This week's lesson was taught by Sis. Juli Schiess from the talk given by Elder Oaks during the April 2010 Priesthood Session of General Conference. It was a wonderful lesson with great participation. She started off by asking us to think about how many honest to goodness, science cannot explain it miracles that have happened in the Book of Mormon up to where we have read. She then asked us to think of miracles like that in our own lives. She told us that we were going to talk about one specific type of miracle like that, the miracle of healing.
As sisters, we do not hold the Priesthood but we can call on those who do. Still, it is important for us to understand how the Priesthood works and what it's divine purposes are. Sis. Schiess did an excellent job of teaching us some of those principles today. Elder Oaks said, "We have this priesthood power, and we should all be prepared to use it properly. Current increases in natural disasters and financial challenges show that we will need this power even more in the future than in the past. Many scriptures teach that the servants of the Lord 'shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover' (Mark 16:18). Miracles happen when the authority of the priesthood is used to bless the sick....There are five parts to the use of priesthood authority to bless the sick: 1) the anointing. 2) the sealing of the naointing, 3) faith, 4) the words of the blessing, and 5) the will of the Lord."
Sis. Schiess continued the lesson by discussing each one of these parts in detail.
ANOINTING- Elder Oaks explains, "The Old Testament frequently mentions anointing with oil as part of a blessing conferred by priesthood authority. Anointings were declared to be for sanctification and perhaps can also be seen as symbolic of the blessings to be poured out from heaven as a result of this sacred act." To be sanctified means to become Holy. So the anointing prepares us to be Holy to recieve the blessings of heaven that our Father has for us.
SEALING THE ANOINTING-Elder Oaks goes on to say, "When someone has been anointed by the authority of the Melchisedek Priesthood, the anointing is sealed by that same authority. To seal something means to affirm it, to make it binding for its inteded purpose. When elders anoint a sick person and seal the anointing, they open the windows of heaven for the Lord to pour forth the blessing He wills for the person afflicted." President Brigham Young taught: "When I lay hands on the sick, I expect the healing power and influence of God to pass through me to the patient, and the diesease to give way....When we are prepared, when we are holy vessels before the Lords, a stream of power from the Almighty can pass through the tabernacle of the administrator to the system of the patient, and the sick are made whole."
FAITH- Faith is essential for healing by the powers of heaven. The Book of Mormon even teaches that "if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them" (Ether 12:12). President Spencer W. Kimball said: "The need of faith is often underestimated. The ill one and the family often seem to depend wholly on the power of the priesthood and the gift of healing that they hope the administering brethren may have, whereas the greater responsibility is with him who is blessed....The major element is the faith of the individual when that person is conscious and accountable. 'Thy faith hath made thee whole' was repeated so often by the Master that it almost became a chorus." When we are the recipients of a priesthood blessing it is not enough to have faith in the one giving us the blessing but to also have our own faith that the Lord will bless us according to His will.
WORDS OF BLESSING- Elders Oaks teaches us that "another part of a priesthood blessing is the words of blessing spoken by the elder after he seals the anointing. These words can be very important, but their content is not essential and they are not recorded on the records of the Church. In some priesthood blessings-like a patriarchal blessing- the words spoken are the essence of the blessing. But in a healing blessing it is the other parts of the blessing-the anointing, the sealing, faith, and the will of the Lord-that are the essential elements." When we are recieving a blessing we hope that the one giving it to us is spiritually in tune with the Father's will and that he will bless us accordingly. However, as is mentioned above, whether or not certain words are said or are not said it is our faith that brings to pass that will.
WILL OF THE LORD-Elder Oaks continues, "As we we exercise the undoubted power of the priesthood of God and as we treasure His promise that He will hear and answer the prayer of faith, we must alywas remember that faith and the leaing power of the priesthood cannot produce a result contrary to the will of Him whose priesthood it is....we learn that even the servants of the Lord, exercising His divine power in a circumstance where there is sufficient faith to be healed, cannot give a preisthood blessing that will cause a person to be healed if that healing is not the will of the Lord....We do all that we can for the healing of a loved one, and then we trust in the Lord for the outcome."
We need to remember that we do not know all that the Lord has in store for us or for our loved ones. We should also remember that the Lord will not take us until we have finished our work on the earth that He has given us. This is especially hard to learn as we watch loved ones die or even babies die when we ourselves are not prepared for them to leave us. When we know that we have done all that could be done medically and spiritually and still the outcome leaves us with the grief and pain of death, we should take comfort in the fact that the Lord needed them home and they are fulfilling His will.
