Gospel Doctrine Teacher

 It's been an interesting couple of months and I haven't done a very good job or journaling events or thoughts or feelings.  I was released as YW President at the end of November.  I served just over 3 years, but I had served for almost 4 years as a counselor. So in just over a month after I was released, I would have been in YW for 7 years.  Jackie Simper was called as the new YW President, and she will do a fantastic job.  But I would be lying if I said I wasn't sad.  I love the YW so very much, and YW has been a huge part of my life for a long time, so it was a sad adjustment for me.

I was called to be a Gospel Doctrine Teacher.  Sharon is also a gospel doctrine teacher, so I will teach once a month.  Interestingly, months ago, Sara and I were talking about callings we would love to have and I mentioned that I would love to be Gospel Doctrine Teacher.  So that's fun.  It's been a long time since I taught adults, but I'm excited for the opportunity.  And a tiny bit nervous because it is Old Testament.

I teach for the first time on Sunday.  We are studying Moses 1 and Abraham 3.  Here's my outline for what I plan to cover.

First, introduction to the year and my goals for Old Testament and ask class what they HOPE to learn/accomplish.

*Point out that the Come Follow Me Manual gives the following suggestions for studying the Old Testament:  1. Find personal meaning, 2.  Seek the Savior (the manual says:  "If you seek greater faith in the Savior as you study the Old Testament, you will find it."  I love and WANT/NEED this promise!), 3.  Remember that the Old Testament was divinely preserved.  The manual says, "Maybe God preserved these ancient writings because He knows you and what you are going through."

Second, each time I teach, I want to share a teaching idea...one thing that might help them as they are studying that week's or the next week's scriptures with their families.  And have them share what worked for them that week or any ideas they have.

*My ideas for this first time:  have children make a list of how they are like Mom and how they are like Dad.  Then read a few verses that describe God and see how they ARE like God and also how they can BECOME like God/their Heavenly Parents.

*For the second week, as you are reading about creation, have family make pictures of what happens on each day of creation.  Alternately, you could find photos to represent each day of creation and hang them up.

Launch into the actual lesson.

One of the things that I love about the Old Testament is that it deals with the covenants God made with Israel.  (In fact, the word testament is a synonym for covenant.)  In October 2020, President Nelson gave a beautiful talk entitled Let God Prevail.  He explained that one meaning of the word Israel is to "let God prevail" and so anyone who chooses to let God prevail in their life could be considered part of Israel.  He then issued this challenge:  

"As you study your scriptures during the next six months, I encourage you to make a list of all that the Lord has promised He will do for covenant Israel. I think you will be astounded! Ponder these promises. Talk about them with your family and friends. Then live and watch for these promises to be fulfilled in your own life.

My dear brothers and sisters, as you choose to let God prevail in your lives, you will experience for yourselves that our God is “a God of miracles.”²³ As a people, we are His covenant children, and we will be called by His name." 

While more than a year has passed, one of the things I hope we can continue to do as we study the Old Testament this year is to add to our list (or begin our list!) of these promises and watch for these promises to be fulfilled in our lives.  So I want to start there today.

Promises I noticed in these two chapters:  (Have someone read each of these):

Moses 1:26  "Lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days, for thou shalt deliver my people from bondage, even Israel my chosen."

Moses 1: 35  "all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them."

Numbered:  counted, known, reckoned, assigned

Abraham 3:14  "I will multiply thee, and thy seed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the number of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds."

Abraham 3:17   "There is nohting that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it."

*Discuss the promises and also ask if anyone has an example of a time they have seen God fulfilling that specific promise in their life.

Then move to the Second half of the Lesson:   What do these two chapters teach us about God?  About ourselves?  About Satan?  (write these 3 on the board and add to the list as we go):  

Moses 1:1-3   What do we learn about God from these verses?  In addition, do these verses help us know anything about ourselves?   ....face to face, talked with Him, glory, Almighty, Endless, Lord God

Abraham 3:  11-12  What do we learn about God from these verses?  About ourselves?  ...talked with God, face to face.  Abraham called his son. Great multitude of creations.

Moses 1:4-8  God/self...workmanship of mine hands, endless words and works, full of grace and truth.  Know all my works.

my son, I have a work for thee.  Thou art in similitude of Only Begotten.

