The following transcript is intended to aid in your study. However, while we try to go through the transcript, our transcripts are primarily computer-generated and often contain errors. Please forgive the transcripts’ imperfections.

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Segment 1

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In March of 1832, the church was almost two years old with about 2000 members. In March, 1832, Joseph Smith also met with church leaders to discuss church business, which at the time there was a need to publish revelations, purchase land to gather on and care for the poor. In today's study of doctrine and covenants, section 77 through 80, we will discover how the Lord met these needs and how the people were being prepared to receive a place in the celestial world and the riches of eternity.

And guess what? God's doing the same thing for us today. Now, if these blessings are hard to comprehend right now in the midst of the busyness of daily life, that's okay because these sections. Also give us every one of us an assurance that he will lead us along and that there can be joy through it all.

Welcome to the Sunday, on 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. If you're new to our study group, please follow the link in our description and it's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your come Follow Me study.

Just like my longtime listening friends, Cindy Koppel from Arizona, I love meeting you. Thanks for saying hi, Cindy. Now, another awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined by two of my friends, so it's always a little bit different. And today I'm so excited to introduce you to two new friends.

I've known them a while, and this is exciting. We have Jodi Hart Wilson and Trish Hart. Hi ladies. Hello. Good morning. Jodi said good morning because let me tell you what, people we're recording very early. These women are so busy that we had to do a very early morning session. How you guys feeling? You awake, going, great.

We'll see. Later on you might find out why they're such busy people, but I'm grateful that you guys gave your time. First of all, how do you two know each other? We are sisters. We've known each, I've known her my whole life. We, they're 16 months apart. All of our sisters. There's four sisters, there's four girls.

We're all within six [00:02:00] years of each other. So we're all very close in the age and very close. Hmm. Yes, we are two of the four heart girls. That makes me so happy. Where do you two live? I live in Arizona and Jodi lives in Utah. Yep. This is fun. Now this is how I know these two is. 'cause Jodi and I, gosh, we've known each other for over 20 years.

Um, we met in the singles ward and had such a good time. We did some hard time, but it was fun. Right? Some of the best days we could go back and relive them again and just ha do it all over and not change a thing. You know what? I love that. I agree with you. I wouldn't change a thing. We really did it well.

We camped together, we had parties together. It was so fun. We grew up together. We just, you know, was that time of life that we were making life decisions that were gonna impact the future. And it was just we to be able to have. Nice tight-knit group that would just have each other's backs was precious boy.

And so many, you guys are still, still good friends and that's what's really cool about it is just like the long lasting friendships that you guys created back then, which is really pretty cool. Well, I think you nailed on the head, Jodi, when you said we grew up together. Boy, we totally did. We did. And Jodi's story is a happy ending 'cause she actually married one of the guys in our group, which was fun.

He shout out to Curry, but boy did we love that guy. So much fun. So much fun. Yeah. Term has got lots of dirt on him. I think he was her home teacher for terrible years, so he is. Oh, I love him. He is, uh, very, he's as unique as his name. Yes, it's a good way to put it. But boy, boy, he's a man's man. He's a dude.

I mean, he's all about dirt and trucks and everything. That's what we love about him. Hasn't changed. Good. That makes me happy. We don't want that to change. Okay, well these two are, we're gonna have a fun discussion. And I said this before we even started, and I'll say it again. I really hope they forgive me.

We're still friends, right? [00:04:00] Of course, because I probably gave him the hardest section in the entire doctrine and covenants. And how's that for us? Said it because everyone's like, really? 'cause we've done a lot of hard ones. Yeah, I think Section 70 one's pretty brutal. So if we're friends after this, then truly it will.

Our friendship stands the test of time for this. So this is gonna be a fun discussion. If you wanna know more about my guests and you wanna see their pictures and read their bios, you can do that in our show notes. And those are found at LDS living.com/sunday on Monday. So go check that out. Grab your scriptures, everybody, and you're gonna for sure, want something to mark your scriptures with.

And we're going to dig into doctrine and cabinets. Sections 77 through 80. All right, you two. Tell me what the Holy Ghost taught you when you read these sections. I think what I learned is that there's an order to all things. And that we have the opportunity to learn that order and we can understand the mysteries of God.

But it takes a little effort. It takes a little time. Just like you said, it was not an easy, you just didn't open it up, open up the scriptures and you realize, oh, here is, here's all the information that I need to know. It took effort and it took a lot of studying to figure out what exactly the Lord is trying to teach us.

