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(Sacrament Meeting Talk)
In this
most recent General Conference a new home-centered, church supported curriculum
was announced to begin in 2019. As part of this new curriculum, church will be
shortened to 2 hours to give us more time to study the gospel at home.
Changes to
Family Home Evening were also announced: “Members are encouraged to hold, home
evening and to study the gospel at home on Sunday—or
at other times as individuals and families choose. A family activity night
could be held on Monday or at other times. To this end, leaders should continue
to keep Monday evenings free from Church meetings and activities.”[1]
Accompanying
these changes is the invitation to improve our personal and family gospel
study. As you consider this invitation from a living prophet of God, I invite
you to remember why God calls prophets and how blessed we are to have their
counsel.
Jesus
Christ gives apostles and prophets “For the perfecting of the saints, … for the
edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of God. … That we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the… cunning
craftiness [of men], whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”[2]
Jesus
said, “What I the Lord have spoken… whether by mine own voice or by the voice of
my servants, it is the same.”[3]
He said, “My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish.”[4]
He said,
“Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and
you shall have peace in me.”[5]
The
prophet Nephi testified: “Whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would
hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and
the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them
away to destruction.”[6]
We hear
the voice of Christ in our day in the words of His ancient and modern prophets
and apostles as recorded in the scriptures and in General Conference. Through
their words we learn how to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and access the
blessings of His Atonement.
As you act
on the prophetic invitation to improve your personal and family gospel study
you will receive more of the promised blessings that come from following the
words of Christ. You will also receive blessings unique to following the
counsel of God’s living prophet.
You and
your family will be strengthened. You will have more of the love and peace of
God in your life. You will receive more of the guidance and strength needed to
stay on the path and overcome temptation. You will come to know Christ better
and become more like Him.
To support
us in improving our personal and family gospel study, the Church has provided a
new resource: Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families. Your Bishopric is working to deliver a
copy of this manual to every household.
Next year we will focus on studying the life of Christ and His
teachings to the early church as found the New Testament. Each section in Come, Follow Me—For
Individuals and Families includes ideas to enhance personal and family gospel
study for the chapters in the New Testament being studied that week.
Come,
Follow Me—For Individuals and Families
contains many principles to make your personal and family gospel study more
meaningful. I would like to share three of these with you today.
Principle # 1: Gospel study becomes
more meaningful when we focus on inviting the Holy Ghost
Come,
Follow Me—For Individuals and Families invites us to focus on inviting the
Holy Ghost when we study the gospel. This is different from studying the gospel
just to learn something new. While learning new information can help to invite
the Holy Ghost, by focusing solely on learning new factoids we can miss
opportunities to invite the Holy Ghost through pondering and applying something
we’ve already heard before.
Elder
Holland recounted “A story President Packer told the Quorum of the Twelve some
years ago. He talked about a severe winter in Utah when the snow was excessive
and … the deer herds … [were driven] out of their natural habitat, and
well-meaning … [people] tried to respond by feeding those deer to get them
through the crisis of the winter. They brought in hay and dumped it everywhere.
…
“Later an
immense number of those deer were found dead. The people who handled those
animals afterward said that their stomachs were full of hay, but they had
starved to death. They had been fed, but they had not been nourished.”[7]
To be
truly nourished, revitalized, and changed by our gospel study we must seek to
invite the Holy Ghost. The blessings of the Atonement of Christ are commonly
delivered by the Holy Ghost: blessings of healing, cleansing, strength, empowerment,
comfort, joy, peace, hope, guidance, character growth, and so forth.
Having the
Spirit with us means that God accepts us and that we are successfully traveling
on the path that leads to living with Him and exaltation. Thus getting and
keeping the Holy Ghost in our lives is essential.
Gospel study
can be one of the ways we invite the Holy Ghost to be with us. To invite the
Holy Ghost as we study the gospel we focus on:
·
Jesus
Christ and His Atonement
·
Growing
and exercising our faith
·
Becoming
more like Christ through repentance and making and keeping covenants
·
Pondering
how to apply what we are studying and acting on promptings received from the
Spirit.
Come,
Follow Me—For Individuals and Families focuses on these things. Using this resource
will help us focus on inviting the Holy Ghost which will help us have more
meaningful gospel study.
Principle # 2: Gospel study becomes
more meaningful when we ask inspired questions
Come,
Follow Me—For Individuals and Families invites us to ask inspired questions
as we study the gospel. Elder Bendar of the quorum of the twelve apostles has taught
that “inspired questions lead to inspired answers.”[8]
Asking
inspired questions invites the Holy Ghost to help us to think more deeply and
personally about the gospel, to identify how we can apply the gospel, to
motivate us to act, to strengthen our testimonies, to focus on what matters
most, and to recognize and be more grateful for the blessings we have received.
Unfortunately,
not all questions are inspired questions. Uninspired questions do not lead to
inspired answers from the Holy Ghost.
So what how
can we tell the difference between an inspired and uninspired question? The key
is in the attributes the question reflects. Inspired questions reflect positive
attributes that build, such as faith, humility, love, gratitude, and testimony.
On the other hand, uninspired questions reflect negative attributes that do not
build, such as pride, negativity, distrust, and doubt.
