You are cordially invited to attend the upcoming temple preparation class. Details of the class are as follows:
When: Each Sunday afternoon beginning at 1:00 PM
1st Class: March 7, 2021
How: Class will be available online
Instructors: Bro. and Sis. Sharp
We hope you can join us.
The Sunday School Presidency
Brothers and Sisters, I hope you have been doing well this part month and hope you are as excited as I am to hear from our beloved Prophet and other General Officers at General Conference in just two short weeks. This week the Gospel Doctrine is on 3 Nephi 8-11 which is titled “Arise and Come Forth unto Me”. The Nephites who lived nearly 2,000 years ago experienced three days of great tribulation and destruction immediately prior to the visitation of our Beloved Savior Jesus Christ to the America’s following his crucifixion and miraculous resurrection three days later. We too are living in a time of increasing tribulations long prophesied by past Prophets in the Holy Scriptures. In just the past several months, our nation has endured seemingly unprecedented lightning storms, fire tornadoes, flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes and windstorms, violent riots by hateful mobs inspired by the spirit of contention racking our cities and wildfires which have destroyed entire towns. At the same time we have been experiencing a deadly pandemic which has cost the lives of a couple hundred thousand of our fellow Americans and nearly a million people worldwide thus far.
Throughout scriptural history, when the Lord’s people have turned to worldly things and become lax in their adherence to His commandments, picking and choosing which ones they would keep and which ones they transgress, the Lord has sometimes used adversities including famine, pestilence and war to chasten us to turn back to Him as was the case with the Nephites in 3 Nephi 8-10 and as is the case in our time today. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has suggested, the increasing trials and tribulations we are now beginning to experience are meant by the Lord to provide the people of our nation and the people of our world with a spiritual re-awakening to prepare us to endure more devastating tribulations to come. These future tribulations might well resemble those that the righteous Nephites experienced in 3 Nephi 8. I believe our current tribulations are a tender mercy of the Lord to motivate us to turn to Him … Read the rest
Good Morning Brothers and Sisters! I hope that you are all doing well. My study this week took me down several paths and I hope that your study was meaningful to you. I believe that this week’s lesson was meant to help give us time to reflect on our lives and take inventory of the things that we need to correct. I hope that you were able to find time to peacefully reflect on the promptings that the spirit taught you. I know that finding quiet time is a hard thing to come by these days.
In 4 weeks, we will have the privilege of participating in General Conference. This event excites me, for one because it is an event that will actually happen when it was originally scheduled. General Conference will continue to be held in a little different manner than I would like, but we will have the opportunity to hear from our prophet and leaders. I have never in my life been so grateful for a prophet than I am today. I know that there are things that I would like to have the Prophet tell us (ex. The exact moment that this pandemic will end and life will return to “normal”). Past experience will tell me that the prophet probably won’t answer this question. Instead, I will hear messages that I have heard before, but they will inspire me in a different way where my testimony will be strengthened and I will be at peace. During General Conference, we might be given instruction on updates to church callings, curriculum or policy. We might hear things that are hard for us to accept because we have always done something a certain way. We might confuse policy changes as changes to doctrine and get confused on the reason for the change. In any event, we should follow the prophet. We should pray for the Spirit to touch our hearts. We should pray for additional understanding.
I found a few quotes this week about prophets that I would like to share:
Ezra Taft Benson: “The prophet will not necessarily … Read the rest
Brothers and Sisters, I hope you have had a good week this past week and that you and your family are feeling well and staying safe during this difficult time. This week’s lesson is entitled “Preserved by His Marvelous Power”. This lesson focuses on Alma Chapters 53-63, which concern many of the military battles between the Nephites led by Chief Captain (General) Moroni (aided by Chief Captains Lehi and Teancum and followed by his son Moronihah) and the Lamanites led by Amalickiah, his brother Ammoron. Of Moroni, we learn in Alma 48:17 that if all men and women had been and ever were like Moroni the powers of Hell would be shaken and the Devil would have no power over us.