We had such great participation from the Bishop and the other sisters of the Relief Society as they shared examples and stories from their own lives. I too have my own miracle of healing story that happened to me and I am here, writing to you today, because of that healing priesthood blessing. I encourage you all to be more conscientious this week of the many miracles that happen in your life on a daily basis.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
WARD FALL FESTIVAL
Don't forget about our Fall festival this Friday, Oct. 29 6-9pm. We will be having soup (bring your own bowls and utensils), games and fun. Invite your neighbors that may not know about it. You can come in costume if you like but please remember no violence or masks. You are also invited to bring your pre-carved and pre-decorated pumpkins for display. I heard that there might be a few prizes for the pumpkins as well!
Also, this year we are asking that families support the "Pennies by the Inch" fundraiser that our Stake is participating in. Rather than go door to door asking for donations, we will have a jar that you can put your donations in. We are asking for just loose change, or whatever you want to donate. This is a great opportunity to have the kids help clean out those couch cushions and go on a "treasure hunt" throughout the house to find pennies, nickels, dimes, whatever they can and bring it to the party. We will be presenting the donation as being from the entire ward.
Thanks to all who have signed up to bring a soup and we look forward to seeing you all there!
Also, this year we are asking that families support the "Pennies by the Inch" fundraiser that our Stake is participating in. Rather than go door to door asking for donations, we will have a jar that you can put your donations in. We are asking for just loose change, or whatever you want to donate. This is a great opportunity to have the kids help clean out those couch cushions and go on a "treasure hunt" throughout the house to find pennies, nickels, dimes, whatever they can and bring it to the party. We will be presenting the donation as being from the entire ward.
Thanks to all who have signed up to bring a soup and we look forward to seeing you all there!
Repentance
Sis. Joyce Bond gave our lesson this week and did a great job. This lesson was on Repentance, something we all need. She reminded us that we should be repenting daily for all those little things that bog us down. So many times we think repentance is only needed for those "big" things but none of us are perfect and throughout the day we do daily things that are not perfect in the eyes of the Lord, such as pride, judging others, yelling at our children, etc. Previously in our Sunday School lesson the teacher asked us how many of us were ready for the second coming...very few-if any- raised their hands. But then he asked us how many of us had temple recommends and most-if not all- raised their hands. He then said, if we are worthy and ready to enter the temple then why are we not ready to welcome the Savior? What's the difference. There really isn't a difference. To which somebody responded that they were nervous about all of the little things that they could be doing or not doing. So, that's where repentance comes in. We can always be doing a little bit better than we are. There will always be something to improve upon. Then there was another great comment that brought me great peace. He said that it doesn't matter how perfect we are, but that we are on the right path and going in the right direction. So even if I'm not as perfect as Pres. Monson, I'm on the same path and I'm following his example...I just may not be as far along on the path as he is.
So, with that brief explanation, let's move on to the rest of our lesson. We talked about the principles of repentance. Let's review:
1) We must recognize our sins: "To repent, we must admit to ourselves that we have sinned. If we do not admit this, we cannot repent. In Alma we read 'Let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance....Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point.' (Alma 42:29-30) We should not justify our sins and make excuses."
2)We must feel sorrow for our sins: " In addition to recognizing our sins, we must feel sincere sorrow for what we have done. We must feel that our sins are terrible. We must want to unload and abandon them." And I would add that feeling "Godly sorrow" is very different from feeling "sorry." When you feel Godly sorrow you feel so unworthy, horrible, you want to crawl in a hole and die. You wish that the earth would just swallow you up and hide you and put you out of your misery. And yes I am speaking from personal experience. That experience alone has made me feel that I will NEVER do what I did again. Just saying sorry and promising not to do it again doesn't work if you truly do not feel sorrow.
3)We must forsake our sins: "Our sincere sorrow should lead us to forsake (stop) our sins....THe Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins-behold, he will confess them and forsake them" (D&C 58:43).
4)We must confess our sins: "...The Lord has commanded us to confess our sins. Confession relieves a heavy burden from the sinner. The Lord has promised, "I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts" (D&C 61:2). We must confess all our sins to the Lord. In addition, we must confess serious sins...which might affect our standing in the Church, to the proper priesthood authority. If we have sinned against another person, we should confess to the person we have injured. Some less serious sins involve no one but ourselves and the Lord. These may be confessed privately to the Lord.
5)We must make restitution: Part of repentance is to make restitution. This means that as much as possible we must make right any wrong that we have done....As we do these things, God will not mention our sins to us when we are judged.
6)We must forgive others: A vital part of repentance is to forgive those who have sinned against us. The Lord will not forgive us unless our hearts are fully cleansed of all hate, bitterness, and bad feelings against other people. "Wherefor, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemnd bfore the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin" (D&C 64:9).
