July 10

Gospel Doctrine Lesson 21, 23, 24

Relief Society/Priesthood: HWH - Lesson12 & 13

June 12

Gospel Doctrine Lesson 20: Word file

Gospel Doctrine:

BofM: L-20: My Soul Is Pained No More

Highlights: Alma and the sons of Mosiah teach us about a deeper level of conversion to the Lord. As a result of true conversion, the Nephites are able to absolve tensions and remain strong.

Scriptures:

• Mosiah 25: Limhi’s people baptized

• Mosiah 26-27:7 Some led away from the church

• Mosiah 27:8-31; 36: 3-23 Conversion of Alma and the four sons of Mosiah

• Mosiah 27:32-28:20 Alma and the sons of Mosiah dedicate themselves to missionary work.

à People of Nephi: Mulekites (Original residents of Zarahemla), Nephites who stayed in Zarahemla, people of Alma, people of Limhi

à How did the people respond when King Mosiah read the records of Alma and Limhi? (Mosiah 25: 7-11)

à Compare the feelings of Alma before and after his conversion. How is that meaningful for you?

Relief Society/Priesthood: Word file

Priesthood/Relief Society:

Teachings of Pres. Howard W. Hunter: Ch.11

 “True Greatness”

Highlights: “Realizing who we are and what we may become assures us that with God nothing is really impossible.”

A cerebral hemorrhage in 1981 left Claire unable to walk or speak. Nevertheless, President Hunter sometimes helped her out of her wheelchair and held her tightly so they could dance as they had done years earlier. Elder James E. Faust later said that President Hunter’s “tender loving care of his wife Claire for more than ten years while she was not well was the most noble devotion of a man to a woman that many of us have seen in our lives.”

Scripture: Matthew 25:21

His greatness emerged in periods of his life far from the spotlight as he made pivotal choices to work hard, to try again after failing, and to help his fellowman. Those attributes were reflected in his remarkable ability to succeed in endeavors as diverse as music, law, business, international relations, carpentry, and, above all, being a ‘good and faithful servant’ of the Lord.

June 5

Gospel Doctrine lesson 19: GD-L19

Gospel Doctrine:

BofM: L-19: None Could Deliver Them but the Lord

Highlights: The Lord could not prevent Alma’s people from suffering consequences, but, as he does with us, he strengthens us in our afflictions.

Scriptures: Mosiah 18-24

à What had Abinadi prophesied about King Noah’s death? (See Mosiah 12:3.) How was this prophecy fulfilled? (See Mosiah 19:18–20. Point out that the people who eventually valued Noah’s life “as a garment in a hot furnace” had at one time been blind to his wickedness, as shown in Mosiah 11:29.)

à After failing three times to defeat the Lamanites in battle, what did Limhi’s people finally do? (See Mosiah 21:13–14.) Why was the Lord slow to respond to their cries? (See Mosiah 21:15; see also D&C 101:1–9.) Although the Lord did not deliver them immediately, what did He do for them? (See Mosiah 21:15–16.) How does the Lord sometimes permit us to “prosper by degrees”?

Relief Society lesson: Elizabeth and Long-Suffering

Priesthood/Relief Society:

Elizabeth-Long-Suffering

 Highlights: Zacharias and Elisabeth were both descendants of Aaron, from whom all of the priests and the high priest of Israel were chosen. This means that John was a natural heir of the Aaronic Priesthood and its leadership. As his father was, John was also a priest and held the keys to the Aaronic Priesthood.

Scriptures:

Luke 1: 5-25 Zacharias has a vision in the temple that Elizabeth will conceive a son who’s name will be John. The Angel Gabriel, because of Zacharias’ unbelief, tells him he will be struck dumb until the prophesy is fulfilled.

Luke 1: 41-45 Elizabeth rejoices when Mary comes

Luke 1: 57-80 John is born

       Contrast Mary’s response to the Angel’s news with Zacharias’(vs. 38). How should we gauge our own reactions to promptings and messages from the Lord and his messengers?

May 29

Since it's the 5th Sunday, I only have a Gospel Doctrine handout.
Lesson 18: GD-L18

Gospel Doctrine:

BofM: L-18: God Himself-Shall Redeem His People

Highlights: President Ezra Taft Benson said: “Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world. Men changed for Christ will be captained by Christ.”

Scriptures:

• Mosiah 12: Abinadi speaks repentance

Mosiah 12: 20-24 Priests asks Abinadi to interpret scripture from Isaiah

• Mosiah 13: Abinadi gives the purpose of the law of Moses

Mosiah 14: 5-6 Christ’s suffering and purpose

à How did Abinadi’s interpretation of scripture differ from the Priests?  (Mosiah 15: 10-19)

à What is the significance of 13:10?

à What would have happened if Abinadi has not chosen to fulfill his mission? How does this relate to us?

I loved working with these chapters. It was very rewarding to read Abinadi's explanation of the roles of Christ and the Father as well as how he explains Isaiah's vital teachings. If you look in the manual, President Hinckley shares a wonderful story that relates to how you never know the impact you may have in your mission. Here it is: 

4. The unseen results of missionary work

Explain that Abinadi may have died without knowing if anyone believed his teachings. But Alma was converted because of Abinadi’s efforts, and he and his descendants had a great influence on the Nephites for many generations. Share the following story told by President Gordon B. Hinckley:

“You don’t know how much good you can do; you can’t foresee the results of the effort you put in. Years ago, President Charles A. Callis, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, but who previously was president of the Southern States Mission for twenty-five years, told me this story. He said that he had a missionary in the southern [United States] who came in to get his release at the conclusion of his mission. His mission president said to him, ‘Have you had a good mission?’