Some members have wondered why the Book of Mormon which focuses on what the Lord wanted us to learn that was most important for our time relating to spiritual matters deals so much with war in these chapters. For others like myself, who have been lifelong students of military history and have served in the military, these chapters are of greater interest. These chapters and others on war in the Book of Mormon, are important because they teach us more about the principles of just war–that wars are only justified by the Lord if they are fought in self-defense or in the defense of others. We have been told by modern Prophets that soldiers are held guiltless by the Lord in killing enemy combatants, however no such promise is given if they deliberately target and kill innocent civilian men, women and children. Some people mistakenly believe that the laws of God forbidding the shedding of innocent blood are somehow suspended during war and that the deliberate mass murder of non-combatant civilians and other great evils promoted by the Devil are somehow justified by God during wartime. Nothing could be further from the truth. The laws of God forbidding the shedding of innocent blood can only be expressly suspended by our Supreme Creator himself who is the author of all life and then only very specifically through the Living Prophet … Read the rest
Hello Friends! I hope that you are all well enough. I hope every month that we will return to a “normal” church schedule so that I can stop writing my thoughts by letter. I sincerely miss having an actual discussion with you so that I can hear your thoughts and learn from you. I feel bad that you have to read my ramblings, however, you are stuck with me!
There were a few prevailing themes that ran through my head as I read this week’s readings. The first was “Fathers” and the second was “How the Lord blesses us”. I will start off by sharing my thoughts about Fathers.
Ezra Taft Benson said, “The sacred title of ‘Father’ is shared with the Almighty. …Fatherhood is not a matter of station or wealth; it is a matter of desire, diligence and determination to see one’s family exalted in the celestial kingdom. If that prize is lost, nothing else really matters.”
Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “Perhaps the most essential of a father’s work is to turn the hearts of his children to their Heavenly Father. If by his example as well as his words a father can demonstrate what fidelity to God looks like in day -to-day living, that father will have given his children the key to peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.”
In this week’s readings we conclude the blessing that Alma is giving his sons with the words that he shares with Corianton. I noticed that Alma does not give Corianton a long list of how Corianton did not listen to him. Alma got straight to the point about what Corianton had done wrong (vs 2-4), conveyed to Corianton what the spirit had directed Alma to say (vs 12) and then taught Corianton beautiful doctrine. This allowed for the Spirit to teach Corianton at a level that Corianton could understand due to his life experiences. There was a teaching moment in this for me as I parent my children. I know that the Book of Mormon Videos are artistic interpretations of “What … Read the rest
Brothers and Sisters, I hope you have been doing well this past month and that your families are staying safe. I know many of us including my own family have been having to endure unique health challenges which we did not have to endure before which have made life more difficult for us. It has been a challenging time for all of us as we have been restricted in attending Church and most especially from attending the Holy Temple during the past four months or so. I hope you are all continuing to enjoy the sweet Spirit that comes from holding Church at Home.
This week the Gospel Doctrine lesson is on Alma 30-31 which is titled “The Virtue of the Word of God.” Alma testified of the powerful effect of the word of God. One of my favorite scriptures is in Helaman 5:17-18 and 51-52 where it talks about how Nephi did speak with such great power and authority to the Lamanites, who were the enemies of the Nephites and had captured and occupied half of the lands of the Nephites in war, that they were converted to the Lord by the power of the word of God and gave up the lands of the Nephites and made peace with them. That is the power of the word of God to change lives and convert individual souls to Christ, convert enemies to friends and replace wars with peace.
In Alma 30, it talks about an anti-Christ named Korihor who tried to deceive as many Nephites as he could to apostatize from the Church. We are taught that an anti-Christ is someone who preaches a counterfeit to the true Gospel or plan of salvation and that openly or secretly works in opposition to our beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is how Satan works to deceive us by setting himself up as a counterfeit to God and his teachings. Sister Julie Beck, former Relief Society General President taught that “Any doctrine or principle we hear from the world that is anti-family is also anti-Christ.
