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BACKGROUND
There is only one section to cover this week and I want to begin by saying that every section of the Doctrine and Covenants has great value and something to offer us. That said, section 63 doesn't seem to stand out as being as remarkable or unique as say, a section 58, or 76, or even 64 that we'll take a look at next week, so I'm a little surprised that the manual dedicates an entire week to it, but that said, there are some great and valuable truths that we can learn from section 63. I will begin by saying, though, that sometimes people find the tone of section 63 a bit troubling. It's a little, what word should I use, um, harsher than most. I don't want to say angry, but stronger or more critical than many of the other sections we've seen so far this year. A few examples of this:
Verses 2-6
2 Yea, verily, I say, hear the word of him whose anger is kindled against the wicked and rebellious;
3 Who willeth to take even them whom he will take, and preserveth in life them whom he will preserve;
4 Who buildeth up at his own will and pleasure; and destroyeth when he pleases and is able to cast the soul down to hell.
5 Behold, I, the Lord, utter my voice, and it shall be obeyed.
6 Wherefore, verily I say, let the wicked take heed, and let the rebellious fear and tremble; and let the unbelieving hold their lips, for the day of wrath shall come upon them as a whirlwind, and all flesh shall know that I am God.
Verse 17
Certain people "shall have their part in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Verse 54
"And in that day will I send mine angels to pluck out the wicked and cast them into unquenchable fire."
Verse 58
58 For this is a day of warning, and not a day of many words. For I, the Lord, am not to be mocked in the last days.
And then the final word in the section besides Amen, is condemnation in Verse 66
And those are just a few examples from the section, there are more. We're not as used to this kind of language coming from the prophet's nowadays, are we? It doesn't settle as well on modern ears. We prefer the calm, reassuring voices of an Elder Uchtdorf, or a President Nelson. But, the Lord knows his audience and what they most need to hear. The people of that time were a little more used to that kind of preaching. That Puritan, hellfire and brimstone, kind of approach so perhaps the Lord knew that they would respond better to that. The background to the section can also shed some light on the reason for the tone here. When Joseph returns to Kirtland from Missouri, things have deteriorated a bit in his absence. There has been some apostasy, some criticism of Joseph's leadership, some reports of adultery and other sins among the members. And not only that, but if you dig a little into the current events of this time and some of the things going on in the world it might help shed some light on the seeming exasperation here. The African slave trade is going full tilt at this point, the British are on an Imperial quest for world domination, there's opium addiction in China, the serfdom system in Russia, the industrial revolution creating terrible conditions for the poor, native populations are being wiped out in places like Australia and others--the world is kind of a mess and perhaps the Lord is expecting a bit more out of his Saints. Like "I was hoping my Saints could be doing a little bit better". I don't claim to know the mind of God, but it's hard to miss the tone of the section. And granted, sometimes that's exactly the kind of message we need to hear. Correction and rebuke are necessary at times. Revelation 3:19
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Regardless of that overall tone, there is still hope, instruction, promise, and inspiration in this section as well. So, let's see what we can find.
ICEBREAKER
I'm going to approach this week a bit differently than usual and I hope that's OK. I'd like to use this section to illustrate the importance of variety when it comes to teaching. It's not always good to approach every lesson in the exact same way, especially if you're teaching the youth. So on occasion, to change up the pace a little bit, I might do an activity lesson. Section 63 is a good place to do this because there are a lot of varied principles and messages found in it. It's a little more difficult to pull together an overall unifying message here. This activity will allow you to cover a lot of different principles in a short amount of time. And have some fun doing it. So this week I'd like to introduce you to a learning activity that has worked really well for me over the years. Truly, it's one of my students’ favorite things to do and it's very simple to play. It's called The Grid. And I can't take credit for this activity, I have to give that to my good friend Kevin Woodbrey who introduced it to me years ago. But here's how it works.
I have a number of different principles from section 63 that I've discovered in my personal study. I've listed and mixed up all these principles onto one sheet of paper, including some that don't come from section 63, to make it a bit more challenging. I then divide my class up into teams (and teams of four seem to work best) and I give them the principle sheet. I also give each of my teams a small whiteboard and an erasable marker as well. For whiteboards you can either buy a set from Amazon which I'll put a link to in the description below for you (https://amzn.to/34xK5AV) or you can do what I did years ago, and I went to Home Depot where they have large sheets of whiteboard and I had them cut it into 12 in by 12 in squares. And those have come in handy over the years as I've used them in numerous activities.
