Well, hello, good morning: everyone thank you for joining us this morning.
For this week’s come follow me lesson with the mormon news report broadcast. My name is Jenny Dye joining you from Provo Utah, along with my husband, John Dye. He’s the one who’s responsible for everything that you see on your screen for those of you who are partaking of the video on facebook for our live video lesson.
For those of you who are doing just that we’d love to hear from you go and leave a comment. Let us know where you are, what stood out to you in your city this week? Maybe it was the first time or videos the fiftieth time that you’ve read these verses and you know what maybe you’ve, never even read them at all. That’s totally fine! We get to as many car
image as we can, just as we would as if we were gathered together on person. I like to excuse my cohost for the mormonism, or, I guess brant malone he’s in detroit he’s being a dad he’s being husband, he’s been a disciple
doing this calling and doing what he needs to do today,
and we are so glad to have with us, of course, Ben Bernards in california. He is our expert for the hour of power. For a of me study welcome ben good morning
good morning. Everybody starts glad to be here again thanks for having me. Thank you so much to everybody out the joining us on live stream, audio for a little ap study of church history is we call doctrine covenants? We really give like an extra tool kit to help boost your understanding of come. Follow me in you, maybe add something that you haven’t heard before you know.
I think this class is kind of like it when my wife has to take allergy pills, she’s learned that it’s not just enough to take the generic green one or the blue just stick like both just at the same time to get that extra level of immunity that we want. So maybe this is your little extra allergy pill for those that are dealing with bob hay fever, the springtime. Yes,
I sympathize with your rights I have to take. Is your tech just because it’s april, not because of any of my symptoms, some hashtag not sponsor
good morning to our friends who have been leaving a comment here, we’ve got.
Is it a tory truancy? I on it
a bit more rugged agrees for a new member in berlin, germany, I’m italian living here and then lay and renee
good morning from you all up so often takes her for being here with us. Today is sunday april, twenty fifth, twenty twenty one and the lesson this week is called my law to govern my church. It covers doctrine and covenants section forty one through forty four,
and I need to mention that in the sunday school manual it starts out with this disclaimer, you won’t be able to discuss as a class every principle taught in doctrine, covenants sections, forty one through forty four seek inspiration to help. You select principles that will be most relevant in your class and so
because of that, maybe you are joining us for you know. Maybe this is the only sunday school is class that you may participate in or the only come follow me discussion. You may participate in this week. That’s awesome! Maybe you are doing this and earlier or later you’re going to be participating in a eunuch.
Follow me lesson with your local congregation. It is likely that the it all of those cases and as well as what you studied and what stood out to you and what we discussed today, could all be very different things, because there is just so much content to delve into in bc
actions.
There is a hot in there and it’s it’s great, I’m I’m so thankful that we have this opportunity that we’ve taken this opportunity for ourselves. You know in britain, jenny were the ones that that started. This whole thing and and john has been there just being or awesome executive producer. In the background and one of the things I love about this section this week,
is it we kind of get a glimpse of
of like connecticut, like a start up business good? This is like the church of jesus christ of latter day saints before it even had. That name were you’ve got a whole bunch of first generation converts they’ve all got together. You’ve got a charismatic young leader, his his wife, you’ve got a handful of people living knew a couple of cousins and brothers that were in there and there
wives and they’re all kind of sit around gold life’s okay. So what do we do? How are we gonna? Do it what’s going on and he’s like? Ah, what untold lives get everybody to kirtland and, let’s, in god’s gonna, give us some large something and then boom section. Forty two drops still a whole lot of stuff in
there and, like the section said, wreckage, will cover everything, but would want to talk about just a couple of things and one of the main topics that I’d love to talk to discuss today is to explore. Like you said, branches is off being a disciple in and hopefully in some way. That’s what every single one of us for trying to do in our own form and also disclosed is designed to do is help us be better version.
All of that right,
so question for ginny,
and I hope this is not too personal. Can ah, but I’m curious, have you ever done something that you knew you knew who you were not supposed to do the thing and yet, for reasons unexplained, you did the thing. How daring? Of course,
I a could you think of an example that would be appropriate to share and for anybody who is participating the class if you have a comment or question earlier version, you’d like to share we’d love to hear it as well
yeah I mean I guess, if were at a dive into this, what we’re supposed to do right and then what? What does that even mean according to whom and to what end
is what I would say, but but yeah I mean because there’s what’s right and there’s what’s right
and ah
who? Yes, I have I’m trying to think. I mean the I guess. The the main thing that comes to mind is ah
is when I was supposed to get more sleep than I did.
