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Segment 1
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In early August, 1831, Joseph Smith and other elders of the church were preparing to return to Kirtland after a short visit to Missouri, the Lord had wanted these men to preach the gospel during their trip. Some of the men had no problem with that, but there were others who were hesitant. Now rather than berate the elders who were hesitant, the Lord took the opportunity to help 'em understand his expectations and desires as they journeyed home to Ohio.
Well, I think these sections are the same for US. Doctrine and Covenants. Section 60 through 63 are the Lord's expectations and desires for us as we are on our journey home, and like the Lord had hoped for the elders. His words can be helpful for us today. Welcome to the Sunon Monday Study Group, a Deseret Bookshelf Plus original, brought to you by LDS Living where we take the come Follow Me lesson for the week, and we really dig into the scriptures together.
I'm your host, Tammy Uzelac Hall. Now, if you're new to our study group, follow the link in our description. It's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your come Follow Me study, just like my longtime listening friend, Danny Baird. Hello. Okay. Now another awesome thing about our study group.
This is my favorite thing. Each week we're joined by two of my friends, but sometimes it's just one, and today is one, and I am so excited to introduce you to Kristy Wheelwright Taylor. Hello, Kristy. Hi, Tammy. How are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me. Oh, I'm so excited to have you. This is a thrill for me, especially in light of the really cool stuff that you're involved in.
Listen, everybody, you're going to love this so much, and if you were a fan of Melinda Wheelwright Brown, who we had on with Maria Eckersley a few weeks ago, this is her sister. This is so fun. So Kristy, tell us a little bit about yourself. Um, well, I'm, I live in Fort Worth. Um, I'm not a Utahn, but let's see, I went to BYU, so I was a Utahn for a while.
Okay, we'll allow it, which is where I met my husband. Uh, I've now got four kids and about five years ago, years ago, I got [00:02:00] involved in the Wilfred Woodruff papers. So now, what is that? Joseph Smith papers in all of those documents. But Wilfred Woodruff really, um, I mean, we're not as fancy and as high, maybe quite as high tech and you know, all of that as the Joseph Smith papers.
But Wilfred Woodruff was the ultimate. Record keeper. Mm-hmm. He got baptized the last day of 1833 and he didn't die until 1898, so that's about 64 years. And he kept a journal from the first day he called it the first book of Wilford. So that was the journal on his first day. Um, he and he recorded at the end of every year, like how many letters he got and he received and how many discourses.
So we know that he sent about 13,000 letters and he received about 17,000 letters. He kept 31 journals and day books. Um, so if you go under the wilford wood of papers.org, you can find about 45,000 pages worth of his documents. Um, and he wrote. He wrote about himself, but it, it isn't even so much about him, it's him witnessing the re the early years of the restoration.
I mean, he wrote about everything. He wrote everything that he could remember that Joseph Smith said, and Brigham Young and Heber c Kimball and all of his friends. And he, he was on Zion camp and he served missions for about the first 12 years of his, um, membership. Mm-hmm. Uh, he was a great missionary.
And then, you know, he led Saints to Salt Lake and then he was obviously the prophet and he just left a really rich record. And he has a great way of storytelling. I mean, he really is just colorful and entertaining and he is funny. Um. Really, it's, yeah, he's just, he's great. I didn't think I'd like him as much as I do, but I'm crazy about him.
That is so fascinating. Oh my gosh. I can't wait to read more about this. So are they gonna come out with separate books like the Joseph Smith? [00:04:00] No, nothing. Um, published, so, but everything's free on the website, so nothing published unless you publish your own book. Okay. What's the website? How do we find that?
Website is wilford wood of papers.org. Okay. And everything is searchable on there. There's 25,000 individual names and it's links to family search, so you can find out if you're related to any of these people. And, um, oh, that's neat. Yeah. And now it's linked to like the Emmaline Wells papers and mm-hmm.
Um, uh, George Buchanan and some other things. So you can really do your study for the week. Out of Wilfred Woodruff's documents. Okay. That is fascinating. Well, and here's something really cool. I'm gonna brag for Kristy. She has a book coming out, actually, it's out. It's already out. Yes. It's a Deseret Book.
And it is a book about Wilfred Woodruff, you guys, it's actually called Prepare Me for Thy Use Lessons from Wilfred Woodruff's Missionary Years. Is that right? Or Mission Years. Mission Years, yep. Yep. We're gonna put a link to it. So it's about his discipleship. Oh my God. The lessons of discipleship that he learned on his mission, years in his mission, years.
I will tell you how much I love Wilfred Woodruff. He's been my go-to for my daughters when I tell them to keep a journal because we talk about it. But I say, listen, I don't, I don't know a lot about this prophet, but he kept a ton of journals and here's what I know 'cause my daughters were suffering with a lot of anxiety and all sorts of like depression and everything.
And I said, I think one of the tools that we can use is writing in a journal every night. And if you write stuff out, it helps you feel better about life. At least that worked for me. 'cause I kept in just so many journals when I was a teenager and I think maybe I might have been an anxious, depressed kid, but I just wrote everything out in my journal.
And I don't know if Wilfred ever experienced anxiety, but if I could pick an anxiety prophet, it would be him. 'cause he wrote so many journals. I don't think he got nervous. He had a lot of confidence in the Lord. So he was just a Oh yeah, go out and do kind of guy. But yeah, he, he did get anxious about not writing [00:06:00] enough.
He just wanted to record every, he really was, he knew that he was supposed to write stuff down and he didn't wanna get in trouble for not writing it all down. Oh my gosh, this is so neat. Okay, well we are excited to tell you we're gonna just kind of promote this a little bit because Kristy's gonna come back at the end of this year and she's gonna talk to us about The Manifesto by Wilfred Woodruff at the end of the doctrine cabinet.
So she'll be back again in a couple of months. And she's also going to be with us on our unnamed women's series and talk about his wife Phoebe Carter, which she has a great story. So you're gonna wanna watch out for that, and I cannot wait. I'm so excited to have you on for this episode because these chapters are a little bit, I don't know, a little rogue, a little weird.
And so you kind of read Section 60 through 63 and you're like, what does this have to do with me? And I have a feeling we're gonna find some pretty great things. So here's the deal. If you wanna know more about my guest and you wanna read her bio and see her picture, you can find those in our show notes, which will be at lds living.com/sunday on Monday.
We will also have a link to her book there as well, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. So grab your scriptures and something to mark your scriptures with. And let's dig into doctrine and cabinets, section 60 through 63. Okay, Kristy, right outta the gate, first question is, tell me what the Holy Ghost taught you when you were reading these sections.
Um, well, I thought, you know, the same thing you did. I thought this is, there's some missionary stuff in here and some administrative things, and, but after I read it through all of these sections, I just really felt like, and I see this a lot in the scriptures, that the Lord is mindful and he just, he cares what's happening here and with us.
