Doctrine and Covenants Lesson #19 The Plan of Salvation

Visual Aids:
A princess doll or a picture of a princess or a tiara

Beautifully wrapped gift, with a picture of Christ inside

Write on the board, “And they lived happily ever after”

INTRODUCTION

Hand out the following story segments from the fairy tale “Cinderella” to class members.  Have them read in random order.

Once there was a lovely young girl named Cinderella.  She lived in a mansion with her father and mother, who loved her very, very much.

Sadly, Cinderella's mother died and her father remarried after which her father also died.  

Cinderella, her stepmother and stepsisters became poor and moved to a cottage.  

Although Cinderella's stepmother treated her unkindly and forced her to work all day like a slave, Cinderella maintained her kind and loving character.

One day the Prince held a ball in order to find a suitable wife.  

Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters went to the ball without her.  Cinderella had no way to get there, and no dress to wear.

In the midst of her despair, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother appeared, turned mice into horses, and a pumpkin into a golden carriage so that she could get to ball.

Then she dressed Cinderella in a beautiful gown with jewels, and sent her to the palace.  

At the ball, Cinderella won the Prince's heart. 

Cinderella had to leave the ball without revealing her identity.

On the way out of the castle, she lost one of her glass slippers.

The Prince found the glass slipper and searched the kingdom, looking for its owner.  

Finally the Prince found Cinderella.  Although she was in servant's clothing, he knew she was the right girl because she fit the slipper.  

The Prince took Cinderella to his castle where they were married.  And they lived happily ever after. 

If you take one piece of the story out of context of the whole plot, it makes very little sense, doesn't it? Even if we put these segments in order, it wouldn’t make too much sense without the beginning and the end of the story. The beginning of the story is that Cinderella’s mother and father loved her dearly, but her mother died, and her father remarried. After he died the true nature of the mean and selfish stepmother was revealed in her treatment of Cinderella. And the end of the story is that Cinderella, having kept the kind and noble character her father blessed her with, met and married Prince Charming and lived with him in the castle, happily ever after.

Just like this story, or like a three-act play, our existence has three parts. We are in the middle part, right now, here on earth. As President Packer says, “The one in which you will be tested by temptation, by trials, and perhaps by tragedy.” And then he says, “Remember this! The line ‘And they all lived happily ever after’ is never written into the second act. That line belongs in the third act, when the mysteries are solved and everything is put right.” (The Play and the Plan Satellite Broadcast May 7, 1995. Quoted in manual p. 108)

So, let’s very briefly look at the whole play, all three acts of the story of our existence.

THE STAGE SETTINGS

(Draw the classic map of “the plan of salvation” with pre-existence, veil & birth, earth life, veil & death, spirit world, divided into paradise and prison, judgment, and the three kingdoms.) Now, we tend to label this little diagram, “The Plan of Salvation,” but this is not the plan of salvation. Let me say that one more time: this is not the plan of salvation. This is merely the chronology of our existence, the framework within which the plan of salvation works, or, we could say, the stage settings for the play. (Label the chart “Chronology of Existence.”

We could just as well draw the stage settings for the fairy tale of Cinderella. (Draw boxes labeled “mansion” under the preexistence, “cottage” under earth life, and “castle” under the three kingdoms.)

THE PLAN OF SALVATION

So if this is not the plan of salvation, what is? Moses 6:58-62 --

“Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying:

That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;

For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;

Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.

And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.”

So, what did it say? “This is the plan of salvation,” and the entire thing operates “through the blood of mine Only Begotten who shall come in the meridian of time.” Obviously, after reading that, we can see that this chart here on the board is not the plan of salvation because the whole thing operates through the blood of Christ and he isn’t even mentioned here. And the three essential elements to the plan, water, blood, and spirit, are also not noted on this chart. There is nothing wrong with this chart, unless we are going to label it the Plan of Salvation.

But it is the stage setting for the plot, which includes the Plan of Salvation.

