Climate Change over the last 6000 years

Lesson - Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth (March 2015)

Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth

By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency

SAY: Your personal testimony of light and truth will not only bless you and your posterity here in mortality, but it will also accompany you throughout all eternity.

LEARNER READINESS

SAY: President Ochdorf tells the following story.  As you listen, be thinking about how it applies to light and truth or the lack thereof.

READ A

A - As an airline pilot, I flew numerous hours across continents and oceans during the darkness of night. Watching the night sky out of my cockpit window, especially the Milky Way, often made me marvel at the vastness and depth of God’s creations—what the scriptures describe as “worlds without number.”

It was less than a century ago that most astronomers assumed that our Milky Way galaxy was the only galaxy in the universe. They supposed all that lay beyond our galaxy was an immense nothingness, an infinite void—empty, cold, and devoid of stars, light, and life.

As telescopes became more sophisticated—including telescopes that could be launched into space—astronomers began to grasp a spectacular, almost incomprehensible truth: the universe is mind-bogglingly bigger than anyone had previously believed, and the heavens are filled with numberless galaxies, unimaginably far away from us, each containing hundreds of billions of stars.

In a very short period of time, our understanding of the universe changed forever.

Today we can see some of these distant galaxies.

We know that they are there.

They have been there for a very long time.

But before mankind had instruments powerful enough to gather celestial light and bring these galaxies into visibility, we did not believe such a thing was possible.

The immensity of the universe didn’t suddenly change, but our ability to see and understand this truth changed dramatically. And with that greater light, mankind was introduced to glorious vistas we had never before imagined.

Q: Can this phenomena be generalized across many of the sciences (or studies, or professions)?

Q: Why is it, that at any given moment we sometimes believe emphatically in our current snap shot of life experiences and spiritual understanding - or lack thereof  - is the truth?

READ B

B - Suppose you were able to travel back in time and have a conversation with people who lived a thousand or even a hundred years ago. Imagine trying to describe to them some of the modern technologies that you and I take for granted today. For example, what might these people think of us if we told them stories of jumbo jets, microwave ovens, handheld devices that contain vast digital libraries, and videos of our grandchildren that we instantly share with millions of people around the world?

Some might believe us. Most would ridicule, oppose, or perhaps even seek to silence or harm us. Some might attempt to apply logic, reason, and facts as they know them to show that we are misguided, foolish, or even dangerous. They might condemn us for attempting to mislead others.

But of course, these people would be completely mistaken. They might be well-meaning and sincere. They might feel absolutely positive of their opinion. But they simply would not be able to see clearly because they had not yet received the more complete light of truth.

Q: Why is it dangerous to assume that where we are at in understanding of the world around us and how things really are, is all there is?

[some are beginning to believe based on new evidence that the Grand Canyon was made from a rapid flow of water over a short period of time.]

READ C

C - It seems to be a trait of humanity to assume that we are right even when we are wrong. And if that is the case, what hope is there for any of us? Are we destined to drift aimlessly on an ocean of conflicting information, stranded on a raft we have poorly pieced together from our own biases?

LEARNER INVOLVEMENT

SAY: President Uctdorf than says: "The purpose of my remarks is to proclaim the joyful message that God Himself—the Lord of Hosts who knows all truth—has given His children the promise that they can know truth for themselves.

READ D

D - Please consider the magnitude of this promise:

The Everlasting and Almighty God, the Creator of this vast universe, will speak to those who approach Him with a sincere heart and real intent.

He will speak to them in dreams, visions, thoughts, and feelings.

He will speak in a way that is unmistakable and that transcends human experience. He will give them divine direction and answers for their personal lives.

Q: Are these witnesses to God's existence and love for us happening in our lives?

Q: Have you had dreams, visions, thoughts and feelings that you know are from God?

Q: Have you received divine direction and answers for our personal lives?

Experience - traveling north on the freeway one morning in August 2001.... move north...

READ E

Of course, there will be those who scoff and say such a thing is impossible, that if there were a God, He would have better things to do than hear and answer a single person’s prayer.

