COME FOLLOW ME....

COME FOLLOW ME…

Years ago, when Primary met on a weekday and the 9, 10, and 11-year old girls were Larks, Bluebirds, and Seagulls, and everybody met at the chapel on Sunday morning for Sunday School and later that day for Sacrament meeting, we would sometimes have lessons or talks in Church about some of the events that would have to happen before Christ’s Second Coming.  Things like temples would dot the land, and the building of a temple at the New Jerusalem.  There were about nine or ten temples at the time, each of which took considerable time to build—and hey, let’s not forget that the Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build.  Could breathe a sigh of relief on that score.  We’d have a ton of heads-up time if there were going to be lots of temples and one big one.

Oh, and there was occasionally mention that there would come a time we would be having Church at home and not in chapels.

That seemed pretty far-fetched!  I mean, after all, we had all these Church programs.  How in the world would we EVER do all that in our houses?

Well, that Primary girl is now on third base—looking toward home…!  A lot has happened during her seven plus decades that points to fulfillment of prophesy that even SHE can see.

Temples do indeed dot the land—and it didn’t take all that long to build each one since they are not the size and magnitude of the Salt Lake Temple.  And most of them have been built and dedicated since President Hinckley announced his ambitious goal for many, many smaller temples where the people are.  I just look to my own Fort Collins Temple for a perfect example of that!

The curriculum in our Church classes has slowly been revised over the years to reflect compatible topics and themes from the yearly study of one book of scripture during each year for priesthood, Sunday School and Relief Society manuals.  Those curriculum writers produced landmark manuals like Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Preach My Gospel for the Missionaries, Teaching in the Savior’s Way to improve gospel instruction, and now the rich blessings of Come Follow Me for individual and family study at home, supported in our new 2-hour block of Church meetings on Sunday. 

What blessings have come to us in spite of my limited early vision,  seeing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the perspective of the “box” that was so familiar it was difficult to think anything completely different could change our lives in such profound ways.

Since President Nelson began his ministry as our prophet, seer, and revelator just a year ago, we have had the eyes of our understanding opened wide—and I know from some of his more recent remarks—we are going to see even more change which will undoubtedly stretch us in this continuing process.

President Nelson announced in October General Conference the procedural change from three-hour Sunday meetings to two-hour meetings and called it “an adjustment”, wherein we now have a “home-centered Church, supported by what takes place inside our church buildings.  Now we will be able to learn doctrine, strengthen faith, and foster greater personal worship in our own homes.”

It could be easy to think along the lines that we will be getting out of school early now.  But the main reason we have one less hour in our chapels is so we can spend that hour at home individually or as a family in learning more about the Savior and tune ourselves into His incredible teachings drawn from His personal attributes. 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, in the December Ensign, “The Lord’s work has always been ultimately about people, not programs… what the Lord is really hoping to change is you and me.  He wants to change our hearts and enhance our future.”

So, how do we go about doing that? 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell in April 1991 General Conference taught that the fundamentals we need to perfect our faith—and therefore our relationship with the Lord so we can make that change to our hearts—are serving, studying, praying, and worshiping.  But I only want to emphasize how studying and worshiping can touch our hearts and enhance our daily lives. 

In short, I am going to share my experience with the new Come Follow Me curriculum as it has played out in my life the last two weeks.

Two weeks ago on Sunday the 30^th of December, Louis and I sat down after our three hour meeting block and began to discuss just exactly what we thought we should do to implement this program into our family of two empty-nesters with grown children and grandchildren. 

During that brainstorming session of ideas, Louis suggested we each spend an hour studying something from the manual and then come together to share that in “companion study” like he did on his mission.

Now I have never served a proselyting mission. Nor have I ever studied with someone else in a more formal set-up like that.  But it sounded good to me…and the next day which was Monday, we began to implement that plan.

I was interested to hear Louis’ perspective of those first week topics based on his study and his personal experiences.  Some I had heard.  Some I had not.  We drew from the topical guide and other scriptures to flesh out some of the ideas about gaining and strengthening our own testimonies and how we could be instruments in helping others gain a testimony of the truth for themselves—family members who are not now embracing the gospel and some of those with whom we work.