Well, then you are going to give them a verse or verses of scripture from section 63. As teams, they'll race to those verses and determine which letter has the principle with the best match. They write down that letter and raise it up for the teacher to see. Whichever team raises the correct letter first, wins the round and gets a chance to select a number from the grid and follow the instructions beneath it. If you want to discourage guessing, you can tell them that once they've raised a letter, they can't put up another one until all the other teams have had a chance to raise one first. Now when they select a number, you click on it and underneath each is either an instruction or a point value.
Some of the possible point values are
5 points
10 points
25 points
50 points
100 points
-5 points
-10 points and
-25 points
They might also find an instruction underneath.
Some of the possible instructions you might find are:
Pick two more. Which allows them to pick two more numbers.
Bring them to your level. Which means they select another team to have the same score as they do.
Match. Which means they can pick any of the other teams scores to match and make as their own.
Double. Which means they double their score
Triple. Which means they triple their score
A bomb, I always put one bomb on the board which causes a team to lose all their points.
And then Swap. Which means they have to switch their score with another team, which can either be good or bad thing depending on whether your team is ahead or behind.
Whatever point value that appears, that will be added or deducted from their total score.
Well, you just go through the game like that until you run out of time, or you finish all the principles. Whichever team has the highest score at the end, wins!
What works really well with this activity is the fact that it is so unpredictable, with swaps and bombs and matches, that really any team can win by the end. Sometimes you might get a team that seems to dominate with the most correct answers, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will win. They could get a SWAP right at the very end. This keeps the other teams motivated to keep trying their best, because anything can happen.
I'm going to make both the principle sheet and the game template available for download at my Etsy site if you're interested. Just be sure to select "Enable Macros" when you open the game slide, or it won't work.
So what we'll do for the rest of the video is I'll give you the verses of scripture that I found principles in and I'll tell you the correct match. And since I know that a lot of you join me not only for the teaching ideas, but for insight into the scriptures, I'll provide you with a little bit of commentary on each principle as we go. As you do the activity with your students, you may also want to provide a little commentary so that it's more than just a game, but a learning experience as well. We'll go through these verses in order to keep it easy to follow here on the video, but I wouldn't necessarily do that if I were actually doing the activity with my students.
Now if you're teaching adults, this may not be the greatest approach, but who knows, maybe it would? Another idea though, I might pass out some pieces of paper with some of the blocks of verses I have here and have them identify their own truths from those parts and then encourage a class discussion based on what's shared.
Anyway that you do it, here are some possible thoughts as to what might be discussed.
The Section Heading.
The Match: J
We should seek Godly wisdom on all things related to our salvation.
I love that description of the Saints desires here in the Section heading. "there was a great anxiety to obtain the word of the Lord upon every subject that in any way concerned our salvation". What a wonderful attitude. They had great anxiety to obtain the word of the Lord. Do we feel that same anxiety? Do we seek the word of the Lord on every subject that in any way concerns our salvation? Joseph Smith and the early Saints had a deep thirst and hunger for more of God's wisdom. And therefore, they got it. He that asks shall receive, and he that seeks, shall find. Do you remember that scene from the musical Oliver, when he asks for more food? And then the headmaster screams and punishes him. More! That's not how our Heavenly Father reacts. He likes to give more. It's OK to ask for more. Now we don't want to take that too far and become slothful servants either, BUT we can always be reaching for more light and truth. We believe in a God that likes to give more to those who seek it. 2 Nephi 28:30. "for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have."
:2, 6
Match: P
The Lord is displeased with the wicked, the rebellious, and the unbelieving.