I ask you: did you were asleep you do that’s what you your body’s, like jimmy to sleep right and my mind was like yeah, but
we gotta stay awake,
but out someone’s robbed on the internet. I need a good. I need to go, say something to them. How many times have I earned
crash happened about every single one is probably had experiences like that where we’ve just been like, there’s a thing that I know that I need to do a year behind was like a decent bottom recap, a step back and look back at yourself. Like really are, are we not going to go? Do the thing that we should do yeah, I’m sorry, I I just hated to tip
taken him in and say apologize because we apparently have wrote work being done right outsider. So, if you hear some funny noises
like that drilling or whatever it is, that’s a better. So my apologies for that doll. Good. So sorry, what did you say so so john? How about you any time you had a chance where there is something that done. You did something. You know you just bustling, knew you weren’t supposed to do it yeah just about every time. You know when you
you’re younger and your mom specifically to sometimes dad tell you not to do something you jump into it. It’s a. I remember a time my I believe my mom had baked some fresh cookies to give to something ers to others and said: don’t touch the use and she came back. I think about half of them were left
so something with it
half of them. Absolutely I mean this is I wish that I could say that the last time that I stayed up playing video games and totally regretted it was like when I was a high school, a teenager, not when I was a dad of like training, there’s a big big meetings, it
that work the next day and you know and and reflecting on it. Looking back now, I can think how I could have easily helped myself. I could have done all the external stuff I could have set alarms on my phone. I could have written out a plan of the sooner they get to this particular level. I’m gonna shut it down. I could have asked my wife’s a when you can get me off this stinking thing it before you know at midnight or whatever
org. I could have visualized myself doing all the right things will never end next thing. I know it’s three thirty in the morning and I still haven’t, beat that level and zelda and I’m totally missed the sleepy train, and I’m thinking you know- maybe I will just stay up until the sun comes up- would be a whole lot easier than trying to go to sleep right now
and it it’s kind of silly and kind of ridiculous. How that happens so many times and of course the example I gave was absolutely trivial, but I’m sure that every one of us has probably had something that was maybe a little bit more serious, more personal. That has happened before,
and this is just kind of interesting- that there is a connection between what we know to be the right thing versus what we actually do of the right thing, and sometimes that connection is kind of faulty. You know, and it it’s strange how sometimes our brains can be manipulated into doing
things that we don’t necessarily want to do, and it takes it’s hard to get them to do the right thing. So, with that in mind, there’s this versed in d c, forty one- and this is where we’re going with all of this-
to help us understand why this, why it? This is the way it is. I understood just a tiny little bit about our human anatomy,
to help is kind of figure out this thing that we’re living in every one of our brains is divided into multiple low promoter regions and I’m sure that we’ve got listeners and participants better know much more science, but much more about science than I do, but to over simplify the fact our brains can be thought of. We’ve got this, be
big frontal, lobe, the cerebrally right that frontal lobe is all about executive function. That’s about it! That’s the doing part of our brain and not part of our brain is not that not only in charge of like motor function and everything, but also like making a plan and visualizing it and getting around obstacles. If the plan doesn’t work out right so that,
like the big boss is like, like piloting the millennium falcon, we’ve got all the the crazy stuff going on rebecca
now, the back we’ve got this little piece called the cerebellum. That’s the part of the brain, that’s in charge of knowing what you’re supposed to do. That’s the part, that’s in charge of learning and remembering and processing information. Now the reason we bring this up is because those two halves of the brain have literal waters and
connections in little neurons and pathways, and everything that connects between the two and if everything was absolutely perfect in our anatomy,
then the connection and the flow of information between those two halves of the brain would be flawless.
The information would just flow. The cerebral was, I know what I’m supposed to do and it would handed over this reaper and the certain go okay cool we’re going to go, do it, but obviously that doesn’t happen. Sometimes there is a very real, very measured. I
gap in the way the information flows. Sometimes those two halves, don’t communicate. I was actually watching a youtube video just a week or so ago that one of my brothers had sent me talking about how scientists have seen that for people with adhd or other types of um, strong mental struggles that make
it’s hard for them to stay. Focused stay concentrated on things eventually found that there is a significant gap in between how these halves of their brain communicate that it is literally the wiring is not there, and so they can sit there and go yeah. I know what I’m supposed to be doing right now, but I can’t do it like I’ve literally unable to do so, and so they have to find other ways
mitigate to work around them.
If you know I’ve ever dealt with those kind of feelings, janet the you ever struggled with that a little bit every day. Yes, I I have at yes but sir, it’s a blast near ears, anything- and I think this all well tion and um as a kid, and even in my younger adult years, when I didn’t know,
no, that that’s what was going on, I felt
like something was really wrong with me. Fundamentally it out like why I know I I know that I should be doing that said. I’m supposed to do this and I am not. I am back that sort of thing and yeah having a diagnosis. Having that information that you know that you
glean from that that youtube video about that helps out. There is a reason for this and be at having that knowledge at there’s. A reason for this leads to you know at at a different perspective.
Music is a different perspective and now that you’ve dealt with this and not to get too personal and in your own life and tokyo won a rat hole too much on just this one thing right, but how? How has it helped you to have a perspective? How has it helped you in the gospel? If, if a house with
oh, you mean the difference between knowing and having it? Okay? So what meaning? If there’s something that- and I can even take the ah
and see if I can, if I can tighten this together,
the not getting enough sleep thing- we learn in the scriptures
about you- know the the benefit of getting rest of what it does for our bodies and for our minds. We also learn that from science, and so am, I think it gets to a point in all of our lives in. I think it’s interesting that that john’s example was from his childhood about remembering when his mom baked cookies,
and now it’s not so much that the desire to stay up for me or the desire to eat the cookies throughout the oven for john as under those desires, have gone away. It’s that we haven’t perspective, it’s that yes, I do want to stay on
wake. I don’t want to go to bed, however, more than I don’t want to go to bed. I want to have a productive day tomorrow for john, it’s more than I want to eat these cookies. I want to not burn my mouth. I want these cookies to go to the people for whom they are intended and, oh,
is how I I think it it can still be a struggle with what we want and then what you know, the the executive that the the function that happens, the like like you’ve displayed here than knowing and the doing- and I we’ve been put in an you- don’t like like the desire, because we get that desire, it’s I’ll, be there, but we
the added knowledge that added perspective
we can kind of choose which which do we want more
yeah, yeah ooh. I love the way they set up, which do we want more.