The plot, very briefly, as noted in Moses 6 is this: In the pre-existence, we were all spirit children of our Father. He wanted us to be able to progress to be like him and to be with him, where we could be happy. (That’s why the plan is also called the Plan of Happiness.) This required our gaining knowledge and experience. It also required placing us in a perilous position from which we could not recover on our own, that of mortal existence with its failings and temptations. To remedy this problem, he planned that a Savior would pay the price to enable us to succeed. That solution is the Plan of Salvation. We could also call it the Gospel, as it is called in 3 Nephi 27.

“Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—”

And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.  (3 Nephi 27:13-15)

Even if we have been members of the Church all our lives, we sometimes do not understand the gospel (the plan of salvation). There are some who think that there is no way that they will ever be good enough to get into the Celestial Kingdom. They have learned this chart on the board very well, but this chart is missing the essential element of the plan of salvation. If at the end of the lesson, any of you still think that there is no chance you will gain exaltation, I will have failed as a teacher. And I don’t want to fail, so listen up!

SALVATION IS A GIFT OF GRACE

Let’s take a look at someone who did not feel that way. Moroni (before he became an angel) was very certain that he would “make it” to heaven.

“And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.”  (Moroni 10:34)

Moroni was a good guy, but he lived in a very wicked world and he even fought in wars that did not have just causes, and that troubled him; he wasn’t sure that he should. He had suffered many evils and he was not perfect because he was mortal like us, yet he was absolutely certain that he would be “brought forth triumphant through the air.” Why? Right before these last mortal words of his, he shared his reason. The key to it is found in a word we don’t use too often as Latter-day Saints, but we most certainly should. He uses this word 5 times in these two verses. See if you can identify it.

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.”  (Moroni 10:32-34)

What is the key word? Grace! All of this perfection is done, not by not making any mistakes, and not even by keeping all of the commandments, but by the grace of Christ. “By his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.” It is not possible to become perfect by yourself, we only become perfect through the grace of Christ.

Unfortunately, it is beyond us to comprehend grace. Grace, like the atonement it is linked with, defies definition. But maybe we can come fairly close if we say that grace is God’s mercy and love as shown in everything that exists, but especially as manifested in the atonement. Grace is a gift, freely given from Christ. Elder Todd Christofferson says,

“Given the magnitude of the gift of grace, we would never suppose, even with all the good we could possibly do in this life, that we had earned it. It is just too great.” (June 2001 Ensign, p. 22)

D&C 14:7 -- “And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” We sometimes think that keeping the commandments and enduring to the end alone is what qualifies us for eternal life, and that’s why we are afraid we are not going to make the grade, but this scripture clearly tells us that eternal life is a gift, not an achievement. Romans 6:23 – “…the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So why does D&C 14 tell us that we have to keep the commandments and endure to the end, if eternal life is given freely through the grace of Jesus Christ? This is what confuses our born-again friends.

RECEIVING THE GIFT

Suppose it was my birthday and my friend Janet who always gives delightful little gifts, brought a package and left it on my doorstep. But suppose that I was out of town, and didn’t see it there, and the neighbor who was watching over our house put it on the worktable in the garage with the mail and the newspapers, but our cat knocked it off and it was lost forever (which you would find very easy to believe if you had ever been in our garage).  Janet had freely given the gift, but I did not receive it, and therefore never opened it. The gift did me no good.

Christ gives us the gift of his grace freely, but we must accept it and open it. How do we open it? Through the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. We learn about Christ and exercise faith in him to repent of our sins. Then we are baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and at that point, we have opened the gift. (Open gift to show picture of Christ.) We are removed from our sinful state through the grace of Christ.

I remember so clearly the year that my dad figured out how to pick out an excellent Mother’s Day gift for my mother. When she opened it, I loved it too. It was an adorable little crystal basket, with a little handle—too small to be good for anything, but so cute. My mom was delighted and amazed. My dad confessed how he picked out a gift that she liked so well. He said that he simply went into the store and picked the item that looked the least useful. 

 

The gift of grace is not like that kind of gift, however. It is not meant to be opened and then set on a shelf. It is more like a bread mixer, or a scroll saw, or a vacuum cleaner—it is meant to be used every day. When we fall short because of our human nature and the faults of the world we live in, we can call upon Christ’s grace to save us. This is the part of the plan of salvation that is called “enduring to the end.” We simply continue to exercise those principles that we used to open the gift in the first place: We exercise enough faith in Christ to repent of our sins and be filled once again with the Holy Ghost, through renewing our covenants at sacrament meeting.

JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION

Elder Christofferson tells us that the fruits of the Atonement’s infinite virtue (that is, grace) are justification and sanctification. It is important to understand the difference between these two concepts because it helps us understand what the atonement (grace) does for us. Those of us who worry that we will not “make it into the Celestial Kingdom” maybe understand the concept of justification, but not the concept of sanctification.

Just as in Moses 6:59 it said that the elements of water and blood and spirit are all present at our mortal birth, and so we became of mere dust, living souls, we also must be born again into the Kingdom of God, and that way we can become of mere mortals, exalted beings.  “For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified.” (Moses 6:60)

THE GIFT OF GRACE

I hope that I am not making light of the atonement by referring back to the fairy tale of Cinderella, but it occurred to me that Walt Disney, in his animated version of the story, illustrated beautifully the concepts of justification and sanctification. Cinderella longed to leave behind her position as a scullery maid and go to the ball at the palace, but it was absolutely impossible for her. There was no way for her to get there. It was just as impossible as it is for us to get to heaven. But then her fairy godmother appeared and provided for her the transportation by turning some mice and a pumpkin into a beautiful golden carriage. That is something like justification. We have all broken the laws of God and those sins keep us out of heaven. Justification is Christ providing transportation for us into the Celestial Kingdom because we don’t have the ability to get there on our own. It’s like he has paid our bail to get us out of jail. Our sins are forgiven, but their effects upon us remain.

If you recall the Disney movie, the next thing that happened was that Cinderella looked down at herself and realized that it didn’t matter whether she had a golden carriage or not; she was completely unfit for the ball. She was dirty and dressed in rags. She would be miserable in the palace, and would be much more comfortable staying home, sitting in the corner by the chimney than going in the state she was. When the fairy godmother noticed that, she not only changed Cinderella’s clothing to a beautiful gown, she changed Cinderella herself from a soot-covered slave dressed in rags to a beautiful princess, perfectly fit for the royal extravaganza. That is something like sanctification. Sanctification is Christ transforming us so that we belong in heaven with him—our rags are changed into bejeweled robes, our faces our washed clean, a crown is placed upon our heads, and even our lineage is changed to that of royalty as children of Christ.

Another place we can find a clarification between justification and sanctification is in the song “Away in a Manger.” There are several versions of the third verse of this song. When I was in Primary, the Primary song book had this version:

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay

Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,

And take us to heaven to live with thee there.

But now, as you look in the current hymnbook, there is a different version which says:

Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,

And fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

Both versions are doctrinally correct. The first version describes justification; the second describes sanctification. Maybe we should just add a repeat sign to that measure of the song and sing

And take us to heaven and fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

CONCLUSION

In review, the plan of salvation, or the gospel, is the plan for us to be saved and exalted with Heavenly Father and live “happily ever after.” This plan operates through the infinite virtue of the atonement of Christ, which virtue is also known as grace. Grace consists of two parts: Justification, or the removal of sins, and 

sanctification, or the purifying of the soul. And all of this is a gift, a wonderful gift that we open when we are baptized into the kingdom. Unlike Cinderella’s experience, though, the changing of the soul into royalty is a long-term project, once again accomplished through the grace of Christ, but bit by bit, as we continue along in life, trying to do our best, trying to keep our covenants. As the scriptures say, we must grow in grace. (D&C 50:40.)

Bruce R. McConkie, the pickiest and most perfectionist of all the apostles I remember, and the most well-versed in the doctrines of Christ, (for you younger people who don’t remember him, he was kind of like Dallin Oaks, only more so), and even as perfectionist as he was, he said,

“Everyone in the Church who is on the straight and narrow path, who is striving and struggling and desiring to do what is right, though far from perfect in this life; if he passes out of this life while he’s on the straight and narrow, he’s going to go on to eternal reward in his Father’s kingdom."  ("The Probationary Test of Mortality," address given at University of Utah, Jan. 1982, p. 2, also found in Joseph McConkie, The Bruce R. McConkie Story, p. 293.  See more of this talk on this blog and this website)

“And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.”  (3 Nephi 27:15-16)

Have you repented and been baptized? Have you been filled (with the Gift of the Holy Ghost)? Then all that remains for you to do is to endure to the end. And what does that mean? It simply means to continue. Continue to exercise faith in Christ unto repentance, so that you have the Spirit with you more and more to sanctify your souls, as we are promised in the sacramental prayers.

