As I thought about buying Christmas presents and preparing for the Christmas season, I felt anxious and overwhelmed. But then I pondered and prayed and realized that being with family and feeling the Spirit of Christ through service and worship are what makes Christmas meaningful and memorable to me.
I created a Nativity Activity for our family to do this year. This could be done starting on December 1 or leading up until Christmas day depending on the Nativity pieces you have. Or you could do this as one activity on Christmas Eve.
Nativity Activity 2021
Mary
Read: Luke 1:26-38
Discuss: When was the last time you received direction from God? Share your experience.
Do: Thank your mother for something she has done for you in the past week.
Joseph
Read: Matthew 1: 18-25
Discuss: Joseph’s marriage turned out differently than he expected, but he was still obedient to the Lord. When has something turned out different from what you expected? How were you blessed for following the Lord?
Do: Thank your father for something he did for you this past week.
Donkey
Read: Luke 2:1-5
Discuss: We don’t know if Mary rode a donkey, but Mary and Joseph and their belongings had to be transported to Bethlehem. What was a trip or vacation you took recently that required preparation? How did you help that trip to happen? How did others help that trip to happen?
Do: In your prayer today, thank Heavenly Father for transportation.
Stable
Read: Luke 2:6-7
Discuss: Where were you born? What were you wrapped in? What are your mother and father’s thoughts about your birth?
Do: Clean a room in your house or put away a few items.
Baby Jesus
Read: Alma 7:10-12
Discuss: Jesus’ life experiences and His atonement allow him to understand our problems. We can help others by being compassionate during their hard times. When is a time someone helped you or when you helped someone?
Do: Look for someone today who needs a hug or smile and give a hug or smile.
Angel
Read: Luke 2:8-14
Discuss: Have you ever been afraid? What did you do? How were you able to obtain peace?
Do: Think of someone who has been an angel in your life—someone who has helped you, brought you peace, or given you good news. Thank that person.
Shepherd
Read: Luke 2:15-20
Discuss: When was a time you hurried (made haste) to do something you felt prompted to do? What happened because of your obedience?
Do: Praise a sibling today.
Lamb
Read: Alma 7:14 or Isaiah 53:7
Ponder and do: The Savior Jesus Christ offered himself as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of man. What do I need to repent of today? Ask Heavenly Father to let you know and ask the Savior for help to know what to do to repent/to change. Then do it. Report back in prayer to your Heavenly Father.
Cow
Read: Genesis 1:24-26
Discuss: How have you taken care of a pet? How has the pet blessed your life?
Do: Give your pet extra attention today.
Wiseman (3)
Read: Matthew 2:1-11 (or through 15)
Discuss: What is the best gift you’ve received? What is the best gift you’ve given?
Do: A gift can be an item, your time, or service. Give a gift today of an item, or spending time with a family member, or serving someone.
My husband was sustained as the bishop of a new ward this past Sunday. For our first Sunday, he asked that I share my testimony in sacrament meeting. I’ve never shared my testimony as the bishop’s wife before and while a bishop, including my husband, and his family are not perfect, there is an expectation of behavior and belief. I’ve thought a lot this week about my testimony. Recently due to questions from family members and friends concerning the restored gospel and our prophet, I’ve questioned my own beliefs and had frequent doubts. While there is so much I don’t know and understand, there are some things I do know.
God is my Heavenly Father and He loves me. My earliest memory of this was when I was a child, sometime before I was eight years old. I was in bed at night and my dad was at a church meeting. A feeling of despair came over me, an almost tangible heavy darkness in my room. When my dad came home, I asked him for a blessing or to pray. I can’t remember which. He did what I asked and the darkness lifted. I had faith in my father. I knew he loved me, and I knew he could dispel the darkness. I now know that was because of the power of the priesthood. My earthly father’s love and power were a manifestation of my Heavenly Father’s love and power.
Jesus Christ is my Savior and because of His atonement, I can be cleansed of my sins and succored in my trials. I was praying for one of my children, crying in despair, and into my mind came the words, “Your child is in my hands” along with the image of the Savior’s open hands with the marks from the cross. I was taught that I am not my child’s Savior, to have faith in the Savior, and that Jesus Christ’s atonement was for me and my child.
