Lesson Notes

Today we learned from President Monson's talk in General Conference about the importance of avoiding anger. He said, "If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry." We have all felt anger but our reaction to that anger is what is important.

3 Nephi 11:28-30 reads, "There shall be no disputations among you...For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stireth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another."

"Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away."

To quote President Monson, "To be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan. No one can make us angry. It is our choice. If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all ties., we must choose to refrain from becoming angry."

Lesson Notes

"It is the order of heavenly things that God should always send a new dispensation into the world when men have apostatized from the truth and lost the priesthood."

Many great prophets lived as the head of dispensations on this earth. Adam, Abraham, Moses are a few.

After Christ was on the earth to serve his mission and make His great atoning sacrifice the Church was left in the hands of his authorized priesthood holders, the Twelve Apostles but with their passing there was no one who held the priesthood authority and therefore no true church of Christ was organized. We experienced a great apostasy known as "the dark ages". The Lord again called a prophet to restore the blessings of His gospel to His people.

Joseph Smith was called of God to restore these great blessings to earth and to stand at the head of the dispensation of the fullness of times. The priesthood, with its essential keys was restored; the Book of Mormon was translated; the Church was organized; and doctrines, ordinances, and covenants were revealed.

This is truly the dispensation of the fullness of times when all things which are in Christ, Jesus, whether in heaven or on the earth shall be gathered together in Him and when all things shall be restored, as spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world began.

This final dispensation, which ushers in the Second Coming of Christ, is of such vast importance that it requires the complete, unselfish dedication of the people of God. Joseph Smith said, "It will be necessary for the Saints to hearken to counsel and turn their attention to the Church, the establishment of the Kingdom, and lay aside every selfish principle, everything low and groveling; and stand forward in the cause of truth, and assist to the utmost of their power, those to whom has been given the pattern and design."

Joseph further stated that "The heavenly Priesthood will unite with the earthly, to bring about those great purposes." We have heavenly help in our work here on this earth, "a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family."

We are privileged to live in this dispensation. We have the fullness of the gospel. We have been promised many great blessings. But "where much is given, much is expected." The Lord expects His covenant people to live His laws with exactness. In His great love and mercy he knows we are not perfect and cannot be perfect right now but he expects each one of us to begin with where we are now and work to improve ourselves until we can be made perfect in Him. Let us all commit ourselves to build up His kingdom and further His great work.

Lesson Notes

"I feel like shouting, hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet." (Brigham Young.)

Todays lesson was "He was a Prophet of God.": Contemporaries of Joseph Smith Testify of His Prophetic Mission.

The early Saints who knew the prophet and heard him speak testify of his prophetic calling and the power with which he imparted the word of God. Daniel D. McArthur, an early Church member who later led one of the first handcart companies to Salt Lake City said, "My testimony is that he was a true Prophet of the living God, and the more I heard his sayings and saw his doings the more I was convinced that he of a truth seen God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, as also the holy angels of God..."

Alexander McRae, one of those imprisoned in Liberty Jail with Joseph Smith: "Such was our confidence in [Joseph] as a Prophet, that when he said, 'Thus saith the Lord,' we were confident it would be as he said; and the more we tried it, the more confidence we had, for we never found him word to fail in a single instance."

Like the early saints, we can know that Joseph Smith is a prophet through whom the Lord restored the fulness of the gospel. Joseph Smith was an example we can follow in developing a Christlike character. He had a mission to perform on this earth and he never deviated from that path. Eliza R. Snow said, "he boldly and bravely confronted the false traditions superstitions, religions, bigotry and ignorance of the world--proved himself true to every heaven-revealed principle--true to his brethren and true to God, then sealed his testimony with his blood."

We were challenged by our teacher, Emily Berwick, to look at the prophet and his faithfulness in completing his mission and think about our mission here on this earth. How can be more faithful in fulfilling our mission? What can we do to further the work of the Lord, the work that Joseph spent his life teaching and gave his life as a testimony of?

Lesson Notes

Today we discusses the lives of three women of the scriptures who have influenced us. Each was chosen in the preexistence for their great work in this life. Because of their faithfulness in the pre-moral world they were given great responsibility in this work and proved faithful to their callings.

The First is Eve. She was chosen to be "the Mother of All Living". In the Garden of Eden she came to realize that in order to progress further she and Adam must leave the Garden and become mortal. Having chosen to give up the comfort and ease of the garden it became possible for all mankind to come to earth and have the opportunity to progress toward exaltation in the kingdom of our Father. Elder John A. Widtsoe said: "In life we must choose at times. Sometimes, two possibilities are good; neither is evil. Usually, however, one is of greater import than the other. When in doubt, each must choose that which concerns the good of others- the greater law- rather than that which chiefly benefits ourselves- the lesser law. The greater must be chosen whether it be a law or a thing. That was the choice made in Eden." We thank Mother Eve for the choice she made and her great example of strength and understanding he role in our Rather's plan for His children.

The Second example is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, "Can we speak too highly of her whom the Lord has blessed above all women? there was only one Christ, and there is only one Mary. Each was noble and great in the preexistence, and each was foreordained to the ministry he or she performed. We cannot but think that the father would choose the greatest female spirit to be the mother of his Son..."

When visited by the angel and told that she was chosen to be the mother of the Son of God. Her reply was simply "...be it unto me according to thy word..." Sister Elaine Cannon wrote, "Reading between the lines one senses the sweetness, wonder and faith of Mary...in humility she submitted her will, her life, to Deity's plan. Perhaps her Divine Son is not the only one in that sacred family from whom we have much to learn about obedience."

The final example of a great woman chosen for a great work is Emma Smith. Just as her husband, Joseph, was chosen the in pre-existence to be the prophet to open the last dispensation of time so was Emma chosen to be by his side and help in this great work. Through all the trials and hardships they faced, through all the persecutions and adversity, she was ever faithful. The Lord said of Emma, "...thou art an elect lady, whom I have called." She was told to "expound scripture, and to exhort the church..."

Emma was always willing to help those in need and many times gave up her own comforts to help. Sister Emmaline B. Wells said of her, "Sister Emma was benevolent and hospitable, she drew around her a large circle of friends..., she was motherly in her nature to young people, always had a houseful to entertain and be entertained. She was very high-spirited and the brethren and sisters paid her a great respect."

Even after the martyrdom of her husband and the saints moving west and her choosing to stay in Nauvoo, she never denied the prophetic calling of Joseph and to the end maintained a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon.

We may not have been chosen for a great work like these three sisters but the Lord has chosen each of us for an important work here on this earth. He has sent us here in these latter-days to help build up His kingdom and prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Savior. Let us be as committed to our Father's plan as Eve, as obedient in our calling as Mary and as faithful and true to building up the kingdom as Emma.