What do you think it meant for Moses to know that he was a son of God?  Why is this knowledge so important for us today?

I just finished reading Elder Edward Dube of the Seventy's book called Beyond the Shade of the Mango Tree.  He tells of his introduction to the church.  After attending church and seeing the people there, he felt intimidated.  He was young, spoke little English, and felt like he had little to contribute and was out of place.  But then he heard Primary children singing "I Am a Child of God" and he was touched by the words.  

Elder Edward Dube writes, "As I looked at the faces of those children and listened to them sing, I felt the words of their song lift me above the dust of the world.  I realized for the first time that I was a son of God and He had a plan for me.  This song gave me courage to progress toward baptism.  Why did a little Primary song have such a profound impact on me?  Because it helped me see what God saw in me.  He saw me as His child, endowed with the great potential to become like Him....I had been worried whether I belonged with the members of the branch.  This song helped me connect with them, but it did more than that.  It inspired me to connect with my Father in Heaven, to begin to see what He saw in me."

President Dallin H. Oaks said, "Consider the power of the idea taught in our beloved song "I am a Child of God"...Here is the answer to one of life's great questions.  'Who am I?' I am a child of God with a spirit lineage to heavenly parents.  That parentage defines our eternal potential.  That powerful idea is a potent antidepressant.  It can strengthen each of us to make righteous choices and to seek the best that is within us.  Establish in the mind of a young person the powerful idea that he or she is a child of God and you have given self-respect and motivation to move against the problems of life."

Abraham 3:  22-25  What do we learn about ourselves and about God from these verses?

Moses 1:10-12... Moses is exhausted after visit with God.  (*Discuss divine investiture of authority.)  Then Satan comes tempting him.  Vs. 12 he calls him a son of man.  What do we learn about God, ourselves and Satan in these verses?

*Charlie Chaplin entered a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest in Cleveland, Ohio.  He figured he'd be a shoo-in and that it would be funny.  He placed 20th.  Now, obviously, NO ONE is a better Charlie Chaplin than Charlie Chaplin.  But in the words of Come Follow Me Daily, "If we let the world judge who we are, they will get it wrong....Satan attacks worth first.  Because if we doubt it, we are crippled.  And when we understand it, we can do anything."

Moses 1: 13-16  What do we learn?

In October 2019, Elder Peter M. Johnson of the Seventy gave a talk about 3 tools that Satan uses:  distraction, deception and discouragement.  The talk is wonderful and I encourage all of you to review it.  In the section on deception, Elder Johnson recounts this story of Moses and he says, "The adversary was relentless in his attempts to deceive Moses, but Moses resisted, saying, “Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.”⁶ Moses remembered who he was—a son of God.

The Lord’s words to Moses apply to you and to me. We are created in God’s own image, and He has a work for us to do. The adversary attempts to deceive by having us forget who we truly are. If we do not understand who we are, then it is difficult to recognize who we can become."

In the same conference, October 2019, TWO other talks spoke about the tactics of the adversary.  It seems like this is something our leaders want us to understand...and perhaps even something that is crucial for our spiritual survival!

One of the talks was by Elder Gary E. Stevenson.  He began by telling two humorous stories of his children...his son tried to paint the dog with black spots so it would be a dalmation. And his children, while visiting a relative, seeing a "cat" that was black with a white stripe down it's back.

The Great Deceiver

These stories about innocent children discovering something about life and reality may make each of us smile, but they also illustrate a more profound concept.

In the first story, our young son had a beautiful dog as a pet; notwithstanding, he grabbed a gallon of paint and, with paintbrush in hand, determined to create his own imagined reality.

In the second account, the boys were blissfully unaware of the unsavory threat they faced from a skunk. Unable to properly identify what they had actually encountered, they ran the risk of suffering some unfortunate consequences. These are stories of mistaken identity—presuming the real thing to be something else. In each case, the consequences were minor.

However, many today grapple with these same issues on a much larger scale. They are either unable to see things as they truly are or are unsatisfied with truth. Moreover, there are forces at play today designed to deliberately lead us away from absolute truth. These deceptions and lies go far beyond innocent mistaken identity and often have dire, not minor, consequences.