Joseph Smith was a prophet. He translated The Book of Mormon and restored the gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days. I just finished reading Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Bushman. There are pieces of church history that are uncomfortable, but Joseph Smith was able to accomplish more in his lifetime than seems humanly possible. And it wasn’t possible on his own. Learning more about Joseph Smith makes me appreciate his life and sacrifice and reminds me that the Lord can use my efforts to do great things.
I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real because of the personal revelation I receive through the Holy Ghost. Moroni, a prophet in The Book of Mormon, taught, “I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6). When I was a child, I relied on the faith of my parents. They loved me and I felt good when I attended church, read my scriptures, and prayed. Much of my obedience was out of duty to my parents whom I loved and the culture of the church. As I began to receive consistent revelation of my own and I acted on that revelation, I saw the results of my faith and my faith increased. That still meant I needed to act in faith and then see what happened, but I had many experiences to remind me that I would be blessed when I acted in faith. One of those experiences was when I had the thought in the temple that I should start a book club in my new neighborhood. I resisted, but when I finally acted in faith, the eventual results were better than I imagined. I have come to love the women in my book club and am enriched every time we get together. I refer to this experience often to strengthen my faith. As the Stake Young Women’s Camp Director this past summer, I was reminded by the Spirit that as I did the Lord’s will concerning the book club, He made more of it than I could make on my own and that the same thing would happen with camp. On Sunday after my husband was set apart as the bishop, a member of the Stake Presidency asked if being the director for Young Women’s camp this past summer has helped me with my husband becoming the bishop. The answer is Yes! As I’ve had fear and doubts about how this would all work out and how members would feel about the changes and how all the callings would be filled and how my husband would be able to be the bishop during tax season, I’ve been reminded by the Spirit again and again of the miracles, personal revelation, and strength I received as the director of camp because of my willingness to do the Lord’s will. This is the Lord’s work!
I know that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet. In April 2018, President Nelson said, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation” (“Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our Lives”). That prophecy has been fulfilled for me. There is so much confusion, so much doubt, so much information and misinformation, that if I did not study my scriptures and pray daily and act on personal revelation, I would not survive spiritually.
I love how the Lord prepares me to learn through questions. This past Monday, we had a family home evening lesson from Preach My Gospel with our neighbors about the first principles and ordinances of the gospel which are faith in Jesus Christ, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, repentance, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. As I taught and we discussed these principles, I thought about how faith, repentance, accessing the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end are principles we live and work on each day. But baptism isn’t like that. We are baptized only once for ourselves, although we can be baptized by proxy in the temple for our ancestors who have died. I couldn’t figure out how baptism figured into my life continually. That question sat in my mind and heart as something I wondered about but couldn’t understand. Many of my questions take a long time and much study to be answered and many have not been answered, but I feel like in having that question enter my mind and heart, the Lord was preparing me for immediate answers to come.
Some may be thinking that the answer is obvious and wonder why was that even a question for me. But many times even if I know something intellectually or I’ve heard it and learned it many times at church or through gospel lessons, the concept is not written in my heart.
That FHE lesson was on Monday. On Wednesday, I received a text with a link from a friend: Elder Dale G. Renlund’s BYU Speech, Lifelong Conversion. As the saying goes, my mind was blown. The answer is the sacrament. Again, I already knew this, but I didn’t know in the same way as when I listened to this talk and my spirit was taught in a deeper way. Elder Renlund speaks about participating in the principles of the gospel repeatedly and iteratively. Repeatedly is to cycle through the principles on the covenant path over and over and iteratively “means that we change and improve with each cycle.” Each element builds on itself and repeats and the way we repeat baptism is by partaking of the sacrament. To truly change and improve through the ordinance of the sacrament, we have faith in Christ and ask Him what we need to repent of, and then take that sin or fault to the sacrament each Sunday. I’ve also heard over and over that the sacrament is the only ordinance that is repeated for ourselves.