And it, he's, he admits in these sections, this is gonna be hard, but I'm with you and it's gonna be okay. So like in section 61 verse six, he says, all flesh is in mine hands. Mm-hmm. So he knows the trip is gonna be dangerous, but don't worry about it. I'm gonna help you through it in 62 verse two. Mine eyes are upon, you know, you, [00:08:00] um.
He says the kingdom is yours. So it's he's, he's telling us all of this is available to us and he's here to help us through it, and he's ready to, to just be right beside us, if we will step up and do the work. That is so cool. Kristi, this is so awesome because this year as I've been studying the doctrine in Cabinets, I encouraged our listeners to get a eternal truth highlighter, something to highlight in their scriptures when something said or taught.
That is absolutely true. And when you were speaking, I grabbed my color, my highlighter, and I highlighted what you just taught us in Section 61 verse six. All flesh is in mine hand. That is an absolute eternal truth. And then again, in section 62, verse two, my eyes are upon and it says those, but basically my eyes are upon all of us.
And so thank you for that reminder. Like I think it's awesome. The Lord is mindful and he does care. And you're right. These, like we've talked about, really kind of odd sections. But eternal truths are just woven throughout them. So thank you for pointing those out. That is so good. Alright, so these sections then we're gonna talk about how they apply to our lives and what the Lord's expectations and desires are for us, because if he does see us and if all fleshes in his hands, then surely he has a plan for every one of us.
And we're gonna find out more about that in the next segment.
Segment 2
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Let's go to Doctrine and Covenant Section 60. The Lord commands the elders to preach the gospel as they travel back to Ohio. We're gonna turn to the section heading for section 60, and what we're gonna do is we're looking for the reason that this revelation was given. So Kristy, will you please read the section heading of Section 60?
Yeah. Revelation given through Joseph Smith, the prophet in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. August 8th, 1831. On this occasion, the elders who had [00:10:00] traveled to Jackson County and participated in the dedication of the land and the temple site desired to know what they were to do. Thank you. This is so cool.
So having been from Missouri and lived there a couple of years, anytime we got to talk about Missouri and independence and Zion and all that fun stuff, this is what's happening. The Lord has asked Joseph Smith and several elders to go to Missouri, and what they're going to do there is they're gonna work towards building up a city of Zion.
So when they're doing this, the Lord is encouraging them to do something. So let's go into doctrine and cabinet section 60, and we're gonna read verses one through three to find out what the Lord wanted them to do, but what they were hesitant to do, some of them anyway, Kristy read for us verses one through three.
All right, behold, thus sayeth the Lord under the elders of his church who are to return speedily to the land from once they came. Behold, it pleased with me that you have come up hither, but with some I am not well pleased for, they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent, which I have given them because of the fear of man.
Woe un as such for my anger is kindled against them, and it shall come to pass. If they're not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have. Thank you. Now, according to verse two, why is the Lord not pleased with these men or some of them I. Well, they're, they're not opening their mouth, they're hiding their talent.
And then it tell, he tells them why. Yes, exactly. Highlight the word talent right there and to the outside. Write this simple word testimony. I thought this was interesting because I thought, well, did they all have the talent to speak and open their mouths? 'cause not everybody does. And I know it can be very scary to do that.
And what I found with the word talent is that it could also mean that it was a knowledge of the gospel, of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. And the experiences that they had had leading up to this mission was the talent. And so that was what it was, that they were hiding that talent, which had been given unto them.
And so they were afraid to talk about the talent, the really awesome [00:12:00] thing. So Kristy, talk to me about this. Like what, what can make it difficult for us to open our mouths? Why do we hide the talent we've been given? Well, I mean, the Lord tells us in verse two that it's the fear of man. Mm-hmm. And I think that covers a lot of ground, the fear of man.
But I think that also, uh. Plays into our own insecurities. So not feeling like, you know, you wanna come out and sound like an idiot, or you don't feel confident in the doctrine, or you just feel unprepared. Um, and I think all of those things keep you from opening your mouth. But what you're explaining about the talents is really great because, because really all you have to do is witness about what you know Yeah.
And what you've, you know, the truth that you know. And how do you argue with that? I mean. Yes. It's your own experience. It's your own witness. Oh, see, now I love that you said that because it makes me think everyone's talent is different, isn't it? Like we, we use that term. When you use the term talent, literally how we think of it, like the talent you can do, everyone's got a different one.
Some people can play the piano, some people can, you know, whatever it is. But then in this context, it's still the same. Everyone has a different talent. Everybody has an absolute knowledge or as surety of some aspect of the gospel. And so if you can, if that's the only thing you can talk about, fantastic. I have a friend who her talent is absolutely talking about the priesthood, the gift of the priesthood.
And people have said to her, why do you stay in the church? And that is her go-to every time, because I have had so many experiences with the power of the priesthood, how can I not stay? I, I love that. And that is her talent. I wanna know, Kristy, what's yours? What's your aspect of the gospel? What do you know or believe?
Um, I feel, I just feel really strongly and. The more I study church history, that the nature of God and his plan is just, it's so beautiful and it's so, I, I don't [00:14:00] get bogged down in some of the other stuff that maybe can feel like, you know, the noise of the periphery of the gospel. I just, I love the beauty of the Savior's plan and his relationship with us and everything else falls into place after that.
Kate, your talent is beautiful and I love that when you said that you, you, I believe you. I absolutely believe you. Well, I also, I, I mean you read these, these verses and you know, in, in the section heading to 63, and I'm sure we'll talk about this later, they call it the infant days of the church. So, I mean, how do you not feel insecure?
I. If you're asked to share all this when you're in the infant days, I mean, this is the beginning still. We're only in 1831. There's a lot left to come, you know, so of course you're gonna feel insecure in this, but what you can still feel secure in is your witness of the savior. I mean, that's, that's always where you can, where you can go to, to, to feel your confidence, even if you don't think that you can get up and preach about the, you know, the priesthood of God, because maybe you don't know all of the pieces yet, but you know, you can trust the Lord and the witness that he's given you.
My goodness. Let me tell you what, when you said this, it hit me like a ton of bricks, so I'm writing it down. What you can feel secure in is your witness of the savior. Thank you for saying that. That came by virtue of your talent, Kristy, that was so cool. What a great testament. Because sometimes I feel like we're still in the infant phases of the church, like because we're in the restoration and things are constantly changing.
It's hard when things change and people have questions and then they turn it to be something against the church and you're kind of like, I don't know how to answer that. I'm not sure, but now I know how to answer it. Because of you, I can feel secure in my witness of the savior, Jesus [00:16:00] Christ. That might be the best talent for any of us.
Yeah. Wow. Kristy, thank you for saying that. Okay. But living in Texas, is it hard? Like what does it look like on an everyday basis to share your talent? How do you do it? Well, this is, this is a Bible belt town for sure. I mean, right. You get a God bless when you're walking down the street and say hello to someone.