That was that was an awesome example and I’m so glad become your perspective from immuno, your personal experience of which I’m sure his shirt has been shared by so many other people and it’s a struggle that is so common to us and I think, there’s a lot that we can learn about discipleship and about trying to figure out how to be a latter day saint,
how to be a follower of christ, how to be a good human being
when we struggle to do the right thing sometimes mean that’s, every single one of us right there soap, there’s this verse and dnc forty one if we could turn their real quick visit, the dnc forty one.
Let’s see forty one four and five, but would you mind reading that? For me, gen, please
yeah happy to foreign buyer and I will be your ruler when I come and behold I come quickly and you shall see that my life is kept he’d receive if my law and do with it the same as my disciple and he’d say if he received with it and do with it not the same as not latest table, and he
shall be cast out from among you,
hoo boy, okay,
lots of stuff to pat to unpack here. So the context in the setting of this. This is like we said earlier at the top of the hour. This is all the sensitive gather together, they’re all sitting here in kirtland. That elders are together for the first time they’re trying to figure out what to do and they’ve gathered together. This is like in january february, time frame in the wintertime. You know they’re sitting in somebody’s house
and joseph receives this, and the headings is the actual received in the presence of other people frequently that doesn’t necessarily mean that he like entered a transcendent the state- or you know a bloke whites pretty big, but all the sudden. He was there something that I need to say and they’re usually have a person that would be taking notes or you know transcribing, or they went down the road out after
perfect. So here he says no. This is a promise that jesus is going to come again and that’s what a lot of these early scenes were. Looking for two, they had this very approximate millennial view point where they said: okay about millennium, that second, coming all that stuff, it’s gonna be happening like soup would like right now we gotta hurry, get everything ready, because crisis about to
come and in the middle of this year, judge jos joseph’s receiving these revelations in these visions, and then they get this ah thing about receiving doing the word. Okay. So, let’s talk about this for a second first off receiving verses, doing what are we to make of that? What what’s the difference
between receiving the word and actually doing it, woody woody think no, no right answers from wrong answers. Just what you think not I’ll give wrong it’s not just. Can I do what I think at receiving verses, doing
um
to me it’s it’s a matter of at the edges and just maybe a modern day example an end if it could apply to anything up because, let’s say general conference, we just had it right and, and we listened to was it
was elder redmond who gave it the talk about about kindness,
hey. I should have prepared for this asking stone anyway. Well, let’s is at any pick any top from conference, while you were listening in the moment, wow. Oh, my goodness, I, like your your purse, do that diet or ear piercing your heart like this. This is something that that would benefit me. You know it
like. It’s really touching like it it it would benefit my life it would. It would help me help my family and- and while I am inspired and then monday morning rolls around and same old same old to meal at is the difference between receiving and doing. I do think we in when we consider
the things we do need to give ourselves and others frankly grace, because because it takes time to establish new habits, it takes time on the two to experiment upon word frankly, but but yeah when it comes to receiving and doing that’s, that’s kind of how I think it is
think about it like like it’s. Is it great tip to be to choose to use the first weekend in april and october, to use your time to do that, instead of going off to do something else, absolutely that is receiving, and that is not for nothing.
Wang is where the discipleship comes. It
yeah. Absolutely. You know tony made a comment a few minutes ago and says when you say that our brains manipulated ourselves into doing something that we know we should be doing or shouldn’t. Do you mean that you lied or ourselves
from from my perspective, yeah that’s kind of what it is? Maybe not necessarily a lie straight hours, but we tell stories in to ourselves as to to justify our behavior or end if you’ve ever seen the pixar movie inside out, which, as an adult now
has helped me understand more about my kids rather than just a lesson in biology or psychology or parent, and I could ever have in movie inside out, humans are depicted as having multiple little people in our brains and each little person represents a different core emotion. You’ve got one little purse
in the represents all things joyful, one person that represents all things, anger, one things and they want things to be fair. Another person that represents all things disc are your sense of disgust and, like oh, my gosh, I don’t. I bet all all those things gross me out, both emotionally and physically. You have one person, it represents.
It’s all things sad and one person that represents all things fearful and their goal is to try to keep you safe south, instead of viewing ourselves as a whole. Complete person, it’s more accurate to look at these multiple individual little court, emotions inside our brain and realize that
every one of them is trying to take control of the wheel
and they compete with each other and adolescents.
