Duty to God

Today we had a special combined lesson with the members of the priesthood, since it was the fifth Sunday in July. Some of the youth leaders were able to join us, while Brother Hardy led a discussion with the Young Men and Young Women.

Our lesson was about the Duty to God program for the Young Men. Bishop Weber has made it a ward goal to support our Young Men as they work on the Duty to God program. (He also wants us to support the Young Women in the Personal Progress program. The overall objectives for the Young Men and the Young Women in the two programs are the same, and as parents and grandparents, we are encouraged to support our youth in both programs.)

This information would be a great topic for a Family Home Evening for anyone with children or grandchildren ages 12-18.

Pete Meyers gave the lesson. He also gave a talk in sacrament meeting, so kudos to Pete for doing double duty today--and doing such a fine job of it.

Pete emphasized that the main steps of growing in the gospel are to learn, act, and share. He pointed out that these are the steps followed by Lehi, the prophet Joseph Smith, and all prophets. They are also the steps of the Duty to God program. First you learn the gospel principle. Then you act on it. Then you share what you have learned with others.

The Duty to God program is not a checklist. The goal is for every Young Man to understand his duty to God. (There's a good article on duty by President Monson in the August New Era.)

For each area, the youth learn something about the gospel. Then they get to choose how they will act upon what they have learned. Then they are challenged to share what they've learned or how they've grown from the experience.

Here's a great video Pete showed about how the Duty to God program changed some people's lives. It's less than five minutes long and also includes brief remarks by President Eyring. Even if you missed the lesson, you can still watch the video.

The Duty to God program isn't just for Young Men. It's for families.

As parents and leaders, we need to listen to our youth. Elder Robert D. Hales shared the following instructions for us in his April 2010 General Conference message:

• Set a good example.
• Pay attention to the youth.
• Ask questions.
• Let them talk.
• Listen!

He reminded us that the greatest missionary work we will do will be in our own homes. It's an amazing talk for any parent. Totally worth your time to click the link and read it.

Going along with Elder Hales' comments, Bishop Weber challenged us to give our very best efforts to our youth. He wants the youth in our ward to have the gospel in their hearts. This can't be the 25th item on your priority list, or there will always be "too many things to do" that get in the way of helping our youth. Bishop Weber read 1 Nephi 20:1-2, and reminded us that our task is to "stay ourselves on the God of Israel." He promised us that when we hearken to the commandments, we will find peace in our lives. (See 1 Nephi 20:18.)

Thanks Be to God

Lisa Schoonover taught our lesson today. She began by welcoming everyone to share a good news minute. (We haven't had those in Relief Society lately, but they sure are fun.)

MaKenzie Egbert is engaged to Austin, and they plan to get married this December. Kathy Roberts has a child who recently moved back to Utah from San Fransisco. Pearl Wilding went camping in Idaho with 102 family members for a recent family reunion. And Lisa Schoonover just got her first grandbaby on Monday, a little girl named Peyton. Congratulations & thanks for sharing, everyone!

The lesson was based on Elder Russell M. Nelson's April 2012 General Conference talk, "Thanks Be to God." Elder Nelson said that "our degree of gratitude is a measure of our love for [God]."

We have so much to be thankful for! Elder Nelson touched on three types of gifts from our Heavenly Father: physical gifts, spiritual gifts, and gospel gifts.

Our bodies are an amazing physical gift. Our eyes, hearts, defense system, and our body's ability to renew itself are truly remarkable. However, a perfect body isn't needed to achieve our divine destiny. "In fact," Elder Nelson said, "some of the sweetest spirits are house in frail or imperfect bodies."

Lisa said she watched a story on KSL last night about a boy from India who learned to play baseball.

Joanie Quigley mentioned her Aunt Kitty who was a dwarf but served faithfully in the temple three days a week, taking the bus across town to do it.

Pearl Wilding said her great-great-granddaughter was born without a hand. She asked her dad if she'd have a hand after the resurrection, and he said yes. She said, "But I like my arm just like this!"

Annette Bradshaw had a boy in her Primary class once who was born with muscles that didn't work right from his neck down.  He taught himself to climb. He learned to play the piano by swinging his arms and using his shoulder. He eventually graduated from college and married a blind woman.

Lacey Denson said there was a blind lady in one of her previous wards who crocheted granny squares and put them together to make things and give them to people.

Amara Doxey said she admires a storyteller at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival named Kevin Kline. He was born with a dysfunctional arm. Then he lost use of the other arm in a motorcycle accident. Nonetheless, he's a delightful, hilarious, and inspirational storyteller.

Leslie Weber pointed out that all these stories involve people who are grateful for what they have, even though they have challenges that most of us don't have. We are all beautiful in our own way--and we should be grateful for that!

These stories can inspire us to try a little harder, be a little better.

As important as our bodies are, they are of lesser importance than our spirits. "Because one's spirit is so important, its development is of eternal consequence. ...The attributes by which we shall be judged one day are all spiritual."