“He said, ‘No.’

“‘How is that?’

“‘Well, I haven’t had any results from my work. I have wasted my time and my father’s money. It’s been a waste of time.’

“Brother Callis said, ‘Haven’t you baptized anyone?’

“He said, ‘I baptized only one person during the two years that I have been here. That was a twelve-year-old boy up in the back hollows of Tennessee.’

“He went home with a sense of failure. Brother Callis said, ‘I decided to follow that boy who had been baptized. I wanted to know what became of him. …

“… ‘I followed him through the years. He became the Sunday School Superintendent, and he eventually became the branch president. He married. He moved off the little tenant farm on which he and his parents before him had lived and got a piece of ground of his own and made it fruitful. He became the district president. He sold that piece of ground in Tennessee and moved to Idaho and bought a farm along the Snake River and prospered there. His children grew. They went on missions. They came home. They had children of their own who went on missions.’

“Brother Callis continued, ‘I’ve just spent a week up in Idaho looking up every member of that family that I could find and talking to them about their missionary service. I discovered that, as the result of the baptism of that one little boy in the back hollows of Tennessee by a missionary who thought he had failed, more than 1,100 people have come into the Church.’

“You never can foretell the consequences of your work, my beloved brethren and sisters, when you serve as missionaries” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 360–61).

Gospel Doctrine L-15: Word doc

Gospel Doctrine:

BofM: L-15: Eternally Indebted to Your Heavenly Father

Highlights: The warnings and promises of Nephi’s vision apply to us today.

Scriptures:  Mosiah 1-3

Questions:

•In the book of Mosiah, the first account of Benjamin is not about his reign as king but about his teachings as a father (Mosiah 1:2–8). What does this teach about King Benjamin? What can parents learn from this example?

•What effect did King Benjamin’s leadership have on his people? (See Mosiah 1:1; 6:7.)

•The angel said that “the natural man is an enemy to God” (Mosiah 3:19). What is the meaning of the phrase “natural man”? (See Alma 42:6–10).

May 15th

Gospel Doctrine: GD-L16 

Gospel Doctrine:

BofM: L-16: Ye Shall Be Called the Children of Christ

Highlights: King Benjamin told his people what they needed to do to be entitled to sit on the right hand of God. We can learn from King Benjamin’s words because the requirements are the same for us.

Scriptures:  Mosiah 4: 1-30; Mosiah 5: 2-15

Questions:

• What is so essential about recognizing our own nothingness? (Mosiah 4:5–8, 11–12.)

•Why do you think serving others helps us retain a remission of our sins? (Mosiah 4:26.)

•Once we have experienced a “mighty change … in our hearts” (Mosiah 5:2), what challenges do we face in maintaining this change? How can we meet these challenges?

Relief Society/Priesthood: HWH-ch10

Priesthood/Relief Society: May 15

Teachings of Pres. Howard W. Hunter: Ch.10

 “The Scriptures-Most Profitable of All Study”

Highlights: “When we … read and study the scriptures, benefits and blessings of many kinds come to us. This is the most profitable of all study in which we could engage.”

President Howard W. Hunter had a great love for the scriptures and was a dedicated student of them. This love and study were reflected in his teachings … Often when teaching a gospel principle, he selected at least one story from the scriptures, told it in detail, and drew applications from it.

Scripture: Mark 5: 22-24

And [Jairus] besought him greatly, saying, “My little daughter lieth at the point of death.” The tremor we hear in Jairus’s voice as he speaks of “My little daughter” stirs our souls with sympathy as we think of this man of high position in the synagogue on his knees before the Savior. When they got to the home of the ruler of the synagogue, Jesus took the little girl by the hand and raised her from the dead. In like manner, he will lift and raise every man to a new and better life who will permit the Savior to take him by the hand.

May 1st

Here's the Gospel Doctrine, Lesson 14 Word doc: GD-L14

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Gospel Doctrine

BofM: L-14: For a Wise Purpose

Highlights:  Think of something you would have forgotten if you hadn’t written it down. Enos prayed to the Lord to preserve the Nephite records.

Scriptures: • Enos 1; Jacob 7: 27; Jarom 1: 5, 7-12; Words of Mormon 1: 1-4, 6-7

à   Whom did Enos credit with teaching him the gospel? (See Enos 1:1.) Who was Enos’s father? (See Jacob 7:27.) How can the teaching and example of righteous parents help children develop faith in the Savior?

à   What did Jacob’s teachings influence Enos to do? (See Enos 1:3–4.)

à   After reading Jarom, what would you consider when looking at the habits and priorities of these people and their blessings from the Lord?

à   After reading Words of Mormon, when there was no apparent need, why did Mormon include them?

Relief Society/Priesthood: Esther-Courage

Priesthood/Relief Society

Queen Esther – Courage

Esther 2-9

Every day Mordecai came to the palace gate to find out if Esther was all right. One day Haman, the king’s chief minister, saw him. Haman demanded that Mordecai bow down to him. But Mordecai refused. He bowed only to God.

Haman was furious. He told the king that the Jews would not obey the laws and should be killed. The king sent out a decree that all of the Jews in the kingdom were to be killed.

When Queen Esther heard about the awful decree, she sent word to Mordecai. What should they do?

At the banquet Esther told the king how Haman had plotted to kill the Jews. She said that she was Jewish too. King Ahasuerus was very angry. He could not take back the decree, but he quickly sent riders on mules and camels with a new decree. It said the Jews could defend themselves against anyone who tried to kill them. The lives of many Jews were saved.

Scriptures:    Esther 9: 2-4

How did Esther and Mordecai’s influence sway others to defend the Jews?