Faith and Repentance
March 16,
2014 as taught by Marquelle Morgan
Marquelle
began here lesson by showing us two plants.
The first one she showed us was green and beautiful. The second one was
wilted and struggling. She asked the sisters how we might fix the wilted and
struggling plant. Some of the responses
were: move it into the sunlight, fertilize it or feed it, put it in a bigger
pot so the roots will have more space to grow and develop. She compared our faith to these plants. If we
don’t pray, read our scriptures, obey the commandments, and go to church, our
faith just like the plant will slowly begin to wither and become weak. Our
faith is a seed and it needs to be spiritually nourished.
She related
a story about her family and how they are going to be exercising their faith.
Her parents have been called on a mission and don’t have the money to pay for
it. All the children are going to help pay for their parents mission. They know
that by helping their parents their family will be blessed. It will be a
sacrifice for some of her brothers and sisters, but their family believes that
when you are on the Lords errands you will be blessed.
Marquelle
shared another story that strengthened her faith. It was a time when her family was going
through a difficult time. Her father had been in and out of work. It was
Thanksgiving, and they just had enough money to pay their tithing. As a result,
they would have to make do with what they had in the cupboards for Thanksgiving
dinner. During this time, her brother was playing college basketball, and they
always got free tickets to watch him play. They went to one of his games and
her sister had the opportunity to shoot the foul shots at halftime. If she made
all of her foul shots, she would receive a cash prize. Marquelle had no doubt
that her sister was going to make all the foul shots. She wasn’t wrong; her sister
made every one of them. Consequently, they had enough money to buy their family
Thanksgiving dinner.
President Joseph Fielding Smith taught, “The forgiveness
of sins comes through faith and sincere repentance.” He said that “it is
necessary, not merely that we believe, but that we repent,” and he also taught
that when we perform good works in faith until the end, we will “receive the
reward of the faithful and a place in the Celestial kingdom of God.” With a
desire for all people to receive this reward, he testified of Jesus Christ and preached
repentance throughout his ministry.
In a sacrament
meeting one Sunday, President Smith told the congregation why he spoke with a
warning voice. His son Joseph, who attended the meeting, later wrote: “I
remember vividly some of the remarks [my father] made on that occasion. ‘Who is
your friend, or who loves you the most?’ he asked the congregation. ‘The person
who tells you all is well in Zion, that prosperity is around the corner or the
person who warns you of the calamities and difficulties that are promised
unless the principles of the gospel are lived? I want you to know that I love
the members of the Church, and I do not want one of them to point an accusing
finger at me when we pass beyond the veil of mortal existence and say, “If you
had only warned me I would not be in this predicament.” And so I raise the
warning voice in hopes that my brothers and sisters may be prepared for a
kingdom of glory.
When President Smith ordained bishops, he often
counseled: “Remember, everyone has weaknesses, and there are at least two sides
to every story. If you err in judgment, be sure you err on the side of love and
mercy.”
(Video Link) https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/yw/atonement/faith?lang=eng#video=pure-and-simple-faith
God’s Embroidery
When I was a little boy, my mother
used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the
floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I
told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I
watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held
in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.
She would smile at me, look down and
gently say, “My son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am
finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it
from my side.”
I would wonder why she was using some
dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my
view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother’s voice say, “Son,
come and sit on my knee.” This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a
beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath
it looked so messy. Then Mother would say to me, “My son, from underneath it
did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn
plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from
my side and you will see what I was doing.”
Many times through the years I have
looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, “Father, what are You doing?” He has
answered, “I am embroidering your life.” I say, “But it looks like a mess to
me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can’t they all be
bright?”
The Father seems to tell me, “‘My
child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will
bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My
side.”
She ended
her lesson with this quote:
“Faith is not so
much something we believe……Faith is something we live.”