Is this state when all those things are fighting each other to try to gain control of the wheel and adulthood
can be described as when those things find work in harmony with each other and they take their time and they agree and the whole bustos where it needs to go to some people, never reach that form of adulthood till very, very late in their life, and you know some people figure that out when they’re a teenager, some people rely stay in that state of dull had some
sometimes we’re frequently receiving staff receiving the good news, but not always doing it right. I mean I’ve. I’ve been there before I was. I was helping a friend of mine on train for a half marathon years ago,
and he wanted to. He wanted to run long distance thirteen miles at a long way to run, and I was like okay, I can give you a training plan. I can lay out exactly how many miles courageous to run. I can tell you. I’ve had some dietary principles of what you should eat. That would help give you the right kind of fuel,
and ah you will get some new running shoes. You will do all those things and then die of day. One of training gets up there like okay writers was to go hit four miles today. Go for it
and I text him. I was like hey you do it yet is like now, I’m not feeling it and I’m like c’mon man, like you know, we laid out all these different things. You receive the word, but did not do it. It is kind of hard because for him he had all those all these other extra reasons, and when I read this person dnc
forty one, it could not. I couldn’t help but think of a cross reference in the bible. John seven. Seventy, because the language is very similar. John you mind pulling up the next slide and jenn when you read this first place,
john seventh,
john seven, seventeen says: if any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of god or whether I speak of myself.
Okay, so we’ve got this idea, it’s very similarly connected were, if you, if you do the will, you will then know the doctrine, not the context in that verse is jesus thousands of years ago, talking to a whole bunch of palestinians and jews and everybody that is sitting there around him and
and he’s trying to establish his credibility as a new teacher, because he grew on me. This is yes, you of nazareth. I mean this, the he group as a nobody in nobody profession from an nobody, town and all of a sudden he’s walking into this synagogue and he’s teaching people in there like wait, a minute who were you, then he sang lucky. You got
understand. What I’m teaching you to do is something that you will only know for yourself if you actually put it into practice,
and I think that’s kind of the principle that we’re seeing here is that it’s one thing for us to hear good advice, good instruction,
and sometimes you struggle to actually put into action
now. As I read this verse in johnson seventeen, I couldn’t help but notice that it says that if you want to really know whether or not it’s true you have to do it first,
if you wanted, if you do the well, you shall know the doctrine, whether it’s of god- and I remember, reading that thinking- is it fair to be asked to do something before we know it’s true?
What do you think again?
M audio cut up
dario, gotcha, okay, the is it fair to do something before we know it’s true,
so I think
I think we can do
we can do. We can do the actions right. We can act before knowing it’s true, but we can have the faith to it. You know that that it will result in. I mean that’s what faith it’s right, that that it will. It will yield results. What we’re doing!
I think, though, there are a lot of instances where the only way we can now is to do,
and what I mean by that is-
and I don’t just mean in in
good- you like we been talking about in our experimenting on the word and and and active discipleship, but earlier you know is we are talking again about just kind of decisions that we make ass.
Children are younger or older, had signed. One example is the example of of them touching a hot stove right.
You see that the coils are even like. I’m like the old lighters in in cars right. The thing about that is: lighter cars. I’d have lower your carbs have asked you, ask your parents, everyone, but a, but the you know I’ve. I’ve heard people talk about, they run
member. I actually never did this, but I remember wanting to touch the the coils on the stove and they were on if for no other reason than it was pretty, there were rad, they were glowing and I thought it was. It was very beautiful. Of course, my my parents said: do not touch it, it’s hot you will get burned, so they told
me and I believed them, and I have not
as know as a human experience like all, but I don’t know it up a line of other people who have done it. They know because they did it and that was way are missing. The fingerprints to prove it. Yeah see at so
and- and that’s just one example of believe me. There are plenty of things that I have done that I should have done and I learned blessing to I just, but that is example that comes to mind, because I think it’s kind of universal that when we you know that that kind of we remember being children and seeing that being told, don’t touch the hot stove. Of course there are a lot of em
analogies. We can tide map, but that’s that’s how that that’s something that comes to mind about knowing from doing I I. I think that is a that’s a beautiful example. I heard a wise person once say that the burned hand teaches best, because, after that, lessons on fire
fire goes straight to the heart
that there are some things that we will only know after we have been burned now the unit and that’s best spoken in the context of giving warnings to people. But I think the principle is the same thing is. That is that you know if we really want to know whether not things are true, we have to actually put into practice, okay, so so what does that actually mean for us in decide?
Will ship? You know if I, if I have a lesson on forgiving and there, a person that I am really struggling with forgiving. The only way that I’m never gonna know is, if I suck it up and try it,
you know if, if I’ve got, we’ve been struggling with this whole, come follow me this whole home, centered church supported thing that we’ve been doing for gosh over a year now, and sometimes it still feels like we’re. Trying to go back to the old way was. The only way we’re ever going to know is. If we tried it, you know, there’s this there’s this weird sort
killer relationship between what we know and what we do and sometimes once we do it. It helps us know a little bit better
and if we understand how our thoughts and our behaviors and our actions kind of tie into each other, this can help us modify our behavior in positive ways where we can feel like we’re less of a a victim of our body and our chemistry or biology, and we are actually making intentional choices about them about what we’re doing with our lives.