Okay. I can't wait till we get to the, the next section then. Trish, I'm so excited to find out what you learned. I like that you said it takes effort and time because you're not wrong, and Section 77 is a lesson of effort and time. In fact, I'm gonna put that next to that section. That is so cool. What about you, Jodi?

I think what stood out to me the most was, and we're gonna get to it later, is just how much preparation is required to, to be within the gospel to live a happy life to, to. To do, to participate, to do whatever your life takes, a lot of preparation. And in section 78, in verse seven, it says, for, if you will, that I would give unto you a place in the celestial world.

You must prepare yourself by doing the things [00:06:00] which I have commanded you to do. And then in verse 11, it says, where were wherefore, I command, I give un to you to prepare and organize yourselves by a bond of everlasting covenant that cannot be broken. And then lastly, in 18, um, the last sentence says, the kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours.

And the riches of eternity are yours, but they're not yours. Without that preparation, without that understanding, without, uh, doing your part. Jodi, thank you. I'm adding to the end of verse 18. Without preparation. And then I think also it just, it just kept coming up, you know, preparation, preparation, preparation.

Mm-hmm. And then in the April conference, we heard so much about the parable of the 10 versions and how you, you know, we must be prepared. So I, that's really what stood out to me the most in this whole lesson was just, okay, am I prepared? Am I prepared in the right ways? Okay. That's a cool connection. I like that.

Yes. 'cause when we get to section 78, the word prepared happens so many times. Or in it like preparation, prepare. I like that you connected it to the 10 virgins. Excellent. And I think my favorite, um, scripture that I found was DNC 78 22. And it said, and he, that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit all things.

Jodi and I and our sisters were raised on a cattle ranch, and we were raised to be stewards. We were raised to take care of things, to take responsibility for things. And that's something that our parents taught us is that. You have to, it's a, it's a huge responsibility, but if you do the things and you are faithful, it's not to saying that you have to be perfect.

It's not saying that you ha that you can't make mistakes. It's just you have to be faithful. You gotta keep trying, and as you keep trying, you will learn things and things will become, become better, and you will become, you will get to where you need to go in the end. In the end you will, you'll have all things, [00:08:00] which I think is, is a wonderful promise that he gives us.

Okay. I have to ask then, tell me, what were you a steward over? What do you mean by that? Being on a cattle ranch. Well, we were raised on a cattle ranch and my dad had four girls. He had no boys. And so we were the ones who had to drive the trucks. We learned to drive at a very, very early age. We learned to swim in cattle troughs.

We, we were always together out on the ranch, and we would, we would go out and my dad taught us, you know, that to take care of the land, to take care of the cattle, to take care of each other. And I think at the end of the day, you know, our, our parents are, have passed away and the most important thing they took us to ca take care of is each other.

And because of that, now that they're gone, that's what we're doing is we're taking care of each other. We're taking care of our sisters, we're taking care of our nieces and nephews and our, the grandchildren. And I think the Lord. It wanted us to be able to take care of one another and to be there for one another.

And that's why he, he provided a way for us to, to come to this earth. 'cause he knew that it was gonna be difficult and hard at the end of the day. He knew that we were gonna have each other and I'm so grateful that we do. Oh my goodness. That changes the whole verse for me because now when I read it and you kept saying to take care of, he that is faithful and takes care of things shall inherit all things, like takes care of what they've been given.

You're going to inherit more. Thank you for defining the word steward to mean to take care of. That is so cool, Trish. So, uh, uh, when you ask what, what we were taking care of, we were patching fence lines, making sure that the cattle didn't get out. We were branding cattle so that we would know that they were our cattle and not someone else's cattle.

And then we were moving cattle. And so we would move where, where the feed was better. And that's a constant challenge, especially in an Arizona heat and dry. Uh, we also, [00:10:00] we hauled a ton of water because we didn't have a lot of natural water springs, and it, it doesn't rain a lot where, where we were ranching.

So we would be moving water, we would be moving cattle, we would be doing things that, um, just watching over the cattle, making sure that, because that, that's our lifeblood. That's at the end of the day, that's what's, what's paying the bills. So we did a lot of that. Um, and I think it was interesting and to learn at an early age, uh, that every day was Earth Day.

That every day is something that you take, you, you, you are appreciative of that you just don't take it, uh, for granted what the resources that you have. And everybody has different resources. Mm-hmm. So you just to, to recognize what you have and to take care of what you have. Oh my goodness. Okay. Here's what I just added to my scriptures because of you two in section 78, verse 22, you beautifully taught me about the meaning of the word steward.