You may like to close with the beautiful and inspiring song “Amazing Grace,” which has my vote for the next hymnbook. It’s doctrinally correct, even including Celestial Glory and Eternal life – it just doesn’t mention the ordinances.  (But neither does “I Stand All Amazed”)  You can have a class member sing it, play a Mormon Tabernacle Choir version off YouTube, or play my favorite from a Logan East Stake native, Christina England Hale, available for free online with this link.  (Thanks, Christina!!!!  What a lovely resource!)

  

If you want to know more about every aspect of grace, go to Michaela Stephen's thorough blog post.

Additional resource:  Teachings from the D&C Video, “The Plan of Salvation,” 4:24 minutes.

Doctrine and Covenants Lesson #18 "Establish a House of God"

TEMPLE BUILDING IN THE LATTER DAYS

 

This painting by the amazing Walter Rane is from JosephSmith.net.

The sacrifices of the early Saints to build their first temples are legendary.  Here are examples of just a few.

VILATE KIMBALL

“Our women were engaged in knitting and spinning, in order to clothe those who were laboring at the building.  And the Lord only knows the scenes of poverty, and tribulation and distress, which we all passed through to accomplish it.  My wife would toil all summer.  She took 100 pounds of wool to spin on shares which, with the assistance of a girl, she spun, in order to furnish clothing for those engaged in building the temple.  And although she had the privilege of keeping half the quantity of wool for herself, as her recompense for her labor, she did not reserve even so much as would make a pair of stockings.  She spun and wove and got the cloth dressed and cut and made up into garments, and gave them to the laborers.  Almost all the sisters in Kirtland labored in knitting, sewing, spinning, etc, for the same purpose, while we went up to Missouri” (Heber C. Kimball quoted in Kelly, Latter-day History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, p. 163).

JOHN TANNER

Sometimes it’s easier to give when you don’t have very much to lose.  When a man has a lot of wealth, sometimes he tends to define himself by it and cling to it like a lifeboat.  But not John Tanner.

John Tanner was a wealthy convert.  He had outlived two wives, and then married a third (having a total of 21 children!) when the missionaries found him.  His infected leg was healed by the missionaries, and the next day he was baptized.  He committed to help the church and sustain the prophet.  He was so wealthy that he used six wagons to move his family from New York to Kirtland, and provided ten more for other church members.

The day after his arrival in Kirtland in early 1835, he met with Joseph Smith and the high council and lent them $2,000 to pay off the mortgage on the temple property, plus another $13,000 for other purposes.  He contributed to the temple building fund, and he signed a $30,000 note for merchandise to help Saints move to Kirtland.  (Whoa!  $30,000 in 1835!!!)

When he moved his family from Kirtland to gather with the saints in Missouri three years later, he had to borrow a wagon.  He had very little money left.  He endured all the trials of Missouri and Illnois.  Despite his humble circumstances, a few months before Joseph Smith was killed, “John returned the $2,000 noted signed in Kirtland as a gift to the Prophet and was blessed by Joseph that he and his posterity would never beg for bread.”

He provided food and help to the saints as they left Nauvoo, arriving in Salt Lake City himself in 1848.  He died two years later, a faithful and humble friend to the end (Garr, Cannon and Cowan, Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History, p. 1219-1220).

REYNOLDS CAHOON

Reynolds Cahoon had left Kirtland to serve a mission to Missouri.  After his release, he asked whether he could return to Missouri, to “Zion.”  The answer given was no, he was needed to serve on the Kirtland Temple building committee (D&C 94:14-15).  He fulfilled that position well.

Later his family was chased out of Kirtland with the rest of the saints, and then chased out of Missouri, finally settling in Nauvoo.  Again Brother Cahoon was called to the temple building committee, a calling which scared the daylights out of him.  “I think I never was placed in so critical a position since I was born,” he said.