I was not able to partake of the sacrament this Sunday, because we had Stake Conference. The nine wards in our stake met in meetings on Saturday and Sunday to hear from local leaders. My spirit was enlightened even more through the talk of our stake president, President Stephen B. Packer. He spoke on Saturday night about altars. Altars were used for blood sacrifices of animals from the time of Adam to the death of Jesus Christ as a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I knew this and I also knew that we now offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit instead of animal sacrifice, and I knew that the sacrament was a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice, the bread for his body and the water for his blood. The deeper understanding came when President Packer reminded us that during this past year when we could not attend church because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were authorized to have the sacrament in our homes. I remember the first time we had the sacrament in our home after a few weeks of not partaking of the sacrament. At the time we had five young adults plus me, my husband, and my youngest son in our home. Four were men who hold the priesthood and were able to prepare, bless, and pass the sacrament to all of us. I cleaned off our granite countertop in the middle of our kitchen and found two silver serving trays and a white table cloth. My husband and my son, who had recently been ordained to the office of a teacher, spread the white table cloth and prepared bread and water. Then my son-in-law and nephew-in-law broke the bread and blessed the sacrament. I felt so much gratitude for the ordinance of the sacrament, and that I was able to partake of the sacrament in my home. President Packer reminded us that we had prepared an altar within our own homes and that we offer a real personal sacrifice. During the sacrament we put the animal in us on the altar and let it be consumed. Then President Packer asked us to consider what is most sacred to us and what we need to sacrifice.
Today I was taught even more about sacrifice. During our morning session of Stake Conference, Elder Kenneth J. Firmage, a member of the Seventy, asked us to consider what we would sacrifice to be endowed with power. He asked us to plead with the Lord in prayer about how we spend our time, and then to invest in our future and that of our family by sacrificing to attend the temple. He promised that the Lord would bring the miracles we need to receive as we sacrifice.
I have some pondering and pleading to do to figure out what the Lord will accept as an offering in righteousness from me. I am grateful that I was prepared with a question to receive greater light and knowledge this week about the sacrament and sacrifice. I know that by keeping my covenants, I am given the opportunities the Lord knows I need to grow and increase.
Much of our property in Garden Valley is on a steep hillside with a creek at the bottom. We built a path to make it easier to get to the creek. Our son spent a lot of time digging deeper into the dirt with a shovel and pickaxe and moving rocks to create steps and a higher edge for the path. We also used logs. It is probably hard to tell from this picture, but towards the top right on the right side of that yellow twine is where we started the path. It ran pretty straight along the hillside and descended from the top right to the bottom left of this picture. After we made the path, we found out that we had been mistaken about our property line. Notice again the yellow twine. That more closely marks our correct property line which means that about half of the path is on the neighbor’s property. This past month we started a new path near that middle tree at the top of the picture. A direct path would have been too steep so we did more of a zig-zag path and then reconnected in the middle. The path is narrow because we are making it with shovel, pickaxe, and our hands.
That was the story of our path on the property. Now for the sermon. (Last week my older son said he was excited to read about the picture of the big rock on our property and then ended up reading a sermon. You’re welcome!). In the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, we make covenants which are promises between us and God that bind us to Him, protect us, and lead us back to Him. When we keep those covenants we are on the covenant path. The first covenant we make is at baptism. We make more covenants in the temple. Today in Relief Society we discussed “Why the Covenant Path” by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I chose the covenant path when I was eight years old because I felt good going to church and being kind to others, and I believed what my parents taught me and what I learned at church about Jesus Christ. After being baptized, I received the gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift directed me as a child, as a teenager, and as a young adult in choosing the right, discerning right and wrong, repenting when I sinned, and serving others. As a young teenager I attended the Las Vegas Temple open house with my family and felt so much joy, awe, and happiness that I knew I wanted to be married in the temple. I was married to Alden Holm in the Mesa Arizona temple and made more covenants that day as I received my endowments and was sealed to Alden. Since then I’ve had to choose each day to keep the covenants I made at baptism to always remember my Savior and keep his commandments and the covenants I made in the temple to live the law of obedience, strive to keep the commandments of God, obey the law of sacrifice and the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to keep the law of chastity, and to help in the Lord’s work. I continue to choose to keep my covenants because of the blessings I’ve received. To me those blessings are evident in four areas: family, church service, personal growth, and spiritual growth.
Family
I love my husband. I love my children. Being a mom and a wife is rewarding and difficult. I am committed to being a mom and a wife because I have made covenants to my husband and to my Heavenly Father.
Church Service
While serving at church, I have felt a portion of the love that Heavenly Father feels for His children. I have been blessed to serve beyond my capacity. I have received guidance and strength.
Personal Growth
I have prayed about what to study in college, how to continue to increase my talents and abilities, which classes to take and groups to join. As I have kept my covenants, I am blessed to receive guidance in my personal growth.
