Living by Every Word That Proceeds from the Mouth of God

 Living by Every Word That Proceeds from the Mouth of God

Joseph Fielding Smith

August 17 by Cynthia Myers

 

Sister Myers started her lesson out by telling a story about her cousin Emily. She said her cousin wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. She was always doing things without completely thinking them through. She gave one example of Emily taking a trip to Arizona and she wanted to take a different route“

She looked at a map quickly and decided what roads to take. As she drove this route that she had picked she ended up in California. She didn’t plan on going through California, but somehow she ended up there. She eventually got herself to Arizona. It took her 8 hours longer than she planned. Sister Myers related this to us:  When we don’t follow God’s plan and keep his commandments we get lost and take a different road.  It doesn’t mean we won’t make it back to our Heavenly Father. We might get lost and make the road twist and turn a bit more. This making our lives harder than they need to be.

 

President Smith said “The supreme act of worship is to keep the commandments, to follow in the footsteps of the Son of God, to do ever those things that please him.”

 

 “I am seeking after my salvation,” President Joseph Fielding Smith declared, “and I know that I can find it only in obedience to the laws of the Lord in keeping the commandments, in performing works of righteousness, following in the footsteps of our file leader, Jesus, the exemplar and the head of all. President Smith once shared an experience that illustrated the change of heart that can come to a person who heeds this warning call:

 

In addition to seeking his own salvation, President Smith worked diligently to help others do the same. Elder Francis M. Gibbons, who served as a secretary to the First Presidency, observed that President Smith “saw it as his duty to raise a warning voice when the people began to drift away from the path marked by the scriptures. And he had no intention to abandon that duty, regardless of what anyone said. That speaking out made him unpopular in some circles seems not to have had any deterring effect upon him; his purpose was not to become popular or famous in the eyes of the people. Instead, he saw his role as that of a watchman on the tower whose duty it was to sound the warning call to those below who could not see the approaching danger.” President Smith once shared an experience that illustrated the change of heart that can come to a person who heeds this warning call:

“I attended a stake conference a number of years ago and spoke on the Word of Wisdom. … When I went to the rear of the building [at the close of the conference,] nearly everybody had left, but a man held out his hand and said:

“‘Brother Smith that is the first discourse on the Word of Wisdom that I ever liked.’

“I said: ‘Haven’t you heard other discourses on the Word of Wisdom?’

“He said: ‘Yes, but this is the first one that I ever enjoyed.’

“I said: ‘How is that?’

“He said: “Well, you see, I am keeping the Word of Wisdom now.”

The sisters commented sometimes it is hard to listen to people tell us what we should be doing.

 God governs the universe by law, and we are subject to that law.

President Smith went on to say, “All kingdoms have a law given; “And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions. A sister commented that we can choose our actions and change our direction on the road, but we can’t choose our consequences.

Keeping the commandments is an expression of our love for the Lord.

Our responsibility in the Church is to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, and this we are seeking to do with all our heart, might, and mind. Jesus said: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt. 4:10.)

 

 When we are keeping the commandments of the Lord, we are on the road to perfection.

The Lord expects us to believe in him, to accept his everlasting gospel, and to live in harmony with his terms and conditions. It is not our province to select and obey those gospel principles which appeal to us and forget the rest. It is not our prerogative to decide that some principles no longer apply to our social and cultural circumstances.

As we keep the commandments, the Lord comforts and blesses us and strengthens us to become men and women worthy of exaltation.

To please [the Lord], we must not only worship him with thanksgiving and praise, but render willing obedience to his commandments. By so doing, he is bound to bestow his blessings; for it is upon this principle (obedience to law) that all things are predicated

If we go into the temple we raise our hands and covenant that we will serve the Lord and observe his commandments and keep ourselves unspotted from the world. If we realize what we are doing then the endowment will be a protection to us all our lives—a protection which a man who does not go to the temple does not have.

I have heard my father say that in the hour of trial, in the hour of temptation, he would think of the promises, the covenants that he made in the House of the Lord, and they were a protection to him. … This protection is what these ceremonies are for, in part. They save us now and they exalt us hereafter, if we will honor them. I know that this protection is given for I, too, have realized it, as have thousands of others who have remembered their obligations.

