Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Week 5




Day 29

GET BACK ON SCHEDULE

Use your reading chart to find the chapters you still need to read to be caught up through:

Mosiah 8 or If you’re up to date with your reading, take time to study: Mosiah 3-4

Once we’ve felt the Lord’s forgiveness, how do we retain the remission of our sins?



Day 30

Read: Mosiah 9-11

Mark: Mosiah 9:17, 10:10-11

“The enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity. I testify and witness that the enabling power of the Savior’s Atonement is real.”

~ Elder David A. Bednar

In what ways do we depend on our own strength? How can we more fully receive the strength of the Lord?



Day 31

Read: Mosiah 12-14

Mark: Mosiah 13:15

“When I was a little boy… I came home from school one day, threw my books on the table, and took the name of the Lord in vain in expressing my relief that school was out for the day. My mother heard

me. She was shocked. She took me by the hand and led me to the bathroom…then proceeded to wash my mouth out with that terrible soap…and then said, ‘Don’t let me ever hear such words from your

lips again.’ The taste was terrible. The reprimand was worse. I have never forgotten it, and I hope that I have never used the Lord’s name in vain since that time.”

~ President Gordon B. Hinckley

How can we keep the Lord’s name sacred?





Day 32

Read: Mosiah 15-17

Mark: Mosiah 17:11-12

“You don’t need to compromise your standards to be accepted by good friends. The more obedient you are…the more the Lord can help you overcome temptation. You can also help others because they will feel your strength. Let them know about your standards by consistently living them…No one intends to make serious mistakes. They come when you compromise your standards to be more accepted by others.

You be the strong one. You be the leader. Choose good friends and resist peer pressure together.”

~ Elder Richard G. Scott

Why did King Noah not resist the pressure from the evil priests? What helps you to resist peer pressure?

Day 33

Read: Mosiah 18-20

Mark: 18:8-10

“We show by our behavior what we believe. Surely we are standing as witnesses of God when we sustain his living prophets, especially when we know what it means to sustain. We will abide by the direction and counsel of the prophets. We indeed become witnesses when we make this solemn covenant.”

~ Sister Janette Hales Beckham

What commitments are part of our baptismal covenant? In what ways do you try to keep those commitments?





Day 34

Read: Mosiah 21-23

Mark: Mosiah 23:21-22

“Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect

instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.”

~ President Thomas S. Monson

When is it most difficult for you to be patient? Why is patience important?





Day 35

Read: Mosiah 24-25

Mark: Mosiah 24:14-15

“We should seek to be happy and cheerful and not allow Satan to overcome us with discouragement, despair, or depression.”

~ Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

“The Lord…loves us…, comforts and strengthens us, and enables us to bear our afflictions with patience and fortitude.”

~ Elder George Q. Cannon

How can we submit more cheerfully to the will of the Lord?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Week 4




Day 22

GET BACK ON SCHEDULE

Use your reading chart to find the chapters you still need to read to be caught up through: Jacob 4 or If you’re up to date with your reading, take time to study:

2 Nephi 31-33

What is the doctrine of Christ? What are some things the Holy Ghost can do for us? As Nephi finishes his record what are the things it seems like he most wants us to know?





Day 23

Read: Jacob 5

Mark: Jacob 5:61-62

“Give me a young man who has kept himself morally clean and has faithfully attended his Church meetings. Give me a young man who has magnified his priesthood and has earned the Duty to God Award and is an Eagle Scout. Give me a young man who is a seminary graduate and has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon. Give me such a young man, and I will give you a young man who can perform miracles for the Lord in the mission field and throughout his life.”

~ President Ezra Taft Benson

How can you prepare now to labor diligently in the Lord’s vineyard?





Day 24

Read: Jacob 6 - Enos

Mark: Enos 1:4

“How many of you, with or without serious transgressions, have ever prayed all day and into the night? Have you ever wept and prayed for many hours? How many of you have prayed for five hours? for one? for thirty minutes? for ten?”

~ President Spencer W. Kimball

How often do you cry unto the Lord in mighty prayer? How can you make prayer more meaningful?





Day 25

Read: Jarom – Words of Mormon

Mark: Jarom 1:5

“We have become a nation of pleasure seeking sabbath breakers… What fits the purpose of the Sabbath? Activities that contribute to greater spirituality…I don’t believe that it is possible to keep our spirituality on a high plane by spending our Sabbaths on the beach, on the golf course…or in our own homes…looking at television.”

~ President Ezra Taft Benson

How can you more fully keep the Sabbath day holy?





Day 26

Read: Mosiah 1-2

Mark: Mosiah 2:17

“Our focus should be on righteousness, not recognition; on service, not status. The faithful visiting teacher, who quietly goes about her work month after month, is just as important to

the work of the Lord as those who occupy what some see as more prominent positions in the Church. Visibility does not equate to value…When we understand why we serve we will not

worry about where we serve.”