Lisa told of one of her dad's journal entries. He had written that he looked forward to kneeling in front of our Heavenly Father and Jesus and thanking them for this earthly life. His journal entry was so important and meaningful to his family when Lisa's father passed away.

We also have gospel gifts. We are so fortunate to have the gospel to guide us. We need to share the gospel and awaken people to an awareness of God. "Each day, our is the challenge to access the power of the Atonement so that we can truly change, become more Christlike, and qualify for the gift of exhaltation and live eternally with God, Jesus Christ, and our families. For these powers, privileges, and gospel gifts, thanks be to God!

Sharing the Gospel Effectively

AnnaMarie Miller emerged from her usual spot behind the piano--where we do appreciate her playing the hymns for us every week!--and taught our lesson today. It was #14 in the George Albert Smith lesson manual, "How to Share the Gospel Effectively."

The main idea of the lesson is that missionary work is most effective when we do it with love and kindness, not coercion or criticism. Still, it can be tricky to figure out how to share the gospel. For starters, there are a lot of misconceptions out there about what members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe. Here were some misconceptions that were shared in class:

• Mormons try too hard. ~Valorie F.
• Weird things happen to women in the temples. ~Pearl W.
• We practice polygamy. ~Alison P.
• You're nice, but you're going to hell. ~Betsy J.
• Mormons are constricted; we can't do anything fun. ~Lacey D.
• We worship Joseph Smith. ~Teresa M.
• We dig up bodies & baptize them at the temple. ~AnnaMarie M.
• We do baptisms for the dead to increase our membership numbers. ~Lacey D.
• Everyone wears temple garments, even children. ~AnnaMarie M.
• We all eat waffles before General Conference. ~Melanie H.

It can be hard to think about sharing the gospel when we focus on these sometimes strange ideas. AnnaMarie encouraged us to think of someone we admire who isn't a member of the Church. What are some characteristics we've found to admire?

• Focus on families. ~Melanie H.
• Love families, want marriages to work, want good lives for their children. ~Betsy J.
• Genuinely caring about other people. ~Amara D.
• Strength and faith in the face of incredible challenges. ~AnnaMarie M.

In summary, we decided that we have a lot more in common with non-members than we have differences with them.

How does thinking about things we admire about other people affect how we interact with them?

• We want what's best for the good people we know. ~Kris P.
• We want to accommodate good people. On Friday night, several men from Afghanistan showed up at our stake center, looking for a place to pray. The RS stake presidency found them a room--and then sent them on their way with pass-along cards. ~Julie W.
• We want to be out among people, building relationships and dispelling odd rumors. ~Marilyn B.
• We can serve people and set a good example. A man walked from Modesto to Turlock, California, one day when Sister Spencer was teaching early morning seminary. The dad of one of the seminary students took the man to McDonald's for breakfast and helped him on his way. ~Sue S.

In all ... churches there are good men and good women. It is the good that is in these various denominations that holds them together. [p. 149] We want to encourage people to keep all the good that they have, then add to it from the gospel. [See p. 148]

AnnaMarie encouraged us to think of a time when we were influenced by someone who showed love for us. Joanie Quigley told about when Jorji was her secret sister and did all kinds of nice things for her.

How can we share the gospel without sounding egotistical or boastful?

• Betsy has a friend who has trouble with members of the Church claiming to be members of "the only true church." We need to be ready to express our love for the Lord.
• Remember that the Lord prepares people's hearts for the gospel. We don't have to do it all. We need to prepare ourselves, be sincere about wanting to share the gospel, and then follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. ~Julie W.

There are so many blessings that come from being a member of the Church. These include benefits in health, life satisfaction, family life, education, scripture knowledge, and volunteering. Elder Perry talked about some of the characteristics of active LDS members in a seminar for mission presidents (see Elder Perry's remarks at this link). 

Karen W. told about how her mother (or possibly grandmother) was converted to the Church because she noticed that the LDS people she knew were happier. Today, she has many descendants who are happy members of the Church.

It's easier to share the gospel when we think of the blessings we can bring to people's lives.

Doing Our Part to Share the Gospel

Nancy Pettibone taught our lesson today. It was #13 in the George Albert Smith manual, "Doing Our Part to Share the Gospel."

Did you know? President George Albert Smith served three full-time missions and also served two years as a mission president. No wonder he was such a huge advocate of missionary work. He had learned how much sharing the gospel blesses lives--those that listen and those that do the sharing.

What do we love about the the gospel? Marilyn Bullock suggested that the gospel enlarges our hearts (kind of like chocolate enlarges... the rest of us).

Doctrine & Covenants 4:4 says, "The field is white already to harvest." Nancy reminded us that so many people are ready for the gospel.

