INTRODUCTION: If I were teaching this lesson, I might begin by pouring water into several different shaped containers and asking class members to comment on what we can learn from that activity about the qualities of water. Someone will probably say that water takes the shape of its environment. If you then ask for words that describe water, you might get words like these: Flimsy, unsound, mercurial, capricious, changeable, wobbly, fickle, erratic, unreliable, undependable, vacillating, untrustworthy, variable, mutable, impermanent, unsteady, uncertain, transitory, ephemeral, inconsistent, precarious, and unstable. I am amazed at how many words the English language has to describe this rather undesirable characteristic. But this lesson will require us to think about them, because we are going to talk about three people who were much like water (one was even compared to water), and one young man who was as unlike water as it is possible to be.

For Moroni to engrave the sacrament prayers on the plates is a testimony that the sacrament was an essential, not an optional, part of their worship.

Visiting teaching. In years past, these two words spoken in any Relief Society gathering evoked a myriad of conflicting emotions. Joy. Guilt. Gratitude. Annoyance. Peace. Guilt. Excitement. Frustration. Love. Guilt. Some loved the watchcare program set forth nearly 200 years ago—others, not so much. And most of us, whether we loved it or not, have carried some guilt associated with it. But now, no more guilt, and as of April 1, 2018, no more visiting teaching.

To say that the law can only be fulfilled by Christ is to say that the law can only be fulfilled by love. Love is the point of the law. “All the law and the prophets” hang on this imperative to love (Matthew 22:40). Without love, the law comes unplugged from Christ. It stops functioning as a type and leaves me hopeless. When, instead of love, the law generates fear, anger, guilt, envy, and frustration, then the law is broken. A loveless law is a broken law. A loveless law is a law incapable of mercy or justice. A loveless law is an occasion for selfishness, pride, and hypocrisy.

INTRODUCTION: Neighbors who lived near my home in a small Arizona town suffered the misfortune of having the foundation of their home crack. The displacement left three- and four-inch gaps between the bricks of the west and north walls. It was a preventable calamity. Everyone knew that the soil was sandy and that the foundation, in order to remain secure, had to rest on bedrock. But in an effort to cut costs and save time, the owner and contractor agreed to shortcuts that led to disaster.

Joseph Smith and Pushkin, Russia’s beloved poet and the founder of Russian literature, were contemporaries. Pushkin published his first poem at age 15. Not long after, Joseph Smith had the First Vision in his 15th year. Pushkin’s novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, was serialized between 1825 and 1832. The Book of Mormon was published in 1830. Both men are revered to this day. Each died in their late 30s by an angry bullet.

INTRODUCTION: A small tent, held in place by a tent peg (or stake) on each corner could be easily flattened or remodeled. But if the tent were larger and secured with 2946 stakes (as of the end of 2011), it would be almost impossible to move. This is the image Isaiah used to describe the Church and kingdom in the last days.

Revelation 5, 6; 19-22

As we prepare for general conference in a few days, we look forward to another solemn assembly and an opportunity to sustain our new prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. Learn what a solemn assembly is and why we hold them.