Satan, the father of lies and the great deceiver, would have us question things as they really are and either ignore eternal truths or replace them with something that appears more pleasing. “He maketh war with the saints of God”² and has spent millennia calculating and practicing the ability to persuade God’s children to believe that good is evil and evil is good.

He has made a reputation for himself convincing mortals that skunks are just kittens or that, with an application of paint, you can turn a Labrador into a Dalmatian!

Elder Stevenson then turns to this account in Moses and shows how Satan tries to persuade Moses that HE is a dalmation, rather than a labrador.  Or in Moses' case...a son of man rather than a son of God.

In other words, Moses said: “You cannot deceive me, for I know who I am. I was created in the image of God. You don’t have His light and glory. So why should I worship you or fall prey to your deception?”

Now pay attention to how Moses further responds. He declares, “Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not.”⁷

There is much we can learn from Moses’s mighty response to temptation from the adversary. I invite you to respond the same way when you feel influenced by temptation. Command the enemy of your soul by saying: “Go away! You have no glory. Do not tempt or lie to me! For I know I am a child of God. And I will always call upon my God for His help.”

The adversary, however, does not easily abandon his destructive motives to deceive and demean us. He certainly did not do so with Moses, instead desiring to cause Moses to forget who he was eternally.

As if he were throwing a childish tantrum, “Satan cried with a loud voice, and ranted upon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the Only Begotten, worship me.”⁸

Let’s review. Did you hear what he just said? “I am the Only Begotten. Worship me!”

The great deceiver said, in effect, “Don’t worry; I won’t harm you—I’m not a skunk; I am just an innocent black-and-white kitty cat.”

So what can we do when Satan tries to tempt and deceive us?   

Moses 1:16-20

Moses 1:21-22

**If time, move to Moses 1:  35-39

Kerry Muhlestein said he thinks verse 39 is one of the MOST important verses in all of scripture.  It explains WHY Earth was created and gives context for EVERYTHING else God has created and commanded and said and done.  

**If time, share Kerry Muhlestein's 4 keys to understanding the Old Testament:

1.  The Old Testament records warts and all.  Not everyone or everything you read about is meant to be admired or followed.  It records the good, the bad, and the ugly.

2.  Their culture was based around symbolism, including symbolic ACTION.  So for example, if you are upset and feel heartbroken, you rend your clothes as an outward symbol or sign of your inner emotions.  Some of the things that today we perceive as God being vengeful are just Him teaching these people through symbolic action in THEIR language and to THEIR understanding.

3.  Look at the whole story and you'll see God's love and mercy.  He is patient and forgiving and GOOD.  Things are often messy or difficult in the middle of stories, but if you look at the whole story, you will see how He keeps forgiving and keeps gathering and keeps restoring and keeps helping.

4.  Recognize the importance of the Abrahamic covenant or the new and everlasting covenant.   Much of the imagery and the experiences recorded relate to the covenant.

 

Why Friends Stay

 Listening to President Nelson's words in the Sunday morning session of conference, I felt inspired but also felt like I had some work to do to strengthen my spiritual foundation.  And I just wasn't sure exactly how to begin the work to learn more about the temple and strengthen my spiritual foundation.  But after listening to a video on Inklings (on Instagram) and pondering, I felt like  I should gather some women to study together and to help one another grow and become stronger.  And the thought wouldn't leave so I figured it probably was something I should act on.  Naturally, I talked about it with Sara and Jackie and then picked a date and invited some friends to join me.  Not everyone could or wanted to participate, which is okay, and a few people wanted to participate but the first date (tonight) didn't work for them.  But the few of us who gathered tonight had such a good discussion.  I felt the spirit and felt such love for these women.  And I'm looking forward to our continued discussions and studies together.  I promised a couple of women who couldn't attend, that I would take some notes and I just wanted to try to capture some of my thoughts and feelings before time had passed and I couldn't quite remember or express it.  