Those three terms are interesting to me. I think we often lump those all together into the same group, thinking they mean the same thing, but perhaps there’s some nuance there. Is there a difference between wickedness, rebelliousness and unbelief? I think we can parse that out a bit. The wicked are those who neither really know or do the will of the Lord and perhaps they don't even care. Maybe there's even an element of ignorance attached to their wickedness. The rebellious, on the other hand, are those who know the truth but won't do it. They have received a knowledge and an understanding of the will of God and yet choose to rebel against it. This is the cry of anti-authority. Some people just don't want to be told what to do, no matter what it is. Unfortunately, that seems to be a part of the American spirit doesn't it. Don't tell me what to do. You're not the boss of me. I'm free to do whatever I want. That sometimes becomes the ultimate value, even above right and wrong, or wisdom and foolishness. The truth is rejected for the sole reason that it's coming from someone in a position of authority and nobody's going to tell me what to do. I did it my way. How sad is that? And the unbelieving are those who refuse to know. They may not even be acting against the will of God, but there's no faith behind their actions. They don't believe in a higher power, a higher law, or a higher knowledge. Can atheists be good people? Sure. I don't think they need to be classified as wicked. But they're unbelieving. They completely reject the idea and necessity of faith. Hopefully we don't find ourselves in any of those groups or we may eventually find ourselves facing a "day of wrath".
:9-12
Match: A
Signs typically follow faith and confirm it, but they do a terrible job of creating it.
Sign seekers are those who refuse to believe with their spiritual eyes, until they've witnessed something miraculous with their natural eyes. Unfortunately for them, signs are designed to build on faith that already exists. Miracles are an excellent framing material for testimony, but are a terrible foundation. In building, you use concrete for the foundation and wood for the frame. Both are great building materials but need to be used in the proper place and time. Imagine building a building with a wood foundation on the ground and a concrete frame. I'm no architect, but I can imagine that building is not going to stand for long. Signs follow faith but don't do a good job of creating it. Laman and Lemuel saw an angel and yet continued to rebel against God. The children of Israel saw the Red Sea part, and yet they're building a golden calf a short time later. At this time in Church History, there's a man named Ezra Booth that had joined the early after witnessing a miraculous healing performed by Joseph Smith. A woman named Alice Johnson had a debilitated arm and Joseph walks up and commands her to be healed, and she is. And yet, a short time later, Ezra apostatizes from the church and becomes a bitter enemy to it. His foundation was backwards. Signs follow faith. Faith precedes the miracle. However, you'll notice that I had to add the word typically in that principle, and that's because there have been occasions where signs were given to those that did not have initial faith. In verse 11, the Lord says that for those that are without faith, "unto such he showeth no signs, only in wrath unto their condemnation". So sometimes he will show the wicked signs, but they're never good ones. Korihor from the Book of Mormon is a good example of this. He demanded a sign. And the Lord's sign to him was that he would be struck dumb, which eventually leads to his downfall and death. So be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it. Signs don't come by the will of man, but by the will of God. They are generous and I would argue usually infrequent examples of God's miraculous power.
12 Wherefore, I, the Lord, am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory.
Usually that's the reason we want a sign. We want our curiosity satisfied, or undeniable confirmation of what is being taught by the scriptures or prophets. We forget that "The just shall live by faith" (Hebrew 10:38) If we seek a sign for the good of men unto God's glory, though, that's different. Because it's not focused on us. But others and God. Selfish sign seeking doesn't usually work. But unselfish seeking of God's hand in the affairs of mankind can and does often produce miracles. Now I'm not as concerned that there are many members out there that are demanding a lot of miraculous signs like this or they won't believe. They're not asking for the "Red Sea Parting" kind of miracles. But perhaps we seek for signs in a different way. Maybe we get too wrapped up in the world confirming church doctrine. I'll believe it when there's scientific proof backing it up. I want DNA confirmation for the Book of Mormon, I want nutritionists to confirm the Word of Wisdom, I want social scientists to tell me why I should avoid pornography. Or, I can trust my Heavenly Father and his prophets. They don't need to be propped up by the experts and the philosophies of men. Now it's nice when they do and it's ok to be comforted by that, but it's not needed. We don't need a sign. We live by faith.
:13-18
Match: O
Lust, adultery, and sexual sin are snares that bring a loss of the Spirit, a denial of faith, and fear.