7) We must keep the commandments of God: "To make our repentance complete we must keep the commandments of the Lord. We are not fully repentant if we do not pay tithes or keep the Sabbath day holy or obey the Word of Wisdom. We are not prepentant if we do not sustain the authorities of the Church and do not love the Lord and our fellow men. If we do not pray and are unkind to others, we are surely not repentant."
"As we repent, the Atonement of Jesus Christ becomes fully effective in our lives, and the Lord forgives our sins. We become free from the ####### of our sins, and we find joy."
Alma's experience of repentance is so beautiful. I encourage you all to read it in the scriptures (Alma 36:12-14, 17-21)
"The prophets have declared that 'this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God' (Alma 34:34). We should repent now, every day. When we get up in the morning, we should examine ourselves to see whether the Spirit of God is with us. At night before we go to sleep, we should review our acts and words of the day and ask the Lord to help us recognize the things for which we need to repent. By repenting every day and having the Lord forgive our sins, we will experience the daily process of becoming perfect. As with Alma, our happiness and joy can sweet and exquisite."
So, with that brief explanation, let's move on to the rest of our lesson. We talked about the principles of repentance. Let's review:
1) We must recognize our sins: "To repent, we must admit to ourselves that we have sinned. If we do not admit this, we cannot repent. In Alma we read 'Let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance....Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point.' (Alma 42:29-30) We should not justify our sins and make excuses."
2)We must feel sorrow for our sins: " In addition to recognizing our sins, we must feel sincere sorrow for what we have done. We must feel that our sins are terrible. We must want to unload and abandon them." And I would add that feeling "Godly sorrow" is very different from feeling "sorry." When you feel Godly sorrow you feel so unworthy, horrible, you want to crawl in a hole and die. You wish that the earth would just swallow you up and hide you and put you out of your misery. And yes I am speaking from personal experience. That experience alone has made me feel that I will NEVER do what I did again. Just saying sorry and promising not to do it again doesn't work if you truly do not feel sorrow.
3)We must forsake our sins: "Our sincere sorrow should lead us to forsake (stop) our sins....THe Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins-behold, he will confess them and forsake them" (D&C 58:43).
4)We must confess our sins: "...The Lord has commanded us to confess our sins. Confession relieves a heavy burden from the sinner. The Lord has promised, "I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts" (D&C 61:2). We must confess all our sins to the Lord. In addition, we must confess serious sins...which might affect our standing in the Church, to the proper priesthood authority. If we have sinned against another person, we should confess to the person we have injured. Some less serious sins involve no one but ourselves and the Lord. These may be confessed privately to the Lord.
5)We must make restitution: Part of repentance is to make restitution. This means that as much as possible we must make right any wrong that we have done....As we do these things, God will not mention our sins to us when we are judged.
6)We must forgive others: A vital part of repentance is to forgive those who have sinned against us. The Lord will not forgive us unless our hearts are fully cleansed of all hate, bitterness, and bad feelings against other people. "Wherefor, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemnd bfore the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin" (D&C 64:9).
7) We must keep the commandments of God: "To make our repentance complete we must keep the commandments of the Lord. We are not fully repentant if we do not pay tithes or keep the Sabbath day holy or obey the Word of Wisdom. We are not prepentant if we do not sustain the authorities of the Church and do not love the Lord and our fellow men. If we do not pray and are unkind to others, we are surely not repentant."
"As we repent, the Atonement of Jesus Christ becomes fully effective in our lives, and the Lord forgives our sins. We become free from the ####### of our sins, and we find joy."
Alma's experience of repentance is so beautiful. I encourage you all to read it in the scriptures (Alma 36:12-14, 17-21)
"The prophets have declared that 'this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God' (Alma 34:34). We should repent now, every day. When we get up in the morning, we should examine ourselves to see whether the Spirit of God is with us. At night before we go to sleep, we should review our acts and words of the day and ask the Lord to help us recognize the things for which we need to repent. By repenting every day and having the Lord forgive our sins, we will experience the daily process of becoming perfect. As with Alma, our happiness and joy can sweet and exquisite."
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Faith in Jesus Christ
Ok, I know it has been a while since I've posted the lessons and don't worry, I'll spare you of recounting all of the ones I've missed. I'll just briefly go over last week's lesson and then proceed on to this week.