So, oh, it's really, it's really okay. Um, but, uh, you know, I think the Lord gives you. What you need to say when you need to say it and mm-hmm. And when the people are friendly, like here in Texas, they are really friendly. I mean, I'm from Boston and the people are not so friendly. Um, but here, everybody wants to talk to you and they all, most of them go to church too.
Yeah. And your kids all go to like the, the preschool that's in the, the church down the street or something. So there's a lot of common ground. Mm-hmm. You know? Is there a specific experience you have where you were able to do that? Well, I think it just comes up more and more now that church history is what I do every day.
Yeah. Um, and I sometimes I, at the beginning of, of joining the Wolf of Bird of papers and people would ask me what I do like for work, I would say, well, I work on a, like a historical document. We're a nonprofit and we do historical documents in Utah. That's not a great explanation. And now the deeper I've gotten into it and writing this book and everything, I'm much better at coming out and saying, yeah, I work on the, you know, personal papers of the fourth prophet of our church and his, you know, testimony of the savior.
And I can, I can actually get into it. And I feel a little, and part of it is that I'm not quite, so, you know, in the infant days of mm-hmm. Project. Oh, yeah. And I'm a little bit more mature in my place in this project and in my confidence in understanding church history [00:18:00] and how I can talk about it, you know?
Mm-hmm. I'm, I'm allowed to talk about church history, and then maybe when people have questions, well, they'll, they'll ask me, or, you know, they won't, they'll, they'll think, oh, she's not so weird. It's probably not what I think. It's, you know. Yeah. Oh for sure. Wow. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that example.
I like how you've, how you showed this progression of becoming more confident as you've learned more things. And I think that's what's so important is everyone finding out what your talent is when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What aspect of it that you feel confident in talking about?
Because just like you said, now you can take what you're doing and confidently and then I love how you confidently tied it in and back to Jesus Christ. 'cause that's what I think in the Bible belt. People will go prophet of your church, but then they hear Jesus Christ and they're like, tell me more. I think that's powerful when we connect it back to the Savior and he's a lot of common ground.
I. Yeah. Of on the ground for sure. So cool. Everyone listening, I want you to think about what is your talent? What aspect of the gospel has the Lord given to you that you can bear witness of? Because I'm gonna ask that at the end of the week on a Saturday, I ask people to, we put up a post with a question.
I'm just so curious to know, what do you think is your talent? What aspect of the gospel do you believe? So thank you. Thank you, Kristy, for that discussion. Okay, so in the next segment, we're gonna continue to talk about desires and expectations, especially when we seek direction in our lives. We'll find out what the Lord has to say about that.
Segment 3
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So looking back at section 60 in 1831, like we said, Joseph Smith and several of the elders, they began their journey home from Missouri to Ohio, by the way, fun fact, it's about 800 miles from independence to Kirtland, Ohio. So that's a long time. 1,287 kilometers for our friends who use that metric system.
There you go. So they're going back to their homes in Ohio. This is a long walk or ride on water, and they have spent [00:20:00] the previous few weeks in Missouri. Which we've talked about. Now while traveling home, the group had a question about their method and direction of travel, and this is so fascinating. Turn to section 60 and let's mark verse five.
We're gonna mark a couple of verses that say this phrase in here that I just think I love God even more with this. Kristy, will you please read section 60 verse five, putting emphasis on the direction that the Lord gave them on travel, but fairly I'll speak unto you concerning your journey unto the land from once you came.
Let there be a craft made or bought as seam. If you good it matter if not unto me. And take your journey speedily for the place, which is called St. Louis. Awesome. Okay. What does he say right there? Yep. As seen with you. Good. And it matter. It's not unto me. Oh, I love it. Okay, let's do a cross reference. Put doctrine and cabinet section 61 and turn to verses 21 and 22.
And we're gonna look at some more instruction that the Lord gives these men in verses 21 and 22. I'll read that. Wherefore let those concerning whom I have spoken that should take their journey in haste. Again, I say unto you, let them take their journey in haste and it matter if not unto me after a little, if it so be that they fill their mission, whether they go by water or by land.
Let this be as it is made known unto them according to their judgments. Hereafter, underline it, matter if not unto me. And then put next to that section 62 versus five through seven and turn there section 62 versus five through seven. You want me to read that Please? Okay. Uh, 62, uh, starting in verse five, and then you may return to bear record.
Yay. Even altogether or two by two. As, as Seeth, you good. It matters not unto me, only be faithful and declare glad tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth or among the congregations of the wicked [00:22:00] Behold, I, the Lord have brought you together that the promise might be fulfilled, that the faithful among you should be preserved and rejoiced together in the land of Missouri, I, the Lord promised the faithful and cannot lie.
I the Lord am willing, if any among you desire to ride upon horses or upon mules or in chariots, he shall receive this blessing if he receive it from the hand of the Lord with a thankful heart in all things. Thank you. And then cross reference that to section 63 verse 40. And let all the monies which can be separated, it matter if not unto me, whether it be little or much be sent upon the land of Zion unto them whom I have appointed to receive.
Okay. That wording right there, it matter if not unto me. The Lord uses it many times right here, frequently. And I wanted to know what is the Lord teaching us by answering the, the early infant members of the church. It matter if not unto me. Um, well, I think he always pairs it with something else, like as See you good or according to your judgment.
He, he's, he's saying that it's not, that it's the motivation more than, and the sacrifice and the obedience is more important than how you get there. You can write on a mule or a donkey or whatever. That's just fine. And I know he just gives this whole list. Go get a donkey or a mule or whatever you want.
Um, but as long as you're doing it with. Stay in faithfulness and in good judgment and using your own agency and discernment it. He's okay. Just get the work done. Yeah. What is it about his phrase? It matter, if not unto me, what does that teach us about the Lord? Well, I don't think it teaches us that he doesn't care.
Thank you. You know, I mean, you might read it, you know, you might read it and think, well, he doesn't care how I do it. Well, but he does care how you do it. He just, it, it matters that you're doing it and that you have, have, have taken his edict and run with it. Yeah. That whatever decision you've prayed [00:24:00] about for him to say it matter if not unto me, I think is a great deal of trust.
Yeah. It matter not unto me because I trust the way you're going to go about this is going to be right and the decision you make is going to be good. Let's read this quote. This is by DH Oaks about this idea of it matter if not unto me. So Kristy, will you please read this quote for us? A desire to be led by the Lord is a strength, but it needs to be accompanied by an understanding that our Heavenly Father leaves many decisions for our personal choices.
Personal decision making is one of the sources of the growth we are meant to experience in mortality. Persons who try to shift all decision making to the Lord and plead for revelation in every choice will soon find circumstances in which they pray for guidance and don't receive it. For example, this is likely to occur in those numerous circumstances in which the choices are trivial or either choice is acceptable.
