Making Room

I will no longer be posting on this blog. If you have any concerns or need to contact me, please e-mail or call me. I will write e-mails to parents if I have any announcements or reminders. I will continue to give home study students information when we exchange journals on Sundays. Thank you for supporting the seminary program.

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We were able to hold seminary today. Yay! We ate donuts and watched "To This End Was I Born"-- a powerful part of the seminary dvd.

As difficult as it is to watch this depiction of the crucifixion, it is wonderful to remember the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us-- particularly at this time of year when we celebrate His birth.

Before this world was, He was chosen to be our Savior. He blessed many while He was here and then suffered for each one of us. It is also glorious to remember the resurrection is real. I felt the Spirit particularly strongly during the part of the movie where spirits await Him in the spirit world after His death. It strengthened my testimony. I know that we will be reunited with loved ones after this life. That is immeasurably comforting.

After the movie, we read Omni 1:26 and asked ourselves what we can do to come unto the Savior. It is one of the only gifts we can give Him.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year!!!

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Hopefully, tomorrow's predicted snow storm won't keep us from holding seminary. It will be our last day before the Christmas break. I will keep an eye on the weather report and call everybody if we have to cancel. Either way, we will continue to study Matthew 26 into the New Year. There are many important principles taught and events that occur in this chapter.

Today, we reviewed how a woman who had an alabaster box of very precious ointment used it on Jesus at the Passover Supper. His disciples thought they should have sold it and given it to the poor. Later, Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and sought to betray Jesus. We talked about how strongly people felt about Jesus. They either hated Him or loved Him. There didn't seem to be neutral ground. This contrast in feelings and Judas' actions remind us of a church history story. There was a conversation with Joseph Smith, recounted by Daniel Tyler, an early member of the Church:

“Soon after the Prophet’s arrival in Commerce (afterwards Nauvoo) from Missouri prison, Brother Isaac Behunnin and myself made him a visit at his residence. His persecutions was the topic of conversation. He repeated many false, inconsistent and contradictory statements made [against him] by apostates, frightened members of the Church and outsiders. . . .

“When the Prophet had ended telling how he had been treated, Brother Behunnin remarked: ‘If I should leave this Church I would not do as those men have done: I would go to some remote place where Mormonism had never been heard of[,] settle down, and no one would ever learn that I knew anything about it.’

“The great Seer immediately replied: ‘Brother Behunnin, you don’t know what you would do. No doubt these men once thought as you do. Before you joined this Church you stood on neutral ground. When the gospel was preached good and evil were set before you. You could choose either or neither. There were two opposite masters inviting you to serve them. When you joined this Church you enlisted to serve God. When you did that you left the neutral ground, and you never can get back on to it.’” (Juvenile Instructor, 15 Aug. 1892, 491–92).

A student shared how someone she knows who has left the church is very negative about it. People who once had a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel are often the church's worst enemies. At the very least, church-related things bother them. They can't seem to leave them alone.

We talked about Matthew 26:26–29 and the important symbolism of the sacrament. We watched a clip of Elder Perry talking about the sacredness and blessing of partaking of it. Then we read this quote by Elder Spencer W. Kimball, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve:

“Every time we take the bread and water, there should be a reconsecration, a rededication. When we are not living the commandments, when we are in transgression, when we have angers and hatreds and bitterness, we should consider seriously if we should take the sacrament” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 225).

We also read 1 Corinthians 11:23–29 which helps us remember the importance of partaking worthily.

Toward the end of class, we read Matthew 26:30. Right after the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn together. Singing hymns is an important blessing. In part, the First Presidency Preface to Hymns found in the hymn book says:

“Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord.

"Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end.”

To finish class, I read the words of one of my favorite sacrament hymns: ("In Humility," LDS hymn #172. Lyrics by Mabel Jones Gabbott)

In humility, our Savior,
Grant thy Spirit here, we pray,
As we bless the bread and water
In thy name this holy day.
Let me not forget, O Savior,
Thou didst bleed and die for me
When thy heart was stilled and broken
On the cross at Calvary.

Fill our hearts with sweet forgiving;
Teach us tolerance and love.
Let our prayers find access to thee
In thy holy courts above.
Then, when we have proven worthy
Of thy sacrifice divine,
Lord, let us regain they presence;
Let thy glory round us shine.

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I love days like today when the students do an amazing job teaching each other. I divided them into two groups to study the parables in Matthew 25. One group studied the parable of the 10 virgins and the other studied the parable of the talents.

After they drew pictures of the parables, they explained what happens in them. They also answered how the parables relate to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, how they apply to us today, and how we can better prepare for the Second Coming because we know them. The students did an excellent job.

