I decided that I wanted to study the gospel more in depth this year. I will thoroughly enjoy reading the Book of Mormon again, in its entirety, but I also wanted to add gospel topic study, so this year I am going to take the Relief Society lessons and study them in depth.
These thoughts are my thought processes, and I offer them as a kickstart to however anyone else would care to study this year’s lessons. They are by no means the end-all-be-all.
Every year, the manuals start with a lesson on Jesus Christ. If we take that literally, each one of our lives should start and end with Jesus Christ—as well as every day in between. And when it comes to offering material about the true nature of Jesus Christ through scripture, spoken word, video, music, invitation, art, celebration, campaigns, discussion, and so much more, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does this in spades. We would do well to peruse LDS.org on a regular basis to see what new offerings they have for us.
President Hunter was a true servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was very clear when he testified of Jesus Christ—Our Only Way to Hope and Joy.
We must know Christ better than we know Him and remember Him more often than we remember Him.
Pres. Hunter said, “We declare that he is the Son of God, and the reality of that fact should stir our souls more frequently. We must know Christ better than we know him; we must remember him more often than we remember him; we must serve him more valiantly than we serve him. Then we will drink water springing up unto eternal life and will eat the bread of life” (p 40-41).
Praying daily, as well as always having a prayer in my heart, tends to keep me focused on actions that will please the Lord. I’m not always perfect at it, but that isn’t my objective. I simply want to make sure I’m comfortable with having the Savior near me at the asking. I also am continually amazed at what happens when I read my scriptures. If I read them, and don’t think about them afterwards, there is satisfaction in “my duty” having been done, but I have the distinct feeling that my “scripture study” is hollow. However, when I truly sit down to study, taking the time to read and look up the footnotes, searching the Internet (LDS.org and other good sites), and books I’ve collected over the years, I start finding connections and answers and pure love in the words. Many times, after studying this way, my heart fills to bursting and I begin to spend more and more time studying the gospel, thinking about it, and feeling my Savior’s love for me.
Jesus is our only true source of hope and lasting joy.
The scriptures are the only place we can truly come to know Jesus Christ
and His doctrine of salvation. In studying this lesson, I looked up all the references (talks and scriptures) and somehow I was led to John, Chapter 12. Where there isn’t any one scripture that tells us everything about Jesus, this chapter has now come to mean something more than it once did for me. I was reminded of several ways Jesus is my hope, who offers me lasting joy.
V 1-8—This is the story of how Mary anointed Jesus’s feet with costly perfume. She previously witnessed Jesus bringing her brother, Lazarus, back to life and this was her way of kneeling at his feet and adoring the Son of God. She honored Him boldly, at great sacrifice, and with tears of joy and love. Can I be as bold, as sacrificing? Are my tears selfless tears of pure joy and love?
V 12-18—Others who saw His great miracles showed their gratitude, and honored Jesus with palm fronds as He entered the city of Jerusalem. Am I willing to declare my Savior publicly when it may be met with threats and mockery?
V 23-26—Jesus foretold his great sacrifice to the people; that His death would bring forth much fruit. The power of His resurrection would grant all of us eternal salvation. We too have the privilege to join with Jesus in offering salvation to others. We must open our hearts, let go of our riches, and our egos, and work to take the gospel to others.
V 28—This is one of the few times Heavenly Father has spoken to glorify His Only Begotten Son.
V 36—We are all children of light when we speak fearlessly and faithfully of Jesus Christ. He provided the event of salvation; we provide the enduring remembrance of His gift of salvation to us.
V 50—In our day and age, where people disparage the name of Christ, mock His very existence and purpose, we have been asked to “speak” for Him, to represent Him, to follow His example in word and in deed, to bear witness of Him to those who will hear.
The greatest need in all the world is an active and sincere faith in the Savior and His teachings.
We are living in a day and age where we will either be faced with defending our faith and belief in Jesus Christ, or be swept away with doubt, pride, or shame. One of the most profound examples of Jesus Christ was how He handled all the ridicule He endured without ever forgetting who He was, or what His mission was.
I believe how we observe the Sabbath Day will become a division line among the children of God. The brethren recently asked us to up our game concerning our personal Sabbath Day observance. As we make a plan on how best to obey them, in this initiative, it’s important to understand why they are asking this of us.