We should study things out in our minds using the reasoning powers are creator has placed within us. Then we should pray for guidance and act upon it if we receive it. If we do not receive guidance, we should act upon our best judgment. Thank you. So, have you ever had an experience like this in your life where the answer probably was, it mattered, if not unto me, where you studied it out and you, you made the right decision.
I don't know. What does it look like in real everyday life? Well, right now in my life, I'm the, I'm the Stake Release Society president and I spend a lot of time, uh, counseling with our release society presidents. We've got 10 release society presidents in the stake. Wow. And I get this question a lot when it comes to making visits or extending callings or making ministering assignments.
And I tell them, I, I, we do this, we have this conversation a lot about, well, you are called and set apart. You have the priesthood authority to perform this calling. And if you get up every day and say your prayers and you feel like the Lord is directing you, then just go with it. Don't wait for the lightning bolt to [00:26:00] tell you, this is how I'm gonna change its ministering assignment, or This is how I'm gonna go visit this person.
Just assume that you're acting within your stewardship and you know, as long as you're, you're living within your covenants and you're living the gospel. Just do it. Get out there and do the work and don't, you know, idle away your time, waiting for the next big revelation. Oh my gosh, that's really cool. I love that this has come up frequently for you and I like that because when you were saying, and for me the way I interpreted that was, if you're doing it like you said with the delegated priesthood authority that you've been given, just the fact that you're doing it is right.
And so whatever you do will be right. And I think you're, I agree with you that just follow the promptings. 'cause I don't think we get these big claps of lightning that are, I mean, once in a while, maybe in your lifetime, but when it comes to visits and things like that, I think it's a subtle, beautiful spirit that just names pop into your mind and just follow that and do it and go for it.
Because Yeah. And I like how you've also prefaced all this, that every time the Lord says it matter if not unto me, he sets it up by saying, do a seem with you good. And here are options and weigh these out and think about it and do it. But I'm not gonna tell you exactly. How this should be done. 'cause you're smart and, and you know how to do it.
Yeah. Yeah. And hopefully we've been practicing on, you know, our personal revelation, how we receive revelation. And so you don't need to wait and be retaught every single time. You've kind of mm-hmm. You've, you've progressed enough that you can just roll with it and you know that this is how the Lord talks to me, and so I'm just gonna do it.
How does the Lord talk to Kristy Taylor? Mm-hmm. How do you receive Revelation? Um, usually it's an idea in my head that just won't go away. Mm-hmm. I mean, and the next thing I know, I am propelled forward. It feels like it, it feels like a little motorboat going for me, you know? Mm-hmm. I mean, I, I get this idea, and if I can't [00:28:00] shake it, then I'm like, okay, this is what we're doing now.
This is, this is the next event, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, and if, if I, this idea pops into my head and by the time I get up in the next morning, I, it's gone. Then I know. That wasn't something I needed to follow. That's a great example. Do you ever get woken up at four in the morning with ideas? Yes, and I, I actually hate that.
I mean, I go, I write it down as quickly as I can because I think if you don't write it down at four in the morning, then you're up all night working it out. Right. But if you write it down, you're like, okay, I can put that on the shelf and I'll deal with that tomorrow. Now I'm gonna go back to bed. I find that's when the spirit speaks to me too.
I wonder if it's 'cause it's the most, like the absolute perfect timing for my brain when I'm not thinking literally about anything else. And so the spirit can whisper to me and then I'm, I'm with you. I have to hurry and write it down. 'cause then I will spend the next two hours just thinking about it.
And then I'll be mad that I didn't slept and then that doesn't help anybody. 'cause now I'm angry. Exactly. That's so cool. Oh my gosh. This is really fun though. I loved finding these times, and then again we were like, why are these sections, whoever did come follow me? Good job on putting these three together.
And so one of the best lessons to come outta these sections is that, that if you're doing it with authority and you're following the spirit, the Lord's like, great. Good job. Do it. I love you. So awesome. Awesome. Okay. Well then in the next segment, we're gonna look at some more desires and expectations that the Lord has for us when it comes to having disagreements with anyone.
Now this is fun. We'll do that in the next segment.
Segment 4
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Let's turn to Doctrine and Covenant, section 61, and we're gonna look at the section heading because it may make some people uncomfortable, but knowing the history and doctrine behind this chapter, it's gonna help us understand what is going on. Okay? And then it had me wondering about the world I live in today, so this is really fascinating.
Kristy, will you please [00:30:00] read the section heading? Revelation Given through Joseph Smith, the prophet on the Bank of the Missouri River, McElwain Bend, August 12th, 1831. On their return trip to Kirtland, the prophet and 10 elders had traveled down the Missouri River in canoes. On the third day of the journey, many dangers were experienced.
Elder William W Phelps in a daylight vision saw the destroyer riding in power upon the face of the waters. Okay, that could be very disturbing. So here's a little bit of history and background going into this, and then Kristy and I are gonna have a fun discussion about this. So the day before this revelation was given, the men were frustrated over their lack of success on the mission, and they had actually been expecting miracles and conversions, and they're unhappy that they had not seen more immediate fulfillment of God's promises.
So as a result of their false expectations and being disappointed, there was murmuring and arguing add to that. But one of the canoes was hit and partially submerged, and it nearly overturned the boat. So, according to Joseph, there had been other mishaps earlier that day. So times are tough for these men, and they're bickering, and they're complaining.
And so we're gonna go to section 61, verse 20 to see how the Lord felt about their murmuring and complaining and, and fighting with each other. So, doctrine and Kevin, section 61, verse 20. And Kristy, will you please read that for us? Hmm. By the Lord was angry with you yesterday, but today my anger is turned away.
How much do you love that verse? I was angry with you yesterday. Today we're okay. Yesterday was not good. I love it so much. Oh my gosh. It sounds like a bad scout trip, right? It sounds like a fight in everyone's marriage. Boy, if we could just say, listen, I was angry with you yesterday, but today I am totally fine.
It's turned away. Even the Lord has that with the saints. Like, listen, yesterday was a bad day, so we're just gonna let it go now. And we're new today. So then we have all these references, or sorry, all of these discussions in Section 61. And you know the thing that facet makes me the most about this is seeing [00:32:00] that Satan was riding upon the waters.
So Christine and I are gonna dispel a myth right now, and the myth is that Satan has power over the waters. True or false? Yeah, false. I'd say that's false. That's false. Yes. So then when you read section 61, you're like, but it says right here that he does. So we're gonna mark a few verses, verses 14 through 17.
So these are the big verses that talk about it. Kristy read verse 14 for us, be I the Lord in the beginning, bless the waters. But in the last days, by the mouth of my servant John, I curse the waters. Okay, you're gonna wanna put a cross reference next to verses 14 through 17. It's Revelation chapter eight, verses eight through 11, and then Revelation 16, two through six.