Louis and I talked about the process of asking questions when we are seeking spiritual knowledge.  And acting in faith remembering it’s all about the Lord’s timetable as we develop His divine characteristic of patience.

We talked in depth about the parables of the sower and the ten virgins.  We asked ourselves when we might have been a foolish virgin and what we did to become one of the wise ones.  We observed people we knew and cared for who had been cast into stony ground and hadn’t thrived with the heat and no water. 

For some years I have wondered if I would ever have the privilege of understanding the mysteries of heaven.  Then, during our discussions of these two parables, I suddenly realized I HAVE been privy to the mysteries of the kingdom because I Do understand those parables.  The Lord said they were not for everyone to understand because they were part of the mysteries of heaven

As we talked about faith, I realized again I have always been a person of faith.  I have always had faith that all will be well—in spite of a couple of really awful things that have happened in my life.  The Lord will continue to take care of me—as He has so capably in the past.  That is a sure truth for me.

In fact, Louis and my discussions didn’t seem to end at a specific time—minute-wise.  We’d be in the car or elsewhere and observations would come to us, and we continued to discuss new aspects of a gospel topic we hadn’t addressed previously or hadn’t even thought of before. 

That was the first week. 

Then I went away for my work as I normally do every week (that first week being at home in an ideal situation with a companion was a fluke!)  During this last week when I arrived at my layover hotel every night, it was always in a different time zone from the one Louis was in.  He was in bed at home some nights.  I was in bed at a hotel on the other end some nights.  Those great discussions DIDN’T happen. 

So, I went back to studying the way I had always done on my own—only now I have dozens more resources to explore.  And reader that I am, that was just a green light to read and read and read without feeling a bit guilty!  What wonderful things I have learned from past conference addresses.  Journals of discourse. Personal experiences.  Discussions with my children…and even people who didn’t even KNOW they were discussing this week’s lesson!

I’m in a unique position:  I have a testimony of the benefit Come Follow Me is to the family—AND to an individual.  I have done both!

More importantly, I have a testimony that having a gospel centered home is just exactly what will assist us in changing our hearts and preparing for a future featuring the Lord’s Second Coming that is glorious beyond anything we could possibly imagine. 

The daily study we do becomes true worship of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Elder Maxwell said, “Failure to do that study is to be intellectually and spiritually malnourished.  In a hardening world, the Lord can pierce our consciousness by using the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

I encourage you to embrace this new program!  It is a revelation of transformation that will only make us better than we could make ourselves without the Lord’s guiding hand.

AN EXTRODINARY WOMAN....

I was cleaning out my Primary bag yesterday in preparation for our Presidency meeting last night and our new adventure which begins on Sunday with COME FOLLOW ME and the 2-hour meeting block.  Figured the best way to do that was just turn the bag upside down, dump out the contents and start from there.

Whew!  TWO handfuls of dirty tissues.  Board magnets hiding willy-nilly amongst the detritus.  Old bulletins from Sacrament meetings held months ago.  A thank you card from the Stake Primary for our great Sacrament Meeting presentation in September.  Ward Council notes long since acted upon.  An outdated Handbook 2.  Pens.  Lip balm of at least three varieties.  A pair of bi-focal glasses.  And a long-forgotten spiritual thought I gave in Ward Council early in 2018.

Harold shared the original quote by Susanna Wesley with me while I was still working at Super PC Memory, I think.  I had always appreciated this profound message and for some reason must have been thinking about it around the time Brother Hill assigned me to give a spiritual thought.  

"Take this rule:  whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself."

In my mind I remembered Harold told me it was from one of  President James E. Faust's talks.  Only, I couldn't find it.  I never did find the exact quote in any of President Faust's writings (Sabbath Day, October 1991 General Conference comes the closest)--or anywhere else when I did a search on lds.org.  But I found a lot of other information pertinent to the quote, which I prepared for my spiritual thought from various sources including Wikipedia, and gave that back story before I shared the words the way Susanna Wesley wrote them in a letter on June 8, 1725 to her son.  