He moved to Salt Lake City with the saints and died there in 1861.  His obituary in the Deseret News called him, “a true friend to the prophet of God while he was living, full of integrity and love for the truth and always acted cheerfully the part assigned him in the great work of the last Days.”  (Susan Easton Black, Who’s Who in the Doctrine and Covenants, p. 46-48)

SACRIFICE REWARDED

It took the saints 3 years to build the Kirtland Temple, and they had to leave it behind after only two years of service, but they took with them the blessings they had received through sacrificing to build the temple and through their participation in the temple after it was built.  The physical body of the temple decayed (later to be restored) but the spirit of the temple moved on with the saints and is still with us today.

BECOMING A TEMPLE PEOPLE

President Howard W. Hunter encouraged us to become “a temple people.”  Have you had to make any sacrifices to become "a temple person?"  

Since his prophetic call, temple building has expanded hugely.  141 temples are operating today, with 13 under construction, and 16 more announced.  That will bring the total to 160.

I hold the copyright to this picture of the Logan Temple,
but feel free to use it for teaching purposes.

Depending on whether you want to get more spiritual and personal, or whether you want to just have a fun class period, you can either ask class members which temple has a special place in their heart and why, or you can use this link for a temple trivia game from LDS Living, or this one for the LDSChurchTemples.  

TEMPLE MINI-QUIZ

How many temples are there on the earth? As of May 2017, the answer is 155 in operation, 14 under construction, and 13 announced, for a total of 182. You can find current statistics here.

This cute little temple, not quite as big as the stake center next door to it, was the first of the tiny temples commissioned by President Hinckley to serve remote areas.  Where is it?

 

                Monticello, Utah.  

Photo from LDSChurchTemples.com.

This gorgeous mountainside temple is decorated with a sego lily theme. Where is it?

Draper, Utah.  
Photo by Ryan Houston posted on Google Earth. 

This is the northernmost temple in the world. Where is it?

Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Photo from LDSTemples.com

WHICH NEW TEMPLES WILL BE DEDICATED IN 2017?

Cedar City, Utah

Dedication: December 10, 2017

Photo from LDSChurchTemples.com

 Meridian, Idaho
Dedication: November 19, 2017
Photo from LDSChurchTemples.com

Tucson, Arizona

Dedication: August 13, 2017

Photo from LDSChurchTemples.com

Paris, France
Dedication: May 21, 2017
Photo from ldschurchtemples.com

Doctrine and Covenants Lesson #17 The Law of Tithing and The Law of the Fast

D&C 59, 119, 120

Table Display: Little red wagon filled with boxes of food, and an empty dinner place setting.

The Law of Tithing is pretty basic and easy to understand:

THE LAW OF TITHING

1-We’re supposed to pay tithing

2-Tithing is 10% of your increase

This is the minimum law, and hopefully, we are all moving beyond that toward the Law of Consecration, wherein we

1-Pay our tithing

2-Use what we retain for the building up of the kingdom of God, including, first of all, strengthening our marriages and raising our families

3-Give what is left over to bless those in need

This is where the Law of the Fast comes in.

THE LAW OF THE FAST

D&C 59:13-14. Fasting is a most joyous opportunity! Do many of us manage to get to adulthood without realizing this? I hope I’m not the only one. But I hope that you will leave this class today with a new excitement about the opportunity to keep the Law of the Fast.

Why is a proper fast joyous? Well, there are two parts to the Law of the Fast, and both contribute to the joy felt by the fasting saint.

Part One: Fasting and Prayer

Look at footnote a to verse 13 which tells us that we can make our physical fast symbolic of a spiritual hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Now where have we heard this phrase before, “hungering and thirsting after righteousness”? Of course, in the Beatitudes! Let’s turn to the Nephite version in 3 Nephi 12:6:

And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.

We’ve discussed this several times before, so here’s a little pop-quiz: When you are filled with the Holy Ghost, what emotions do you experience? Peace and joy!

…I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy. (D&C 11:13)

And D&C 6:23 as well as many other scriptures tell us that the Spirit brings peace.

So fasting in the correct manner, is going to result in peace and joy. It will also give us many other fruits of the Spirit.