Spiritual Growth
This is the main reason why I stay on the covenant path. Spiritual growth is in every area of my life. I stay on the covenant path, because as I keep my covenants and seek for personal revelation, I am directed by my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost. I am given thoughts that teach me. I receive inspiration to talk to someone, to serve someone. In my scripture study, I receive answers to questions. I have a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am becoming more than I could be on my own because I keep the commandments, sacrifice, consecrate, keep myself sexually pure, and serve others. I have power to be what the Lord wants me to be because I have made covenants.
Staying on the covenant path can be less treacherous than choosing to get off because I know I am choosing what God wants me to choose, because there is clear direction, and because I won’t have to suffer the consequences of unwise decisions. The covenant path can also be difficult. It may not be the path that some friends and family choose. It may lead to persecution. But mostly, in order to be made into the person my Heavenly Father needs me, I will be tried and tested. Throughout my life as I keep my covenants, Heavenly Father keeps His covenant to me by blessing me with His Spirit, protecting me, and in power to do His work. This leads to joy and peace in this life and eternal life or life with our Heavenly Father after we die.
Much of our property in Garden Valley is on a steep hillside. We had dirt moved to clear a larger flat area to park and eventually build. We thought moving the dirt wouldn’t take much time with the right equipment, but underneath the pine needles and dirt, there were huge rocks. The one in the picture is about the size of a small car. While it took more time to move the rocks, we were able to extend the flat area with a strong foundation of more rocks.
My favorite scripture is from Helaman, “And now…remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12). Jesus Christ is our sure foundation. One of the ways to develop a foundation built on Jesus Christ is through family scripture study. During our Roundy family Zoom while discussing family traditions that help us build on the foundation of Jesus Christ, my brother, Spencer, asked how we have meaningful family scripture study. He jokingly said I could answer his question through a post on my website. Challenge accepted.
I think that many of us think we are failing at some imagined standard of meaningful family scripture study, so I wanted to know what others are really doing. I asked my amazing running friends about their family scripture studies. In that group is the wife of a bishop who has eight children, the wife of a Stake Presidency member who has six children and coaches cross country, a mother of ten children who does a weekly gospel podcast with friends, and a mother of five children who designs homes. I admire each of these women and often seek advice and support from them. None of our scripture studies are the same. Here’s our typical scripture studies in our current situations.
Two teenage children left at home: Read about five verses each in The Book of Mormon right before bed, mostly on weeknights. Sometimes the oldest child misses depending on what is going on.
Four teenage children left at home: Read a few verses each from The Book of Mormon in the morning around 6:30 am as they are trying to eat and get ready for school.
Six children left at home (one young adult, two teenagers, three elementary-aged children): Read around 6:15 am from the Doctrine and Covenants following along with the Come Follow Me lesson. One of the teenage children misses scripture study because he leaves for early-morning seminary. Sometimes the youngest is still in bed.
Five children at home (two young adults, three teenagers): Read the Doctrine and Covenants section from the Come Follow Me lesson about two nights a week with a longer lesson on Sundays. Encourage all family members to read The Book of Mormon on their own.
One teenage child left at home (that’s our family): Read two pages of The Book of Mormon around 6:20 am before the bus comes and while I’m trying to make a simple breakfast.
Most of my friends including myself don’t have meaningful discussions during family scripture study. Some of us have switched between morning and evening scripture study. Our family is more consistent with early morning study and our children are more docile then. During the summer we had scripture study before bed but often forgot.
I am the oldest of six children, and I remember having scripture study consistently during the school year early in the morning. My mom made sure we got up. My dad contributed with insightful comments. I remember that for a while we learned a hymn. Since I was the first to leave home, I didn’t see how scripture study changed over time in my family. We’ve had to adjust as our children have gone to school at different times and had different activities and jobs. We’ve had times where we memorized scriptures and The Family Proclamation. But mostly we’ve consistently read a couple of pages every week day from The Book of Mormon.
I’ve often wished we had more in depth discussions, more sharing, more teaching. My brother said that when they try to have more meaningful family scripture study, their children have tantrums and get up and leave. He doesn’t want to force them. A few years ago, I was frustrated with the gap between what I thought our study should be like and what was happening. We had a family council. My family jokes that I should just tell them what I want them to do, not ask them. But this time I did ask. I’d been learning more about how family councils should work. I expressed that I wanted us to learn more. We discussed options. I presented some ideas and what my children decided on worked out much better than what I suggested. They decided that after reading our two pages, one person would share what they learned from their personal scripture study. That worked really well for a while.