"So, as we go forward, each of us, each having an influence with our neighbors and our friends, let us not be too timid. We do not need to annoy people, but let us make them feel and understand that we are interested, not in making them members of the Church for membership, but in bringing them into the Church that they may enjoy the same blessings that we enjoy." [p. 138]

Margaret Ord told a story about her son, Michael. He was on the high school football team in San Diego. He invited one of his teammates to come to church. The friend said that if he came to church, his whole family needed to come with him. They came to church--and the whole family of five was baptized three months later. The friend's dad was a "hardcore Marine" and not someone Margaret's family would have really seen joining the Church. They have since been sealed in the temple and have seen many miracles in their lives.

Nancy told of her own conversion to the Church. She grew up in a small town in Iowa. For K-8 she attended a Lutheran school. She was happy with her life. In high school, she questioned the minister of the Lutheran congregation about infant baptism and the 3-in-1 concept of God. In college, she found a church (Campus Crusades for Christ, if I got it right...) that believed in baptism at the age of 8. She had a friend who moved to Texas and joined the LDS church and encouraged Nancy to accept lessons from the missionaries, but Nancy wasn't interested. However, on her own, she looked for information in the college library, the local library, and a Christian bookstore. None of those places offered very much information, and they all had anti-Mormon literature. Nancy saw a Book of Mormon at the library, but she was afraid to read it because she had been taught to avoid "other scripture." Although she loved her college, she felt compelled to transfer to the University of Iowa. She did so--just in time to meet up with her Texas friend and that friend's family. (You know, the ones who had joined the Church.) They invited her to church and had several sets of missionaries show up at her apartment, but Nancy turned them away. Finally she was persuaded to go to a harmless Homemaking meeting to make crafts and eat yummy food. She was so touched by the sisters' friendliness that she agreed to go to church. Eventually she was baptized, but without her family's approval. Nonetheless, she has always been happy that she found the gospel and has seen so many blessings in her life because of it. She is grateful to have been married in the temple and to see her children and grandchildren strong in the gospel. She loves temple work. When her first husband passed away from cancer, that was her own parents' first time to enter an LDS chapel. They felt the spirit there and finally told Nancy that they understood why she had joined the Church.

Nancy told us, "Don't be afraid to share the gospel!"

Paula Fellingham's daughter Missy was visiting from Connecticut. Once her stake president told people that he didn't want them reading their scriptures on iPods, etc. when they are in public. Instead, he asked everyone to read the standard, blue "missionary" Book of Mormon--and not to be shy about just leaving a copy out in sight here and there as they went about their work, classes, and so forth. Then if anyone asked them about it (and so many people did ask), they could just hand over their copy. During the challenge, the senior Primary and the youth handed out over 100 Books of Mormon!

Terri Pontius commented that she's heard it takes an average of 10 contacts with a member of the Church before anything "sticks" in someone's mind. Don't worry about if you're #1 or #9. Just speak up, live the standards, and you may find missionary opportunities more abundant than you anticipated.

Marilyn Bullock said when she's in Texas people are really friendly and it's easy to strike up a conversation about the gospel. You can try it here too.

Pearl Wilding said she's happy to report that she has 7 grandchildren who are currently serving missions.

If you want to give a light to others, you have to glow yourself.

President Thomas S. Monson

Cleave Unto the Covenants

Today's lesson was given by our Relief Society president, Teresa Muse. She took her remarks from Chapter 3 of the Daughters in My Kingdom book.

The pioneer women were strengthened by their temple covenants before they left to travel across the plains. Like the pioneers, our lives are something of an unknown journey. We talked about what sustains us when we have tough times. Some sisters mentioned gaining peace and answers from the scriptures and being buoyed up by "girl power" with sisters and daughters.

Jennie Sandstrom read a journal entry by Sarah Rich [p. 30]. Then Chris Houghton and Angela Abel sang. Melani Twitty read a couple journal entries by Eliza Partridge Lyman [p. 32-33]. Then Jolie Hill and Amara Doxey sang "As Sisters in Zion." Jorji Roberts read a journal entry by Bathsheba Smith. Then Rebecca Gubler and Alison Pruitt sang "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good." Last Allison Olcott read a journal entry by Lucy Meserve Smith about how the women helped saints who were struggling across the plains late in the year in horrible conditions. Then Annette Bradshaw & Rebecca Gubler sang "Have I Done Any Good?"

As we listened to the journal entries and hymns, we realized that we have much in common with the pioneer women of the early Church.

We also shared personal experiences about how we have been strengthened by our Relief Society sisters when we've had trials and also how we've been able to help others. Alison talked about helping a lady whose husband died in a tragic accident. Sharon talked about how she was comforted when she lost two children; she knew that Heavenly Father was aware of her and that her children were OK. Later, she was able to comfort another family who went through a similar loss. Melani talked about the outpouring of love our ward showed when her newborn daughter was in the ICU shortly after birth.

Thanks to all these sisters for reading and singing--and to Terri Pontius for playing the piano. And to all the sisters who shared their personal experiences. You all added so much to the lesson!

It is a privilege to help others who are in need. Serving bonds us together, and that's something we want in our ward. Like the pioneers before us, we can let our temple covenants strengthen and guide us in our lives as we all go through this crazy experience we call life.