This chapter states that Korihor … Read the rest
Good Morning Brothers and Sisters!
Happy Independence Day weekend! I hope that you have all recovered from one impressive Firework show last night! It was wonderful to meet with a few of you last week for Sacrament meeting. Sacrament meeting definitely filled a hole inside of me that I have been missing. I look forward to when we will be able to meet together again. I don’t have a specific story to tell this week, so I am touching on some of the scripture passages from this week’s readings that I found meaningful.
The story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies is one of the most beloved in the Book of Mormon. We often recite the end of the story with the 2000 Stripling Warriors marching into battle with Helaman. I am grateful that our lesson this week focuses on the events of the parents of these young men who created an environment in their families to develop strong, valiant and brave children.
Alma 23: 1-4. I find it interesting that the first thing that the King of the Lamanites does when he is converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ is to proclaim religious freedom to his kingdom. The king did protect Ammon and his brothers from harm and did allow Ammon unfiltered access to the people to preach freely. However, the Lamanites were still given a choice on how they wanted to believe. We were just having a conversation in the car yesterday about tolerance and freedom. I thought of the 11th Article of Faith, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” We do not have to look far in our current world situations to find examples where religious freedom (or any kind of belief) is not socially acceptable. If your belief does not match what the world says it should, you could lose your job, your friends and your family to be made a public example. The King of the Lamanites should teach us … Read the rest
Brothers and Sisters, I hope you have had a good week this past week and that you and your family are feeling well and staying safe during this difficult time. With all that has been happening, I was excited to hear the news that monthly Sacrament meetings will be resuming later this month! The Come Follow Me Lesson for this Sunday is Alma 8-12. I love the title of this lesson that our beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would come to atone for our sins.
In Alma 8, we learn that our efforts to share the Gospel may require persistence and patience. While in High School, I had the missionary lessons taught to at least three of my friends but sadly not one of them chose to be baptized although one came close to doing so. Those of us who have served missions have learned this first hand. Missionary work involves a lot of rejection but it only makes our missionary successes and baptisms that much sweeter. As I have sought to share the Gospel with family members who are less active I have struggled to know what to say to try to share it in a way that they don’t feel judged or offended. Even Alma, who was the leader of the Lord’s Church in his time, experienced this rejection when he tried to preach the Gospel to the people of the wicked city of Ammonihah but the Lord sent an Angel to comfort him and tell him to return to the city where he met Amulek. The Angel told him that the people of Ammonihah were studying how to destroy the liberty of the Nephites, just as we have been warned in Ether 8:22-25 that secret combinations are doing in our own land today, and that if they did not repent of their sins they would be destroyed. Alma and Amulek were then given power to break their bands in prison and to prophesy unto the people with great power and authority from God.
Alma 8-9 teaches us the importance of our responsibility to do everything we … Read the rest
Hello friends and neighbors,
It is good to have this opportunity to share a brief message with you. In the readings for this week (Alma 5-7), Alma the Younger declares a powerful testimony throughout the land of Jesus Christ and the power of repentance and change.
In Alma 5:14, Alma utters some simple yet profound questions to his people, questions that are every bit as important today for each of us to think about. He asks “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?”
In a 2009 general conference address, Elder Dale G. Renlund, a former cardiologist, talked about a change of heart (a heart transplant) that has been performed many times since the first successful operation in 1967. This amazing physical process can “prolong life for years for people who would otherwise die from heart failure.”[i] However, Elder Renlund explained that as incredible as this procedure is, there is another “ultimate operation” on the heart. “The ultimate operation is not a physical but a spiritual “mighty change” of heart (i.e. the change that Alma inquired about of his people and to each of us). Elder Renlund goes on to say “Through the Atonement of Christ and by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, we undergo this ultimate operation, this spiritual change of heart. As a result of our transgressions, our spiritual hearts have become diseased and hardened, making us subject to spiritual death and separation from our Heavenly Father. The Lord explained the operation that we all need: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
Brothers and sisters, I challenge each of us, if we haven’t already done so, to ponder Alma’s questions in our own mind and hearts this upcoming week. While our transgression may seem small and … Read the rest
Brothers and Sisters, I hope you have had a good week this past week and that you and your family are continuing to do well at this trying time for our country and the world. The Come Follow Me Lesson for this Sunday is Mosiah 29-Alma 4. A couple weeks ago I was feeling down and prayed for ideas for ways I could better serve others through Christlike service at this time. I invite you all to pray and think of ways and opportunities that you can serve both loved ones and those you may not know who may be in need during the coming week.