When I reread the entire thought I gave that early Sunday morning last year, I was impressed again how the Lord has loved all his people throughout the ages.  There are so many good people who tried to live according to His teachings, even though the gospel hadn't yet been restored.  I think Susanna Wesley is one of my heroines.  She sought light and truth and lived her life in accordance to what she knew was right.  UNDER GREAT DURESS!

Susanna Wesley was born on January 20, 1669, the 25th of 25 children.  Her father,        Dr. Samuel Annesley, was a dissenter of the established Church of England.  At the age of 13, Susanna stopped attending her father's church and joined the official Church of England.  

She was married to a preacher.  They had 19 children, nine of whom died in infancy.  Her husband was a man who couldn't manage money.  They disagreed on everything  from money to politics, and he left her to raise the children alone for long periods of time--sometimes over something as simple as an argument.  

One of their children was crippled.  Another couldn't talk until he was nearly six years old.  Susanna herself was desperately sick most of her life.  There was no money for food or anything else.  Debt plagued them.

Her husband Samuel was once thrown into debtor's prison because their debt was so high, which doubled their problems.  Twice the homes they lived in were burned to the ground, losing everything they owned.  Someone slit their cow's udders so they wouldn't have milk, killed their dog, and burned their flax field.  It was assumed that their church members did these things because of volatile political sermons her husband preached!

When Susanna was young, she promised the Lord that for every hour she spent in entertainment, she would give an hour to Him in prayer and in doing the Word.  Taking care of the house and raising so many kids made this commitment nearly impossible to fulfill.  She had no time for entertainment or for long hours in prayer!  She worked the gardens, milked the cow, schooled the children and managed the entire house herself.  So, she decided instead to give the Lord two hours a day in prayer!  But she struggled to find a secret place to get away and pray in secret to God as she had promised.  Consequently, no matter how challenging her day to day life was, she advised her children that when they saw her with her apron over her head, that meant she was in prayer and couldn't be disturbed.

Susanna Wesley never preached a sermon, published a book, or founded a church, yet the example of faith and religious reverence she set for her children John and Charles inspired them to become powerful spiritual leaders, who launched the Methodist movement.

She wrote that she knew that one day her difficult life would be over and she alone would stand before God and give an account of how she had lived her life.  

Susanna Wesley died in England in 1742 at the age of 73.  

She wrote part of her personal creed as follows:

"How would you judge the lawfulness or unlawfulness of "pleasure"?

Use this rule:

Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sight of God, takes from you your thirst for spiritual things or increases the authority of your body over your mind, then that thing to you is evil.

By this test you may detect evil no matter how subtly or how plausibly temptation may be presented to you.

(NOTE:  I didn't  keep the bibliographical cites from which I took this information.  Just know these are not MY words.  I'm just repeating this information as I recorded it from online sources.)

ASSESSING....

It's New Year's Day 2019, and I am thinking about last year and how I DID NOT accomplish much on my goal list.  Got off to a good start....and then  I let other stuff get in the way.

To recap, I shared five things which sounded pretty simple that I felt would keep my life on track and allow me to achieve some modest accomplishments, as well as a record of some spiritual experiences.

WHAT REALLY TRANSPIRED

1.  I've gotten to the point I can hardly stand to get ready for the day anymore.  It is such a dreaded routine. And the outcome is not really satisfying when I get finished and look in the mirror.  I HATE seeing that oldster staring back at me.

I honestly think that if I let myself, I could go a while without doing more than throwing on some clothes after I brushed my teeth in the morning.  Trouble with that is my face feels greasy--still after all these years!--and my scalp begins to itch.  And I don't want to go anywhere in case someone sees me worse than au naturel.  I would look unkempt.

So, did I make it a point to get ready for the day as soon as possible after I got up?  Most of the time--when I had to be somewhere at a certain time.  On MY days, I loved it when I DID get ready right away.  Seemed like I had more hours in the day to get things taken care of.

2.  I am very aware of the Lord's hand in my life.  But my problem is that I don't always write down the special experiences when that happens.  Okay.  Let's be honest.  I rarely write them down.  My ministering sister even brought me a little gratitude journal on one of her visits.  That helped me for a while.  I forced myself to write only a brief paragraph for each entry, then it didn't seem so overwhelming of a task.  Then I misplaced the notebook when I took it to work with me.  And by the time I found which safe place I had tucked it into, several of those experiences were so far gone, I couldn't have recorded them if I had taken the time to do it after I had located it.

