Lesson for February 25, 2018

Today our lesson about “Remember Him“ was given by Lana Horrocks. She always prays that the Lord will speak to our hearts. She especially wanted to talk about the sacrament. President Eyring asked if we could imagine Moroni and his last years and inspiration as he remembered the greatness of God and his patience with us. She asked Paige Gibson to play a piece to help us think of Christ as she plays “Our Savior’s Love.” Lana asked us to think of a favorite picture of Christ, a favorite story of Christ, a time we felt loved by Christ, what we need to do better, and the progress we are making in our relationship with Christ. She handed out paper and pens so we could write these things down. We need to remember the Savior and the price he paid. Heather Cantrell showed pictures she has of Christ, including one by her son. Haruko showed us a picture with Christ smiling. Other sisters showed or told about Christ that had meaning for them. Then sisters told stories that mean a lot to them. More than one sister told about the woman with the issue of blood and how the Savior reacted to the woman by accepting her. Heather said she felt like each of her children was sent to her by the Lord. More than one sister told of how they felt close to the Savior when they gave birth to their children. Another sister told of how the Savior stood by her during her divorce, which brought other stories of finding peace. Each of us has to come to a knowledge that God wants us to grow, not suffer. The Savior gave us the ordinance of repentance and the sacrament to make up for our sins and turn it over to the Lord. He can help us not blow up and take care of other problems in our lives. We often need extra help. Remember the progress you are making and you will have hope. Lisa Anderson said she keeps a journal to keep track of Improvement. There is joy in not giving up and learning more. Lana said she is strengthened by hearing what we have gone through. She has a good relationship with Christ now after struggling. He is so important to all of us.

Lesson for February 18, 2018

The lesson today was about “Abiding in God and Repairing the breach” a conference talk by Sister Neil F. Marriott. Thanks to Carly for teaching the lesson. Carly spoke about the call to action to live to have the Spirit with us to manage opposition. We need to get to the point of wanting feelings of offense from us and we can turn to God. If we turn to Goght d to change ourselves we can resist being offended. We can realize that being offefended is widespread and we can resist offending others. We discussed the story in church history about Sister Marsh who agreed to share milking strippings that influenced Governor Boggs in expelling the Saints. Yet Brigham Young accepted chastisement from Joseph Smith with humility that had a positive result. Brother Marsh came back to the Church years later, saying the Church lost nothing by his absence, but he lost a great deal. Carly asked how it felt to be forgiven. An answer was that it felt free and light. Whenever we feel offended we lose something. We have something missing. When we can make amends we can feel forgiven. Is there someone in your life who needs your forgiveness? As we do forgive others, we will feel more free. It is impossible to be offended if we don’t choose to be offended. We don’t have to worry about others. Don’t let somebody else push your buttons. Try to understand why they would behave that way. There is a difference between forgiveness and trust. We’re much happier if we can trust Christ. We can ask God to help us to forgive and grow. We can also ask to know when we should change and how to change. Some people may need to work on something and may have their own problems. We should have the perspective that they have their own reasons. How can being offended take us away from friends? We need to know those we love and know what their friends needs are. Offenses can be huge, but we can be true to who we are and do our part. It’s important to see that people are imperfect. We can learn to be kind and forgiving. Our eternal perspective can change due to circumstances that will influence us and our families forever. The choices we make have eternal consequences. It would be easier in the long run to choose to not be offended. The gospel is true even if people are not perfect.