Lesson Recap: July 23, 2017

Trust in the Lord and Lean Not

We can center our lives on the Savior 

by coming to know Him, and He will direct our paths.

By Bonnie H. Cordon

Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency

Women's Conference, April 2017

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/trust-in-the-lord-and-lean-not?lang=eng

In Proverbs 3:5-6 we read this counsel: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding." "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct they paths." This scripture comes with two admonitions, a warning and a glorious promise. 

Two Admonitions:

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart...In all thy ways acknowledge Him. 

The Warning:

The warning comes into the words, "lean not unto thine own understanding." In English the word lean has a connotation of physically listing of moving to one side or another, we move off center when we lean, we are out of balance, and we tip. When we "spiritually lean" to our own understanding we lean away from our Savior. If we lean we are not centered, we are not balanced, we are not focused on Christ. 

Remember that in our premortal life we stood with the Savior. We trusted Him, and supported Him, and followed him in the plan of happiness set forth by our Heavenly Father. We leaned not. We fought with our testimonies and aligned ourselves with the forces of God and those forces were victorious. This battle between goof and evil has moved to earth. Once again we have the sacred responsibility to stand as a witness and put our trust in the Lord. 

How do we keep centered and lean not unto our own understanding? How do we recognize and follow the Savior's voice when the voices of the world are so compelling? How do I cultivate trust in the Savior? We can come to know the Lord and and cultivate trust in the Savior by:

1) Scripture Study

       - "Feast upon the words of Christ, for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye      

           should do." (2Nephi 32:3)

       - The Scriptures enlighten our minds, nourish our spirits, answers our questions, increased our 

           trust in the Lord, and helps us center our lives on him.

       - "Remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby." (Mosiah 1:7) 

2) Prayer 

       - What a blessing it is to be able to pray to our God.

       - "Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart." (Moroni 7:48)

       - The Peace that comes from prayer gave Sister Cordon the courage to trust in the Lord and lean  

          not on her own understanding. The Lord directed her path in many decisions she has made. 

       - As we make a habit of approaching Heavenly Father in prayer, we will come to know the 

         Savior. We will come to trust Him. Our desires will become more like His. We will be able to 

         secure for ourselves and for others blessings that Heavenly Father is ready to give if we will but 

         ask in faith. 

3) Service

       - The Story of Any Wright:

               - In 2015 Amy was diagnosed with cancer. Her cancer had a 17% survival rate. She was in the fight of her life and the odds were not in her favor. After undergoing many chemotherapy treatments Amy was on deaths door. She did not know how it was possible for someone to be so sick and still be alive. Amy declared chemo to be a human rights violation, and she told her husband that she was done with the treatments. Amy quit. She decided not to go back to the hospital. Amy's husband responded to her decision with a declaration that they needed to find someone to serve. Amy thought her husband was crazy, she was literally dying and so sick she could barely function as a human being and her husband was suggesting finding someone to serve. Amy's symptoms gradually worsened, to where she only had about two days a month where she was able to function. It was on those couple days a month that Amy and her family would serve others. On one of those days Amy and her family distributed "Chemo Comfort Kits" to other patients in the hospital. When Amy couldn't sleep because the pain was too great, she would think of ways to brighten someone else's day, by writing notes and sending texts to friends and family, or do family history searches to find relatives to do temple work for. Amy testifies that "Service saved my life." She ultimately found the strength to keep moving forward in the happiness she found while trying to relieve the suffering of others. Her own pain took a "back seat" to the pain and needs of others. She looked forward to service projects with great joy and anticipation. Amy recounts, "You would think someone who was bald, poisoned, and fighting for her life was justified in thinking the 'right now its all about me.' However, when I thought about myself, my situation, my suffering and pain, the world became very dark and depressing. When my focus turned to others, there was light, hope, strength, courage, and joy. I know this is possible because of the sustaining, healing,nad enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

The Glorious Promise:

"He shall direct they paths."

Jesus Christ has overcome the world. Because of Him and because of his infinite Atonement, we all have great cause to trust, knowing that ultimately all will be well. We can center our lives on the Savior by coming to know Him, and He will direct our paths. We are on earth to demonstrate the same trust in Him that allowed us to stand with Jesus Christ when He declared. "Here am I, send me."

President Thomas S. Monson testified that "our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us... as we walk uprightly... There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us."

Lesson Recap: July 16, 2017

Peace and Contentment Through Temporal Self-Reliance

We teach self-reliance as a principle of life, that we ought to provide for 

ourselves and take care of our own needs. 

- President Hinckley

President Hinckley was no stranger to hard work. In addition to regular household chores, President Hinckley detailed how his family owned a five-acre farm. He recounts how his whole family lived on the farm in the summer then returned to the city once school began. During his summers on the farm he pruned the trees in the orchard, and learned a great truth- that you determine what kind of fruit you pick in September by the way you pruned in February. This truth is part of President Hinckley's personal foundation, he often taught practical lessons of gospel living. He testified of the blessings that come through hard work, and he encouraged Latter-Day Saints to live within their means and prepare themselves for calamities that could come in the future.