~ President Howard W. Hunter

How often do you serve?





Day 27

Read: Mosiah 3-4

Mark: Mosiah 4:30

“Work at keeping your thoughts clean by thinking of something good. The mind can think of only one thing at a time. Use that fact to crowd out ugly thoughts. Above all, don’t feed thoughts

by reading or watching things that are wrong. If you don’t control your thoughts, Satan will keep tempting you until you

eventually act them out.”

~ Elder Richard G. Scott

What helps you most to control your thoughts?





Day 28

Read: Mosiah 5-8

Mark: Mosiah 5:2, 7

“No one can be born again without baptism, but the immersion of water and the laying on of hands to confer the Holy Ghost do not of themselves guarantee that a person has been or will be

born again. The new birth takes place only for those who actually enjoy the Gift or companionship of the Holy Ghost, only for those who are fully converted, who have given themselves without restraint to the Lord.”

~ Elder Bruce R. McConkie

How can you more fully give yourself to the Lord to experience the mighty change of heart?

Monday, September 13, 2010

Week 3


Day 15

Read: 2 Nephi 14-18

Mark: 2 Nephi 15:20-21

“Today’s popular entertainment often makes what is evil and wrong look enjoyable and right. Let us remember the Lord’s counsel: ‘Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.’

Pornography, though billed by Satan as entertainment, is a deeply poisonous, deceptive snake that lies coiled up in magazines, the Internet, and the television.”

~ Elder David E. Sorensen

What helps you to see things for what they really are?





Day 16

Read: 2 Nephi 19-23

Mark: 2 Nephi 21:12

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

~ Joseph Smith

What part do you play in these prophecies?





Day 17

Read: 2 Nephi 24-25

Mark: 2 Nephi 25:23, 26

“Literally, the Atonement means to be ‘at one’ with Him. The nature of the Atonement and its effects is so infinite, so unfathomable, and so profound that it lies beyond the knowledge and comprehension of mortal man. I am profoundly grateful for the principle of saving grace… The overwhelming message of the Atonement is the perfect love the Savior has for each and all

of us. It is a love which is full of mercy, patience, grace, equity, long-suffering, and, above all, forgiving.”

~President James E. Faust

How do you experience the Savior’s love?



Day 18

Read: 2 Nephi 26-27

Mark: 2 Nephi 26:8

Looking for the path to safety in the counsel of prophets makes sense to those with strong faith…the choice not to take prophetic counsel changes the very ground upon which we stand. It becomes more dangerous. The failure to take prophetic counsel lessens our power to take inspired counsel in the future. The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked. Each time he asked after that, each failure to respond would have lessened sensitivity to the Spirit. And so each time his request would have eemed more foolish, until the rain came. And then it was too late.

~ Elder Henry B. Eyring

How does following the prophet keep you safe?





Day 19

Read: 2 Nephi 28-30

Mark: 2 Nephi 28:15

“ There are at least three dangers that threaten the Church within, and the authorities need to awaken to the fact that the people should be warned unceasingly against them. As I see these, they are flattery of prominent men in the world, false educational ideas, and sexual impurity.”

~ President Joseph F. Smith

What are you doing to avoid being deceived?



Day 20

Read: 2 Nephi 31 – Jacob 1

Mark: 2 Nephi 31:10-13, 20

“When we understand our baptismal covenant and the gift of the Holy Ghost, it will change our lives and will establish our total allegiance to the kingdom of God. When temptations come our

way, if we will listen, the Holy Ghost will remind us that we have promised to remember our Savior and obey the commandments of God.”

~ Elder Robert D. Hales

Sometimes we take our baptism for granted. What do you do to remember and increase your appreciation for your baptism?



Day 21

Read: Jacob 2-4

Mark: Jacob 2:18-19

“If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”

~ William Law

Are your decisions based on how your choices will help to build the Lord’s kingdom? If needed, how can you change?

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Our Responsibility to Nurture the Rising Generation

 
“Our Responsibility to Nurture the Rising Generation,” Liahona, Sep 2010, 7
Study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit. Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters and to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.
From the Scriptures

Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4; Enos 1:1; Alma 53:20–21; 56:47; 57:27
Without nurturing, our rising generation could be in danger of becoming like the one described in Mosiah 26. Many youth didn’t believe the traditions of their fathers and became a separate people as to their faith, remaining so ever after. Our rising generation could likewise be led away if they don’t understand their part in Heavenly Father’s plan.
So what is it that will keep the rising generation safe? In the Church, we teach saving principles, and those principles are family principles, the principles that will help the rising generation to form a family, teach that family, and prepare that family for ordinances and covenants—and then the next generation will teach the next and so on.
As parents, leaders, and Church members, we are preparing this generation for the blessings of Abraham, for the temple. We have the responsibility to be very clear on key points of doctrine found in the proclamation on the family. Motherhood and fatherhood are eternal roles and responsibilities. Each of us carries the responsibility for either the male or the female half of the plan.
We can teach this doctrine in any setting. We must speak respectfully of marriage and family. And from our example, the rising generation can gain great hope and understanding—not just from the words we speak but from the way we feel and emanate the spirit of family.
Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president.
From Our History