In the temple, we covenant to “serve the Lord and observe his commandments and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.”

The Lord will give us gifts. He will quicken our minds. He will give us knowledge that will clear up all difficulties and put us in harmony with the commandments that he has given us; he will give us a knowledge that will be so deeply rooted in our souls that it can never be rooted out, if we will just seek for the light and the truth and the understanding that are promised to us and that we can receive if we will only be true and faithful to every covenant and obligation pertaining to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 President Smith testified that the Lord has spoken in our day; that his message is one of hope and joy and salvation; and I promise you that if you will walk in the light of heaven, be true to your trust, and keep the commandments, you shall have peace and joy in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

Keep the commandments. Walk in the light. Endure to the end. Be true to every covenant and obligation, and the Lord will bless you beyond your fondest dreams.

Sister Myers closed by telling the ladies none of us our perfect and all of us struggle in different ways. But if every day we strive to stay on the road back to our Heavenly Father we will do so.

Faith in Every Foot Step, Leslie Weber August 3, 2014

Leslie began by playing us an audio recording of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "Faith in Every Foot Step"  You can listen to a recording of that by clicking HERE.
She loves stories of the pioneers and the hope and courage that they showed us.  With each foot step they left trails of hope in their trials.  Their wagons my have been light on supplies, but they were heavy laden with faith in Jesus Christ and that God knew where they were going and what they would need to get there.  They were called upon to do and extraordinary work. We are called upon to do an extraordinary work.
Elder Ballard said, "Their journeys parallel our own. There are lessons for us in every footstep they took—lessons of love, courage, commitment, devotion, endurance, and, most of all, faith.… Life isn’t always easy. At some point in our journey we may feel much as the pioneers did
… as they crossed Iowa—up to our knees in mud, forced to bury some of our dreams along the way. We all face rocky ridges, with the wind in our face and winter coming on too soon. Sometimes it seems as though there is no end to the dust that stings our eyes and clouds our vision. Sharp edges of despair and discouragement jut out of the terrain to slow our passage. Always, there is a Devil’s Gate, which will swing wide open to lure us in. Those who are wise and faithful will steer a course as far from such temptation as possible, while others—sometimes those who are nearest and dearest to us—succumb to the attraction of ease, comfort, convenience, and rest. Occasionally we reach the top of one summit in life, as the pioneers did, only to see more mountain peaks ahead, higher and more challenging than the one we have just traversed. Tapping unseen reservoirs of faith and endurance, we, as did our forebears, inch ever forward toward that day when our voices can join with those of all pioneers who have endured in faith, singing, “All is well! All is well!”
Although our journeys today are less demanding physically than the trek of our pioneers 150 years ago, they are no less challenging.
We are the inheritors of a tremendous heritage. Now it is our privilege and responsibility to be part of the Restoration’s continuing drama, and Certainly it was hard to walk across a continent to establish a new home in a dry western desert. But who can say if that was any more difficult than is the task of living faithful, righteous lives in today’s confusingly sinful world, where the trail is constantly shifting and where divine markers of right and wrong are being replaced by political expediency and diminishing morality. The road we travel today is treacherous, and the scriptures tell us it will continue to be so until the very end. But our reward will be the same as that which awaits worthy pioneers of all ages who live faithfully the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, make right choices, and give their all to build the kingdom of God on earth.
there are great and heroic stories of faith to be written in our day. It will require every bit of our strength, wisdom, and energy to overcome the obstacles that will confront us. But even that will not be enough. We will learn, as did our pioneer ancestors, that it is only in faith—real faith, whole-souled, tested and tried—that we will find safety and confidence as we walk our own perilous pathways through life
Come, Come, Ye Saints (Text: William Clayton) ” (Ensign, May 1997, 59, 61).
How do WE find faith in every footstep?
Sharon Beaty shared that when her little boy died she thought about her great grandfather who buried every child but 1 along the trail to Zion.  Sharon said that at least she KNEW where her son was buried. And that gave her great strength.