(Quotes from Elder Wirthlin come from April 2001 General Conference)

Now, if we are fasting because we are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, we will be praying as well. As Elder Wirthlin explains,

"…If we want our fasting to be more than just going without eating, we must lift our hearts, our minds, and our voices in communion with our Heavenly Father. Fasting, coupled with mighty prayer, is powerful. It can fill our minds with the revelations of the Spirit. It can strengthen us against times of temptation.

"Fasting and prayer can help develop within us courage and confidence. It can strengthen our character and build self-restraint and discipline…Each time we fast, we gain a little more control over our worldly appetites and passions."

Further, he says,

"I don’t mean just missing one meal, then eating twice as much the next meal." (All right, confess: How many of us do that?)

Another thing Elder Wirthlin says is that “Often when we fast, our righteous prayers and petitions have greater power.” Our spiritual hunger and thirst is going to be filled to a greater level. Our requests for blessings of other kinds will also have more power.

So what sorts of things might we pray for as we fast?

1-Personal righteousness (as Elder Wirthlin mentioned)

2-Special blessings to help with problems (surgery, job hunt, wayward child...)

3-Increased abilities for our church callings (as the Sons of Mosiah did, see Alma 17:2-3)

4-Gratitude (See Alma 45:1)

5-To align our will with God’s

Elder Wirthlin says that teaching our children to fast will give them increased power to resist temptations along their life’s path.

I love the way one Primary President in our ward taught fasting to the children. She told them that it was great to feel hunger pangs when you fast, because whenever you feel them, you are reminded that you are fasting, and that will remind you to say another little prayer in your heart.

Part Two: Fast Offerings

Sometimes we may feel that the Lord is not answering our prayers despite our faith and request. One reason may be that our desire is not in harmony with his plan. But there may be another reason as well. We may not be keeping the second part of the Law of the Fast. To quote Brother Wirthlin again:

"…Amulek explained that often our prayers have no power because we have turned our backs on the needy (Mosiah 4:26). (See also Isaiah 58:6-11.) If you feel that Heavenly Father is not listening to your petitions, ask yourself if you are listening to the cries of the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the afflicted all around you.

"Some look at the overwhelming need in the world and think, What can I do that could possibly make a difference?

"I will tell you plainly one thing you can do. You can live the law of the fast and contribute a generous fast offering."

Isaiah 58: 6 and 7

My nieces and nephews in Georgia had a youth dinner in their ward. When they arrived at the chapel, they were each given a colored sticker, to divide them randomly into groups. When time came to eat, the first group was seated at tables set beautifully with china and silver and tablecloths, and they were served a four-course dinner with sparkling cider and a luscious dessert. The second group was served a little picnic on blankets with hot dogs and chips and Kool-Aid and paper plates. The third group got to eat on the hard floor in the corner. They were served refried beans and water.

Youth are always so concerned with fairness (and definitely with food), and this activity was so unfair that it well illustrated the unfairness existing among the peoples of the world.

Brother Wirthlin says,

"When we fast, brethren and sisters, we feel hunger. And for a short time, we literally put ourselves in the position of the hungry and the needy. As we do so, we have greater understanding of the deprivations they might feel…

"As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have traveled the world testifying of Him. I come before you today to bear another witness--a witness to the suffering and need of millions of our Heavenly Father’s children…At this very hour on this very day, some members even in our Church are praying for the miracle that would allow them to surmount the suffering that surrounds them. If, while we have the means to do so, we do not have compassion for them and spring to their aid, we are in danger of being among those the prophet Moroni spoke of when he said, “Behold, ye do love money and your substance, and your fine apparel…more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted” (Mormon 8:37).

Brother Wirthlin told how his father, as the bishop, would send him around to the needy families with his little red wagon filled with food and clothing for them. He encouraged us to all fill up a little red wagon, so to speak, and bless the lives of the less fortunate by paying generous fast offerings. “How much should we pay?” he asked. Answering his own question, he said,

"My brothers and sisters, the measure of our offering to bless the poor is a measure of our gratitude to our Heavenly Father…a measure of our willingness to consecrate ourselves to relieve the suffering of others."