Addressing the sisters at the general Relief Society meeting on September 23, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “The world we are in is a world of turmoil, of shifting values. Shrill voices call out for one thing or another in betrayal of time-tested standards of behavior.”1 President Hinckley then went on to introduce to the sisters, the Church, and ultimately people everywhere “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.”
In subsequent years this prophetic document has been translated into many languages and distributed to world leaders. It asks citizens and government leaders “to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.”2
The proclamation has become the foundation for Latter-day Saint beliefs about the family, a statement to which we can hold fast and know that by living its precepts, we are strengthening our families and homes.
What Can I Do?

1. How can I help my sisters use “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” to nurture the rising generation? You might consider sharing a copy of the proclamation and helping your sisters identify and mark those passages that would best teach key doctrines.
2. How can I nurture the rising generation? You might consider reaching out to members of your ward, branch, family, or community who could benefit from your attention and love.
For more information, go to http://www.reliefsociety.lds.org/.
Notes

1. Gordon B. Hinckley, “Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 99.
2. See “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Liahona, Oct. 2004, 49; Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102.
Week 2




Day 8

Read: 1 Nephi 17-18

Mark: 1 Nephi 17:45

“Inspiration comes more as a feeling than as a sound…We do not have the words (even the scriptures do not have the words) which perfectly describe the Spirit. The scriptures generally use the word ‘voice,’ which does not exactly fit. These delicate, refined spiritual communications are not seen with our eyes, nor heard with our ears. And even though it is described as a voice,

it is a voice that one feels, more than one hears.”

~ President Boyd K. Packer

What things have you felt while reading or praying?





Day 9

Read: 1 Nephi 19-21

Mark: 1 Nephi 19:23

“May I commend you faithful Saints who are striving to flood the earth and your lives with the Book of Mormon. Not only must we move forward in a monumental manner more copies of

the Book of Mormon, but we must move boldly forward into our own lives and throughout the earth more of its marvelous messages. This sacred volume was written for us—for our day.

Its scriptures are to be likened unto ourselves.”

~ President Ezra Taft Benson

How do the things you read in the scriptures relate to your life?





Day 10

Read: 1 Nephi 22 – 2 Nephi 1

Mark: 1 Nephi 22:26

“If Satan could but capture our minds, he would have won the battle and the war. He can only do this if we let him. If we refuse to walk with him, he will have no power over us, for God gave

us our free agency and Satan cannot take it away. So what I am suggesting is that we refuse to even walk on the same street with Satan. In other words, not only should we avoid evil, we should avoid the very appearance of evil.”

~ Bishop Victor L. Brown

How can Satan be bound in his efforts to influence you?





Day 11

Read: 2 Nephi 2-3

Mark: 2 Nephi 2:25, 27-28

“Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all

the commandments of God.”

~ Joseph Smith

What brings you true happiness?

Day 12

Read: 2 Nephi 4-7

Mark: 2 Nephi 4:15-16

“No father, no son, no mother, no daughter should get so busy that he or she does not have time to study the scriptures and the words of modern prophets. None of us should get so busy that

we crowd out contemplation and praying.”

~President Spencer W. Kimball

What is it that brings a person to love the scriptures?





Day 13

Read: 2 Nephi 8-9

Mark: 2 Nephi 9:50-51

“Keeping everything in balance can be a real problem …Often the lack of clear direction and goals can waste away our time and energy and contribute to imbalance in our lives. …Our main goal should be to seek “immortality and eternal life.” With this as our goal, why not eliminate from our lives the things that clamor for and consume our thoughts, feelings, and energies without contributing to our reaching that goal?”

~ Elder M. Russell Ballard

How do you spend your time, money and energy?





Day 14

Read: 2 Nephi 10-13

Mark: 2 Nephi 12:2-3

“I can visualize an army of righteous youth prepared and worthy to attend the temple. I can see families sealed together for eternity. I can see youth who understand what it means to be

‘saviours’… on mount Zion.’ I can see youth whose hearts are turned to their fathers. And I can envision youth growing up in such a way that they will come forth from the temples filled with

strength to resist worldly pressures. I can see a generation of youth who will ‘stand … in holy places, and be not moved.’

~ Sister Elaine S. Dalton

Why do you think Isaiah compares the temple to a mountain?