HP Lesson, September 2013

For Peace at Home


BY ELDER RICHARD G. SCOTT, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Introduction: 11 Readings and 15 Questions and 1 sharing time.

READ A

A -- One of the greatest blessings we can offer to the world is the power of a Christ-centered home where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds.

SAY: Be thinking about gospel, covenant living and love and exceptional moments you all have had;  how relationships improved; and how you were greatly blessed.

READ B

B -- Many voices from the world in which we live tell us we should live at a frantic pace. There is always more to do and more to accomplish. Yet deep inside each of us is a need to have a place of refuge where peace and serenity prevail, a place where we can reset, regroup, and reenergize to prepare for future pressures.

Q: Why is slowing down so hard to do?  What do we believe it bad to slow down?
Q: Why is the pace so frantic?
Q: Is taking time to quiet your soul a good thing to do?

SAY:  I take time each day reenergize.  I pray, immerse myself in the scriptures, quiet my mind, ponder, discuss things with the Lord.  I find it very helpful.  Do you find it helpful?

READ C

C --We need not worry if we can’t simultaneously do all of the things that the Lord has counseled us to do. He has spoken of a time and a season for all things. In response to our sincere prayers for guidance, He will direct us in what should be emphasized at each phase of our life. We can learn, grow, and become like Him one consistent step at a time.

Q: What does this counsel tell us about pacing ourselves?
Q: What do we do if we have plateaued off?

READ D

D --The ideal place for that peace is within the walls of our own homes, where we have done all we can to make the Lord Jesus Christ the centerpiece.

READ E

E --Doing all we can to invite the gentle, guiding influence of the Holy Ghost into our lives is critical in our attempts to center our homes on the Savior. Acting obediently on those promptings strengthens us even more.

Q: Does frantic pace and Holy Ghost ghost work together well?  Why? Why not?

READ F

F --Greater peace will come as you couple your efforts to be obedient with serving those around you. So many individuals who have what they perceive to be meager talents humbly and generously use those talents to bless the lives of those around them. Selfishness is the root of great evil. The antidote for that evil is exemplified in the life of the Savior. He shows us how to focus our lives outward in unselfish service to others.

Q: Why is there greater peace when we serve?
Q: What do you like better: being anxiously engaged or sitting idly looking on?

READ G

G --I have learned a truth that has been repeated so frequently in my life that I have come to know it as an absolute law. It defines the way obedience and service relate to the power of God. When we obey the commandments of the Lord and serve His children unselfishly, the natural consequence is power from God—power to do more than we can do by ourselves. Our insights, our talents, our abilities are expanded because we receive strength and power from the Lord.

Let's read more about receiving strength.

READ H

H --Mosiah 10:10-11 And it came to pass that we did go up in the strength of the Lord to battle. Now, the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength. Yet they were a strong people, as to the strength of men.

READ I

I --24 And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples—

25 Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were exceedingly more numerous than they, and except they should  cleave unto the Lord their God they must unavoidably perish.

26 For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of  not many years.

Q: What can these verses teach us if used as a metaphor for our lives today?

Q: How do we gain strength and power from the Lord in our lives?

Q: How real is this power, this strength from the Lord?


One of the greatest blessings we can offer to the world is the power of a Christ-centered home where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds.

SAY: Many of you if not all of you have had exceptional moments in you life where something wonderful happened to you or your wife or family member, where a relationship improved, where the Spirit was strong, where you received the strength of the Lord, where you were greatly blessed.

Q: Could one or two of you share such a moment?

READ J

J -- Moroni 7:45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

READ K

K --I offer some final thoughts for those who love a family member who is not making good choices. That can challenge our patience and endurance. We need to trust in the Lord and in His timing that a positive response to our prayers and rescue efforts can occur. We do all that we can to serve, to bless, and to submissively acknowledge God’s will in all things. We exercise faith and remember that there are some things that must be left to the Lord. He invites us to set our burdens down at His feet. With faith we can know that this straying loved one is not abandoned but is in the watchcare of a loving Savior.

Q: Why is patience and endurance required with loved ones who have gone astray?  (Brienholt)
Q: Why is it important to cast our burdens at His feet?
Read the last sentence again.
    Q: What does this  mean?

Conclusion:  We have talked about a number of things today.  How to gain the peace that only God can give and how we bring that peace into the lives of others.  It has everything to do with developing our faith in Christ and changing our inner selves one weakness at a time.  This is what is meant in the scriptures when it says "faith unto repentance".  This is the way to come unto Christ.  And as we change the inward self, peace comes.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.