The story of Captain Gideon, who led a rebellion to liberate his people against wicked King Noah, served as righteous King Limhi’s Chief Captain and then subsequently used the word of God to refute the teachings of an anti-Christ whose name was Nehor in Alma 1:2-9 has always been inspiring to me. Nehor sought to destroy the Church teaching that men and women had no need to repent of their sins but that they would all be saved and have eternal life much as other churches that our founded on worldly teachings and values rather than on the plain and precious truths of the Gospel as taught in the Holy Scriptures, teach today. Nehor’s motivation was the glory of men whereas Gideon’s motivation was the glory of God. Gideon subsequently gave his life in defense of the Gospel, being slain by Nehor. Similarly, as members of the Lord’s Restored Church on Earth we should be willing to consecrate our lives in defense of the Lord’s Church and to do everything we can to establish His Kingdom here on Earth.
In our day, as in times of old, there are many voices inspired by the Adversary, counseling us that the Church, its leaders and its teachings are somehow ‘outdated’ and ‘outmoded’ and must be changed and modified to account for the ever-changing ‘values’ of the world. They teach that we must not merely accept, but praise and take pride in the sins of others and … Read the rest
Good Morning Friends,
I hope that all of you are safe and well. It was the highlight of a very difficult week to know that we are getting closer to being able to meet together again. As I read Mosiah 25:10, I thought of “the immediate goodness of God” that has been present in my life during this pandemic. I am so grateful for the safety of my family and friends and to have been able to see the hand of God in our lives. I can’t wait to be able to join with all of you in raising our voices together to give thanks to God for our many blessings. I guarantee, tears will be shed.
In Mosiah 26:22, it reads, “For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive.” The concept of Believing in Christ and being Freely Forgiven is precious. In business terms, we know that nothing is ever free. There is always a cost associated with an item. In verse 23, we read, “For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world.” We know that the price for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ. It is believing in what Jesus Christ did for us that allows us to redeem forgiveness. The thoughts that kept running through my mind were, Why is hard for me to freely forgive? Why am I resistant to believe that people have changed? Why is it hard for me to forget what others have done to me, when the Lord can forget what I have done to him?
As I read this week, I kept thinking of a talk by Elder Holland, “The Other Prodigal”. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2002/04/the-other-prodigal?lang= I relate the parable of the Prodigal Son to sin. I can relate the father in the story to many parents but especially to Alma the Elder and ultimately, our Father in Heaven. When the Son (all of us) came to himself (an awareness of our transgressions) he returned to the … Read the rest
Brothers and Sisters, I hope you have had a good week this past week and that you and your family are feeling well and staying safe! The Come Follow Me Lesson for this Sunday is Mosiah 18-24. This lesson is about the importance of us honoring and keeping sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father. Our beloved Prophet Russell M. Nelson has focused his ministry on helping the Saints understand the importance of making and keeping sacred covenants and keeping on the covenant path. We have been taught that we make sacred covenants when we are baptized, when we partake of the Sacrament and when are endowed with Priesthood power in the Holy Temple and are sealed to our families as part of the New and Everlasting Covenant.