I think that’s one of the purposes or one of the beauties of that that line. That was seventeen to forty one, that if you receive the law and do it, then that’s how we show our discipleship and the key there. Is that word disciple right. If you look closely, you see the same word roots of the word: discipline during the person who
a discipline is different than motivation. Right, like wouldn’t get really motivated from a buddy. He was really motivated to run the half marathon, but on day one of training that motivation ran out like he was flamed out like lighter fluid right and now it is time for the motivation is gone, announced elsewhere for discipline to kick in, but discipline has to come from on the inside, so we had to change
later. He was thinking about doing things and if we need to change that behavior or if any one of us is struggling to change our behavior, whether it’s something gospel related or something, a sin that were trying to overcome a bad habit, then if we really want to do that word and do that law, then we have to change the way that we think,
john. If you had my point of the slide, the next one, please want to talk briefly about this is idea.
If we talk about how doing the word helps us note, let’s go one more after taxes
there ago, go okay, so there’s this idea. We talk about circular relationship between baba between thoughts and behavior, and it turns out that there’s actually this emotional aspect to it,
and this is not my model, but this is something that has been used multiple times by psychologist. To help us understand the call cognitive behavior therapy
cognitive, behavior therapy. The idea is, we start off by recognizing that our thoughts will create feelings
and those feelings can create behaviour, and that behavior will then reinforce the thought.
Now it doesn’t necessarily matter which one you start in or which, when you start from, but there is this relationship between what we think about how we feel about it and then how we act on what we actually do so before we go any further gen. What are your thoughts on this model and how it fits
with us
on cd for the first scripture study yeah, I think you’re absolutely right that that time, that the thoughts and feelings and behavior absolutely apply to to our spiritual selves for sure, because it is more,
you know, ah
it like now that share. She said it just the same with my game said on here be hears only ah, but not not. Only here is but a doers of the word on receiving presents doing the word and on and because our thoughts and our
and our feelings motivate our behavior because of reward centers in the brain and such on. It absolutely applies to how we live our lives, spiritually and and the things that we do in regards to our own personal discipleship
yeah. Now, there’s a group of the story. I’d like to share cover a young person. Names are changed in this story. I’m gonna call her millie game.
Millie was told, we’re sorry. She thought that she wasn’t loved.
She thought that she wasn’t loved by her parents. She thought that she wasn’t loved by god and she was actually told this by her parents and by church leaders, because she was a sinner
and
she this happened, because when she was a teenager around sixty seventy years old, she came to understand and identify as openly bisexual
as a latter day saint as an only child with no other bisexual kids around her.
She was told
yeah, so she was told that she was broken,
the she was flawed and that god didn’t love. People like that.
These are messages that she heard inside her little local community. These are messages that she heard outside from the broader community. So that’s what she was thinking about and we saw how the relationship between thoughts and emotions and behavior right. So, unsurprisingly, after having all these thoughts and work,
words that nobody loved her that she was broken, that she was a center, she was worthless. The feelings that came, unsurprisingly, were low self esteem, depression feeling absolutely worthless, feeling that nobody would love her feeling that she could not fit into the mormon mold that she was a misfit. She was an out
cast that something was wrong with her. Her parents sent her to a church school. I thinking that they could fix her by sending her there, but I wound up kind of only making it worse because it just reinforced how different she was from everybody else. A key is, with the roommates a whole bunch of of normal
air, quote roommates and she’s, the only one that was different.
She had a tattoo, she had nose, piercing she still like to drink coffee, all these things that did not fit in the traditional mormon mold, and so she thought that she was still broken
and she felt like nothing really mattered like she wasn’t good enough. She was an accepted god. Didn’t care about her in the church, didn’t want her, so filter all the thoughts and feelings, and so what would you guess happened with the behavior? Well, if the places where she expected to go to find love and acceptance did not give love and acceptance, then she
I took this is the would she would go to the places where she felt accepted, for who she was where she felt loved and valued for who she was, and it wasn’t within her church community is with a lot of people that did things that the church community frowned upon.
So she gets introduced to alcohol. She gets introduced to drugs. She gets introduced to drinking, to try to numb the pain and forget the questions that were burning in her skull and then the next day she would wake up and she would still have no answers and she thought well, I’m a bad person has who I am. I am not loved here or accepted here
so
when trying to look at her story and part of the great tragedy of this is that I wish that it was only a one time story that only happened to one person, but unfortunately it’s kind of common
in trying to look at this.
You know, as a leader in the church we frequently say: okay, how can I fix this?
How can I stop her behavior? What can I say that would make her stop drinking, stop doing drugs hanging out with these other people and
for me, what I realize. One thing that would really help was start from the very bottom and start changing the thoughts like don’t even start with whole behavior side, but start with what’s happening up in here, start changing the narrative of what she’s telling herself, and I realized that I had new years of
of programming to go against to try to replace. But if we started to shift her personal views on who she is and how she fits in if we started flooding her with thoughts of her personal worth, regardless of what she has done to
help her realize, the personal worth is independent of her actions that her worth is there by virtue of being a human, by virtue of being a daughter of heavenly parents who love her,
no matter what she has done,
then, if we can start flooding her with those kind of thoughts, then some of those thoughts just might take root and then, like it says, in alma thirty two. If we can nourish those thoughts that seat carefully
every single day, then those feelings might come out of it and if those good feelings come out of it, and perhaps that behavior will change and also realize that the behavior piece that’s totally on her, like I don’t have to fix any of that behavior stuff. But I can’t help reinforce all the thoughts and everything so
so once we realize you with the simple quote that would stamper was to say, the core value doesn’t decrease just because somebody else didn’t see her worse,
her value absolutely inherent, and it is there and once she started seeing that shifting her personal views on how she fits in then those thoughts to take on new life, a new light, and then her emotions do as well, and that’s from the healing begins does when this the behavior starts to shift. So if we reinforce the message and then
help her get to that behavior part, then the cycle starts building upward instead of drilling downward
yeah.
