Thirteen

The object lesson of the day: Here are two tangelos.

If you put them in water, they float.

When you peel one, it sinks. What keeps the tangelo with the peel afloat?

Bouyancy. The peel of the tangelo is less dense than the inside. It acts like a little life jacket. Not only that, it keeps the tangelo sweet and fresh.

The peel of the tangelo is like our ability to resist temptation. If we are close to the Spirit and do all those things that help us keep the Spirit with us, we are protected from evil and temptation. The adversary has no power over us if we live righteously (1 Nephi 22:26). Without the protection of the Spirit, it is easy to sink into temptation.

As a class, we listed on the board how Jesus Christ gave the perfect example of resisting temptation. In Matthew 4:1-11 we learn that He was tempted to turn stones to bread, to jump from the pinnacle of the temple, and to worship the devil in exchange for worldly power. To protect Himself from temptation, the Savior fasted, communed with His father, quoted truths from the scriptures, and left the tempter and place of temptation. As D&C 20:22 tells us, He gave no heed to the temptations that were put before Him.

We also face temptations of the appetite; pride and vanity; and riches and power. We can follow the Savior's example and resist those temptations. We can live worthily to have the Spirit with us to keep us afloat.

If we succumb to temptation, we can repent. Mosiah 26:29-32 talks about that reality. The adversary wants us to believe it's too late, that we're not good enough, and that we can't return to our Heavenly Father or feel the Spirit again since we've made a mistake. Verse 30 says, "Yea, and as often as my people repent I will forgive them their trespasses against me." The truth is: we can repent. It's not too late. He loves us even when we make mistakes. He will help us if we turn to Him.

We had some great discussion about our scripture mastery scripture today: Romans 1:16, which talks about not being ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Most people will respect and look up to us if we live what we believe and are not ashamed of it. As a teenager, it's easy to want to fit in and to not seem different or weird. It's a temptation to feel ashamed. We don't have to listen. We can be confident about who we are and what we believe.

We have a small group: two home study students and only six students who come to class. Three weren't there today. We miss those who aren't with us.