From Elder Harold B. Lee, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, we learn that the virgins symbolize “those who were professed believers in Christ” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1951, 26).

President Spencer W. Kimball said:

“In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures—each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store” (Faith Precedes the Miracle [1972], 256).

There is another parable in Matthew 25-- the parable of the sheep and goats. We discussed this a few weeks ago when we studied our scripture mastery scripture Matthew 25:40.

We finished the class by reading Mosiah 26:25-27 and with a testimony that if we apply what we've learned from these parables, we will be prepared for the Second Coming.

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Can you recognize at least one of the three famous people from these cut up magazine pieces? One is a musician, producer, and critic; one is a teenage rockstar; and one is a movie director and actor.

It can be as easy to recognize the signs of the Second Coming as it is to recognize the picture of a famous person. You just have to have all the puzzle pieces and put them together. Our lesson today focused on Matthew 24 and its translation in Joseph Smith-Matthew which tell signs of the Second Coming.

The students searched the scriptures for these signs and wrote them on a chart with the following information from the seminary teacher's manual:

"JS—M 1:22
False Christs and prophets will do miracles to deceive the elect.
JS—M 1:23, 28
There will be wars and rumors of wars.
JS—M 1:26
Christ will come as the sun in the east. All the earth will know He has come.
JS—M 1:27
The righteous will be gathered.
JS—M 1:29
There will be wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes.
JS—M 1:30
Wickedness and hatred will abound.
JS—M 1:31
The gospel will be preached in all the world, and then the wicked will be destroyed.
JS—M 1:32
The “abomination of desolation” will be fulfilled a second time.
JS—M 1:33
The sun and moon will not shine, and the stars will fall.
JS—M 1:34–35
All the prophecies will be fulfilled."

We discussed the students' answers. Then I asked them how they feel about the Second Coming. One student said she knows that as long as she is living the way she knows she should, she doesn't need to worry about it. We read Doctrine and Covenants 97:21–22, 25 that confirmed her answer. These verses shows that as we keep the commandments, we will be prepared for the calamities that precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

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These three red cups represent people. I asked the students which one they would like to drink from. One said the one on the left. One said the one on the right. Nobody wanted to drink from the one in the middle. When they looked inside, they could see that the one on the left looked fine on the outside, but it was dirty inside. The one in the middle looked dirty on the outside, but it was really clean on the inside. The one on the right was clean on the inside and also on the outside. The first two cups represent types of hypocrisy.

We watched a video clip of President N. Eldon Tanner about this:

“Harry Emerson Fosdick observed that there are two kinds of hypocrisy: when we try to appear better than we are, and when we let ourselves appear worse than we are. We have been speaking of the kind of hypocrisy where people pretend to be more or better than they are. Too often, however, we see members of the Church who in their hearts know and believe, but through fear of public opinion fail to stand up and be counted. This kind of hypocrisy is as serious as the other” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, 52–53).

I was particularly interested in this quote because it's a common problem among youth. It is difficult to be different, to stand out. In order to blend in, it can be tempting to misrepresent ourselves.

We read Matthew 23:1-12 and listed ways that the Pharisees were hypocritcal. Then we attempted to make a "pathway of woe" by looking at the rest of Matthew 23 and noting the things Jesus said the scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites did and what we should do instead in order to follow the "pathway to happiness." Unfortunately, we didn't have time to finish this activity. We also didn't have time to study Mark 12. We will take time at the beginning of tomorrow's class.

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Wintry weather kept us home today. This is the view outside my front door an hour ago. Parents should have received an e-mail with the home study assignment. Please let me know if you didn't get one. Also, if you would like me to print out a copy and bring it to church on Sunday or Monday, I'll be happy to do that.

The lesson is on Matthew 22. Students should carefully read the assignment and the Study Guide material, do the activities, and fill out the chart I provided in the assignment.

What follows is a list of some of the principles taught in Matthew 22. I took these directly from a completed chart the students will be filling out. These are not all of the principles taught there and they are a little out of order. The students only need to write the principles on the chart that they discover in their reading.

1. All things are possible to those who ask God with faith.

2. Through repentance we can serve our Heavenly Father.

3. The Lord will accept those who follow Him willingly and correctly.

4. The great commandment is to love God.

5. The second great commandment is to love others.

6. The Resurrection is real-- those who aren’t sealed won’t be married in the Resurrection (see also D&C 132:15–16).

By putting forth an effort to do the home study assignment, I am confident the students will be blessed and will increase their testimonies of these principles.