Yes, so I have thought about that. Pleats jungle here that site in two okay, so I I absolutely agree with you
anthony said like like using. That example, am
I, like you, said, ben years of programming, can be very difficult to overcome and often
the thoughts that you know that we’re trying to overcome that were trying to reprogram because in fact, yo ass, you talk about this. This person millie, you know, going to a church, school and, and you know doing more, comparing two of herself to those around her
feeling that she’s broken. On the one hand,
none of us are broken and, on the other hand, where all broken, meaning that just because you see someone else, you don’t know, you know their struggles as well other than that we all have them. Some of them look different and others firsts for sure,
but it’s the idea to get away from this idea that there’s a there’s a mod that we need to fit into.
When
again what you’re saying I absolutely agree with opted to have influence over the thoughts to start there that can lead to feelings and behavior.
We can start at any one of the three points, though weekends are at feeling.
I know for myself there been times in my life when I feel just kind of I don’t know how else to say it than other other than to say, but I felt in a rut
and so what you know, how can I get out of that role for me alone times it’s exercising specifically dancing, and so so, while I couldn’t follow in the in the moment, I was unable to alter my thought. I was able to alter my behavior and
that led to a change in how I felt and how I thought so, like you said you know it is like you can’t. You can’t force someone elses behavior, you can’t um,
and the behavior is something that we. You know that that is up to us individually, but I think, as we turned to the scriptures and as we see at know, we talk about about the doing
it. It would be great if we all had the programming that we are all beloved spirits of heavenly parents, that we all have intrinsic value and worth and that we all are on a journey where our lives
are. Are the vat of imperfect beings who rely on each other and most most importantly, rely upon the savior? Not everyone has that innate programming? Not you know not everyone has that end. Because of that, we do need to look at these things. These thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and
and often by changing our behavior by changing what we are ingesting up with media, whether that’s reading or listening to a podcast or or music or or talks on over social media. Yes, and yes, any of it
weather’s, you know where we spend our time, how we spend our time when we are able to
those those are those are acts of doing those are things that can can help us and it certainly applies to heeding god’s word.
You know it’s viewed new amen to everything you just said so glad to have your input and insight on this.
You know over the past couple weeks my kids have told me that they really wanted to try the new extra, delicious crispy chicken sandwich from mcdonald’s,
and I looked at my boys and I said: have we ever said that mcdonald’s is the kind of place that we want to go to? This is a california family. We eat five guys in n out. Everybody knows this. We do not go to mcdonalds is five guys in it them and then even between those two five guys in it it out, is you know, hatfield mccoys,
I don’t know battles
credits it out and I and everybody knows that five guys is the one true burger and in and out is toyed with social club, fries or just totally monster animal style on it’s worth five guys all away. I will defend them to later anyway. So, but still my boy said: hashtag not sponsored hashtag most wanted
my my was like dep, but I still wanna try that crispy chicken deluxe sandwich from mcdonald’s because it’s got a pickles in it’s got the button. I looked at him and I was like you been watching youtube for the past couple hours. Haven’t you and he’s like? What are you talking about? I’m like yeah do know that when you come down and you’re asking for fast food at night, this is you been prove that cruise,
what of like seriously- and we would- and I considered think about videos that he’s watched that had nothing to do with the crispy chicken deluxe sandwich from adults had to do with you know, minecraft or cooking or baking your playing piano all these other things that he watches, which are totally great
but he’s being fed acts, and it’s a subconscious thing that he doesn’t even realize, because you know little advertising will pop up their texan in a close and then he comes down and he’s walking around the kitchen is looking around is, but to come home dad. Could we could we go try madonna’s christmas sandwich. I was like alright. Okay, they have installed that app into your brain. The
social media did exactly what it was programmed to do and it worked so just to help you touch the lighter. So to speak, I’ll, let you go try to ensure that night we went. We got a crispy chicken, deluxe sandwich from mcdonald’s hashtag, not sponsored yet again, but up up up ah were not love it that much because he tried it again
and the heat was like really this is it like. There is there’s nothing that that this is not a thing. I was like yeah you’re right and now you know so now. Next time you see that programming, it hits you maybe you’ll have a little bit of an immunity built up against it and it’s not gonna, be coming at it and and giving you infected with this desire to go
how’s that crispy chicken sandwich for lunch from mcdonald’s and I’m actually gonna wanna have one myself because upset sweetheart, but it’s this idea that that the way that our brains, work for better or for worse,
can be influenced by the things that we consume and the things that we ruminate on and the things that we spend time thinking about and that sickle coal relationship between thoughts and feelings and behaviors. It applies to yes, this real, quick examples, but it’s also a very real explanation of why are
spiritual. Discipleship can be what it is now. I love with what tony has said over here on the side where it starts with loving people starts with loving people, not the emotion, right, kindness and love to them, making friends with people- and I mean really making friends with them and that at the mall
first time can be difficult with people with busy lives. He says I was blessed when I joined the church, because my word really embraced me as a friend as I’ve said before I like malfunctions conversion story. You know- and I think he says that that’s wonderful- that if we want to really shift this behavior if we want to become better versions of ourselves, really that’s what the gospels about right, we’re trying to become better versions
over cells- and this is exactly we saw through forty one. Forty two, forty three was god telling these early saint saying: okay, look: you’re gonna get started. Let me give you a reminder of what the ten commandments are. Let me give you guys: instructions as to where supposed to go and hires was to go, teach the gospel, and you have to understand that it’s gonna be one thing for people to hear what your see
saying, but it’s gonna be something totally different for people to actually do it
a lot of the the the churches, the joseph smith, grew and grew up in a lot of the congregations, and you know this is still us today.
