RS Lesson 9/27/2020 - A Perfect Brightness of Hope

RS Lesson - Two Perspectives

A Perfect Brightness of Hope by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland 

 

Cynthia Stevenson - North Relief Society 

Elder Holland starts off his April 2020 talk, A Perfect Brightness of Hope, by quoting President Nelson, “Last October, President Russell M. Nelson invited us to look ahead to this April 2020 conference…” How are we looking ahead to October’s 2020 General Conference? 

 

The second part of that quote included the rest of the invitation, “by looking back to see the majesty of God’s hand in restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ.” If we were to apply that to ourselves personally, we might tweak the question to say, “How can we look ahead to October’s 2020 General Conference by looking back to see the majesty of God’s hand in our own restoration and in our own lives?” 

 

Questions are a great way to connect with God. “Ask and ye shall receive, knock, and it shall be opened unto you”(D&C 4). The kinds of questions we ask and the way we ask them are important. Honest seeking is something that I have learned that God smiles upon. 

 

In imagining an 1800 setting, Elder Holland asks, “What’s missing here?” We could also ask that and many other questions:  What’s missing in my life?   What should I ask God for?  What actions do I need to change? How can I make a positive difference in my life or the life of someone else? 

 

And a final question we can ask ourselves, “What do we hope God will provide in response to our spiritual longing?”  This is just the first paragraph of that talk.

 

I am asking those questions and seeing great changes in my life. I have a bit of social anxiety. I have felt God’s hand in my life as I ask Him those same questions. I’ve felt him deliver up guidance on a silver platter as I ask for it. For example, this week, I personally asked what I could do to be ready for the next General Conference. My answer: delete my Facebook and Instagram apps (not my accounts, just the apps) and fast for a week or two. The peace in  my  life has increased. God knows what we personally need. The ways of God are often very simple but often difficult for us to do.  I invite you to ask God and yourself the same kinds of questions and then trust and follow His guidance, “I echo the sentiment of a beautiful young returned sister missionary who said to us in Johannesburg just a few months ago, “[We] did not come this far only to come this far. 

 

 

As we do this we can build and hold onto hope of better days to come. I’d like to end with few quotes from Elder Holland’s talk that inspire our holding onto hope in Christ were very inspiring to me

So, I ask, “If so many of our 1820 hopes could begin to be fulfilled with a flash of divine light to a mere boy kneeling in a patch of trees in upstate New York, why should we not hope that righteous desires and Christlike yearnings can still be marvelously, miraculously answered by the God of all hope?” We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, someway, somehow yet be ours.

..many religious leaders [of the day] seem clueless” ... offering in response “a thin gruel of therapeutic deism, cheap symbolic activism, carefully couched heresy, [or sometimes just] uninspiring nonsense”—and all at a time when the world needs so much more, when the rising generation deserves so much more, and when in Jesus’s day He offered so much more. As disciples of Christ, we can in our day rise above those ancient Israelites who moaned, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost.” Indeed, if we finally lose hope, we lose our last sustaining possession.

The gifts and blessings that flow from that gospel mean everything to me—everything—so in an effort to thank my Father in Heaven for them, I have “promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” May we press forward with love in our hearts, walking in the “brightness of hope” that lights the path of holy anticipation we have been on now for 200 years. I testify that the future is going to be as miracle-filled and bountifully blessed as the past has been. We have every reason to hope for blessings even greater than those we have already received because this is the work of Almighty God, this is the Church of continuing revelation, this is the gospel of Christ’s unlimited grace and benevolence.

I know that if we continue day by day with the view that we can become as Christ and our Heavenly Parents want us to become, that we will feel a partnership with Him. We’ll feel the Spirit guiding us personally. I believe that this is the way to hear Him, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

Kess Larson - South Relief Society

 

Through looking back and imagining what would be hoped for at the restoration of the church, he and his wife thought of what they would have hoped for at that time. Looking forward we have already been given so many of those blessings that would have been hoped for. In doing this we can see what the progress of time can do. Those things that looked so big and unrealistic were possible.  

 

Looking back in our own lives we are able to put things into perspective as well. Things, especially big things and important things tend to feel daunting in the moment. It feels like no matter how hard you try progress can never be made. Sometimes those things come into fruition, and the hard truth is that sometimes they don’t. But does that mean we should abandon hope? No.  

 

Earlier this week I was talking to a friend that told me about her brother not acting on something that was and still is important to him because it felt pointless. No matter his actions he felt the outcome would still be the same. I have to admit that I have felt and do feel similar about the exact same situation he was in. I understand his actions completely. That left me wondering why I did end up acting in the same situation. Later that night I was talking to another friend and somehow the topic of the action or inaction on something that feels pointless came up again. My questions are: Is it good? Is it Christlike? Do you feel passionately about it and its importance even if it is sure to fail? If yes, then keep the hope. Keep acting. Maybe try different ways, but know why your hope is still there. 