But I tell you this: God cares about you. He will listen, and He will answer your personal questions. The answers to your prayers will come in His own way and in His own time, and therefore, you need to learn to listen to His voice. God wants you to find your way back to Him, and the Savior is the way. God wants you to learn of His Son, Jesus Christ, and experience the profound peace and joy that come from following the path of divine discipleship.

SAY - Recently in my scripture study I found a few verses of scripture that relates to this topic.

READ 2 Nephi 26:13

13 And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.

READ Jacob 4:6

Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

Q: What is the purpose of signs, wonders and miracles?

Q: Should these things be happening in our lifes?

Q: What experiences have you had that has caused you to grow in light and truth?  That your conversion to the gospel has grown?

Q: Brethren, what must we be and do to have signs, wonders and miracles follow us?

President Uchdorf then tell us how to put God to the test.

READ F

My dear friends, here is a fairly straightforward experiment, with a guarantee from God, found in a book of ancient scripture available to every man, woman, and child willing to put it to the test:

First, you must search the word of God. That means reading the scriptures and studying the words of the ancient as well as modern prophets regarding the restored gospel of Jesus Christ—not with an intent to doubt or criticize but with a sincere desire to discover truth. Ponder upon the things you will feel, and prepare your minds to receive the truth. “Even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you … that ye can give place for [the word of God].”

Second, you must consider, ponder, fearlessly strive to believe, and be grateful for how merciful the Lord has been to His children from the time of Adam to our day by providing prophets, seers, and revelators to lead His Church and help us find the way back to Him.

Third, you must ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unto you. Ask with a sincere heart and with real intent, having faith in Christ.

There is also a fourth step, given to us by the Savior: “If any man will do [God’s] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”  In other words, when you are trying to verify the truth of gospel principles, you must first live them. Put gospel doctrine and Church teachings to the test in your own life. Do it with real intent and enduring faith in God.

SAY - and here's the promise:

READ G

G - If you will do these things, you have a promise from God—who is bound by His word —that He will manifest the truth to you by the power of the Holy Ghost. He will grant you greater light that will allow you to look through the darkness and witness unimaginably glorious vistas incomprehensible to mortal sight.

LEARNER APPLICATION

READ H

H - The more we incline our hearts and minds toward God, the more heavenly light distills upon our souls. And each time we willingly and earnestly seek that light, we indicate to God our readiness to receive more light. Gradually, things that before seemed hazy, dark, and remote become clear, bright, and familiar to us.

READ I

I - By the same token, if we remove ourselves from the light of the gospel, our own light begins to dim—not in a day or a week but gradually over time—until we look back and can’t quite understand why we had ever believed the gospel was true. Our previous knowledge might even seem foolish to us because what once was so clear has again become blurred, hazy, and distant.

READ J

J - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a place for people with all kinds of testimonies. There are some members of the Church whose testimony is sure and burns brightly within them. Others are still striving to know for themselves. The Church is a home for all to come together, regardless of the depth or the height of our testimony. I know of no sign on the doors of our meetinghouses that says, “Your testimony must be this tall to enter.”

READ K

K - The Church is not just for perfect people, but it is for all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.” The Church is for people like you and me. The Church is a place of welcoming and nurturing, not of separating or criticizing. It is a place where we reach out to encourage, uplift, and sustain one another as we pursue our individual search for divine truth.

Q: What might this mean? (don't be mean at church).

As the ancient scriptures promise, the unspeakable presence of the Spirit of God will cause you to sing the song of redeeming love,16 lift your eyes to heaven, and raise your voice in praise to the Most High God, your Refuge, your Hope, your Protector, your Father. The Savior promised that if you seek, you will find.17

I testify that this is true. If you seek God’s truth, that which now may appear dim, out of focus, and distant will gradually be revealed and clarified and become close to your heart by the light of God’s grace. Glorious spiritual vistas, unimaginable to the human eye, will be revealed to you.

