Tuesday, September 13, 2022

The Purpose of a Prophet

Recently my ward held a Murder Mystery party based on a story from the Book of Mormon. Through the simulation I thought more about prophets and their purpose. Here are some of my thoughts. 

The story we acted out is found in the Book of Helaman  in chapters 7-10. Nephi the prophet was teaching his people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The people around him are in a state of “awful wickedness.” (Helaman 7:4) Working and living among these people, he had the ability to perform miracles. One of which, was to know the murder plot of the chief judge, Seezrom by his brother Seantum.

Our activity led me to think about the purpose of a prophet.  

  • Is his purpose to know the details of current events? Should the prophet have a daily public briefing where he outlines the corruption of our day and which political leaders to avoid?
  • Is his purpose to condemn the people within his very own society? Is it his responsibility to identify the motives of our civic leaders and steer us to those who will serve us best?
  • Is his purpose to showcase the Priesthood powers he has been given?  Is it his responsibility to show that the Priesthood power is greater than power of the common men around him?

Obviously, the answer to all these questions is no. The purpose of a prophet is none of these things.

Nephi like other people loved the people he served. His whole work was to prepare them to meet God. And the only way we can be prepared to meet God is through receiving the Savior, Jesus Christ, through repentance.

Nephi was given this ability to know this murder plot to help those around him soften their hearts. The miracle was performed to help the people come to Christ and begin preparing to return to the presence of God. Some of their hearts were softened.

We are fortunate to have a prophet today, President Russell M. Nelson. He is not a fortunate teller, or a political analyst. His purpose is not to condemn us. He is a preparer. He prepares us receive the Savior so that we can return to the presence of our Heavenly Father.

I hope not to get lost in the chattering of our day. Instead I hope to listen to the prophet and prepare my heart to continually receive the Savior in order to live with God for forever in peace. Peace is found in following the prophet.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Lost and Found Through Prayer

 For our anniversary my husband gifted me a pair of stud earrings. They were lovely. I was so grateful that in addition to planning a wonderful anniversary date he took the time to get me a gift. I felt loved and appreciated. 

 I was grateful for his token of affection. In an effort to show my gratitude and also not wanting to accidentally lose them, I decided to wear them to bed. In the morning when I awoke, I noticed one earring had been missing. I was shocked and so disappointed. Here I thought I was being careful  and still an earring had gone missing.  Since he was still sleeping in our room, I couldn’t begin my search for it right away. 

Once he and the kids were awake, I announced that my earring had been lost. I felt terrible, but also knew with my kids help it could be found. 


Although I was sad to have lost the earrings I was more sad, about what the loss may have meant to him. I didn’t want him to think I didn’t appreciate the gift and had been careless with it. 


My husband had to go to work, but my kids and I began our search. We checked under the covers of the bed. We moved the nightstand and still no earrings had been found. 


As we were searching, I thought of Christ’s  parable of the Lost Coin (Luke 15: 8-10). In the story a lady has 10 coins and loses one. She is devastated. She tells all her neighbors about the loss. She searches the the whole house, but cannot find the coin. Finally in the evening she finds the coin. She tells her neighbors and all are happy and rejoice in finding the lost coin.


The Savior tells this parable when He is describing God’s joy when even one lost soul is found. It is to teach the people that God will search everywhere for that lost soul to bring him back to safety, salvation, and into His presence. There is value even in the one coin. 


Before I said, my prayer, I thought if I expect God to help me find what is valuable to me and lost, then I need to make a greater effort to help him find who is lost to Him. I decided that each time I prayed to find my earrings, I would also offer a heartfelt prayer for one of my friends.  In my prayer, I would advocate for my friend. I would express my love for this individual (which now I see is only a small fraction of the love He feels for this person). I would pray for her specific concerns that I had noticed. 


I did not pray for her to become baptized or join the Church. I simply prayed for her to feel supported and strengthened. I felt that if she felt that strengthening from something beyond herself that it would help her in finding God. 


As the day went on, every time I went to pray for my earrings, I prayed for a friend. It was a great blessing to me to be reminded of my friends’ struggles and to remember how much I loved them. It was a great blessing to me to see how much God loved them and wanted them to be noticed.


Sure enough by 3 pm, I found the earrings. They had fallen out of some items I had moved from the night stand to the bed and back. Like the woman in the parable of the lost coin, I rejoiced in what was one lost and now had been found. 


As for my friend and other friends, I need to continue to pray for them as earnestly as I prayed to find the earrings. I wonder what God feels about the loss of individuals who do not care to be in His presence. Does he see that I care about His work and those He loves?