There is an easy formula for figuring out our own financial stewardships here on this earth. We need to use our money to raise our families, to educate ourselves, to prepare for the future, and to build up the kingdom, but oftentimes, we give our kids (or ourselves) more material blessings than what is necessary or even good.  Whenever there is a choice to be made, we can say to ourselves, “Is giving money to the poor more important than (fill in the blank)?” And if the answer is yes, pull out that donation slip and stick the money in the envelope.

As we do so, not only will the poor be blessed, but we will be blessed as well. Elder Marion G. Romney said, “Don’t give just for the benefit of the poor, but give for your own welfare. Give enough so that you can give yourself into the kingdom of God through consecrating of your means and your time.”

We can be excited about Fast Sunday as one more easy way that the Lord has provided for us to be able to use our power, our economic power, to do some real hands-on good in the world. After meeting the minimum standard of paying tithing, then we can meet the next standard of contributing the cost of two meals as a fast offering, and then we can go beyond in our ability to bless and help others—the sky is the limit. Unlike at the youth dinner in Georgia, no one is preventing you from sharing your wonderful blessings with the “refried bean groups,” so to speak, around the world.

Elder Wirthlin said,

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, restored to the earth in these latter days, is centered on those commandments the Savior proclaimed as the greatest: to love our Heavenly Father and to love our fellowmen" (Ensign, May 2011, pg. 73)"

He said that each time we live the Law of the Fast, we fulfill both of those two great commandments. And, of course, we will come out ahead; the Lord will never be in our debt, because he always blesses us for every commandment that we keep. Here are some great blessings that Elder Wirthlin has itemized:

"Fasting in the proper spirit and in the Lord’s way will energize us spiritually, strength our self-discipline, fill our homes with peace, lighten our hearts with joy, fortify us against temptation, prepare us for times of adversity, and open the windows of heaven."

Any reason you wouldn’t that? Just because you’re hungry for another meal or another trinket? When you really think about it, the answer is definitely, no way!

HANDOUTS

You may want to make cards to help your class members and their families remember and internalize the great Law of the Fast.  We have one in our home that is very handy to place on the kitchen counter Saturday evening so that the early risers on Sunday don’t forget to fast.  You can include scriptures from the lesson, or the points made by Elder Wirthlin.

Postscript:  Here is a cute handout that reader Kathleen Thompson from Washington e-mailed to me.  Right-click on it, save it, print out copies.  Thanks, Kathleen!

Doctrine and Covenants Lesson #16 "Thou Shalt Offer Up Thy Sacraments Upon My Holy Day"

This lesson may be well-managed as a class discussion.  You may want to put a few of the excellent quotes from the prophets that are in the manual on a handout (and also maybe the one below), followed by the questions, and set one on each chair in the room.  Have pencils available for those who may need them.  Leave a space on the handout after each question for the class members to write in their own ideas or those that they hear.  Have everyone silently fill out their pages for about 5 minutes, then share ideas by randomly asking one of the questions on the page.  (You could cut up one page and put the questions in a container and have a class member pull one out and read it aloud, then let class members respond.)

"Our observance or non-observance of the Sabbath is an unerring measure of our attitude toward the Lord personally and toward his suffering in Gethsemane, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead.  It is a sign of whether we are Christians in very deed, or whether our conversion is so shallow that commemoration of his atoning sacrifice means little or nothing to us." (Elder Mark E. Petersen, quoted in Arnold K. Garr, et. al, Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History, p. 1049)

The Sabbath day is our opportunity to "feel the prints of the nails" in the Savior's hands, as we draw closer to him and as we emulate his love and service.

How have you been blessed in the past by Sabbath observance?

What are some challenges to making the Sabbath day as worshipful as you would like?

What can my family do to prepare ourselves for Sunday meetings?
 
How can I help my children to enjoy and benefit more from the Sabbath?

How can I make partaking of the sacrament a greater blessing in my life?

How can we determine what is appropriate for us to do on the Sabbath? 

What activities seem to take away from the spirit of the Sabbath for you?

If I have to work on Sunday, how can I make my service an experience that brings me closer to Christ?

What is ONE specific way I can make the Sabbath more meaningful for me and/or my family NEXT week?