Apparently, adultery and lust had crept in among the early congregations of the church at this time. Sadly, this still continues to be an issue today. And the world certainly doesn't help, does it? We're surrounded by messages and images of immorality. An effort by the adversary to portray sex as casual has largely been successful in the world. It's in advertising, it's on magazine covers, it's in movies, on television, in books. The world revels in sensuality and indulgence. I'm always a bit annoyed by the hypocrisy of Hollywood that bills itself as progressive and empowering of women while at the same time they fill their screens with sex and nudity and sensuality and immodesty. The world inspires and fuels lust. Now lust is one of Satan's counterfeits. It's a counterfeit for love and affection. Lust is completely focused on self. The other person is seen as an object of selfish sexual gratification and not as a precious son or daughter of God with infinite worth and potential. There is no partnership or commitment in lust. That's why it's so fleeting and prone to change and we have individuals who jump from partner to partner, relationship to relationship without ever experiencing love. They say, this other person no longer makes ME feel a certain way. So I need to go find another person that inspires that excitement and attraction and intensity that I once felt for this other person. It's not love, it's lust, and that intensity of passion, doesn't last. It can't. It's not natural to. But love is committed, it works through difficulties, it understands, and forgives and compromises. It's realistic. The words are so interesting here. Snare and folly. A snare is a trap that lures the victim in with a promise of reward. With bait. Like it says in Proverbs 7:23:
"Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life."
Lust works this way. It draws you in without many even realizing that their life is on the line. Their spiritual life. Their peace. Their current or future relationships.
Verse 16 reminds us that "he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, or if any shall commit adultery in their hearts, they shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear."
I think that sheds some light on another major problem in today's world, pornography. Some say pornography isn't that bad because it doesn't hurt anybody. I beg to differ. It hurts plenty. It hurts spouses, it hurts children, it hurts communities, it hurts the individual involved in it. Pornography kills love. Others in the world argue that pornography is only natural for people (particularly men) to want to look at it. And I argue, what's natural about it? When has it ever, in the history of the world, been possible for a person to have access to so many different partners, albeit virtual. It isn't natural and it isn't healthy. Spiritually or psychologically.
What are the consequences of lust? Adultery? or Pornography? One. They shall not have the Spirit. We lose the Spirit when we indulge in lust. We lose its guidance, its comfort, its peace. Lust causes us to deny the faith. Lust is corrosive to the foundation of faith. I know of a number of individuals that have been turned from the truth and the gospel and the church because of, at least in part, their lustful addictions. And finally, lust leads to fear. How does lust breed fear? Fear of being found out. Fear of God's judgment. And generally speaking, lust destroys our peace of mind and sucks us deeper and deeper away from the things that bring us true joy and fulfillment.
:20, 23
Match: H
Obedience to God's commandments leads to strength against sin, blessings at Christ's coming, greater knowledge, and everlasting life.
This is a great list of some of the blessings of obedience. First, we will overcome. We'll overcome temptation, we'll overcome evil, we'll overcome the world. There is the promise of an inheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration will come. At the second coming, it's the obedient that will be preserved and saved. The meek truly will inherit the earth. And to the obedient, God will give the "mysteries of my kingdom" which will be like a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life. We've seen a few symbols for truth so far in the Doctrine and Covenants. It's light, it's food, and here, it's water. Like the woman at the well who desired that kind of water so that she wouldn't have to go to the well every day to draw from it. This makes sense to me as someone who backpacks in the dessert quite frequently. Water is a huge concern. I always want to know where the water sources are. I always bring a water purifier. I always carry more than I think I will need. Which isn't always easy because water is so heavy to carry. But wouldn't it be great if I didn't have to worry about gathering water? That it was just always available within me? The freedom that would give me to travel as far as I wanted. The peace of mind that would give me. The comfort. The confidence. Obedience does the same for us on a spiritual level. You can walk with confidence through life with obedience.
:25-26
Match: G
God himself honors and respects the righteous laws of governments and so should we.
I think we can all agree that God's laws are higher than man's laws, but the Lord is going to give some very practical advice to the Saints. He assures them that Zion is in his hands. It belongs to Him. However, he renders unto Caesar the things which are Caesars. So, he recognizes that his Saints have to live in Caesar's world and play by his rules. So in verse 27 he says, purchase the land. Do this according to the laws of the land. Do it the right way. Legally. Don't run into Jackson County telling all the original settlers that this is Zion and that eventually it's going to all belong to the Church, and the wicked will be destroyed, which was a mistake that many of the early members made. They are, at least in part, to blame for some of the animosity that would later be directed at them. The Lord here is cautioning them to do things in a measured way, according to law, so that they would have advantage of the world and claim on the land, so that the other settlers would not be stirred up to anger. We should remember the same principle. We need to be sensitive and wise when it comes to our dealings with those of the world. A little more sensitivity here to Caesar's world might have gone a long way to preventing some of the things that we're going to see happening to the Saints later on this year. Remember section 58 which said:
21 Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.