I thought I understood it. 'cause I've studied it, I've taught about it. But I love how you just redefined it for me, because now when I read this verse, I've added what you two taught me and here's what it says to me now. And he or she that is faithful and takes care of every day shall inherit things.

Amen. Like. I, I love the idea that when we're stewards and we take care of things every day, we're going to inherit all things from the Lord. So thank you. I think that's kind of the message he's teaching us here with these sections. 77 through 80 is there's a lot to take care of and the Lord needs all of us to engage in this work that he's calling us to do and, and that's what this whole, I think that's what being a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints is about is that wow, that definition of steward that is so cool to take care of every day.

In fact, now even this adds more to section 79 when we get there. 'cause there's a word that makes me think of that every day. Oh, I can't wait till we get there. Thank you ladies. That was so fun. Okay, so here's what we're gonna do then. That was just what the Holy Ghost taught them. So in the next segment we're gonna dig into a section just filled with so much, and this is the section where I [00:12:00] hope we're friends.

When we're done discussing it, we'll show you what that is coming up next.

Segment 2

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I'm gonna show you two, three pictures. These are figurative expressions. So here's what I want you to do. Tell me what figurative expression is associated with the picture I'm showing you. Okay. So look at the pictures and think, what are these pictures trying to say that we usually say every day? Raining cats and dogs.

Yes. Okay. And it's raining here in Arizona this morning, which is very, very apropos. Very fortuitous. I love it. It's a picture of a girl with an umbrella and there's cats and dogs falling from the sky. Okay, what's the other one? Piece of cake. Yes. And that's all it is, is a piece of cake on a plate. And then the last one.

Couch potato. Very good. A potato sitting on a couch with a remote in its hand. Okay, perfect. I wanted you to look at these three pictures because this is what doctrine and Covenant section 77 is. It is a wonderful example of figurative expressions. So everyone knowing that when you go into section 77, because there's so much visual imagery in this section, and you might read this and you might be a little turned off by it going, no, thanks, I'm out.

There's a lot. How did you guys feel when you, 'cause I didn't tell them what 77 was. I just said, here's your sections. Good luck. Tell me what you thought right when you started reading Section 77. All right, I'll go first. You know, we, we read the scriptures all the time continually, but. Oftentimes when we're studying something intensely, we forget that we've even heard that or read it and known it.

Mm-hmm. And so when I pulled up 77, I looked at it like I had looked at it for the first time, like I had never seen it. Like, what are these questions and answers and why? Why is this the only part of the gospel where there's a question answer series, and where have I [00:14:00] missed this? And why is Tamara giving this to me?

Because I have no idea what this is. You're like, she's the worst. It's horrible. But then, um, I started to do some work and started to do some digging and started to find out why are we being asked these questions and answers, or why. Mm-hmm. Why, why did, why was this part of the gospel? Oh, what'd you find learned so much?

I learned that this is more of a window into our Heavenly Father's life. What, what he would be keeping amongst himself. And it was just a window. I think that what I learned the most was that the Lord glories in saving all things he creates. I just got chills, the Lord glories and I love that when you first read this, it's really, it's really difficult to understand, but Joseph Smith unlocks the book of Revelation.

Through Revelation. He had questions. He went to the Lord and asked, what are these things I want to know? I need to know. And I've always loved, I, I, I need answers. I wanna know, I, I wanna know the mysteries of God. And I love the fact that we can have, that. We, it's just a matter of going and asking. Just like when he didn't know what church to join, he went and asked in prayer.

And here again in, in section 77, he doesn't understand. They don't understand, and they go to the Lord and they ask, and the Lord tells them. Yes. Okay, so this is so cool about section 77 and you both perfectly set it up. What's going on at the time in the church is in March of 1832, Joseph Smith, he's actually continuing the revision of the New Testament and they've now reached the book of Revelation.

And so just like every single one of us who read the book of Revelation and you go, what is [00:16:00] this? What does this mean? They have the same experience. And Joseph's like, what do all these things mean? And so when you go to section 77, like Jodi said, you're gonna see all these Q and A's questions, answers, where Joseph is literally like, okay, what does this mean?

And then he gets an answer, and then he asks again and he gets an answer. And so I like how you said, Trish, that the Lord answers revelation with Revelation. That is so cool how you said that because Joseph needed a revelation on the book of Revelation, and we all do. The interesting thing about this, and I thought this was kind of cool, is that.

The Book of Revelation itself is known as this apocalyptic prophecy. And in Greek apocalyptic comes from the word apocalypses, which means revelation. So that it really is the whole idea. This book is a book of Revelation about future things because this is some deep stuff. And so here's what I asked my guests to do.