I now think that having consistent family scripture study is meaningful family scripture study. That through our consistency, we emphasize the importance to our children of the scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I wrongly assumed that this consistent scripture study would guarantee that my children would not struggle. Now is when I need to rely on my faith that those consistent family scripture studies have built a foundation for myself and my children. Elder Steven R. Bangerter said, “I believe that it is less a question of whether our children are ‘getting it’ in the midst of our teaching, such as while striving to read the scriptures or to have family home evening or to attend Mutual and other Church meetings. It is less a question of whether in those moments they are understanding the importance of those activities and more a question of whether we, as parents, are exercising faith enough to follow the Lord’s counsel to diligently live, teach, exhort, and set forth expectations that are inspired by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is an effort driven by our faith—our belief that one day the seeds sown in their youth will take root and begin to sprout and grow” (“Laying the Foundation of a Great Work,” October 2018 General Conference).
Spencer, thank you for asking a meaningful question. Running friends, thank you for your examples and faithfulness. Mom and Dad, thank you for years of consistent and meaningful family scripture study that laid a foundation for my testimony and a knowledge of where to turn for questions.
My son in high school is taking Eastern Geographical Perspectives. They spent one class period learning about Christianity and another learning about Islam. My son shared with me that Islam means submission to God. He made the connection between the word Islam and the word Israel that our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, recently shared. One of the Hebraic meanings of the word Israel is “let God prevail” (“Let God Prevail,” President Russell M. Nelson, Liahona, May 2021). I believe that repentance is the way we submit to God, the way we let God prevail.
In my scripture study this past week, I read about Alma, the prophet, calling the people of Ammonihah to repentance. He reminds them that God delivered their people out of Jerusalem, saved them from famine, sickness, “and all manner of diseases of every kind” and if they “transgress contrary to the light and knowledge which they…have…and rebel against [the Lord], they will “utterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth” (Alma 9:21, 23, 24). I particularly noticed the part about being saved from sickness and diseases. This past week two friends of mine lost parents to COVID. I’ve wondered like many others about God’s plan with this pandemic. Did these two people die because their mission on earth was finished. Did they die because they are needed in the Spirit world to further the work of the Lord there? Did they die simply because their bodies are mortal and disease kills some? I thought about all the people who have suffered with illness and death of loved ones over the past year-and-a-half and wondered if we are not being saved from this disease because we’ve transgressed. As soon as I had the thought, my heart rejected that individuals were dying or not dying because of their personal transgressions. Today in church two prayers were offered asking for the pandemic to be taken away from us. So I’ve been pondering if God is calling us to repentance through this pandemic. Then I thought about the meaning of repentance. I used to think that repentance was only admitting I made a mistake or sinned. I now understand that to repent means to turn to God. Repentance is giving my heart and mind to God and asking what I need to do to be closer to Him. Repentance is submitting to God, letting God prevail. I don’t know God’s plan with this pandemic, but I do know that He wants us to turn to Him. He wants us instead of blaming and accusing each other, to come to Him in prayer and ask for our hearts to be softened, ask what we can do to serve one another, ask how we can let Him prevail in our lives. Then will the pandemic be taken away? I don’t know. I do know that as Alma preached to the people in Gideon, that we “should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things [we] stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things [we] do receive” and then “the peace of God [will] rest upon [us]” (Alma 7:23, 27).
My daughter came to me upset by a post she read on social media about Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s speech this week to the faculty of Brigham Young University. She has empathy for and wants to support those who are LGBTQ+ and this post criticized Elder Holland and emphasized parts of his speech which seemed to speak out against LGBTQ+ members and those who support them. I want to share with you what I’ve learned as I’ve pondered, prayed, and studied about this experience and how we can discern light and truth in social media.
Go to the source
My daughter and I listened to all of Elder Holland’s talk. I heard the parts of the speech that were used in the social media post, and I heard other parts that showed Elder Holland’s great love and empathy for those who are LGBTQ+. Elder Holland said, “Let me go no farther before declaring unequivocally my love and that of my Brethren for those who live with this same-sex challenge and so much complexity that goes with it. Too often the world has been unkind, in many instances crushingly cruel, to these our brothers and sisters. Like many of you, we have spent hours with them, and wept and prayed and wept again in an effort to offer love and hope while keeping the gospel strong and the obedience to commandments evident in every individual life” (The Second Half of the Second Century). Read the entire source and ponder the whole of the content.
