This Sunday was wet but just as great as Sundays always are. Our family arrived on time today,thankfully, and we got a seat in the middle pews. Our meeting this week was about loving others even thought they may be different, and teaching them without having contention.
I think that is an important topic to cover not only because we can all use it in the real world but also because this is a skill that is hard to master. Our ward focuses on missionary work a lot but teaching without contention can be hard sometimes. The youth speaker this weak spoke a little on this especially on negotiating when discussing and making decisions. When discussing gospel topics we need to make sure that it is a discussion not an argument or "heated debate". He gave examples of how to avoid arguments. One of them was a small anecdote that told of him and his brother trying to decide on a movie to watch and having to sacrifice his opinion to make his brother happy. Although, even though we sacrifice what we want for what someone else wants, that doesn't mean we give up on solid truths because they are not what the person we are teaching agrees with. That balance is sometimes hard to find.
The next speaker spoke about the same topic but gave some different information. He talked about understanding what your "student's" opinion of the topic was and getting into their level. His example was the story of the sons of mosiah. In the Book of Mormon, four sons of King Mosiah who were converted after an angel appeared to them and called them to repentance. Their names were Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni. They spent fourteen years successfully preaching the gospel to the Lamanites. A record of their ministry among the Lamanites is given in the book of Alma chapters 17-26. It talks about how Ammon was the king's servant by choice and he did all theses things like cut off the arms of sheep thieves and when he was brought to the king, they said,": Whether he be the Great Spirit or a man, we know not; but this much we do know, that he cannot be slain by the enemies of the king; neither can they scatter the king’s flocks when he is with us, because of his expertness and great strength; therefore, we know that he is a friend to the king. And now, O king, we do not believe that a man has such great power, for we know he cannot be slain." He had protected the other Shepard and the Kings sheep and the king wanted to know how he did that. Ammon had been instructed by the lord to wait until the king was ready to teach him the gospel and once he king inquired to know m, Ammon asked"Wilt thou hearken unto my words, if I tell thee by what power I do these things? And this is the thing that I desire of thee." After the king agreed, Ammon asked him,do you believe that there is a god? And the king did not know what he meant because the Lamanites had not heard of God before but believed in the "great spirit." Ammon realized this and then asked, do you believe that there is. A great spirit and the king said yes. Ammon was then able to teach the king about the gospel because he realized what the extent of king Lamoni's understanding was.
This leads into what the lesson in Sunday school was. We talked about the importance of the scriptures and the sacrifices and trials that were taken to get the bible and Book of Mormon so that we could have them in the restored gospel for the average person to read. We started off by watching a movie about a man who was put in prison for a year and then burned at the stake, just for translating the bible to English. He said that I will die knowing that the poorest farm boy may get just as much of the bible to read as the pope. He sacrificed his life for the bible. We all thought of other stories In The scriptures of people who sacrificed many things for the gospel specifically the scriptures. The story of Abinadi and how he sacrificed his life to bear his testimony to the king and his court and was killed. One of the members of the king's court was alma who inspired by Abinadi's testimony and became one of gods prophets. The story of Joseph smith and how he dedicated his while life to restoring the gospel and translating the Book of Mormon. The story of nephi and his brothers and how they were called to get the golden plates from Laben. They went through a lot and Nephi had to kill Laban to get them, risking his life get genealogy records and scripture doctrine.
In Young Women's we had opening excercises in Relief Society and then split into separate classes for our lessons. We learned about our Heavenly Father. We did an activity at the beginning and u suggest you do it also. Think of someone you know very well. What have you done to get to know that person? How can we use similar methods to know our Heavenly Father?We read this talk by Elder Hales, about Heavenly Father. I will share with you the content of my notes
Elohim (God's real name)
Father in heaven
God
Heavenly Father
Lord
Omnipotent
Father
*looks*
Has a body
Has a voice
Has feelings
Cries
Loves us
Perfect
*his nature*
Hard worker
Wants us to live with him in the celestial kingdom
Wants to help his children
I know that Heavenly Father loves us.
There are five scriptures we read that help to better understand this concept.
1 John 2:3-5
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1 John 4:7-8
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Mosiah 5:13
13 For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?
D&C 88:63-65
63 Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
64 Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you;
65 And if ye ask anything that is not expedient for you, it shall turn unto your condemnation.
Mosiah 4:9-12
9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.
11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.
I have a testimony that all i have said is true. In the name of our Savior Jesus Christ amen.