I asked them to get their own revelation from section 77 and come prepared to share one series of questions and answers that really stood out to them. So are you guys ready to do this? We're ready? Yes. Here we go. Who wants to go first? I'll go first this time. All right, Trish, give us the verse and tell us what revelation you received.

I read this many, many times, and I will tell you the first few times I read it, I'm like, I have nothing. I'm just like, oh my gosh. And you know, it wasn't until I, I read it again and after doing a lot of studying and reading a lot of other things. That I was reading actually, verse one, it says, what is the sea of glass smoke of by John fourth chapter, sixth Birth of the Revelation.

And the answer, it is the earth. It in ex sanctified, immortal, and an eternal state. And this is what he is saying is that, you know, the Lord took a lot of time preparing the earth and made it so beautiful and so glorious and so wonderful, but the earth is gonna have to go through a lot during the [00:18:00] thousands of years of its existence.

And bad things are gonna happen to it and good things are gonna happen to it. But in the end. It is going to be returned to its sanctified, immortal, and eternal state. So it's gonna be returned to its perfected form. The way the in how was created and what the Holy Ghost taught me is that is the same thing with us.

We are gonna be sitting down to earth and we are going to be tried and we are gonna be tested and things are gonna happen to us and we are going to be different. But in the end, we are going to, if we are faithful, we are going to be able to be returned to our sanctified, immortal state just like the earth.

And I think that's a beautiful way of the Lord telling us, I love all things and I love you, and I have prepared a way for you to go throughout this life and to be, to have the things happen that happen. But in the end, it is all gonna work out for your good. Wow. That was so good. This was a really cool moment that I had because Trish, when you were teaching that the, uh, like I love it when things like this happen when the Holy Ghost teaches you something, because then it taught me the same thing and I wasn't gonna say anything because I thought, oh, I'll share this at the end, and if she goes in a different direction, and you didn't, right?

When you read that, I had the exact same thought. Oh my goodness. Wait a minute. I think this applies to us. And then you said it spirit to spirit. That was so cool, Trish. You were absolutely right. I, I had never seen that ever until today when you taught that. So thank you. Excellent. Look at that. Look at the revelation you received, and so did all of us.

All right. Jodi, what do you got? So in 77 questions two, three, and four are talking about four beefs. And the answers, if you're really trying to understand the answers are there, but it still is very difficult to understand. But I think what the spirit spoke to me the most about while studying. Is [00:20:00] that the Lord's worlds, that his house is filled, is filled with children and worlds and animals.

It's all of it. It's all things. And he has a plan for all of these things, not just not just us, not just his children. He has a plan for his beast, and he has a plan for his worlds. Just as Trish was saying, with the earth is gonna turn into glass. He's going to save that because again, he glorifies in saying, saving everything he has made anything he's created, he has a plan for them, including the beast, including every creepy crawly thing he glories in that he, there is a purpose and there is a place, and beasts have eyes and wings, which means that they are free to move and filled with light and knowledge.

They even get to experience Felicity, which is true happiness. So I just thought that. That's all he wants for us. So why wouldn't it be all he wants for everything he creates? Oh my goodness. Okay. So tell me this, Jodi, why did you say you felt like this was a window into Heavenly Father's life? Then? As I was looking through, as I was doing some, some studying, someone had mentioned that, um, that we have to look at it through a lens of imagery, but where, what are we looking at?

And the imagery was his things that are precious to him. And so that's where I came up with that was it was, it's his world. His what, what he would be surrounding himself with. Oh my goodness. Okay. If the Lord is giving us a glimpse into eternity and what it's gonna be like then, and I think it's giving us that hope that.

That there's something beautiful there and there's something worth working towards. And he gives us that glimpse of this is what's important to him, and each one of us are important to him, and everything is important to him. And what a beautiful world to [00:22:00] live in where people are loved and valued and appreciated.

Oh my gosh. Okay. We've gotta do this for a minute because what you two just taught me is so cool. I want us to go back just to verse one. Look we didn't even get into, we're stuck on the first few verses. That's how cool this sec, this whole section is. But Jodi, you said that we are precious to him and Trish, you beautifully set up that we will become sanctified, immortal, and eternal state in just the beginning of the question.

When it says, what is the sea of glass, circle the word glass because what does the use of that word teach us then about who we are to God if he's comparing our earth and each one of us to glass, what do, what do you, how do you handle glass? Talk to me about that. Well, I think glass is a reflection of our Lord.