Discern the intention of the post
One of my scripture study questions this week was, “How do I have clear thinking?” When I read posts that criticize the church and church leaders, my thoughts start racing and my head is full of confusion and darkness and I wonder if this church I’m a part of is the correct way to follow Jesus Christ. I don’t like that confusion, that darkness. “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and truth forsake that evil one,” (Doctrine & Covenants 93:36-37). Light dispels darkness. Light is from Jesus Christ. In the account of Amlici in Alma 2, we learn that, “[Amlici] being a very cunning man, yea, a wise man as to the wisdom of the world,” drew away many of the people after him and “it was his intent to destroy the church of God” (Alma 2:1-2, 4). Amlici used his skills and wisdom to create contention and confusion. Ask yourself with a post, is the intention to draw me closer to Jesus Christ and my neighbors or to draw me away from Jesus Christ and my neighbors? Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke at Education Week about conflict and contention. He said, “Conflict is inevitable. Contention is a choice. Contention is one way people choose to respond to conflict…we can choose a better way. … Let us emulate the gentle Christ. And we do that through learning to love God and reaching out to bless others,” (Five Messages That All of God’s Children Need to Hear).
Connect with individuals
Instead of engaging on social media and getting worked up about posts and injustices, connect with people in real life. Talk. Discuss ideas. Listen. Ask if you are being supportive in the way that person needs. You can do the most good in the lives of others as you interact directly.
Create uplifting posts
Elder David A. Bednar has encouraged us to “sweep the earth with messages filled with righteousness and truth, messages that are authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy, and literally to sweep the earth as with a flood,” (Apostle Offers Counsel About Social Media). Use Elder Bednar’s tips to create your own posts of light and truth and follow his suggestions in reverse to analyze the posts of others. Is the content trustworthy and constructive? Does the message uplift? Is the opinion overbearing?
Work to receive personal revelation
Personal revelation is the way to know if you are following Jesus Christ and if you are following leaders who follow Jesus Christ. When you have questions and you will, know that your loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ want to communicate with you. They want to show you how you can love and serve them and others. Learning how to and increasing your ability to receive revelation is work, but work that is necessary. Choose to do the work to receive revelation through studying the scriptures, asking questions in prayer, recording your answers, and acting on the revelation you receive.
Jesus Christ is the true light
Jesus Christ is “the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Doctrine & Covenants 93:2). Now more than ever with all the information we receive, we need to be able to discern between that which invites light and truth and that which invites contention and dissension. Then we need to choose light. We need to choose to follow Jesus Christ.
I have been studying Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide of the scriptures and am currently learning about Jesus Christ as the Redeemer. Since as mortals, we all sin, we cannot be in the presence of God. Through the Atonement, Jesus Christ paid the price/gave himself as a ransom/reconciled us to God/ redeemed us. I previously thought of this redemption as something that happens in the future when we are judged and then if we’ve repented and strived to keep the commandments, Jesus Christ’s redemption will make it possible for us to be in the presence of God and have eternal life. But in my recent scripture study, I’ve learned through the Spirit that Jesus Christ’s Atonement offers me redemption now. I can be in the presence of God now. I can see His face daily.
For Family Home Evening we read the Gospel Topics Essay about Joseph Smith’s First Vision Accounts and we watched the video, “Ask of God: Joseph Smith’s First Vision.” I love that Joseph Smith asked for forgiveness of his sins and wanted a closer relationship with God. He didn’t expect when he prayed aloud that he would be visited by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. They appeared to Joseph Smith and forgave him of his sins. He learned that he should not join any of the current churches and that Jesus Christ’s church would be restored through him. I used to long for the same experience. I thought that if Jesus Christ appeared to me, then I would have no doubts and I would have assurance of my acceptability before the Lord. Joseph Smith made mistakes after his vision, needed to repent, learned how to receive revelation, learned line upon line, was chastised by the Lord, repented again, received more revelation, and tried to understand the revelation he received. That is the same process for me. I do not receive revelation for the church, but as I receive revelation for me, my family, and my calling, I am seeing the face of God or in other words, communicating with him.
