RS Lesson Summary Jan 11th

Sister Walter gave a wonderful lesson last Sunday The Great Commandment-Love the Lord from the teachings of the church, President Ezra Taft Benson. President Benson was a great man, there are some wonderful stories about his life before he became the prophet, as well as the wonderful relationship he had with his wife. You can read more about it here.

From the Life of Ezra Taft Benson

President Ezra Taft Benson’s life reflected his love for the Lord and his steadfast commitment to living the gospel. An extended family member once said, “To Ezra and his family religion is a complete way of life—something to be lived seven days a week. It takes first place in his consideration when the time comes for making decisions.”¹

1

The first and great commandment is to love the Lord.

The great test of life is obedience to God. “We will prove them herewith,” said the Lord, “to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25).

The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it.

The great commandment of life is to love the Lord.

2

We show our love for God when we put Him first in our lives.

Why did God put the first commandment first? Because He knew that if we truly loved Him we would want to keep all of His other commandments. “For this is the love of God,” says John, “that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3; see also 2 John 1:6).

We must put God in the forefront of everything else in our lives. He must come first, just as He declares in the first of His Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

3

When we choose to put God first in our lives, His blessings come in abundance.

Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.⁹

I testify to you that God’s pay is the best pay that this world or any other world knows anything about. And it comes in full abundance only to those who love the Lord and put Him first.

The great test of life is obedience to God.

The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it.

The great commandment of life is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30).

When we put the Lord first in our lives we are granted peace and comfort when dealing with life's challenges. When our priorities are in the right place we can expect blessings. Sister Walter showed a video about the widow of Zarapah. Luke 4:25-26. We all agreed there are very few people we would feed before we would feed our starving children. But the widow had great faith and she was blessed for feeding the prophet Elijah. You can watch this video clip here.

Sister Welsh challenged each of us for one week to truly put the Lord first in our lives. We can expect to feel great love from the Savior, and see blessings. 

RS Lesson Summary January 4th

Sister Ericson gave a wonderful lesson covering Elder Richard G Scott's recent General Conference talk
Make the Exercise of your Faith your First Priority.


When Adam and Eve were in the garden, there was no opposition, no death. Everything was provided for them. Because there were no challenges, they didn't understand real joy. Eventually Adam and Eve transgressed and they had to leave the garden. They left a perfect situation and became mortal and subject to disease, death, sorrow and progress and happiness. By partaking of the fruit, knowledge and understanding would enter their minds. Good and evil entered the world. They were also blessed with the ability to choose. This is all part of our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness.
We live in difficult times. Times of trial, heartache, but also great opportunity, enlightenment and joy. We were educated in the pre earth life that we needed to come to earth to be tested, to gain a body, to learn and prove our obedience to the Lord.
The life was too full of other things to accommodate what the Lord has asked us to do that the important things had no place. So, she started over. Empty jar, but this time, filled the jar with the eggs first: Prayer, Scripture Study, etc. Then she added everything back into the jar, and all the other things still fit. Once we make the things the Lord has asked us to do a priority we will be surprised at what we can accomplish. We will be able to do all the things we need and want to do, but first we are growing closer to the Savior.We are expanding our testimonies, and growing in spiritual strength.

"We were taught in the premortal world that our purpose in coming here is to be tested, tried, and stretched.³ We knew we would face the evils of the adversary. Sometimes we may feel more aware of the negative things of mortality than we are of the positive. The prophet Lehi taught, “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.”⁴ Despite all of the negative challenges we have in life, we must take time to actively exercise our faith. Such exercise invites the positive, faith-filled power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ into our lives.

Our Father in Heaven has given us tools to help us come unto Christ and exercise faith in His Atonement. When these tools become fundamental habits, they provide the easiest way to find peace in the challenges of mortality. Today I have chosen to discuss four of these tools. As I speak, consider evaluating your personal use of each tool; then seek the guidance of the Lord to determine how you could make better use of each one of them."

Sister Ericson demonstrated how our lives can be filled with lots of good things, but not filled with the things the Lord has asked us to do. There are things we think we HAVE to do, like working, school, housework, exercising, etc. But there are a few things that the Lord has asked us to do that are musts. 

She showed us an empty glass jar which represented our lives. Then she showed several different items that we can fill our jars- rice, pasta, sugar, each representing something we feel we have to do, or things we like to do, like watch tv, go to shows, social media, working, house work, talking on the phone, reading, exercising, etc. Once the jar was completely filled with these things, she showed us four eggs labeled with the words Prayer, FHE, Scripture Study, and Temple Attendance. The jar was so full the eggs had to sit precariously on the top of the jar. 

" These four tools are fundamental habits for securing your life in the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Remember our Savior is the Prince of Peace. Peace in this mortal life comes from His atoning sacrifice. When we are consistently praying morning and night, studying our scriptures daily, having weekly family home evening, and attending the temple regularly, we are actively responding to His invitation to “come unto Him.” The more we develop these habits, the more anxious is Satan to harm us but the less is his ability to do so. Through the use of these tools, we exercise our agency to accept the full gifts of His atoning sacrifice."