 

Elder Holland goes on to say that “among our most indispensable virtues will be this precious gift of hope linked inextricably to our faith in God and our charity to others.” We have been given so much, but it is not all done. “Through our look ahead we still have hopes that have not yet been fulfilled.” “We are waging a war with COVID-19.” “When we have conquered this may we be equally committed to freeing the world of the virus of hunger, and free neighborhoods and nations from the virus of poverty. May we hope for schools where students are taught, not terrified they will be shot, and for the gift of personal dignity for every child of God unmarred by any form of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice.” We have so much to do, but it is not hopeless. Elder Holland goes on to say we can do this by following the greatest commandments of loving God “and to love our neighbors by showing kindness and compassion, patience and forgiveness.” 

 

I really do believe that if we continue to act within the teachings and examples God has given us, then hope is not lost. We are still growing and so is absolutely everything else in the world around us. We need to give ourselves and the world the same kindness, compassion, patience, and forgiveness that we give our best friends and the people we love, and most importantly, not lose hope.

 

 

RS Lesson 9/13/20 - Deep in our Heart

RS Lesson - Two Perspectives

Deep in Our Heart by Elder Douglas D. Holmes

Tia Linford - North Relief Society

Brother Douglas D. Holmes said, "the Lord is trying to help us-all of us-get His gospel deeper in our hearts." How can we get the gospel "deep in our hearts"? How can we get a firmly rooted testimony of Christ in our lives?

One of the things he mentions in his talk, is that we can grow closer to God through relationships. No one was meant to go through life by themselves. We are meant to reach out to others and grow stronger together, whether that is with family members or friends. We can develop close relationships by seeing others the way that God does. I find that when I get to know people better, I grow to like them better. The relationships we establish here are still going to be around in the next life. There are some people who are needing that connection in their lives and we need to reach out to them. When we reach out to others and include them in our lives we can help them come closer to Christ. President Eyring commented, "What will matter most is what others learn from you about who they really are and what they can really become."

Another thing we can do to have the gospel more deeply rooted in our hearts is to have individual spiritual experiences. To have our own spiritual experiences we need to be open to receive them. One of the ways we can do this is through pondering the things that we study. I find that I get better revelation when I've been thinking about things for a while. We need to consistently study the scriptures and consistently think about what we are learning. When we are doing these things, the spirit can teach us what we need to learn.

I challenge all of you to build stronger relationships with others and to be open to receiving revelations. I know that if you do these things, you will have the gospel more firmly rooted in your heart and come closer to Christ. 

Alicia Ballard - South Relief Society

In his talk, Brother Holmes speaks on the joyous fact that the Restoration of the Gospel is alive and continues today. There have been changes and additions made to the Elders Quorum, Relief Society, Young Men and Young Women, and the Children’s organizations. These changes were made to help deepen the gospel in our hearts. That is the whole purpose. Brother Holmes spoke specifically of three principles that can help us deepen the gospel in our hearts. Relationships- “Be With Them”, Revelation, Agency and Repentance- “Connect Them with Heaven”, and Engagement and Sacrafice-“Let Them Lead”.

I will share my brief thoughts on the first principle.

One of the things I’ve really missed during Quarantine is meeting in person for meetings and gathering as friends. As a newish member of the ward those moments together really helped me to feel the ministering of the gospel.

Brother Holmes reminds us that relationships take time. We must have time together to laugh, play, discuss, learn about each other’s interests, and appreciate the wonderful uniqueness that is each our own. He said these relationships are one of the main reasons we meet as groups for it is the very foundation of ministering.

How true is that? I remember on my mission, when I was green, that the first thing my trainer taught me was that we must know and understand our investigators. We cannot be effective at ministering unless we took time to build a sincere relationship with them. I will forever be grateful for her wise counsel.

I felt deeply touched by Elder Dale G. Renlund’s quote, “To effectively serve others we must see them...through Heavenly Father’s eyes. Only then can we begin to comprehend the true worth of a soul. Only then can we sense the love that Heavenly Father has for all His children.”

If I’ve learned anything about spiritual matters is that things of the spirit must be taught by the spirit. How many times did you leave a friend’s house, or a conversation uplifted? Did you remember exactly what words were said? Or did you just feel the goodness?

This is the second thing my trainer taught me. More important than words, or the service given, was the feeling that lingered when we left. As President Eyring says, “What matters most is what others learn from you about who they really are and what they can really become. My guess is that they won’t learn it so much from lectures. They will get it from feelings of who you are, who you thing they are, and what you think they might become.”

To see others as God sees them is a gift. It is one that we must seek and ask for. Only then can our eyes be opened. It might not come quickly, keep asking. He will grant us the ability to see, and when we do our hearts will begin to unite. This is the first principle to deepen our hearts in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.