Recently I received personal revelation for myself about the COVID vaccine. I felt very resistant to getting the vaccine. I won’t go into all the reasons, but generally I felt like I was healthy and my immune system could handle the virus. I also don’t like being told what to do. I value my agency. I’d seen the post from President Russell M. Nelson in January when he received the vaccine, but didn’t feel like he was saying I had to get it. After a talk in Stake Conference from our Stake President, I felt like he was saying in order to follow the prophet I needed to get the vaccine. I read the January statement thoroughly, but still didn’t feel like the prophet was issuing a commandment to get the vaccine. I did feel like the statement encouraged each person to be responsible and figure out for themselves what was best. I decided to pray and ask God. I prayed thinking I would receive a prompting that I should get the vaccine and I thought I would be unhappy with that answer. That’s not what happened. The distinct thought that came into my mind was, “It’s up to you.” As soon as I had that spiritual impression, I decided to get the vaccine. I still don’t know why that answer helped me decide to get the vaccine. Maybe I needed to not feel like I was being forced or commanded.
Many are struggling with the most recent letter from The First Presidency with greater emphasis on getting the vaccine and wearing masks if physical distancing isn’t possible. I know that our Heavenly Father wants each of us to communicate with Him. He wants us to share our concerns, our sorrows, our fears. He wants to communicate with us. He wants us to see His face. This is how we do that. “Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:1).
Jesus Christ already redeemed us. He offered Himself for us. I believe that as each person does the work to receive personal revelation about the vaccine and any other concerns, what is more important than the answer they receive, is the process of coming to the Savior and seeing His face. And we can offer each other grace in this process.
In January of this year, I was asked by the Stake Executive Secretary to meet with a member of the Stake Presidency. My husband and I speculated about what I would be asked to do. My husband knew that the stake calling I never wanted to do was to be the director of Stake Young Women’s Camp. I’ve organized several one day or overnight Scout camps for 11 year-olds, but I had little experience with young women and don’t like drama, crafts, or over-the-top productions. I’ve served in the young women organization two times for a short period and have been to camp as an adult only twice, once for the day and another time for one night and day. My husband told me I should never say I didn’t want to do something, because the Lord would give me a chance to grow in that capacity. My husband was right.
Today I want to share with you what I learned about my priesthood power in organizing YW’s camp. I was afraid and overwhelmed. Not only did I need to organize a Stake YW’s camp in a few months, but I had to consider COVID restrictions. When I was set apart to do my calling by a member of the Stake Presidency, he blessed me with my “burdens” and then he stopped and said, “I should say your opportunities.” When he set me apart to direct YW’s camp, he gave me priesthood authority for the young women and leaders who would plan and attend stake YW’s camp. I was able to access that priesthood authority and power as I followed the pattern of covenants.
I was first asked to present plans for camp with projected COVID restrictions. I read the current guidelines by the state of Idaho and realized that I did not have a task force to determine guidelines nor could I predict the future, but I knew the Lord could direct me. I sought revelation and during a discussion with my young adult daughter, came up with a solution that felt right. I submitted that solution and several others to the Stake Young Women’s Presidency and they were all rejected. Once I humbled myself and two assistant camp directors were called, we were able to counsel together and come up with a tentative plan. Soon after, the Stake Presidency issued recommendations for all group stake activities for the summer, and we proceeded with our plans. I had priesthood power to receive revelation for camp, that power was increased as I counseled with others asked to serve, and then I followed the guidelines of those with priesthood keys for our stake. This overwhelming task now became manageable. Countless times I felt that I did not know what I was doing. That I could not accomplish the organizing and executing of camp on my own. But I knew this was the Lord’s work.
This past week I studied Doctrine and Covenants 88 and listened to the “Follow Me” podcast with Hank Smith and John Bytheway. Their guest, Dr. Anthony Sweat, taught about the temple and the covenants we make there. Then during our Sunday School lesson and discussion today, I realized how the temple endowment gave me priesthood power for YW’s camp. In the temple endowment we make covenants which are sacred promises to God. Keeping those covenants such as the Law of Obedience, the Law of the Gospel, and the Law of Consecration gives us priesthood power which is the power God has given men and women to do His work on this earth. Even though I didn’t know how I could be the director of YW’s camp, I was obedient. As I was obedient, my heart was softened and I was blessed with revelation and other adults and young women to serve with me. I sacrificed a lot of time, I was continually humbled, repented, and gave of my talents, time, and resources to organize camp. In return, I received power to do God’s work with the young women and young women leaders in the stake. That power came in the form of revelation, strength beyond my own, increased friendships, the support and service of young women and young women leaders, and the privilege of being part of the great work of stake camp.