If I ask a
question like, “Does my wife not love me anymore?”, I can tell that it is an
uninspired question because it reflects negativity and does not build. Inherit
in the question is a focusing bias that would lead me to give more weight to
negative answers, while discounting contrary positive experiences.
When
facing an uninspired question, we would do well to change it into an inspired
question so we can be taught by the Holy Ghost instead of some other less
inspired, less knowledgeable, less trustworthy source.
We can
pray for the Lord’s help to change an uninspired question into an inspired one.
We can humble ourselves before the Lord and ask Him what question He would have
us ask. The Holy Ghost will then bring to our minds the inspired question we
should be pondering and lead us to inspired answers.
Going back
to the uninspired question, “Does my wife not love me anymore?”, I should seek
the Lord’s help to change it into an inspired question like “How can I
strengthen my marriage?” or “How can I show my wife that I love her?” These
questions reflect love and a commitment to build. Asking inspired questions like
these lead to opportunities to receive inspired answer through the Holy Ghost.
While it
can take some effort to craft an inspired question, fortunately Come, Follow
Me—For Individuals and Families
is filled with them. Let me share one example accompanying the story of Joseph
being directed by the Lord to protect Jesus and his family by taking them into
Egypt:
“Parents
can receive revelation to protect their families. … Ponder experiences when you
have felt God’s guidance in protecting you and your family or loved ones. Consider
sharing these experiences with others. What can you do to receive such guidance
in the future?”[11]
Pondering
this inspired question resulted in a meaningful, revelatory experience for me.
I know that as we ask the inspired questions found in Come, Follow Me—For
Individuals and Families, we will
be led to inspired answers and our gospel study will become more
meaningful.
Principle # 3: Gospel study becomes
more meaningful when we share our experiences
Come,
Follow Me—For Individuals and Families invites us to share our gospel study
experiences with others. We can share meaningful scriptures, inspired questions,
inspired answers, promptings we receive, how we acted on what we studied,
blessings we have received, our testimony, and so forth.
Come,
Follow Me—For Individuals and Families contains prompts for sharing our
gospel study experiences in family settings. Our families will grow closer
together and become stronger as we share experiences with each other.
Our
circumstance may be such that we do not have a family that we can share our
gospel study experiences with. Even in those situations, we still have many
opportunities to share our gospel study experiences and enrich not only our own
gospel study, but to also bless the lives of others.
Sunday
School teachers are being instructed to invite us to share our gospel study
experiences each week in Sunday School. We can take advantage of this
opportunity to share.
We could consider
forming a study group that meets regularly to study the gospel outside of
church. We could invite others to study with us, especially those who do not
have a family that they can share their gospel study experiences with.
A few
years ago I felt limited in my ability to share my
gospel experiences with others. So I fasted and prayed to know how I could
better share the gospel in my circumstance. A simple prompting came: start a
blog and use it to share the gospel.
I acted on
this prompting and shared blog posts on social media. I was humbled as this
prompting led to many meaningful discussions that not only strengthened the
faith of others, but added a wonderful dimension to my gospel study.
So I would
invite you to pray and seek your own revelation for how you can share your
gospel study experiences with others. I know the Lord will guide you to know
what to do. I know that sharing your gospel study experiences with others will bless
their lives and add meaning to your gospel study.
Conclusion
I invite
you to take the prophets challenge to make your personal and family gospel
study more meaningful. Your gospel study will become more meaningful as you use
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families
and focus on inviting the Holy Ghost, asking inspired questions, and
sharing your gospel study experiences with others.
President
Nelson, our living prophet, promised: “The new home-centered, Church-supported...
curriculum has the potential to unleash the power of families, as each family …
transform[s] their home into a sanctuary of faith. I promise that as you
diligently work to remodel your home into a center of gospel learning, over
time your Sabbath days will truly be a delight. Your children will be excited
to learn and to live the Savior’s teachings, and the influence of the adversary
in your life and in your home will decrease. Changes in your family will be
dramatic and sustaining.”[12]
I bear my
testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel that was restored through the prophet
Joseph Smith. The work of salvation undertaken by this Church is the work of
Jesus Christ and is done with His authority and guidance.
“I cannot
comprehend [my Savior’s] power, His majesty, His perfections. But I do
understand something of His love, His compassion, His mercy.
"There
is no burden He cannot lift. There is no
heart He cannot purify and fill with joy. There is no life He cannot cleanse
and restore when one is obedient to His teachings.”[13]
[1] Frequently Asked Questions: October 6,
2018, https://www.lds.org/study/manual/frequently-asked-questions-october-6-2018/faq-october-6-2018?lang=eng, accessed 11/16/2018
[2] Ephesians 2:20, 4:12-14
[3] D&C 1:38
[4] John 10:27-28
[5] D&C 19:23
[6] 1 Nephi 15:24
[7] Jeffrey R. Holland, June 2007 Ensign
[8]
David A. Bednar, Face to Face with Elder and Sister Bednar, https://www.lds.org/youth/article/face-to-face-with-elder-and-sister-bednar?lang=eng,
accessed 11/16/2018
[9] http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/edify,
accessed 11/16/18
[10] D&C 50:23
[12] Russell M. Nelson, October 2018
General Conference
[13] Richard G. Scott, October 1988 General
Conference
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