Conclusion

It is my testimony that this spiritual light is within the reach of every child of God. It will enlighten your mind and bring healing to your heart and joy to your days. My dear friends, please do not delay the moment to seek and strengthen your own personal testimony of God’s divine work, even the work of light and truth.

Your personal testimony of light and truth will not only bless you and your posterity here in mortality, but it will also accompany you throughout all eternity, among worlds without end. Of this I testify and leave you my blessing in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Talk - Families Under the Covenant

Families under Covenant

By President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency

1. Introduction

I was given the assignment to talk on PE's 2012 talk called Families under Covenant.

Story that the children would understand.

- married 32 years.  We were sealed for time and all eternity in the Jordan River Temple on Dec. 27 1982
- All our children were born under the covenant.
- have gone through the vissistudes of life.
- We have been poor and well to do.
- We have had health problems and have experienced good health
- We have grieved over children and have had great joy in our children
- And through all the good times and not so good times we have kept the faith did our best to be a family under covenant.
AND I believe if we have done the best we could, the Lord covers the rest.

2. Learner Readiness

PE spent much of his talk on explaining what the sealing power is and how it works in our lives.  I'll start with reading a few passages on the sealing power.  PE said the following

We are blessed to be presided over by President Thomas S. Monson. As the President of the Church, he is the one man alive who is responsible for the keys that seal families and all those priesthood ordinances necessary to attain eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God.

SAY: It feels wonderful to me to belong to this church.  Having a prophet who holds the keys to seal families so we can receive eternal life.

SAY: PE Eyring's quotes DC 131:2

And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.

SAY: This is a seminal teaching of our church.  We can be  happy with our families forever.  And it all comes through this Sealing Power which we have today in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Listen to this passage:

It is the same divine authorization given by the Lord to Peter, as He had promised: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

I found this statement on Elijah restoring the sealing power particularly interesting:

The return of Elijah blessed all who hold the priesthood. Elder Harold B. Lee made that clear as he spoke in general conference, quoting President Joseph Fielding Smith. Listen carefully: “I hold the priesthood; you brethren here hold the priesthood; we have received the Melchizedek Priesthood—which was held by Elijah and by other prophets and by Peter, James and John. But while we have authority to baptize, while we have authority to lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost and to ordain others and do all these things, without the sealing power we could do nothing, for there would be no validity to that which we did.”

SAY - Everything is made valid because of the Sealing Power.  Why?  It is what binds in heaven what we do on earth.  All the ordinances we do receive validity because this sealing power.

SAY - President Eyring goes on telling us that The Holy Spirit of Promise, through our obedience and sacrifice, must seal our temple covenants in order to be realized in the world to come.

Learner Application (quote, scripture, story, testify)

SAY - I am now going move down to the end of PE's talk where he suggests four things  priesthood holders can do to lift and lead our family home again to be with Heavenly Father and the Savior. All the suggestions apply to both men and women.

He first says that each of needs gain and keep a sure witness that the keys of the priesthood are with us and held by the President of the Church.  PE says to pray for that every day and the answer will come.

Experience: I remember back when I was younger and President Benson was the prophet.  While he was speaking General Conference a feeling of peace came over me that this man was truly the prophet of God.  I have similar witnesses from the Spirit when listened to President Monson.  I know these men are men of God.  I know they have the sealing power.

SAY: Number 2 - Guess what President Eyring calls the Second Imperative?  LOVE YOUR WIFE.  I quote: LISTEN CAREFULLY

"It will take faith and humility to put her interests above your own in the struggles of life. You have the responsibility to provide for and to nurture the family with her while serving others. That can at times consume all the energy and strength you have. Age and illness may increase your wife’s needs. If you choose even then to put her happiness above your own, I promise you that your love for her will increase."

Experience: I believe this to be true.  I have been truly blessed when I have placed my wife first in my life.  Could I tell very personal story?  About five years ago I was praying one morning asking Heavenly Father what would be the most important thing that I should be doing?  I waited bracing myself for some really hard thing.  Nothing happened. I went to take a shower.  While in the shower a still, small voice came to my mind very distinctly and whispered, "Serve your wife".  I was surprised and quickly re- prioritized my life.  That very day I hung all the pictures and a mirror that I had been avoiding.