On the first day of camp when the first few wards arrived, I wanted to hide. All the planning, personal prayers, study, and councils were great in theory and on paper–much of which I’d printed from google drive documents to access at camp. How could I, one person, be expected to be in charge of over 250 young women and adults? Again, the Spirit reminded me, that it wasn’t all up to me. I had two great assistants, eight young women presidents, eight ward camp directors, five camp cooks, a nurse, stake leaders, adult leaders, youth camp leaders, and the power from the Lord. This wasn’t my work. This was His work.
On the last night of camp, I attended the testimony meeting for my ward. I witnessed the growth of testimony and friendships in the young women and leaders. There was no way one person could have made all that happen. But because I had accepted the calling, I was privileged to be a part of the power of God in the lives of the young women and adults there.
The theme of our Stake Young Women’s Camp was “Bloom” as inspired by the church’s youth theme for the year, “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days” (D&C 64:33-34). I was able to be part of His great work and able to witness the power of the priesthood, a power I have through my calling and my covenants.
I like to make sense of my world and my actions and beliefs with cause and effect or if, then statements. If I pay my tithing, I will always have what I need financially. If I teach my children while they live at home through consistent Family Home Evening, family scripture study, family prayer, meals together, my example, and church attendance, then they will have solid testimonies. If I obey the commandments, I will be blessed which means I will be happy. In my immaturity, I thought I would not have struggles, that my children would not have struggles, that our lives would be happy and blessed at all times. Sure, I heard the testimonies of others of blessings through trials, but in my pride, I judged that they must not have been following all the commandments. As you probably already know and I’m being taught, my making sense of the world in this way was a false belief. Following Jesus Christ and keeping the commandments does not mean I will have no struggles or that I will be happy all the time. So what does it mean? Why follow Jesus Christ?
In our Relief Society class last Sunday we discussed “Infuriating Unfairness,” a talk by Elder Dale G. Renlund. Elder Renlund is an apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of his responsibilities is to testify of Jesus Christ to all the world. He spoke of several examples of intense struggle or unfairness including the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a man wrongly incarcerated, disease, abuse, and more. He said, “In unfair situations, one of our tasks is to trust that ‘all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.'” He also said that we want to know how and when, but that hasn’t been revealed. As I tried to make sense of this in class, I read through my scripture study notes and found 1 Nephi 21:15-16, “For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” I will try to explain what the Spirit taught me, although words are not adequate to convey the light and understanding that came into my heart and mind, dispelling the darkness. The Atonement of Jesus Christ does make everything right, but not always in this life. The Savior knows the child born in Rwanda, the child born into an abusive home, the child born as a drug addict, the parents of those children. And He will make it right. Jesus Christ will be the judge and that child born in the abusive home will not be judged in the same way as I will be judged. The Atonement rights all the wrongs. Jesus Christ is the most loving of Gods. It’s not that he allows bad things to happen. It’s that His Atonement makes all the difference for all of us, for every circumstance. Each one of us is graven upon the palms of his hands.
Let’s go back to my earlier question. Why should I follow Jesus Christ? Why should I keep His commandments? If the Atonement of Jesus Christ rights all the wrongs, what does it matter what I do or what I choose? I don’t know all the answers to those questions, but what I do know is that because I studied my scriptures, because I attended church, because I repent, I received enlightenment during that Relief Society lesson. I received wisdom and peace. Jesus Christ has not left us alone to suffer. He sent us “another Comforter…even the Holy Spirit of promise” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:3). The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost teaches us in our minds and hearts what the Savior wants us to know including increased understanding of Jesus Christ, “He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehend all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth. Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:6-7). I want greater wisdom. I want understanding. I want the light which shineth in darkness so that in my struggles, I can have joy even if I’m not always happy.
Last night as I drove home from a Relief Society activity, the sun was setting, a blazing ball of red which pierced the smoky haze. I am grateful for that light, that sun which penetrates my heart, fills me with warmth, light, and understanding as I continue to study, pray, keep the commandments, and receive personal revelation.