So in the book of Revelation, John does say that in the future, the Lord will curse the waters. So these verses and this discussion about Satan having control of the waters is a future time. It's not right now. So in the future, he will curse the waters. He hasn't done that. So we can all just breathe easy that Satan does not have control over the waters yet.
The Lord does. But what the Lord's trying to tell these men is the, the waters were dangerous. If anyone's seen the Missouri River, it is dangerous. I remember on my mission when the Missouri River overflowed because of all of the rain, and my family sent pictures to me on my mission. I couldn't believe how high that river rose like.
It was so catastrophic for this people in Missouri. So the Missouri river's big and it is scary, and I think that's what the Lord's trying to say here. Like, be careful how you travel. The waters are pretty scary. But why Kristy, do you think that William Ww Phelps would've seen a destroyer riding on the face of the waters then?
Um, well, the only thing I can come up with is that the contention was enough that they just, you know, that kind of contention does something to you a little bit and you, it sort of seeps into everything [00:34:00] that you're working on and thinking about and trying to progress with. Yes, you're 100% right. This revelation has more to do with contention is of the devil than it does to have the devil rides upon the waters.
So let's be clear, let's make our lesson focused on just how, because here in the scriptures we've read a couple times where the Lord has even said, I am in your midst and you don't even see me when things are good. So you can imagine when things are bad, who is in our midst. Let's cross reference Section 61.
Under the section heading, I want you to put second Nephi chapter 28 verse 20, and then third Nephi chapter 11, verse 29. And these are verses that support this idea that that contention is of the devil, which is why WW Phelps saw him. Let's go there real quick. Kristy, can you please read second Nephi chapter 28 verse 20, and I will read third Nephi 1129.
Be behold at that day, shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men and stir them up to anger against that, which is good. Now pause for a minute on that. Second. EFI 28 are all of Satan's tactics in the last days. And so, boy do we see that one everywhere. Yeah. I mean if Satan's riding on the waters in Missouri for that little tiff they got in, I think he's writing everywhere in the world we live in today.
He rages in the hearts of the children of men. Third Nephi, chapter 11, verse 29. For verily verily I say unto you, he that half the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil who is the father of contention. And he stirs up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. And so we have one more thing we're gonna read.
This is a quote and it is by Theodore and Burton about contention. I'm gonna have Kristy read this. Whenever you get red in the face, whenever you raise your voice, whenever you get hot under the collar or angry, rebellious, or negative in spirit, [00:36:00] then know that the spirit of God is leaving you. And the spirit of Satan is beginning to take over.
At times we may feel justified in arguing or fighting for truth by contentious words or actions do not be deceived. Satan would rather have you contend for evil if he could, but he rejoices when we contend with one another, even when we think we are doing it in the cause of righteousness. He knows and recognizes the self-destructive nature of contention under any guise.
Thank you. What's your advice for people when contention arises? How do we keep Satan out of that? Um, I think this reminds me of my youngest daughter who has a lot of trouble with math and she spent a lot of time with math tutors. And the math tutor at one point was really clear that once. This daughter gets worked up.
There's no more learning happening. Like when she starts raging or crying, the learning is over and it's time to stop and regroup, which is true. You know, you just, you can't learn. And in this case, it's a church history. You know, you can't learn what the Lord's trying to tell you. And in my daughter's case, it's math, but whatever.
Um, you can't, you can't learn that if your, you know, all of your, your synapses in your brain are firing like that. And then I was thinking in verse eight, the Lord's chastening them and says that they can't split up yet and tell you're chastened for all your sins, that you might be one. So I was thinking, does the chastening bring about the unity?
Where does those things seem very connected there. Chastening will. Bring you together. But I don't think he actually means it's the chastening that brings you together. It's the reconciling your will together. They're being chastened because they haven't reconciled their will to God and to each other.
And then they can be one, which is when they'll actually get the work of the kingdom done. You know? Mm-hmm. So I mean, like if you think about, [00:38:00] you know, what is Zion one heart in one mind? So you've gotta be reconciled to the same, you know, course and action and doctrine, or Paul talking about the body of Christ.
You've all gotta be operating in the same, you know, with the same motivation and the same head, which is Christ, to actually get the work done. And that's when the magic happens. Wow. I like that. Oh, I wrote that in my scriptures at the bottom. When your tutor said, once your daughter gets worked up, she's done learning.
Isn't that the truth for every situation, like when someone comes at you and they're angry with you and they're yelling at you because they want you to change, you think they're gonna change? No way. No one's changing by getting yelled at. All you do is dig in your heels. Yes. Oh my goodness. That was such a great application to this whole section.
And again, then it goes to verse six when you talked about all fleshes in my hand. Like, I can do this. In fact, when he says he that is faithful among you shall not perish by the waters. Um, not because Satan's in control of him, but it's because if you are not putting your trust and your faith in me and you're yelling and you're arguing with each other, how can I protect that?
How can I help you? Because your faith now, like in that quote we read, the spirit of Satan has entered in. That doesn't help anybody. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, that's some parenting 1 0 1 right there. That was good. So that's section 61. Those are the crazy chapters. You can absolutely look up more stuff about those verses about Satan having control over the waters in the future, but not right now.
So we can all breathe easy, but what we don't have a lot of control over sometimes it seems, is anger. And we need to get in control of that, especially in the world that we live in today. So those are his desires and expectations for us when it comes to dealing with people. In the next segment, we're gonna talk about desires and expectations when it comes to him.
We'll do that next.
Segment 5
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[00:40:00]
Okay. This segment's gonna be fun because we just get to talk about Jesus the entire time. So I asked Kristy to read over sections 60 through 63, and the both of us did this together. And I wanted us to find out all the things that we could learn about who Jesus Christ is. 'cause this is why the chapters really matter.
So share what you marked Kristy. And we're just gonna go through and we'll mark the same verses and point it out to us. What did you learn about Jesus in these chapters? Well, I love, like I was kind of said at the beginning, God is merciful, you know? And he's, he's, he's mindful. He's mindful, he uses the word mindful, but I think it's a really similar to telling us that he's merciful.
Like, you know, and when Joseph and, uh, Martin lost the, the pages and you read in section three, but God is merciful, you know, it just, it means he's, he's. On top of this and he's keeping track. Um, and I just love that when you, when you read church history and you read scripture more than just a couple verses of scripture, you see the pattern that God's nature doesn't change.
That, you know, if he's doing this at the beginning of one Nephi and he is still doing it at the end of the Book of Mormon, he's still doing it now. And the Lord being mindful and holding us in his hand and all of this that we're reading about in these verses, it's still the same today. He's, he's, he's unchangeable, uh, Wilfred Woodruff.
'cause he's on my mind a lot. Mm-hmm. He said he wanted to keep the record of the dealings of God with his people. That's what you find in the scriptures is God's dealings with his people and we're his people. So none of that has changed, you know? Um, and he says these things over and over again in the scriptures.