I began by kind of explaining why I invited them.  I shared these words from President Nelson (from October 2015, the talk entitled A Plea to My Sisters, one of my all time favorite talks:)

We, your brethren, need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices. The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them, women who can speak with the power and authority of God!⁷

President Packer declared:

“We need women who are organized and women who can organize. We need women with executive ability who can plan and direct and administer; women who can teach, women who can speak out. …

“We need women with the gift of discernment who can view the trends in the world and detect those that, however popular, are shallow or dangerous.”⁸

Today, let me add that we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith and who are courageous defenders of morality and families in a sin-sick world. We need women who are devoted to shepherding God’s children along the covenant path toward exaltation; women who know how to receive personal revelation, who understand the power and peace of the temple endowment; women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly.

The women I invited are ALL these type of women.  They are women who live and act in faith. They are women who do so much good.  They are women who make and keep covenants.  I feel so incredibly blessed to know such good, righteous women.

I also shared these words from President Nelson:

Attacks against the Church, its doctrine, and our way of life are going to increase. Because of this, we need women who have a bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Christ and who will use that understanding to teach and help raise a sin-resistant generation.¹² We need women who can detect deception in all of its forms. We need women who know how to access the power that God makes available to covenant keepers and who express their beliefs with confidence and charity. We need women who have the courage and vision of our Mother Eve. 

He said that in 2015, and I feel like I have definitely seen an increase in attacks (from within and without).   I want to be a woman who can detect deception and I hope that this group can be a safe place to share why we stay and to help one another express our beliefs and strengthen our spiritual foundations.  So I posed the question:  "Why do you stay?"  And their answers were all SO good.

Jackie wasn't able to come, but she sent a message earlier about why she stays.  She feels sad that her kids and grandkids are not doing the things that will bring them to Christ.  She worries that as things get hard in their lives, they will have no center.  No compass. No Jesus.  She said she stays for many reasons but partly so her prayers are more readily heard.  For the peace that she can petition the Lord, as Alma did, for her children will turn away from the wickedness of the world and seek Jesus.  She stays because it brings her peace.  It feels like she is headed home when she keeps her covenants.  She wants to look forward to the day when her journey moves forward.  

Melissa spoke about growing up in the church but rebelling a bit as a teen.  She didn't have great friends and wanted to change but really needed to know for herself what she believed.  She found that the gospel grounds her.  She began living the gospel because she wanted to and not because she was told to.  She thought a lot about what type of mom and person she wanted to be.  And she said she stays because she feels peace.  She knows the Savior.  She said she's had a handful of experiences where heaven and earth have touched.  She thinks of Joseph Smith's words "I knew it and I knew that God knew that I knew it."  It's real.  She also spoke about how Christ knows everything we feel.  He understands all of it, good and bad.

Sara spoke about how her experiences, good and bad, have helped her gain a testimony.  She said she knows it's true.  

Heather said her reasons for staying have changed throughout her life.  Her family is so important to her.  She shared that her sister isn't active.  Her sister's stake president had counseled them to pray daily as a couple and her sister has said that after they stopped, things changed and got harder.  She explained that she has seen the Lord's hand too many times.  She's received needed counsel in priesthood blessings.  She's seen little miracles as she has paid tithing or prayed.  And her children have seen these miracles too.  

Sara talked about the small and simple things and how vital they are.  Going to church.  Scripture study.  These things hold us together and invite the spirit into our lives.  

Heather spoke about how her son always needs to know the why behind things.  But as they study and discuss he is able to see the miracles that happened in church history or begin to understand why.  She said she has to stay or they wouldn't.  

And we discussed how the decisions of one person/couple can affect generations. President Hinckley said, “When you save a girl, you save generations.”  (I said that this haunts me because I think about it often and I worry about those that I am not reaching.)

Lilia spoke about how personal it is.  She stays because of her relationship with the Savior and Heavenly Father.  She talked about some of the hard questions that she and her husband have faced.  Questions about race and the priesthood.  Questions about why certain policies were enacted.  She has had to do a lot of searching.  But she has had experiences with the Holy Ghost and with God.  God is real and true.  She realized at one point that she could believe in God and not be in the Church.  She could choose to go toward anger and disappointment...but at the end of the day, she realized that humans are not perfect but God is real and she trusts Him.  Prophets are inspired though imperfect.  So she chooses to hold on to what she does know.  She said there is nothing out there in the world like the gospel.  Nowhere else that gives her what she gets here, despite her questions.