They had a very passive participation when it came to christianity, which are adequately clinton of our stuff.
The better records pilfer spells see what happened. You see the advertisements too many times. Analysis john is going to go, get brunch henry. Have the expectations versus reality, accepting older
six? Well, what was I saying totally threw me off line. Are you gonna gotta be added a bathroom years, the yeah! This is the perfect object lesson.
Passive christianity does what orange hook it kind of like boot right now got at a walk my way through that a second again
so our our behavior, sometimes when we are dealing with discipleship, it’s so common and so easy to hear it and then not do it right. The old story that I adhere to you fireside years ago was a whole bunch of hobos of chickens. They got together at a meeting because the lead chicken call
them together that night at a farm and the lead chicken said you guys, I’ve got fabulous news. This is so cool. We have just figured out that we can fly like we’ve. Never done this before. We’ve never actually tried it, but we’ve got wings. We’ve got the feathers. This is so awesome. We can fly and show everybody that he could do it. He
up on top of the up of little fence post there at the farm and he jump and flu and all do the chickens were like wow. That is so awesome. I can’t try to do it and then they all walked home.
So this idea that sometimes artists, what we choose to do, what we know versus what we do is still at a disconnect and it’s something that will probably get a struggle with our our entire liked me. This is it’s a hard thing for us to manage, and maybe just maybe when we will have figured it out
we’ll be ready to graduate to whatever comes next right arrow. At the very least, we can start to try to teach it to those that next generation is coming up after us
and because chickens locked well, they got cotton made and no we’re not on oka
absolutely at and that’s that’s kind of what I what I meant when I said before. It is bedtime
just to give ourselves and each other grace about it,
because, because sometimes it it takes time right. That’s why we that’s that’s. Actually, I think, one of the reasons behind teaching children and youth to to set goals, because because things take time and
so yeah I I like that alot did we get everything that you wanted to get to
on that particular topic yeah. Could we go to another verse? Yes, all right, john, if you wouldn’t mind, let’s go to the last slide. The we love here for c, a forty three eight through ten odin go through one more
all right.
I do see forty three eight nine, so this was same contact same group of people reading the exact same thing,
and I another little bit of instruction and this one is also tied into this idea of discipleship gen. Would you mind reading that? First, please dnc forty, three, eight nine happy to him and now behold I give unto you a commandment that when ye are assembled together, he shall instruct and edify each other that you may know how to
act and direct my church how to act upon the points of my law and commandments which I have given, and thus you shall become instructed in the law of my church and be sanctified by that which he has received, and he shall bind yourselves to act in all holy holiness before me.
Hoo boy, lots of good stuff in there
so start off.
What stands out to you, gen off the top, your head, anything anything interesting! Well, yeah! We’ve talked about this so often over the past year, the idea of of being assembled together because as the world shut down and mirror instructed to do to actually do act upon it,
home, centered church, supported worship.
The question has come up as indifferent areas, not just in the united states, but throughout the world which veto. It looks like a lot of our audience
at least who have left comments in a thread today are from from all over the planet. We’re grateful for that.
Ass ass circumstances have changed and we go back to the idea of gathering together in person.
It has come up why, for what a lot of people have had button
new and unique positive faith building family fortifying experiences, worshipping from home for others it has, it has um,
highlighted their loneliness and there
their desire to be with others and for a lot of people. It has done both
so so the question has has come up: why? Why would we assembled together? If worship is individual between our god and ourselves? Why do we assemble? And so I really like this idea of it.