What I did write were nice little reminders that the Lord knows me, is concerned about my needs and my happiness, but that it truly is through someone else's hand that he blesses me. 

3.  I'm still a die-hard list maker.  Once again this last year, when I actually wrote lists, my time was magically extrapolated into a larger commodity to get housework, projects, correspondence, Primary, etc. taken care of.  President Faust used to teach that he made a list every night in order of priority so he knew exactly what he needed to work on as soon as he greeted a new day.  A sister I knew in Berlin made a list of only three things with the one at the top the absolute HAVE TO DO item.  If she didn't get the other two finished, they rolled over and became a number one HAVE TO DO for the next day.  I used to scoff at that idea because I was so into doing it all--every day.  Three things sounded skimpy.  Now it would be nice if I DID do three things in a day instead of maybe one or two.  

Can I honestly say I mastered that task again.  Noooo.  

4.  Oh, the #52 Stories of Me sounded like such an easy way to add more to my personal/family history.  I did pretty well.  My goal was to do one entry a week.  Then it came to the one suggestion where I was supposed to write about my childhood home.  That one bowled me over.  I loved my home and there was so much I wanted to write and share about it.  I sat down several times to begin.  Would write a paragraph or two, then erase it.  (One version is actually still in drafts.)  It wasn't until much later that I realized I should have written it in short little chapters.  Now that would have been a doable thing.  Along toward the end of the year, I looked ahead and wrote something about a couple of topics that were supposed to come much, much later in the mix.  I should have just kept going doing that, skipping the My Childhood Home one until the others got done.   No one said they HAD to be in the order the list was.

I'm going to give it a try again this next year and see if I can stick with it, work through the ones that bog me down.  The important thing, I'm guessing, is that a person writes SOMETHING about his history.

5.  Along about April I realized that I was getting casual in my scripture study and the relationship between the Lord and me just wasn't as close.  I decided to reread the Book of Mormon ACAD--a chapter a day and see if that helped.  It did.  But my journal entries for the Book of Mormon on my phone ended up being no more than a handful of sentences.  Nothing of any consequence.

Then  came October General Conference when President Nelson gave the sisters four invitations to "help gather scattered Israel".  The second invitation was to read the entire Book of Mormon before the end of the year.  

Now I was in a quandary.  I had just finished Helaman and was into the first chapter of 3rd Nephi.  Should I just continue on reading from my own charted goal?  Should I start over and forget my original goal? I finally decided to do BOTH!  And that was tough to do!  

I had to read lots and lots of chapters every day starting at the beginning of the book for several weeks.  When I finally caught up my second goal with my first goal somewhere in Ether, I just read one chapter a day--making note of all the passages which gave any indication of Christ's divinity and power like President Nelson asked us to do.

I finished that double goal on Saturday night, December 15th.  I felt GOOD!  

With our new manual COME FOLLOW ME for individual study, I decided to start anew with my determination to study the Book of Mormon in 2019  by pondering only a verse or a passage of scripture as it relates to the lesson material in the manual for that week. I have a little notebook I am using, so maybe I will actually make some journal notes.

So, there is my assessment.  Fell short from my desired goal on every single item.  Yet I profited from the little I did manage to get done.

LOOKING AHEAD

One of my perpetual goals year after year used to be read the Ensign magazine cover to cover every month.  It's been a few years since I actually did that.  I started reading the magazine online since I have my smart phone with me all the time.  That is great, but again no notes to readily access.  

I always have the current monthly copy on my bedside table.  Sometimes I actually take it on my trip with me.  I'm committing to reading it cover to cover every month once again.  Great supplemental material for our new COME FOLLOW ME and there are always reprints of devotional addresses or specific articles written by the General Authorities.

In addition, I will keep working on the goals I set for 2018.  They are actually really great goals, and there is no harm in continuing with them.  They will only help me stay organized and through that effort forge a closer relationship with the Savior as I stay on the covenant path.

A NEW YEAR.  A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO DO BETTER....