22 Wherefore, be subject to the powers that be.
If only the Saints had been a bit more sensitive to this direction, perhaps things could have gone differently.
:33
Match: N
In the last days, God won’t have to destroy the wicked. The wicked will destroy themselves.
This is a theme you see in many places in the scriptures. Particularly in the Book of Revelation. The battle of Armageddon in the last days is not a battle between good and evil. But a battle between evil and evil. Zion basically sits back and watches Satan's kingdom self-implode. The wicked destroy themselves rather than the righteous or even God having to do it. We'll look more closely at that idea when we get to Sections 87 and 88 but the principle stands true. Even on a personal level that seems to be the case. I don't think God usually has to punish the wicked or destroy them. The natural consequences of sin do that. The wicked are punished more often by their sins than for them.
:34
Match: C
The Lord will protect the righteous from the spiritual dangers of the last days.
As long as we're righteous and committed to Christ, we need not fear any spiritual danger or consequence in our lives. But physical calamities, there's not a guarantee. Joseph Smith said:
“It is a false idea that the Saints will escape all the judgments, whilst the wicked suffer; for all flesh is subject to suffer, and ‘the righteous shall hardly escape;’ … many of the righteous shall fall a prey to disease, to pestilence, etc., by reason of the weakness of the flesh, and yet be saved in the Kingdom of God” (in History of the Church, 4:11; see also Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839, vol. 1 of the Journals series of The Joseph Smith Papers [2008], 352–53).
So yes, even Saints will perish, BUT they will be saved in the Kingdom of God, they will escape the dangers that really matter most. Personally, I'm not as afraid of the physical calamities of the last days as I am the spiritual ones. I'd much rather die in an actual earthquake than have my testimony crumble in a spiritual one. I'd much rather die from an actual disease, than catch the disease of hatred or unbelief. I'd much rather die in an actual war, than lose my spiritual war with the adversary. We may hardly escape the physical calamities, but we will most assuredly escape the spiritual ones.
The end of this verse says the wicked will be destroyed by unquenchable fire. I'm intrigued by the promise of Nephi in 1 Nephi 22:17:
17 Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.
Interesting. The wicked destroyed by fire while the righteous are preserved by it. Perhaps fire here is symbolic of God's laws or justice. The same power that condemns the wicked, will justify and protect the righteous.
:37
Match: I
We can warn the world not only by our words, but also by the things we avoid.
I like this one. I pull it from the phrase there near the end that says, "and declare both by word and by flight that desolation shall come upon the wicked." So yes, we lift up our voices, we open our mouths and declare the gospel with a voice of warning in the last days. We preach his word. But there's another way we can testify. We testify by flight. By the things we flee from. What does that say to others? Imagine you're walking towards the beach when all of a sudden, a huge crowd of people are screaming and running in the other direction towards you? What would you do? You'd turn around and run as well, wouldn't you? You probably wouldn't stop to ask questions. Their flight is a testimony to you that danger is coming. The Tsunami of sin is heading in your direction, and you don't want to get swept up in it. So you run. What things do we flee from? From immorality, pornography, alcohol and drug use, dishonesty, and hatred. The things we run from will hopefully give our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends reason to pause and ask what the danger is. They too may be convinced to run as well. I know of a man whose initial interest in the church came when he discovered that his coworker refused to drink alcohol as part of his religion. It made him curious enough to want to learn more about a faith that would counsel and inspire its members to do so.
:40
Match: K
As long as we are giving with the right attitude, it doesn't matter if it's a lot or a little.