I believe in the gospel of work. There is no other substitute under the heavens for productive labor. It is the process by which dreams become realities. It is the process by which idle visions become dynamic achievements.

It is work that provides the food we eat, the clothing we wear, the homes in which we live. We cannot deny the need for work with skilled hands and educated minds if we to grow and prosper individually and collectively. President Hinckley wrote; 

I have observed that life is not a series of great heroic acts. Life at best is a matter of consistent goodness and decency, doing without fanfare that which needed to be done when it needed to be done. I observed that it is not the geniuses that make the difference in the world. I have observed that the work of the world is done largely by men and women of ordinary talents who have worked in extraordinary manner.

The great genius of this Church is work. Everybody works. You do not grow unless you work. Faith, testimony of the truth, is just like the muscle of my arm. If you use it, it grows strong. If you put it in a sling, it grows weak. We put people to work. We expect great things of them, and the marvelous and wonderful thing as they come through. They produce. 

We have a responsibility to help others lift themselves and become self reliant. 

There is widespread poverty among our people, we must do all we can to help them to lift themselves, to establish their lives upon a foundation of self reliance that can come of training. Education is the key and opportunity. It is our solemn obligation to "succor the weak and lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees." (D&C 81:5).

The Lord does not wish to see His people condemned to live in poverty. I believe He would have the faithful enjoy the good things of the earth. The individuals we teach ought to do for himself all that he can. When he has exhausted his resources, he ought to turn to his family to assist him. When the family can't do it, the Church takes over. And when the Church takes over, our great desire is to first take care of his immediate needs and then help him in securing employment and finding ways to help him get back on his feet again. The Church has many programs to help those members in need

• The Bishop's Storehouse
• The Church Welfare System/LDS Services
• Counseling
• Career Development
• Life Skills Training
• Desert Industries
• Thrift Store Employment
• Employment Resources
• The Pathways Program
• Self Reliance Learning Modules

The Spirit of the Lord guides us in helping others become self sufficient. 

Prophets have encouraged us to prepare ourselves spiritually and temporally for catastrophes to come.

We need to plan ahead, keep food on hand, have a savings account, to see you through a rainy day. The Church encourages us to have an adequate Emergency Food Storage to provide for our family, and for neighbors. We should always have a savings to keep us sustained if we ever lose employment, or become ill, or cannot earn. We need to prepare ourselves and our family these possible calamities. President Hinckley suggested to start preparing in a small way, and gradually build toward a responsible objective. Save a little money regularly and you will be surprised how it accumulates. Save one can at a time and be cognizant of expiration dates. 

We can enjoy interdependence and freedom as we avoid debt to the extent possible and set aside money for times of need.

President Hinckley counseled that it was acceptable to go into debt to purchase a house and to pay for an education but that it was not prudent to go into debt for another reason. Since the beginning of the Church, the Lord has spoken on this matter of debt. To Martin Harris through revelation He said: "Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer. Release thyself from bondage." (D&C 19:35)

President Heber J. Grant spoke repeatedly on this matter, he said "If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family is to live within our means. And if there is anyone thing that is grinding and discouraging and disheartening, it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet."

The Church is carrying a message of self reliance to its members. Self-reliance cannot obtain when there is serious debt handing over a household. One has neither independence not freedom from bondage when he is obligated to others. What a wonderful thing it is to be free of debt, to have a little money against a day of emergency put away where it can be retrieved when necessary. 

Lesson Recap: July 9, 2017

Losing Ourselves in the Service of Others

May the real meaning of the gospel distill into our hearts that we may realize that our lives, given us by God our Father, are to be used in the service of others.

When President Gordon B. Hinckley was struggling through he first few months of his mission in England, he wrote to his father feeling discouraged and confused, he expressed that he felt he was wasting his time and his money on his mission because he did not feel he was successful in sharing the gospel. President Hinckley's father wrote back, "...Forget yourself and go to work." Shortly after reading the letter President Hinckley engaged in scripture study with his companion and he read in Mark 8:35, "Whosoever will safe his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel, the same shall save it." After that day President Hinckley wrote "I covenanted that I would try to forget myself and lose myself in His service." He recounted that a new light came into my life and new joy into his heart. 

Our Lives are gifts from God and are to be used in the service of others:

"There is much poverty and stark want across the world, so much of rebellion and meanness, so much of sleaze and filth, so many broken homes and destroyed families, so many lonely people living colorless lives without hope, so much distress everywhere." President Hinckley asked all members of the church to give of ourselves to make the world a little better. If the world is to be improved, the process of love must make a change in the hearts of men. It can do so when we look beyond ourselves to give our love to God and others, and do so with all our hearts, with all our soul and all our minds. The Lord has declared in modern revelation, "If your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you." (D&C 88:67)

The best antidote for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helming someone who is even more tired. 

Give expression to the noble desires that lie within your hearts to reach out comfort, sustained build others. As you do so the cankering poison of selfishness will leave you, and it will be replaced by a sweet and wonderful feeling that seems to come in no other way. 

When we reach out to help others, we find our true selves.

We will never be happy if you go through life thinking only of yourself. Get lost in the best cause in the world, the work of the Lord. You will bless your own life as you bless the lives of others.