Monday, April 16, 2018

The Money Jacket (A lesson on Modesty for Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints


Money Jacket: Your Body is a Temple

Props
·        Jacket or Blazer
·        $1, $5, $10, $20, $50 (The bigger the bills the better)
·        Safety pins

Pin the bills to your jacket strategically placing them.
·        $1 and $5 bills for the arms.
·        $10 bills for the upper arms and shoulders.
·        $20 bills for the collar and neckline
·        $50 bills or highest bills for the chest and all vital organs. Highest bills around the reproductive parts.

Class
·        Walk into your Class wearing your jacket.
·        Start class explaining that you want to talk about Spiritual experiences from the last week. 
§  Tell them you will share one of your own as they think of their own.
§  During this time (They may make joking remarks about the money jacket. They may not, depending if they don’t want to fall into your trap, but usually money especially big money can’t keep them from commenting.)
§  After you share your spiritual experience. Have them share their spiritual experiences.
§  (When I did this lesson, it took the class about 3 to 5 minutes to settle down and focus on a spiritual experience. Before I could speak, the young women were saying things like “Can I have some of that?”   “Where did you get all that money?” “I could use some of that?” (They sounded like a bunch of construction workers at least construction workers from the 1980s, because you know today no man can talk like that. J)
·        After some spiritual experiences have been shared, at least one if you can get it, (That’s hard to do on a regular class day so you may want to set something up  ahead of time with a  student.)
§  Then make a comment about your jacket.
§  “Looks like you all are interested in my jacket.”
§  “Well, I put this money on it because I am proud of the money by husband and I have earned and saved. We have done a good job and I’m proud of our accomplishment.”
§  Here’s some potential questions you may use.
§  What’s wrong with wearing it out like this?
§  Do you think this is the best use of my money? Why or why not?
§  What would be a wiser way to carry my money?
·        Hopefully they come up with a wallet or in the bank.
·        Why is it better to keep it in a wallet or a bank?
§  When you see me with a jacket on like this do you want to talk to me because of my great personality or because of my spirit? Or are you giving me your attention because of my money?
§  What friends do you think will be better friends to me? Friends who like me for my money or friends who like me for me?
§  If I was single, which men do you think will treat me better and be around longer? Men who like me for my money or men who like me for me, my interests, my spirit, my hard work, my character.
§  What if everyone wore a jacket like this? Who would people start to gravitate towards?
·        After awhile people might start gravitating towards the people with the most money first.
·        Then after they find out those people are only about their money they might stop. It might take some time before they figure that out though.
·        The Jacket – Now lets look at the jacket itself.
§  Where are the lowest value bills?
§  Where are the highest value bills?
§  Why would the lower value bills be placed on the arms, verses the higher value bills in the torso?
·        Hopefully they come to the conclusion that the lower value bills are placed on the arms, because the arms aren’t part of my vital organs. Someone shoots me in the arm, I’m more likely to live.  Someone shoots me in my vital parts, I’m less likely to live hence the term “vital” parts.
·        Now lets talk about the vital parts. Let’s name some of the organs in this area. (Heart, Lungs, Stomach, Liver, Kidneys, Reproductive parts.)
·        Your Body is a Temple
§  In the scriptures we are taught your body is a temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
§  Going to the Temple for someone else - You have heard that when you go to the temple, you go the first time for yourself and then every other time you are going for someone else. When you go to the temple you are doing something for someone that they cannot do for themselves.
§  Your body has these vital parts for you. But it also has these vital parts for someone else.
§  Your reproductive parts are not for you. The world would teach you otherwise but they are not for you. Your reproductive parts are to be used for the benefit of someone else and that someone else is your posterity. Now there are blessings that come to you when you use them properly. But for the most part they are they for someone else.
§  Do you see that your body is a temple in that work is being done there for you and for someone else?
§  So this area where your reproductive parts is most valuable.
·        An ideas on the Logistics of your body as a temple -So this is how you may think about your body.
§  From hands to elbows and feet to knees visitors center. Anyone can come there.
§  Elbows to shoulders front lobby of the temple – someone without authority goes there not the worst thing that can happen but they need to be stopped at the front door.
§  Everything in between head to knees is The temple and no one should be permitted there who is not found worthy. Worthy by you and by your parents and frankly the state of CA. Because you are all minors.
§  And this area with your heart and reproductive parts is your holy of holies.  Only one who is most worthy at the appropriate time can go there and that is your spouse.
·       You are too valuable to wear less and be less.
              

The Purpose of a Prophet

Recently my ward held a Murder Mystery party based on a story from the Book of Mormon. Through the simulation I thought more about prophets ...