Unlike you were saying, the it matter if not. Mm-hmm. You know, he repeats it so that in case you didn't get it the first time, you'll get it by the end. And he's saying, remember we talked about this. Remember I'm gonna tell you again. And I love that [00:42:00] he just, he is, he's always the same. And I mean, even the part about, you know, he is holding you in 63 25 and he is talking about Zion and he says, I the Lord, hold it in my own hands and it reminds me of my favorite.
One of my favorite chapters in scripture is Moses seven, where Jehovah is taking Enoch through all the generations of the earth. We read, wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an arc and that the Lord smiled upon it and held it in his own hand. Oh, wow. You know, God is there for all of it, and he's, he's holding it all in his hand, you know, and I mean, it, it just comes up so many times, like in section 84, he says, not a hair of your head shall fall to the ground unnoticed.
He doesn't say it's not gonna fall. He just says, it's, I'm mindful. It's, it's not gonna fall unnoticed. You know? So all of these things that may be hard. Mm-hmm. It's okay. It's all okay. You know, we know how it ends so we can trust the Lord to help us through it all. That's what I, lemme ask you when I, yeah.
Lemme ask you this. I want you to think back in your life to one of the most difficult moments that you wish the outcome would've been different. Okay. I, what does it do for you? To know that, look, God didn't fix it or change it, but he noticed you. How does that help you? Well, you were talking earlier about journal keeping and stuff.
I, you know, I didn't keep a journal. I mean, I kept like a crummy 15-year-old journal that nobody wants to read. But when we went through that hard experience that we weren't quite sure what to do with, I, I started keeping a journal of, I called it my Book of Little Miracles and just, just like one line at a time where God was in charge.
He didn't, he couldn't, I knew he couldn't fix everything and I knew that we couldn't see the end from the beginning right now, but we needed the immediate goodness of God. We needed to see that God was mindful and that was, these were like baby steps in the right direction. So I was, [00:44:00] that was my journal keeping for a while until I got the hang of recognizing God's hand.
Every day in just the little ways, you know? Mm-hmm. Someone who popped over to do this or someone who wanted to, all of these little things. And I would just write 'em down so that later on when I was maybe feeling a little shaky, I could remember that he was there the whole time, even though he didn't solve all the problems.
Wow. Um, would you be comfortable sharing what that experience was? Yeah. Um, our son served a mission in West Africa and it was a really horrible experience. Um, and it was like not as advertised, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, and he came home in really bad shape and we spent a lot of time, and so that's a hard one to make sense of because.
He's on a mission, you know? Yeah. I mean, you're doing the right thing at the right time. In the right way. And so there was, I had a, I don't wanna speak to his experience, but for my experience, it was hard for me to make sense of what do I do with that in my faith when I thought, God, haven't you? Like, wasn't this the plan?
You know? Mm-hmm. So I needed to see, I needed to be reminded what the everyday blessings were in our life, because I couldn't make sense of the bigger picture, so I had to focus on the little pieces. Thank you for sharing that, because now it gives so much more context to why you love that we are in his hand.
Yeah. Because your situation, you can't even explain it, but you trust that you're in his hand and it's going to work out for good. So thank you. Yeah. Sometimes that's all you have, you know? Yeah. And that's, so you just have to go back to that over and over again. Oh, and I love how you said that. 'cause I think that's all the Saints had in the infant days of the church.
There's no other way to explain why they did what they did other than to believe that the Lord really, all those times in the, in the doctrine cabinets kept saying, I [00:46:00] hold you in my hand. Like I've got you, you have to trust me. I know. It doesn't make sense. And, and even Phoebe Carter, my ex, I think part of her story is that she had to convince her family that what she was doing was right.
She just left. Yeah. She just left her family. Yeah. I mean that had to have been so hard. But this trust that the Lord has you in his hands. And, and I like how you said earlier too, 'cause I wrote this down, the Lord repeats it often. What he wants us to know about him, in case you didn't get it, I'm gonna tell you one more time.
So you said, holds me in his hands. Here's one that I noticed he repeats often. And let's go to Section 61 verse one. This is one of the things I learned about him. Again, it says, behold and harken unto the voice of him who has all power, who is from everlasting to everlasting, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
In fact, several times he will say that at the beginning of sections in the doctrine covenants. That's how he starts it out. And I love that about him. He's like, okay, before we get into the nitty gritty, before I tell you what I really want you to hear, let me just start with who I am. I am the almighty. I can do anything.
I am the beginning and the end. So let me, I have all power. That for me is so comforting, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Like, listen, what you're about to go through, Tammy is gonna be so hard, but just know who I am. And so that's what I, again, it was reminded to me, and I like how you said that he repeats it, but just in case, just in case you didn't get it, and all the other sections leading up to section 60.
'cause he says it so many times. Here we are again. I got you. I got this and I, and I've said this before and I always love to bring it up. Because he always brings up and references in scriptures, the story of Moses and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Because when you study their stories, those were hard.
And the Lord's like, listen, I parted a Red Sea so I can part yours too. Mm-hmm. And you have to go, oh yeah, that's right. 'cause you have all power. So, yeah. All right. What else? Keep going. Other verses that you marked. [00:48:00] Alright, let's do section 62 verse one. I'm just gonna go ahead and read that if that's all right.
Please behold. And Harken, OE elders of my church, sayeth the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate who knoweth the weakness of man and how to sucker them who are tempted. Ooh. What word stood out to you in that verse? I love that he's talking about suckering, those who are tempted. We talk a lot about suckering us in our grief or in our trials, or in our, mm-hmm.
Struggles, but suckering, those who are tempted is a, feels a little bit different. Like these are people who are trying and maybe not quite getting it right. You know? Yeah. Which is always, that's us. Sometimes it's anybody. Um, and it could be tempted with all sorts of things. I mean, it could be an addiction or it could be laziness or, you know, um, whatever it is.
But that he's there to comfort you in, in your, your, when you're trying, when you're doing your best, you know, not just when you've done your best. And now things are hard, right. But along the path, he's also trying to help you along. Oh, I am so glad you pointed that out. I, you know what? I have sucker them highlighted, but I did not highlight who are tempted and now that changes that whole verse for me because I love the visual image of the word sucker, which means to run, giving aid or help.
So then I'm picturing Jesus running to me in a skirt. Mind you, he probably was wearing a tunic and that's not easy to do right there. And sandals running. Yeah, yeah. Sandals running to give me aid or help who are tempted because we think that SAT would never enter that den. Like Satan would never run into a scenario where you might be tempted and yet that tells us right there, no, he will, he'll run to you when you're experiencing temptation.
Did you put yourself in a bad situation? You may have, I don't know. It doesn't matter. He's going to run to give you aid or [00:50:00] help. I love that. Yeah. It makes me happy. I love Jesus. Yeah. Okay. Here's what I have. Section 63. And I love how it ends, verses 60 through 61, behold I am Alpha and Omega, even Jesus Christ.