Sara spoke about also having questions that aren't resolved, but as she has studied and searched for answers, she comes back to her knowledge that God loves His children.  She has wrestled, but that is when she has most deeply felt His love.  You can have faith and still have questions. She has learned that it's okay to have questions.

La shared that she's had periods where she has had an inkling of what it might be like without the gospel.  She's gone through some hard experiences and said she feels infinitely better when she turns to God and trusts Him.  He never fails her.  She knows and feels goodness when she is surrounded by good people.  Being way from God never feels good.  She said her sister feels defeated and unneeded and she wishes she had a group like this.  

Lilia recommended a book entitled Planted.

Lilia spoke about how wards and stakes often put us with people that we might not choose to associate with if we weren't sort of thrust together.  It has helped teach her to see others as human.  Can she love others even when she disagrees with them? 

La said the antidote to struggling with someone is to serve them.  Serve them and serve with them.  

Sara has a friend in Nevada that was struggling during the pandemic.  IN her prayers, she felt prompted to serve those she was most bothered by.  She got to know them and it changed things.

Often, I shared, if we will take the time to listen to someone who seems to be very different or to have very different political views, we can find that we have more in common than we think.  And even if we disagree, we can often find things that we can respect about their viewpoint if we listen and ask questions and don't make assumptions.  

Jan reminded us that Satan's goal is to divide and get us to contend.  Especially those in the church, those of us who are supposed to be building Zion.  La spoke about this very thing in church a week and a half ago.  In many ways the pandemic has been a disease of the heart...how we respond to others and to this challenge is a test.

Sara spoke of how Jan often shows up when she needs something, without being asked.  She knows that if she needs something, she can turn to Jan. And that we shouldn't assume that others are ok based only on outward appearances.  Jan:  We need one another.  We are stronger together.

I talked about recognizing that often when we feel we are being judged, it's more about OUR feelings of guilt or not belonging or whatever.  Often those we think are judging us aren't even thinking about us at all because they are busy juggling their own challenges.  And often if they are thinking of us, they are thinking kind things or thinking they wish they knew how to help.  Satan uses these thoughts to try to draw us away and he is so good at it.  Lilia:  Much of the times we think we are being judged, it is really more about the narratives we are telling ourselves.  If we want to change how we feel, we must change our narratives. 

Satan will find little things to distract us or draw us away.  Get us to miss church or skip scripture study or whatever...and soon we are distanced.

La spoke about how Brian's dad wasn't active.  Brian had to make sacrifices and make personal decisions about whether to be active, go on a mission, etc.  He had to fight to live the gospel and when she thinks of his sacrifices, she wants to stay true to honor his sacrifices and not have them be in vain.

Sara's mom chose to go to church despite her parents being less active.  When she thinks of her mom's sacrifices and how that has blessed her and her sisters and their families, she wants to share those stories with her children and help them recognize the sacrifices and not take them for granted.

I spoke about one of my reasons being that in the words of Michael Wilcox...I don't want to break the chain.   I had many faithful ancestors that sacrificed so much.   Losing homes and family members, crossing the plains, and staying faithful despite real hardships.  I can't imagine standing before them some day and saying that I neglected the legacy they gave me because my (privileged, pretty easy overall) life was too hard.  I can't imagine saying that I was upset about the polygamy they LIVED and practiced so I left or that I was upset about this or that doctrine or church policy and so I walked away.  

Lilia said that if she left, she would be turning her back on God.  

Laurel said that is why she stays...because of Christ, she learns of Him, renews her covenants with Him, becomes like Him.  That's why she goes to church.

For me, the words in John 6:  66-69 have rung in my head for months now:  "¶ From that time many of his ^adisciples went back, and ^bwalked no more with him.

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the ^awords of eternal life.

69 And ^awe believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the ^bSon of the living God."

Where would I go?  I don't want to walk away from Him.  I love Him.  He is my biggest reason for staying.

Jan talked about how much we need each other.  We need the strength that we get from one another.  We need the service and love we provide for one another.  (I didn't speak up, but I feel this deeply.  I love my job and I work with great people.  I've had opportunities to work on committees and in different organizations in the world and many of them do some great things.  So I don't want to minimize the good that is done by many people of the world.  BUT...for me, there is something unique and special about serving alongside other men and women of faith.  Partly because of what we are able to accomplish.  But mostly because it feels different.  I feel like I have mostly been treated with respect in my job and other experiences.  But there is a different feeling... a feeling of a common purpose and unity, a desire to follow God and love our fellowman, a depth of love and compassion...that is present in much of my church service that is missing in the work I do in the world. Or that is not there in the same way.  I'm not sure I am articulating that well, but there is power in the combined efforts of people of faith.  Of course there is--there is power in covenants!)