It has a certain verse, eight o’clock, I gonna, do recommended that when you are assembled together, we shall instruct an edifying each other
and of course, in this circumstance, it’s that you may know how to act and direct my church and act upon the points in my life commandments, which I have given and I’ll tell you when it’s one reason I look forward to our come. Follow me discussions and, frankly,
it is um
that are happening in the church and in the gospel and and to me that is strengthening. That is edifying because I could read and study on and get prickly know personal revelation, which is very valuable to me. I am also edifying, strengthened by hearing others’ perspectives, and that happens when we assemble not necessarily
in person. Is we’ve learned as we’re doing right now, but that is one one purpose and that’s what stands out
absolutely, I’m! I’m so glad, and you know we hope that other people that have been learning or listening or trimming, and we hope that you guys, who felt the same way. We hope that this has been something that has been constructive. You know and edifying
and before I go any further
janna janna, you guys still they’re, not sure if I lost the stream
you still there, okay cool,
I had heckled by my side. I wasn’t sure if, if I lost connectivity with awesome brown, animal
gotcha, okay, no, it’s fine! So you know this whole idea of edifying each other. You know when I see this
this verse to me, I, like the imperative form that is used when it is ye shall instruct like this is what you have to do. You need to get to each other and you’re gonna teach each other, because everybody has something that they can teach. Everybody has something that the other people don’t know. So, of course, that is part of our idea of you know, learning from each other now
having professionals teachers, but also being willing to to learn from our brothers and sisters, because everybody has something that that they can share with each other,
but the next. What the next move than they used to edify- and that’s where I want to focus on here- is kind of a closing thought. You know: that’s, that’s the root of the word edifice, a building that it comes from the old latin, which literally means to build a building, but not just to build any building, but it was to build a dwelling.
Eddie fought yeah. That was, you were a place where people lived so, in other words, raising an edifice is where people not just where people spend time once a week in programs, but raising an edifice is where people dwell about supposed to be home.
So I think that’s what the gospel of jesus christ should feel like. It should feel like home
when we do it right when it’s done right and all the ingredients are there, that home is a safe space. It’s a shelter, that’s where people are welcomed and nourish, and we find rest and the common bonds and it’s the kind of place that you look forward to going back to ride a wanna go home. I can’t wait to go home. I want be
bring other people into my home, and sometimes just sometimes our church groups can feel like that
when we build an edifice billion out of his happens, a brick at a time, one layer at a time will have foundations that are laid out squared up at the corners in their strong intrude with frameworks that are built on that and those frameworks, gibbs support and direction, and then we can fill everything in around the building and and rebuild up that frameworks, and
sometimes maybe the edifice needs remodeling. Sometimes what works for the previous inhabitants doesn’t work for us, so we replaced stuff, we remove, we rethink, we rebuild, but a home, remodeled and reshaped is still whole
even after. We think the old one for it’s service and marie kondo that sucker out of here and we remove it-
and perhaps you know, perhaps in some silly way that kind of helps us understand how this modern version of mormonism can work going into the next century. Whatever is beyond the baby, the home of being a latter day, saint can have a slightly different shape now, a meme. If we have new content, we’ve got podcast and live streams. V
got new curriculums, got new ways of teaching some of it officially from the church, some of it home brewed from the rest of us like this. It has men and women doing different jobs in they had before it has hopefully a safer space for those who were previously marginalized
can, hopefully it can be a shining beacon for those who would be allies and those who need allies. This is a place where every one of god’s children truly matter a meme.
It sounds harsh to say, but this ain’t, my grandpas church anymore,
and I hope that that’s for the better, even though we’re all still built on the same rock and somehow in this remodeling. Somehow in this constructing this edifice, this has become something is starting to feel like something new
and, let’s hope, maybe something a little bit better.
I love it. It they cut. The concept is me of home and to me is holy and, and I it it is more than a building. It is more than a house, and there are lots of definitions throughout. Are our lives that help bring us closer to each other and
closer to the to the divine? So thank you very much for that, and that’s that was that was beautiful.
I wanna go ahead and what will go had wrap this up. I wanna thank everyone for for joining us today of whether you were able to leave a comment or not whether you’re watching it right now are watching later listening to it later. We appreciate you being here and thank you to john for em
airing. Everything in you know
running the show. Thank you ben for all your preparation. You slide your insights in the way that you leave lesson it’s it’s wonderful.
I really love it. Next week we will meet again around nine, am mountain daylight time is, I usually start between nine and nine twenty
sunday may. Second, the lesson is called the promises shall be fulfilled and it is doctrine and covenants section. Forty five, it’s a long section. Seventy some verses, but it’s only the one section we bought to have you join us again next week and I were gonna end a little bit differently than we typically do. Usually we
I would play outdoor music and and brought that way, but what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna. Close john is why to play video, the parable of the chickens, because that is exactly what ben one thinks event brought to the table today. So thank you all again for joining us and we will see you again
exciting.
There was a ward of chickens
was a good word, and the bishop of that word got tired of watching his ward members, walk to church every sunday and participate in the different meetings and then walk home, and he thought we’re we’re chickens were birds should be able to fly so it’s the beginning of the year. He assembled his ward and four soccer
our meeting that day, he taught them to spread their wings to flap those wings to fly, and lo and behold, all these chickens in his in his ward found this new ability to be able to to actually get off the ground and fly, and it was the most successful soccer meeting in the hit
history of this ward of chickens. Everybody was so excited with this newfound ability
they closed. The meeting was prayer and all of the chickens walked home.
You can see the moral of the story, hopefully that as we spread our wings and try new things and learn new new doctrines and and are able to soar in certain ways that we apply what we learn to our daily life, that
it actually has a change in who we are becoming. It isn’t just a new year’s resolution that lasts for a day or a week or maybe a month,
but it actually translates into a new way of approaching our life and moving forward.
Guest Author
dyejo