Elder Cook said: “In this dispensation, the Sacrament prayer contains the principles that are essential as we focus on the ordinance of the Sacrament. First we partake of the Sacrament in remembrance of the body and blood of the Son. Second, we witness unto God the Eternal Father that we are willing to take upon us the name of his Son and always remember Him. Beyond renewing our covenants, we are also committing to keep His commandments. Third, the sacrament service should be a spiritual experience. Inspiring us to remember Him and keep His commandments, and have His spirit to be with us.”
In taking the Sacrament, we remember Jesus Christ, and what He means to us. It is our opportunity to covenant with Him, bear witness of Him, and actively seek His spirit.
Elder Hales: I would hope that mothers and fathers would prepare their children and teach them these things. So they know what they should be doing, that they should be witnessing to the Father, bearing testimony to the Father, that they love the Savior and have taken His name upon them.
The scriptures remind us of the importance of teaching our children what we believe so they can also believe. Testimony must follow through into the next generation. Sis. Wixom added that we need to “teach the “why” of the Sacrament” to our children.
As we exercise faith in the Savior, He will calm the troubled waters of our lives.
Satan is inspiring people every day to mock God, to find fault in His prophets, and to discount miracles, covenants, and all religious belief. It is our challenge to stand as witnesses of Jesus Christ “at all times and in all things, and in all places … even until death” (Mosiah 18:9).
Speaking to BYU students, Pres. Hunter said:
“On Saturday, July twentieth of that year, a mob destroys the Church printing office in Independence, Missouri, and tars and feathers two members of the Church. Three days later, Church leaders are forced to sign a written agreement to leave Jackson County by January first of the next year. Upon learning of this from Oliver Cowdery, who was sent from Jackson County to report these unfortunate events to Joseph Smith, the prophet calls a meeting to discuss the matter. It is decided that all “measures should be immediately taken to seek redress by the laws of our country” (HC 1:417).
“Church leaders in Missouri approach the governor of the state and are advised by the state attorney general to seek redress under the provisions of the law. This does not please local nonmembers, however, and mobs destroy several Mormon homes and whip a number of men. Four days later, on 4 November 1833, one Mormon and two Missourians die in a skirmish on the Big Blue River. The violence continues, but local judges refuse again and again to issue warrants against the mobsters. You know what follows. The Church members faced death and difficulty for well over a decade before they finally fled to the Rocky Mountains.
“Some survived these difficult times spiritually, and others did not. Those who survived knew and believed and did certain things—things that those who fell away did not know or do. What they knew was the reality and divinity and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew that Joseph Smith was his chosen prophet. Later, they sustained Brigham Young in that same capacity, then John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff, and so on. What they did, knowing these things to be true, was exercise their faith, in spite of their worries and concerns. They were believers, and there was peace and joy and safety in the Church as established and led by the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Please remember this one thing. If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right” (“Fear Not, Little Flock,” Speeches, Brigham Young University, Mar. 14, 1989).
Some day we will be asked to declare our faith in Jesus Christ. How will we stand for Him? We must become intimately acquainted with God, as our pioneers declared.
With so many distractions and dangers of our day, Pres. Hunter offers this prophetic advice:
“In this world of confusion and rushing, temporal progress, we need to return to the simplicity of Christ. We need to love, honor, and worship him. To acquire spirituality and have its influence in our lives, we cannot become confused and misdirected by the twisted teachings of the modernist. We need to study the simple fundamentals of the truths taught by the Master and eliminate the controversial” (Eleanor Knowles, “Howard W. Hunter,” p. 318-319).
I testify, as Pres. Hunter did, that Jesus is the Christ; that he is “not only the right way, but ultimately the only way to hope and joy” (p. 39). His atoning sacrifice allows my imperfect, but submissive body, to return back to the presence of my Heavenly Father. I will never be able to thank Him enough, but I can remember Him, have faith in Him, and rely on Him completely, as I live my life.
Here are just a few scriptures that bear the testimony that I feel:
“His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16).
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised … This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:18, 21).
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:13-14).
“The blood of Christ atoneth for their sins. And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:16-17).
“Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness” (Alma 7:14).
“Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail” (D&C 6:34).
“For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; I am Jesus Christ; I came by the will of the Father, and I do his will” (D&C 19:16, 24).