SAY - the third thing President Eyring said was to  enlist the entire family to love each other. President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “In an eternal sense, salvation is a family affair. …“Above all else, children need to know and feel they are loved, wanted, and appreciated. They need to be assured of that often.

SAY: I remember a quote from Elder Bednar that we have tried to implement in our family:

Brethren and sisters, when was the last time you took your eternal companion in your arms and said, “I love you”? Parents, when was the last time you sincerely expressed love to your children? Children, when was the last time you told your parents that you love them?
Each of us already knows we should tell the people we love that we love them. But what we know is not always reflected in what we do. We may feel unsure, awkward, or even perhaps a bit embarrassed.

Experience: It started out a little embarrassing but now all my adult children are saying I love you, or Love you.  We say 'I love you when we say good bye to each either in person or on the phone.

Along with this we have been practicing loving kindness when we speak with each other.  I believe we doing better than we ever in helping each other feel loved in our family.

PE said Consistent care of brothers and sisters for each other will come only with persistent effort by parents and the help of God. I see this happening more and more in my family.  It make me happy.

He then says this

"Give children opportunities to pray, when they can pray, for each other in the circle who need blessings. Discern quickly the beginnings of discord and recognize acts of unselfish service, especially to each other. When they pray for each other and serve each other, hearts will be softened and turned to each other and to their parents."

Experience:  "Discern  Quickly"  - Recently one of my sons and I were talking.  Things began to escalate.  I didn't like his tone.  I got defensive.  He got defensive.  All of a sudden I realized what was happening.  I stopped.  I looked at my son and asked him if we could just rewind the last few moments and start over.  He looked at me and said sure.  Both of our hearts were softened.  

The fourth opportunity to lead your family in the Lord’s way comes when discipline is needed. We can meet our obligation to correct in the Lord’s way and then lead our children toward eternal life.

SAY: But, more than the disciplining of the children, President Eyring meant disciplining ourselves. He says this:

You will remember the words, but you may not have seen their power for a Melchizedek Priesthood holder preparing his family for living in the same sociality that they will have in the celestial kingdom. You remember the words. They are so familiar:

SAY: Many of us as we grew may not have seen the power of a Melchizedek Priesthood holder preparing his family to live like we will live together in the celestial kingdom.

SAY: What qualites do we need to develop, what discipline do we as fathers and mothers. as grandfathers and grandmothers to model the way back to heaven? President Eyring then quotes the following: Doctrine and Covenants 121:41–44.

“No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
“By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—
“Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
“That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death."

Does persuasion really work?

Will long suffering bring the desired results?

How about gentleness and meekness? Love unfeigned?

Experiences: Could I tell you an experience I recently had about using unhappiness?  (this is supposed to be funny so laugh).
1. getting upset about something last Thursday.  I got to my next appointment late.  changed into my workout clothes, locked the locker, looked down saw that I will still in my underwear.Things never to right when we are acting our of our unhappiness!

SAY - Until we experiment on these Christ Like attributes we cannot know that really work.

Q: What does it take to develop these attributes of Christ?  If you're like me, it first takes believing that these principles will work.

SAY - After we believe and desire to change we must ask God help.  We ask for grace.  We then show our desire by working at it.  We practice the principle.  We fail and we try again.  After much effort and prayer God grants to us the attribute of Christ that we have been desiring with all sincerity and real intent.

And here is the promise: I Quote from PE's talk

And later the promise comes of great worth for us as fathers in Zion: “The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.”

PE then says:

That is a high standard for us, but when we with faith control our tempers and subdue our pride, the Holy Ghost gives His approval, and sacred promises and covenants become sure.

I know that Jesus is the Christ and is our Savior. I testify that President Thomas S. Monson holds and exercises all the keys of the priesthood on the earth today. I love and sustain him. I believe as we model our lives after our Savior we become examples to our spouse and our children.  We become powerful people the more Christ like we become.  In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.