Wherefore let all men beware how they take my name in their lips. I don't know why that makes me emotional. Oh my gosh. Um, what do you think it's saying there? I love, I love that one. Um, he, he goes on to say, you're taking the name of the Lord and if you use it in vain, you don't have the authority. So you're, you're using his name without the faith to back it up.
Mm-hmm. And so maybe you're not preaching the doctrine. Maybe your, your motivation's not quite right. But then he goes on and talks about how. His name is sacred. And so it must be spoken with care and by the constraint of the spirit. And I think there's a little bit of a reciprocal property there. Like, you know, in the sacrament prayer we take upon us the Lord's name, but in return he takes us as one of his.
Mm-hmm. So when we use his name properly, and I think that means witnessing of him and you know, being, doing what he would do. Um, you know, like in verse 63, I, the Lord will own them. Mm-hmm. If we don't take upon us, upon us his name, he doesn't own us. Like in that same way, you know? Mm-hmm. Our covenants give us that added bond.
It pulls us in tighter. Wilfred Woodruff was really big on this, and it's kind of, if you read a lot of his stuff, it seems like he was always chasing that he wanted to be numbered with God's people. And he said in a. The Logan Temple dedication, which was in 1884, about how he wanted to be the Lord's. And he said, the Lord promised me that I should live to find a people of God and have a name and a place within [00:52:00] his house, a name better than the sons or of daughters, A name that should not be cut off.
And I today rejoice and having a name with his people and assist in the dedication of another temple in his most holy name. Mm-hmm. So when you're using the Lord's name correctly, with his authority and working inside your covenants, then you're his. Yeah. You know, and, and what a blessing that is to feel like, oh, now it's all okay.
You know, I'm hitters. Yeah. In fact, there's such a beautiful way that he calls us his. Okay, this is cool because you read verse 63. I didn't think we'd do this, but we're going to now. Oh, 'cause you brought it up. So in section 63, when he says, I, the Lord will own them, highlight will own them, and we're gonna give you a cross-reference.
The cross-reference is back in section 60 verse four, and let's turn there. So I put doctrine Covenant 60 verse four, next to that verse 63. And if you go to section 60, verse four, verse four says, for I the Lord, rule in the heavens above. And among the armies of the earth. And in the day, when I shall make up my jewels, all men shall know what it is that be seeketh, the power of God.
Highlight, make up my jewels. So this phrase right here, when he says, I will have them be my own, I will, when he says, I will own them, you want to know that right? That phrase I will own them, is connected to make up my jewels. Make up my jewels. Cross references to Malachi chapter three, verse 17, where the Lord says, I will come again and I will make up my jewels.
Now, what does all of this mean? It directly then cross references to Exodus chapter 19, verse five, when the Lord calls us peculiar people. But in Hebrew it's not peculiar. The Hebrew word is alah. And alah means a treasured possession. He owns you. And so I think this is so neat because when he says he owns us, he literally does.
But we are his [00:54:00] precious jewels right there. We are his seola. We are owned, we are treasured possessions to him like that is so beautiful. And so when we connect all these things, he says, yeah, be careful how you take my name and your lips because I own you. You are a treasured possession to me. I just adore you.
I like, I like that so much more than peculiar. And even our prophet has said that being called a peculiar person is the co uh, compliment of the highest order. I love that quote from him. But when you know what peculiar means, owned precious special treasure, then yeah, I will be that. So. I'm so cool. Thank you for bringing all that up, Kristy.
That was good. Great discussion. Okay, so there we have some of the cool things the Lord wants us to know about him in these sections, and I'm sure there are more, and you can find them. I mean, section 63 verses 20 and 47. Highlight those. You're gonna want those talks about how he's faithful. He endureth, he shall overcome the world.
Verse 20, HEDA endureth in faith and dear with my will, the same shall overcome. I mean, it's packed with goodness about the Savior, Jesus Christ. But in the last segment, I asked Kristy to teach us what she thinks the desires and expectations that the Lord has for us are in section 63. So she's gonna share that with us in the next segment.
Segment 6
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All right, doctrine and Covenant Section 63. Now, here's what you need to know. Again, seems like such a vague rogue section. I'll read the section heading. It says It was Revelation given through Joseph Smith, the prophet in August 30th, 1831. Remember, the church is only a year and how many months, April, may, June, July, August, four months old, a year and four months old.
The prophet Sidney rigged in Oliver had arrived in Kirtland on August 27th from their visit to Missouri. Joseph Smith history describes this revelation and he says in, and I love how you brought that up. In these infant days of the church, there was great anxiety to obtain the word of the Lord [00:56:00] upon every subject, that in any way concerned our salvation, and as the land of Zion was now the most important temporal object in view, I inquired of the Lord for further information upon the gathering of the saints and the purchasing of the land and other matters.
Okay, but what are his desires and expectations for us today? Out of section 63? There's just so much teaching in the doctrine and covenants and so many questions and so much happening all at once. And it's, it's good to remember that the church didn't come prepackaged. You know, this isn't like, here's your, I'm gonna give it to you.
All right. Now, this is kind of a little bit of DIY, like Ikea instructions in you. It's a little messy and you have to put these together one at a time. But this section especially, I think he's reminding us that he is a god of order. Um, and when you're. When you've got the order, you can get rid of the chaos.
And, you know, I, as women especially, I think, who wants the chaos? That's, no thank you. You know, my husband got me a t-shirt for Christmas. It says serenity now. I think it was more of the, he's encouraging me, but, um, I, I love all the talk of order over chaos in this section. So I, I mean, the expectation is, you know, that you, like in verse 24, assemble yourselves together, end of the land of Zion, not in haste less.
There should be confusion, which bringeth pestilence. So the confusion in the chaos like this, like we were talking about earlier with the contention, you, you can't have the peace you need. Um, or in verse 27, if you purchase the lands fairly, then they may not be stirred up to anger. So if you do this in the right order, um.
You know, and then he is also talking about not asking for, not seeking for signs, seeking for signs feels chaotic to me. Mm-hmm. Um, and doing it out of order. So like you're grasping at straws. But instead, the Lord expects us to focus [00:58:00] on looking for the evidence of our faith. You know, Al Alma teaches us that if th will show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of asurity, then we shall believe.
Now I ask, is this faith? Well, that's not faith. And he tells us to experiment on the word. So the evidence, we, we, we find the evidence, or Orson Pratt said, true faith is founded on true evidence. The greater the evidence, the greater will be the faith resulting from the evidence. But that's different from signs.
The Christ isn't expecting us to search for signs. He wants us to see the evidence that he's, he's in our midst and he's helping us. And that just feels so much more. Organized, um, I mean, in 63 verse seven, he says, and he that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not under salvation. Well, you know, no thank you.