Cynthia Meyer's mom was visiting with us and she recently returned from serving at the temple in Bolivia. She served with people who were VERY poor.  One day a bus arrived from the Brazilian boarder who were just filthy! It turned out that the rains came and their bus was stuck in the mud. Those members were so determined to make it to the temple that they got out and pushed the bus through the mud for 5 hours.
Leslie then told us a story about something that happened to her when she was 12 years old.  Leslie did not grow up in a family that taught her how to pray or how to be very close to the Savoir.  Her grandmother, whom Leslie was very close to, was German and invited Leslie to come on a trip with her to Germany to visit relatives.  Leslie had taken 2 semesters of German in school and she was so excited! She couldn't wait to see the Rhine River and the green rolling hills.  They would be gone more than a month!
Their first stop in Germany was to visit a Great Aunt.  She remembers how inviting and warm this home was and how happy Leslie was to be there.  As they were leaving the Great Aunt gave her 6 very large chocolate bars. Leslie and her Grandmother were then to take a train at the Frankfurt Station to visit more relatives.  When they arrived at the station it was grey outside and the station was cold and industrial and really pretty scary.  Her grandmother sat down and seemed to kind of lose focus.  Leslie wasn't sure where to go and was concerned because her grandmother hadn't bought tickets yet.  But every time she would ask her grandmother about this her grandmother would get angry.  Her grandmother just sat there for hours and day turned to night.  She seemed not to need to eat and she seemed to lose her ability to speak in German.  Leslie didn't know enough to help them at all.  She began to panic.  Then she began to pray.  She slept that night on a bench in the Frankfurt Train Station.
Leslie thought what to do? She had 30 days to go and she was so hungry.  Her grandmother didn't really seem to be there with her anymore.  Then she thought of those 6 chocolate candy bars and she divided them up in her mind to last her the 30 days.  This was not the trip Leslie had signed up for.  There were no green rolling hills.  There was no Rhine River.  There were no more friendly relatives.
Some days her grandmother would decide they needed to walk, and so they would wander the streets pulling their heavy luggage with them.  Every once in a while her grandmother would get food.  But not often.  They slept on benches.  Some nights they would get a hotel.  Mostly they wandered.  Leslie had never prayed so much.  How would she ever get home?  There were no cell phones.  There was no internet or email.  She couldn't communicate with anyone.
One night they stayed in a hotel and in the morning her grandmother insisted that they leave their bags in the room and go out and find breakfast.  Leslie was so grateful because her chocolate was all but gone. But it was a Sunday and everything was closed.  She could see that her grandmother was beginning to wander aimlessly and so she tried to study landmarks so they would be able to find their way back to the hotel.  She prayed and prayed for help as they wandered further and further from their hotel.  Every time she tried to suggest turning back her grandmother would get angry.  Finally as night fall came her grandmother pulled out the hotel key to find that there wasn't even a name of the hotel inscribed.  Leslie was long past recognizing landmarks.  She prayed that this broken, tired woman's heart might be softened and she might listen to Leslie.
Her grandmother agreed to follow Leslie back to the hotel.  But now Leslie had no idea where to go.  She prayed with all her might and to her astonishment, the Spirit led her down a street and told her to turn right, then down another and to turn left, and so on until they crossed back across the city and came right back to their hotel.  You see if they had not reached their bags, they would have missed their plane back to the United States the very next morning.  But they did find the hotel and they did make it onto their flight. And Leslie knew that the Lord had made that happen.
When they arrived back to the United States Leslie's grandmother was immediately taken to the hospital where 3 brain tumors were found and within a couple of weeks she took another journey home.
That experience was the foundation of Leslie's testimony.  She prayed and had to have literally faith in every footstep.  She had never lived so close to the Savior, praying He would watch over her day by day.  And although He didn't fix her circumstances, He did know of her plight and provided for her in the form of 6 chocolate candy bars given by a loving Great Aunt.
Leslie bore testimony that the dark and the light moments in our lives weave together to create a beautiful tapestry and that if we will have faith, the Lord will lead us home.