In the past couple of lessons, we've seen a bit of the "it mattereth not" principle. Here we've got it again, and this time, it's in terms of amount. Joseph is gathering up all the donations that he can for the building up of Zion. Some of the members in Kirtland could probably afford to give much in support of that cause, while others, I'm sure, could only give a little. Well God says that the amount doesn't matter, but just give to give what they could. They who give much are no better than they who give little. It's a matter of the heart. That's what God is after anyway. The smallest tithing donation paid by the primary child is no greater in the eyes of God than the tithing payment made by the millionaire. Both are accepted and appreciated by God. It's the attitude in which they're given that God is most concerned. Are they giving with "the heart and a willing mind”? This applies in other areas as well. Time, talents, service. Give what you can with the proper attitude, and your offering will be accepted by the Lord. Remember the widow's mites. Her sacrifice was little as far as the amount, but her attitude of giving and a willingness to sacrifice is was Christ saw and pointed out to his disciples. The how is far more critical than the what.
:48
Match: B
Those that sacrifice for Zion will be blessed both now and later.
That's a comforting principle. Sacrifice provides a gift that just keeps giving. It produces now and in the future. Like a fruit tree. It's an investment that produces year after year. I love that we call the process by which we make certain covenants in the temple the "endowment". An endowment is a special kind of gift. It's when you give a person or an organization a certain amount of money. But they can't actually spend that initial donation. It's invested and the interest that it produces can be used. In that way, an endowment becomes a gift that gives year after year. God's blessings are like that. There are immediate rewards for obedience and sacrifice, but there are even greater ones awaiting us in the future as well.
:61-64
Match: F
The name of Christ is sacred and should be spoken with respect and reverence.
The classic example of this principle comes from the life of Spencer W. Kimball.
“At St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City [President Spencer W. Kimball] was put under total anesthesia and operated on, then wheeled on a table back toward his room. Still drugged, Spencer sensed his table stop by an elevator and heard the orderly, angry at something, profaning the Lord’s name. Half-conscious, he pleaded with labored sounds: ‘Please don’t say that. I love Him more than anything in this world. Please.’ An absolute silence. Then the orderly answered softly: ‘I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry’” (Edward L. Kimball and Andrew E. Kimball Jr., Spencer W. Kimball: Twelfth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [1977], 264).
This is a disturbing trend in the last days isn't it. How diabolical is it that the names of deity have become curse words in a sense? Who else could be behind that but Satan right? He has no love or respect for God or Christ, and so he tempts us to throw their names around in a common or derogatory way. I think this truth can apply to all offensive language. I've heard some argue that foul language really isn't that big a deal. I mean they're just words. But that's a terrible argument. Yes, the actual letters and sounds that come out of our mouths are arbitrary. But what is language? It's an agreement between members of a society that certain sounds carry a meaning. So we've agreed that certain words are offensive. That we mean to communicate offense or disrespect. Words carry meanings. And when we use the Lord's name in vain, or use foul language, we communicate that feeling to those around us. So we might ask ourselves: "Is there consistency in the way I use my tongue? Does the same tongue that gives a priesthood blessing, later make violent threats to his fellowman? Does the same tongue that sings a lullaby to a baby, later spread gossip and rumor about a neighbor? Does the same tongue that blesses the sacrament, later tell a dirty joke? Does the same tongue that utters a prayer to God, utter foul and offensive language to others? Hopefully not.
:66
Match: L
Patience in opposition will bring far greater blessings in the future.
One of my favorite phrases comes from this verse. It's something that Paul also says. That such may receive a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. What a beautiful expression. The weight of glory. Weight suggests responsibility or obligation. But it's a glorious responsibility and obligation. Something to be admired, desired, and yearned for. It's a privilege to have burden or weight. Being a member of Christ's church carries a weight doesn't it. It's not always easy. He demands sacrifice, and change, and work. But it's glorious. It's worth it. So what quality are we going to need in order to fulfill that responsibility and obligation. Patience. Patience with ourselves, patience with our spouses, and families, and ward members, patience with life, and patience with our Heavenly Father and trusting in his wisdom timing. But the glory is there. It's with us now, and it will be even more exceedingly great in the future. We just need to be patient until then.
CONCLUSION
Well, I hope that the way I covered those principles this time was beneficial to you. Like I said, a little bit of a different method this week. Remember, that variety can go a long way when you are consistently teaching a group of people over a period of time. The principles this week were many and varied, but certainly valuable and enlightening. I testify that what we've talked about today is true and that if we live by these principles, the promised blessings that accompany them will undoubtedly come to pass.
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