Last week: Sis. Kemp gave her very first Relief Society lesson. It was her turn as the first counselor to give her Presidency Message and she did a fantastic job! She spoke about judging others and how we should treat those who are trying to find their place in the Gospel. I loved her thought about using discernment and not judgement when we around others. We do need to be cautious and aware of our surroundings and our neighbors so as not to endanger ourselves and our families but we also need to treat others with kindness because we really do not know what their situations may be. The only one who truly knows what is in their heart and what they are dealing with is our Father in Heaven. So pray to Him and ask Him how you can help someone around you. We have many sisters who are trying to get their lives in order and come back to church. Some just go for Sacrament Meeting and others may come to Relief Society. Some you'll see come once a month and others may come a little more often. When ever you see a sister you don't know go over and say HI! I'm Sister so and so and it is so nice to have you here with us today. Would you like to sit by me? They will either politely decline or say YES! I would like that. Either way, no harm has been done and just that simple Hello has made a world of difference to them whether they join you or not. Nobody likes to feel alone and nobody likes to be judged. As Sis. Kemp said, "we judge ourselves the hardest"...we don't need others judging us as well.
Ok, now for this week's lesson. It was about Faith in our Savior. I sat in the back with my little baby and I loved that because I could see everyone's faces and what I saw today just astounded me! Every one was affected by this lesson one way or another. With Faith comes sacrifice and with obedience comes sacrifice. Some one made the comment on the scripture that says that after the trial of our faith come the blessings and made specific mention of that small word "trial." Faith is a trial but it's definitely worth it. We have to prove to the Lord that we believe in Him, His Son, His plan and what He has in store for us before we can receive the blessings. Tithing for me is one that is a "trial of my faith." It's a huge sacrifice for me to pay that every month but it's one that I can't live without because of the blessings and miracles that come to me and my family every month!
I would like to leave this week's post with a thought for you to ponder. Sis. Jana Starr (who, by the way, taught our lesson today) threw out a cosmic question and then gave us her answer. She wanted us to fill in the blank: Because of my faith... I fill this blank in with some of my answers...Because of my faith I am still going strong in the gospel even though my first Temple Marriage did not work out. Because of my faith I have four children. Because of my faith I have a testimony of tithing. Because of my faith I can be a wife, a mother and a Relief Society President all at the same time. Because of my faith I know that no matter what happens my Father in Heaven loves me and is always there to help me through my trials.
Now, I leave you to ponder this question in your own life this week.
Last week: Sis. Kemp gave her very first Relief Society lesson. It was her turn as the first counselor to give her Presidency Message and she did a fantastic job! She spoke about judging others and how we should treat those who are trying to find their place in the Gospel. I loved her thought about using discernment and not judgement when we around others. We do need to be cautious and aware of our surroundings and our neighbors so as not to endanger ourselves and our families but we also need to treat others with kindness because we really do not know what their situations may be. The only one who truly knows what is in their heart and what they are dealing with is our Father in Heaven. So pray to Him and ask Him how you can help someone around you. We have many sisters who are trying to get their lives in order and come back to church. Some just go for Sacrament Meeting and others may come to Relief Society. Some you'll see come once a month and others may come a little more often. When ever you see a sister you don't know go over and say HI! I'm Sister so and so and it is so nice to have you here with us today. Would you like to sit by me? They will either politely decline or say YES! I would like that. Either way, no harm has been done and just that simple Hello has made a world of difference to them whether they join you or not. Nobody likes to feel alone and nobody likes to be judged. As Sis. Kemp said, "we judge ourselves the hardest"...we don't need others judging us as well.
Ok, now for this week's lesson. It was about Faith in our Savior. I sat in the back with my little baby and I loved that because I could see everyone's faces and what I saw today just astounded me! Every one was affected by this lesson one way or another. With Faith comes sacrifice and with obedience comes sacrifice. Some one made the comment on the scripture that says that after the trial of our faith come the blessings and made specific mention of that small word "trial." Faith is a trial but it's definitely worth it. We have to prove to the Lord that we believe in Him, His Son, His plan and what He has in store for us before we can receive the blessings. Tithing for me is one that is a "trial of my faith." It's a huge sacrifice for me to pay that every month but it's one that I can't live without because of the blessings and miracles that come to me and my family every month!
I would like to leave this week's post with a thought for you to ponder. Sis. Jana Starr (who, by the way, taught our lesson today) threw out a cosmic question and then gave us her answer. She wanted us to fill in the blank: Because of my faith... I fill this blank in with some of my answers...Because of my faith I am still going strong in the gospel even though my first Temple Marriage did not work out. Because of my faith I have four children. Because of my faith I have a testimony of tithing. Because of my faith I can be a wife, a mother and a Relief Society President all at the same time. Because of my faith I know that no matter what happens my Father in Heaven loves me and is always there to help me through my trials.
Now, I leave you to ponder this question in your own life this week.
BECAUSE OF MY FAITH...
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