Hayley was pretty quiet, but shared a bit about preparing for her mission.  She will hopefully get her mission call next week!  She is going to be amazing!  

 And there were more things said and shared that I didn't get recorded.

There was more discussion, but I was eating cake and didn't take more notes.

But there was a beautiful spirit.  

We are going to meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month and I hope it will be a source of strength and inspiration and goodness in all of our lives.  I am truly grateful to have such incredible women around me.  I was 100% serious that they are the type of women President Nelson described!  What a privilege to be surrounded by them and to learn from them.

One thing I didn't share that I will probably share next time is how pivotal the temple is to my staying.  Maybe that's how I'll begin the next "meeting".  But oh how grateful I am for these women!

Aubrey Trial Becomes Blessing

 Claire and Aubrey taught the YW lesson on Sunday.  They did such a great job.  I was especially happy that it went so well because in the past when I have asked Aubrey to teach, she has declined.  But she has grown a lot in the past two years, and she has shared/participated more in YW classes lately, so I was happy that she was willing to teach.  The lesson was on how we can access the powers of heaven.  But near the end, she talked a little bit about adversity and why bad things sometimes happen to good people.  And she shared that years ago, her grandparents experienced serious financial difficulty.  And they basically lost everything they owned temporally.  It was a terrible trial for them.  BUT Aubrey said, because of that trial, her grandparents live with her (or rather...her family and her dad's parents live with her mom's mom...her maternal grandmother, Yvonne is an incredible lady and shares her home with her daughter Noel and her family as well as with Noel's in-laws).  

A couple of years ago, Aubrey was struggling. She read a book at school that really shook her faith.  And she just wasn't sure she believed anything about the gospel.  And I think she was facing some other difficulties.  Anyway, she shared today that her grandpa asked if he could read the Book of Mormon with her each day.  And so for the past 2 years, they have read the scriptures together nearly every day.  She also asks him lots of questions, because she said, "He knows everything."   Her testimony is so strong now, and she is clearly so much happier and thriving in a way that makes me so happy to see.  So, she said, "I'm grateful that my grandpa had that trial to lose everything financially because it led to so many blessings and lessons for me."

LESSONS LEARNED:

*Trials can teach us critical lessons and bless us immeasurably.

*Studying the Book of Mormon increases faith and testimony.  

Ruth Lost Counterfeit

 Ruth, the sweet wife of our stake president, spoke in our ward yesterday. She told of a recent experience where her husband took their dog Steve for a walk, and a few minutes later he came back and said he'd lost Steve.  Something had spooked Steve, he'd gotten away (I can't remember the exact details), and Steve had tried to chase him and then came home to get the truck to search for him.  Ruth quickly texted a couple of neighbors and put an announcement on Facebook as they hopped in the car to search.  A few minutes later their door camera chimed and a neighbor was at their door with Steve while they were still driving around.  Steve had been found.  Ruth compared this to our brothers and sisters who are lost.  Our Heavenly Parents long for them to be found.  We should long for that as well.  Our Lord loves lost things as evidenced by the parables of the lost coin, lost sheep and prodigal son.  

Then Ruth told of an expert on counterfeit bills.  He is one of the best in the nation at recognizing counterfeit bills.  Once a reporter said he must spend a lot of time studying counterfeit bills.  He replied that he never studies counterfeit bills.  He spends countless hours studying the real bills so that he can recognize any subtle difference between the real bill and a fake.  We, too, should come to know the real thing (the gospel of Jesus Christ) so thoroughly that we an recognize when a counterfeit idea or concept is placed before us.

LESSONS LEARNED:

*Knowing the REAL or true thing can help us avoid counterfeits or deceptions.

*The Lord loves lost things.

*Losing someone brings loss, panic, worry, sorry...but finding them or helping them find God brings peace, joy, increased faith and trust.