In Mosiah 18, we learn of the account of Alma the Elder and his people. As discussed in a previous lesson, Alma was one of the priests of Noah who was converted unto the Lord by the preachings of the Prophet Abinadi and was subsequently forced to flee for his life after he begged King Noah to spare Abinadi’s life before he began converting others. One wonders whether Abinadi knew that his labors in the vineyard of the Lord would bear fruit and result in the conversion of a future Prophet of the Lord and the restoration of the full organization of the Lord’s Church to the Nephites or whether he died wondering if his labors had been in vain. I believe as a prophet of the Lord, he was shown before he died that his labors would bear great fruit even though like some missionaries who have served, he did not live to see any of those he taught baptized to the Lord.
It appears that Alma the Elder was chosen by the Lord to restore the full organization of His Church in the promised land of the Americas even though the plain and precious truths of the Gospel continued to be taught by King Benjamin and other Nephite leaders who continued to possess the Melchizedek Priesthood in an unbroken line from … Read the rest
Good Morning Brothers and Sisters! I hope that you have enjoyed your readings this week.
As I thought of what to write this morning, I couldn’t help but draw a correlation between Mothers (Yes, it is Mother’s Day, even in Quarantine) and Abinadi. Prophets are sent to warn people of their sins. Mothers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Sisters, Aunts, Grandmas, Neighbors, all women) are sent to help nurture their children and guide them to the correct paths of life. Abinadi and Mothers have to say harsh things to their audience at times and it is often not well received. Abinadi and Mothers teach of Jesus Christ. Abinadi and Mothers know the scriptures and have the doctrine written in their hearts. We should all be grateful for the “Mothers” that have been a part of our lives, who have helped, and are continuing to help us become who we should be.
I wish that we could discuss these scripture passages together. I would love to hear the insight that you have gained from your life experience. I have listed some of my favorite topics and my notes from this week’s lesson. I hope that you had some great discussions in your families this week.
Mosiah 12:19-37. Mosiah 13:11 – Practice what you Preach. Why is it so hard for us as mortals to do what we know and have been taught? As a child and a parent, this is one of the hardest, most gut wrenching, soul searching, joyful topics that I have ever experienced. I know that as a child of a wonderful mother, it has been hard for my mom to watch me make choices that she knew were against what I knew to be right. I know that as a parent, I have spent many tearful hours, days, months, years praying for my children to have a change of heart. We teach the doctrine in our homes but how do we make sure that we follow the doctrine ourselves and subsequently get our children to follow the doctrine? Mosiah 12:27 teaches, “Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise.” Mosiah 13:11, “And now I … Read the rest
Brothers and Sisters, the Come Follow Me Lesson for this Sunday is Mosiah 7-10. I hope you have enjoyed reading these Book of Mormon chapters as much as I have. These chapters tell the story of how King Mosiah asked Ammon to lead a search party to find the Nephites led by King Zeniff who had left to try to return to inhabit the land of their first inheritance, the land of Nephi. This city had served as the Capitol of the Nephite nation until the greater number of the Nephites who were wicked in the land of Nephi were destroyed by the Lamanites around 279 BC as noted in the Book of Omni 5-7 after Mosiah was warned by the Lord to flee in Omni 12-13 with as many righteous Nephites as would come with him. They were led to find the Mulekites in Zarahemla whether they united with the Mulekites. Ammon was successful in finding the people of Limhi after being lost in the wilderness for forty days. Subsequently, after the people of Limhi were led by the Lord to flee from captivity, Nephi became the capitol city of the Lamanites.
I loved this lesson because as it states in Mosiah 7:14-33, if we turn to the Lord, trust him and serve Him, He will deliver us. This lesson applies to our day and time when many of us are praying for deliverance from the harmful effects of the pandemic with our Churches and Temples closed, the missionaries restricted from proselyting with some of our family members sickened and suffering from the virus and many jobs lost, making it more difficult for us to provide for our families. When I heard that the chapels and Temples were being closed my heart sank, but I knew it was the Lord’s will at this time. During General Conference, the Prophet and other Apostles provided us with a message of hope promising that this pandemic will prove temporary and that someday in the not so distant future the Temples will be re-opened and the work of the Lord in saving the … Read the rest