Here are some of my ideas that you can use as supplements or discussion fillers if necessary:

• For toddlers: Get an inexpensive purse-sized photo album.  Fill the photo sleeves with pictures you print off the Gospel Art pages at LDS.org, or pictures you cut out of old church magazines.  This is their special book they ONLY get to look at during the passing of the sacrament.  If you have a smart phone, you can download the Gospel Art Kit onto your phone and view the pictures with your child on your lap.
• For youth:  Give them a little notebook and challenge them to write the topic of each talk in sacrament meeting, Sunday School, youth or Primary lessons so that they can remember them to share with the family at dinner after church.  Do it yourself and you'll be surprised how much more focused you are during the meeting.
• At home:  Simply having a list of things NOT to do on the Sabbath leads to bored and irritable kids.  We have chores on other days of the week, so on the Sabbath our kids have "Sunday jobs" they must complete before seeking wholesome entertainment.  These include 1) keeping their room tidy by making their beds and putting away their pajamas in the morning and their Sunday clothes after church, 2) reading an article or two in The Friend, New Era or Ensign, 3) working on their Faith in God, Personal Progress or Duty to God goals, 4) studying the scriptures, and 5) preparing their part for Monday's Family Home Evening.  Later in the day they are expected to contribute to the dinner preparation or clean up.  Of course, as parents, we follow the same list.
• Entertainment:  We encourage our kids to spend time together on the Sabbath; if they are going to play a game, it should be with another family member, not a single-player game.  Same goes for videos. There are also lots of wonderful church videos available online or through Distribution, and there are even some great commercial ones on Netflix (for those of you in the U.S.).  Here are some of my favorites: "Emma Smith: My Story,"  "American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith," "The Best Two Years," "God's Army," and "The Other Side of Heaven."
• Fresh Air:  Don't forget that kids go a little nuts if they can't move their bodies.  Going out for a little dog walk, neighbor visit, or just some swinging in the back yard can restore equilibrium.  The same goes for you!  One of my favorite Sabbath activities is reading on the front porch.
• Most of all, use the Sabbath to shower love on your family!  You want them to remember Sunday as a different but special day--not a holiday, but a day of extra love.  Spend a little one-on-one time, take effort to comment on their positive behaviors, give a few more hugs, make eye contact when they are talking, smile a lot.  Make sitting beside you in church a positive experience.  Don't worry about things that don't matter (for me today that was my deacon son's hair that was sticking up while he passed the sacrament--too late to do anything about it anyway).  Phone family members who live away from you.  Visit grandparents.
• Of course, remember that everything goes better if you are all prepared and packed Saturday night.  Actually schedule a certain time on Saturday night for this.   
• Here is something new I am going to try:  Start a prayer journal.  Make a list in your journal of prayers that have been answered for your family (or just for you) recently or over many years.  Add a list of people or circumstances you are still praying for and refer to it before you offer family or personal prayer.  (This would be especially helpful for my kids who "can't remember" anything to say in family prayer except "please bless the food" even when we're not eating!)  Make it a habit to thank the Lord for a blessing LONGER than you prayed FOR the blessing.  (For example: I recently prayed for several months for my friend's daughter's unborn baby.  Now that he is born small but safe, do I just check that one off my list, or will I remember to thank the Lord for him for months to come?)

Please add your ideas on how you have improved your Sabbath observance in the comments below.  

Doctrine and Covenants Lesson #15 "Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts"

I don't have a new full-fledged lesson this week (I really like the one in the manual), but a couple of links and ideas.

This is my favorite lesson on spiritual gifts, including Joseph Smith's gift of translation, an excellent example for the rest of us on how to develop a spiritual gift:  New Testament Lesson 34.

When I taught this lesson years ago, I asked several class members earlier in the week to prepare to share with the class how someone else's spiritual gift had been a blessing to them.  That can end up taking the whole lesson time and being very inspirational.

I really love the talk by Marvin J. Ashton that is referenced in the lesson manual.  Believe it or not, I remember actually listening to that talk at General Conference way back in 1987; it made that great an impression on me.  Here is a link to the complete talk.  You could preface this by asking people to itemize all the spiritual gifts they can think of, and see how many they can mention that Elder Ashton does.

Also, the Church website has a new and beautiful video called about a young blind pianist in Hawaii who shares his talent:  "Extraordinary Gift"