want to visit and a benefactor would pay for the trip. This is analogous to the Atonement because Christ wants to offer us a free trip to the celestial kingdom. We can go there to live forever. You don’t earn the celestial kingdom. We go there by the grace of Jesus Christ and we have to do our part so we can qualify. Elder Cornish has a formula we can follow--formula R: Don’t rationalize. Don’t rebel. Do repent. Do rely on the grace of Christ. Do really try. We need to understand that the Atonement is for sinners. It is also for saints. It is through the grace of the Lord that individuals gain the strength to do the good to qualify for the celestial kingdom. All we have to do is ask for it and do what we are supposed to do. Grace can help us do righteous things. Emily Campbell said through the death of her daughter, her divorce, and all her troubles, she feels she is strengthened. Dorothy Francis said we all notice that Emily has come to church throughout her troubles and told the Lord that she is ready and worthy. Suzy Sullivan said she feels strengthened to serve the sisters of our ward. Andrea Gerber said she sees people in her family who claim to be too broken to go to church, but others who allow the grace of the Lord to lift them and heal. Kristine said she was called to serve in a young married ward to be the wise older person. When she was set apart, the man said she needed to move out of her comfort zone and make herself available to those people. She said it became a wonderful calling. We can remain in our victim status or we can access the atonement and triumph through gratitude. We might also think we’re not good enough or too good and those judgments prevent us to be humble and victorious. Sometimes we are lazy. Sometimes we feel like we have such big goals we may be discouraged, or too comfortable to try to improve. Sometimes we are distracted or too busy to think of formula R. Our faith gets weak or we don’t have the knowledge of the gospel we should. Camille read a piece that said we can always repent no matter how many chances we have thrown away before. There is no sin that is worse than what Christ atoned for. Kristine has been a teacher of college-aged students for 41 years. In the last few years, she’s seen more students debilitated by depression and anxiety. It is a real handicap. More and more she sees students using this as excuses for not performing. A psychologist came to the English Department about what is being seen for serious distress, suicidal thoughts, psychotic episodes and worse is rising so high that students have to wait 3-4 weeks for counseling. The top reasons are depression, relationships, suicide, perfectionism, and alcoholism. One thing that struck her is that students are constantly comparing themselves to others and keep their cell phones with them at all times. They will spend hours crafting a Facebook image of themselves. People just need to unplug. We need to enjoy the process. We need to rely on the grace of Christ. Have the right foundation for your life like sleeping, eating right, trusting in the Lord. There is a life clinic in Provo. They say you should not sleep with electronics within 3 feet of your body. The electronic fields can affect our bodies. The internet is a good tool, but it can be used incorrectly. Elder Cornish said “We must stop comparing ourselves to others We torture ourselves needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our self-worth by the things we do or don’t have and by the opinions of others. If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today--and even to how we want to be in the future. The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us; that is Satan’s trick.” Emma Campbell said she actually downloaded and app that encourages her to stay off her phone and it helps her. We need to put our relationship with Christ first, repent, and we will eventually be good enough to return to the celestial kingdom. Heavenly Father wants to work with us to help us qualify.