Find Seek Sara

 My dearest friend Sara spoke in sacrament meeting today.  Her talk was on seeking the good.  

She shared an experience she had this summer.  In July, she and some of her family went to look at the apartment that Liv would be living in this year down at Snow College.  It was darling.  Then when they went to move Liv in a few weeks later, they were told to write down every little flaw...any scratches or nicks or holes or dents.  Sara went through the place very carefully (FAR more carefully than Michelle and I did when she moved in so hopefully Michelle doesn't have to pay a big fee at the end of the year)...and filled 4 pages with every tiny scratch and imperfection.  And by the time she was done, she felt like Liv's apartment was a terrible place.  And what had changed?  The second time she went specifically looking for the bad and the flawed...and she found it.  

She shared this quote by Elder Uchtdorf:  

Have you ever noticed that people can usually find whatever they are looking for? Look hard enough, and you can discover both good and bad in almost anyone and anything. People have done the same with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since its beginning. Those who look for the good will find a kind and compassionate people—a people who love the Lord and desire to serve Him and bless the lives of their fellowman. But it is also true that those who look for the bad will certainly find things that are not so ideal.

Unfortunately, at times this happens even within the Church. There is no end to the creativity, ingenuity, and tenacity of those who look for reasons to criticize. They cannot seem to release their grip on grudges. They gossip and find fault with others. They nurse wounds for decades, taking every opportunity to tear down and demean others. This is not pleasing to the Lord, “for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” (James 3:16).

She also shared the following sweet story about our dear ward member Susan Vincent.  A few years ago, Susan was experiencing health struggles (she still is) and she had just lost her mom. Life felt really hard, and she was discouraged and upset.  One day she saw a picture of Eeyore.  She thought about his gloomy attitude and suddenly wondered if she was having that effect on those she loved and those who spent time with her.  She vowed to complain less and get rid of the "Eeyore effect".  It took a lot of conscientious effort, but she has worked hard to try to see the blessings she has and to not complain about her problems.  

She shared a few other experiences and scriptures and testified that we can find the good in everyone and everything if only we will look for it.

LESSONS LEARNED:

*Avoid the "Eeyore" syndrome.

*Look for the good in others and in experiences.

*Even simple, every day experiences can be powerful teachers if we are consciously looking for the lessons.

 

Identity Sacred Enneagram

 I'm reading a book called The Sacred Enneagram.  I have heard of the Enneagram, but really don't know much about it.   My assumption has been that it is a type of personality test though the tiny bit of reading I've done so far makes me think that maybe that's not quite right. And I think I saw this book recommended somewhere, though I can't remember where.  Anyway, I'm only on chapter 1 though I've skimmed a couple of other chapters (kind of hoping to find the "personality test" that would identify my enneagram number).  

But I love these things so far.  The author relates a story on the first page of his spiritual leader, Father Larry Gillick, visiting an elementary school.  After he spoke to some of the students, a girl came up to him and suddenly she said, "You're blind!"  He said, "That's not news to me."

The young girl replied, "You don't know what you look like."  Then immediately she whispered, "You're beautiful!"

The author, Christopher Heuertz then explains that to some extent most/all of us are blind...we don't see our own beauty.  He writes:

Each and every one of us is beautiful.  Each and every one of us is beloved by God.

From this starting point we can begin an honest interrogation of the depths of our identity, of who we really are.  When we accept our inherent beauty, we find the courage to examine what makes us beautiful-to honestly encounter both the good and the bad, the shadow and the light. (16)

He also explains the difference between identity and dignity...identity tells us who we are and dignity tells us what we are worth.  He asserts that "all humanity bears the imprint of the Divine, that we are made in the image of God.  This is the starting point for drawing forward our sense of dignity, the intrinsic value that is ascribed not earned, based on our essence in reflecting a good and loving God.  If we can start with the grace of resting in our dignity, then the truth of our identity flows forward" (17)   In other words, we have value because we are children of God, and once we truly understand that, we don't try to find our value in things that we DO or DON'T DO.  

Trunk or treat

 The Granger Single Adult ward in our stake offered to do a trunk or treat for the rest of the stake.  It was rainy so they moved it inside but they did such a great job decorating rooms/areas and making it fun for the kids and teens.