I don't want that kind of a sign that doesn't help me any. Right. Um, and then he says in verse nine, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe, and that feels really peaceful and ordered to me. And I just, I got enough noise in my head with the rest of the world. You know, I want, I love that the gospel is orderly and all the chaos is taken out of it because of just how beautiful the plan is.
And I mean, in the last part of the section, he says he's, he's, I feel like he's pretty much shouting us. And I mean it, I'm not fooling around, you know, in verse 66. These things remain to overcome through patience. And I feel like patience implies I. Order in peace, not chaos. Mm-hmm. Um, that such may receive a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, otherwise a rate of condemnation.
So the expectation is that we're doing it all in order in faith, and we're building the kingdom that way so that we can prepare to meet the savior again. And I can tell this in verse 66, he's not fooling around like, there's bad stuff to happen if you don't do it this way. Oh my goodness. Well, and going back to this idea of chaos, I [01:00:00] love that you brought that up.
I've never considered 63 as a a section of order, a god of order. And when you have order you, it's easier to get rid of the chaos. I love that you said that because then in verse 54 he says, until that hour there will be foolish virgins among the wises. And in that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked.
And I just think of that moment, how chaotic it must have been for the foolish who are, you know, running around looking, do I go They could for any extra oil. Yes. And the, the wise versions, there must have been such a level of peace and calm 'cause they had been prepared. So yeah. That's so cool how you applies that.
That's a great lens to read these verses by chaos or peace. Nice job, Kristy. That was fun. Yeah. Thank you. So good. Okay, so then let's do this turn to section 61 and let's end with verses 36 through 39, because I feel like these might be the most peaceful of all the verses and all the sections that we read.
And we're gonna end with this and I'd love to know some of your thoughts, Kristy. We'll each take a verse and we'll take a turn reading it. We read verse 36 and 37, and then I'll read 38 and 39. Okay? And now verily I say unto you and what I say unto one, I say unto all be of good cheer little children from I.
For I am in your midst and I have not forsaken you. And in as much as you have humbled yourselves before me, the blessings of the kingdom are yours. Gird up your loins and be watchful and be sober. Looking forth for the coming of the son of man, for he cometh in an hour you think, not pray always that you enter not into temptation, that you may abide the day of his coming, whether in life or in death even.
So, amen.
I just, I just love the, I love when he calls us little children, I mean, it's like the image of him holding us in our hands, or like a hen gathering his chicks, you know? Mm-hmm. It's just very familial and tender and, you know, I, [01:02:00] I think we, we hear people complain about the gospel or, you know, Christ is vengeful or any of these things, and I just think you, you're not, you've not read enough.
You've not gotten to know him well enough if that's what you think, because this is how I picture him, you know, be of good cheer, you know, little children. Mm-hmm. Um, for I am in your midst and I have not forsaken you. I just love it. And that's, that's really how I, anytime I have doubts or questions, that's what I come back to, that, well, I can trust the savior because this is who he is.
This is the savior that I recognize. And now since you pointed it out, when I read Be of good share little children, suddenly the church being in its infancy makes so much more sense why he calls us little children throughout the doctrine and covenants. Yeah, that is powerful. We are his little children.
'cause it is in its infancy. It still is. We're not that old. And we're still still figuring out. Yes. Oh yes. And so these verses right here for anyone right now who is struggling, who isn't quite sure of things, who think the rules, I dunno. It's just weird. Or like 60 through 63. I just think this is the best summation of all of them.
Just be of good cheer. It's okay. I'm in your midst. I haven't left you. Humble yourself before me because the blessings of the kingdom are yours. And then gr up your loins like get ready to work. Because it's gonna be hard work. It's kinda what we talked about earlier, like what you're about to go through is gonna be real, real hard.
So let me just remind you of who I am and how much I love you and that you can do this. And then I love the end promise or the end admonition I should say. And by the way, pray always that you don't enter into temptation, whatever that looks like. Pray always that you may by the day of his coming, and then again.
But if you pray always and you do enter into temptation, I'll still sucker you as I proved as I pointed out earlier. So I still have you. Yeah, [01:04:00] good verses. Oh my gosh. That was a fun discussion. Well, that's it. We're done. That's the end. That was so fun. Deborah Kristy. Oh, I'm so glad I could be here for this.
Okay, so gather your thoughts and just tell me what is an eternal truth you learned. Well, one that I. That I don't always see is he's has said several times the, the kingdom is yours. Mm-hmm. And it's, it's yours for the taking. It's not yours. Like here you go. You don't have to do anything but it's yours.
If you follow through and you make the covenants and you get to know the savior in the, and act, you know, as he's follow your personal revelation and all of those things that we've been talking about. But the kingdom is yours. I mean, these men, these early saints are working to build the kingdom and how comforting that would be to them to hear and be okay.
The kingdom is yours, it's yours for the taking. If you put in the work. And it's the same for us, you know, the kingdom is ours to inherit if we live up to our privileges. Wow. Beautifully said. Thank you. Um, mine was when you said at the very beginning that I. What you, what you can feel secure in is your witness of the savior.
And that hit my heart like when you said that. 'cause there's a lot of times when I'm nervous to open my mouth, it makes me very scared because I always think I'm gonna say the wrong thing. But I do believe in that. And my, my talent, the one thing that I am good at is I can tell everybody that God loves you no matter what.
You're so loved. And today's discussion just continued to prove that as you pointed out, all fleshes in my hand and that he's got us and he's going to take care of us and he's gonna sucker us in our temptations. So thank you, Kristy. That was such a wonderful discussion. We're so excited to have you back.
That's gonna be fun when we discuss the manifesto. That's a big deal. That is a big deal. That'll be fun. I'm excited. Well, thank you. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed that. [01:06:00] Wow. What, what truth did you learn? Oh my goodness. You know, I, I will tell you this, that we, when we hit end for recording, I continue to talk to Kristy and I look back in my scriptures.
I can't believe how many more things I learned from her today. The story about the daughter. I mean, that was so awesome. You're right. And I know that because when I start, when I was learning about math, if I got frustrated, I'm never learning about anything else, which is probably why I can't do fractions.
So I wanna know what you guys learned. So go ahead and share with us on Facebook or Instagram, what you've learned. And then at the end of the week, on the Saturday, we're gonna post a question from this discussion. And my question is, what is your talent? What is your specific thing that you can talk about or you know about, or believe about?
When it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ, comment on the post that relates to this lesson and share your thoughts. You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at ldsliving.com slash Sunday on Monday. And it's not a bad idea to go there anyway because it's where we're gonna have links to all the references and a transcript of this whole discussion, so go check it out.
The Sunday on Monday Study Group is a Deseret Bookshelf Plus original, brought to you by LDS Living. It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall. And today our incredible study group participant was Kristy Wheelwright Taylor. And you can find more information about my friend at LDS living.com/sunday on Monday.
Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited and mixed by Cole Wissinger, and our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom. Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week, and please remember that you are in his hands because you are his favorite.