Lesson for November 26, 2017

Today our lesson was given by Camille Maynard on Gordon B. Hinckley’s lesson on treating others with love. Camille said that she has known many people who have had problems and left the church or lost their testimony. People who are having a hard time need our love. It can apply to anyone. Emily Campbell read a story about baptizing a gifted, educated young man. He made a small mistake and a man in the church chastised him. The young man left the church and wasn’t in contact for years. As years passed, the man retired from work and moved to Switzerland. The missionary who had baptized him stayed in contact and tried to bring him bac, but h him back, but the man died without returning to the Church. Emily said it behooves each of us t treat others with love For many converts coming into the church is huge. They lose friends ad family. Or even someone in the ward. When Lisa Anderson first joined the church she was in college, she had a new coat and wore it to church. She got home and had chocolate on her coat. She almost didn’t go back, but her roommates were LDS and encouraged her to go. So when someone is kind enough to say something kind. Why do we care if other people are here or not? In an interview President Hinckley said something miraculous happens when someone feels accepted in the church. Jesus was concerned with individuals and so is the church. Every member is an individual and all of them need to be nourished. Any convert whose faith grows cold is a tragedy. The Lord left the 99 to find the one lost sheep. We should reach out in love to those who need it. We have been blessed by those who took a personal interest in us. Diane Barker said someone took an interest in her at a time when she might have gone inactive and it strengthened her. Virginia Roundy said during her last pregnancy she had to be on bed rest. Her son broke his leg and her visiting teacher moved in with her to help her. Her other visiting teacher brought a red wagon to transport her son. The Relief Society cleaned her house and did her laundry. We can be more sensitive to others. We can offer to do things for others without grudging. We can offer specific services so the person doesn’t have to think of things they can do. Emily Campbell said her parents joined the church right after marriage and because of the influence of the people who took them in and treated them with love, they raised a good family. You can’t do that without getting to know and love people. You need to get to know people and do your part if you are feeling left out. We can seek out opportunities. Just ask a to serve others. Just ask a question. Smile at them. Jayne Galloway read that the greatest tragedy in the church and then fall away. It need to happen. They must sacrifice so many things that result in loneliness and fear for that person, so members need to welcome and reassure and encourage and thank them or all they do. There is no point in doing missionary work without the kindness of the members. Even moving into a new area can be frightening. President Hinckley received a letter from a new member and members don’t know how hard it is to be a new member. We find that we have entered into a foreign world which can turn into frustration and anger and we leave. Even our language is strange, like what to call people. Remember who you are and what they are. If hey could have a friend to sit with them and explain to them, even more than visiting teachers and home teachers. We need more mentors or sponsors to help people. For yourself, Heather said, you shouldn’t be offended. Come to church because it’s true. President Hinckley said new members need three things: A Friend. Responsibility. Continue to be nurtured. Why is it difficult to return to the church because of embarrassment, or feeling judged, or your children don’t know how to behave, lack of knowledge and the spirit in their lives. President Hinckley said whatever the reason, put it aside and come back. There is more to be gained by coming back than by staying away. Be there for them. The experience of welcoming someone back is joyful. Camille told the story where President Hinckley said he had to go to California for a set of meetings when he got a phone call from an old friend who had left the Church. he wanted to come back but thought it would be embarrassed. He said take the first step. It will feel good to be back again.

Lesson for November 12, 2017

Today our lesson was given by Maggie Kopp about missionary work and fellowshipping. Emily Campbell said that people like talking about themselves, especially about life in general. Asking questions helps make people more comfortable Barbara Alldredge said her brother has his own church, but the parts of the gospel he does understand, he lives. Since the temple is in Salt Lake City. President Hinckley said we live in a world of great diversity and we need to be tolerant of all people.He reminded us that the 11th Article of Faith says we believe everyone has the privilege to believe as they wish. President Hinckley said we should not be prideful or look down on others for their beliefs. He said we must not be clannish or self righteous. He prays for a spirit of tolerance and being friendly. Being supportive and using our faith to support others. Speaking to others who express their own faith and reaching out to them, chance encounters, Speaking to someone who has left the Church works better if we identify their hurt and acknowledge that they are good people can help them heal and establish a friendship. More outward focus opportunities is to work with people of other faith for relief efforts and social evils. We can pleased to work with them to accomplish good. We can serve others and be an example, even with our busy lives. Lana said she was in Nauvoo and participated in community Bible camps and community Easter and Christmas celebrations. There had to be unity between missionaries, members, and the community through common causes. President Hinckley said if you treat others with love and respect, we can show them we are true followers of Christ Let us strengthen o ur own faith while treating others with love and respect. For example, they found that it took 10 positive stories about Mormons to replace a prejudice or misunderstanding about Mormons. Our behavior demonstrates what our beliefs actually are. If you’re not actually being kind, then you’re not connected with what is good in the church. Maggie said her friend was kind to a young woman in high school, so the young woman became interested, but had a bad experience with some church members, so she didn’t join the church. The good things we share with our friends and neighbors will stick with them. Inviting people to be our friends can have a huge influence on them and invite the Spirit. You can’t raise someone if you don’t have a good foundation. Sometimes it can e daunting to approach people outside the church, but consider a way to reach out to somebody outside. President Hinckley said the best way is to invite the Spirit into our lives. The Spirit has a way to smooth out differences between people.

Lesson for November 5, 2017

Today we were given the presidency leadership lesson by Charlene Farnworth on the new teaching method coming up. She reflected on Lana’s lesson from last week on the Book of Mormon. Charlene thought of the children of Israel and the brass serpent. A lot of the Israelites perished, although all they had to do was look. She wonders if the Book of Mormon is our brass serpent. All we have to do is look. It has healing powers. About 6 months ago she went to a conference at BYU called the LDS Educators Conference. About 150 people were there. She wondered why she was invited, since it was for anyone who is LDS and who teaches. The General Sunday School presidency taught the lessons. They talked about the new program to counsel together. Elder Callister quoted Elder Packer that there is no question that need go unanswered, any question or problem. A framework for teaching was presented. Teaching and learning is a cycle. Prepare-Engage-Improve This takes place in a role as a teacher or a learner. It is a why we are going to learn. Elder Callister said that principles are ways to improve our maximum agency and maximum growth. Principle 1. We are here to learn 2It is a call to action. 3. It must be scripture based, including our current prophets. 4. We will have guidelines and boundaries. 5 inviting—a time when we can all join in. 6. Environment of trust. 7 Open. So community opportunities and things we need to learn about will be talked about. We are asked to act outside the meeting on the challenges we discuss. Joseph Smith said, “I teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves. We will base our discussions on scriptures, like Nephi asked God about the scriptures his father told him about. It is not for the purpose of divulging private issues, but we can talk about sensitive issues without naming names. Some things are private in our hearts. So we need to be sensitive. We are all invited to discuss, but none are pressed to discuss. We want everyone to get a chance to speak, if they wish. Trust is important. Trust is a powerful principle, so we need to engender a safe environment and be trustworthy. We need to be dear friends. Five basic elements to be trustworthy: honest, benevolent, speak openly, confident in what we say and understand the scriptures, and we have to be reliable. It points out the significance of token trust. It takes a long time to restore broken trust. We need to be open, so teaching in a circle helps with openness. In Adam-Ondi-Ahman, it is a huge bowl/circle where Adam taught is descendants. If Father Adam can do it, we can try it. We are going to do an exercise to decide what to talk about in 2018. We filled out a survey to decide what we want to talk about.