Oh. And it's smooth and it's beautiful and we get to see it's a reflection. Perfect. And I also think that glass is something that can handle heat. You, you know? Oh my gosh. And that's what we're here for. We're here to handle the heat. We're here to handle the, the challenges. We're here to handle. The pressures we're here to handle, but we're also to be shaped and to be molded.

And that's something that glass can change its shape. No, that's neat. It can change its shape. So that heat that refines us, there's a reason for it. Oh, that is really cool. Jodi can change shape. I thought of when I have something made of glass, I don't let my kids touch it. 'cause they're gonna break it.

Like it's, I have to be so careful with anything made of glass and, and you are, you're very, I am, I'm very careful. I wanna make sure it doesn't break. And so that made me think of the word precious that you use. Like things made of glass are so precious and so isn't this amazing how, just in one verse all the things that were revealed to us that he feels that way about us.

He, it is a reflection. I love that we're a reflection of him and the heat. Oh my gosh, that was so [00:24:00] cool. So that's all I asked you to do. Is there anything else you wanna add though? Anything that you're like, but then I learned this. Well, I think that one more thing that really stood out was it's the 12th question and it's talking about the sounding of trumpets.

And I just love how, um, towards the end of the answer it says. The Lord will sanctify the earth and complete the salvation of man and judge all things and shall redeem all things except that which he have not put into his power when he shall have sealed all things. Until all of the things and the sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels are the preparing and finishing of his work.

And I love how the imagery of that, the trumpet sounding like we're done. It's everything has been completed, the process has, has been followed, and there is a just reward, or there is a prize, there is, there is eternal life waiting. Mm. Awesome. And there's that word prepare that really stood out to us again.

Mm-hmm. I also liked in verse verse five is what are we to understand by the four and 24 elders spoken of by John? And this is, as I was reading this, this is his counsel. The Lord has his own counsel. He has people that were faithful and he has, he brings them together and they, they converse and they talk.

And I love how, you know, the Lord is just not just making all the decisions on his own. He is bringing people together and listening to them. And, um, I love how he, he sees the value of a soul. I totally agree. Okay. This is so cool because you talked about the idea of sitting in council and listening, and Jodi, you've brought up the idea of preparing and that is so perfect because in the next segment we're gonna find the connection between being prepared and sitting in council.

Um, I love that you both said that, and thank you for coming so prepared. So in the next segment [00:26:00] we're gonna dive into this idea of being prepared and sitting in council. It's gonna be so much fun. We're gonna do section 78 in the next segment.

Segment 3

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Ladies tell me this is fun. What role does preparation play in your careers? And this is kind of fun 'cause no one knows what you do, but I think they should. Can they know? Is it top secret? Uh, yeah. You want it to be? Uh, we both, it's interesting, there's four girls. In our family, two of them are nurses and two of them work in government affairs.

So we didn't fall far from the apple tree, and our mother always wanted to be a nurse and our dad was an elected official. So we went down two distinct paths. So wow. We, Trish and I both are in government affairs and we do, we are liaisons between business and state legislatures. She in one state, I in another state.

But a lot of times we have issues that cross over or we have clients that cross over. So we actually get to spend quite a bit of time, not only on the social aspect and and family, but we also, our work and day jobs are interconnected as well, which makes it really good because you always have a good sounding board.

We're advocates. I, I love that. And I have to tell you my favorite story about Jodi when I first met her, because we were in an older singles ward, which meant we were all professionals and we had jobs and careers. And I was a seminary teacher and Jodi was a government official. And I remember she was my first friend to own a grownup car.

It was such a big deal, you guys, 'cause we had just come outta that college car phase and we were all purchasing new cars. When she rolled up in her new grown up car, we were like, oh, we all wanted a ride in it. It was so cool. So it's funny, funny 'cause a lot of people [00:28:00] ask if it was my grandma's car.

She's very government official, so this is fun. Okay, so tell me then the two of you then, clearly preparation plays a role in your careers, right? Absolutely. Tell me about that. Well, when we're advocating on behalf of, of our clients, uh, we have to be very prepared because we're going in and we're trying to educate and advocate, and we have to know our issue backwards and forwards, because if we don't, the other side is going to to be be telling their own side.

So we have to be very prepared and know the issues very well. Yeah, and I think that in our profession, we, we turn, we tend to learn incrementally. We're constantly learning. The issues don't necessarily change, but circumstances do. And so we're constantly, you know, even though you've, you've worked an issue before, it's again before you, and now it's incrementally you're, there's something else that's different.

So it takes time to learn process. It takes time to learn procedure, it takes time to learn personalities. Mm-hmm. Which is a big part of what we do. Uh, it takes time to learn history, statute strategy. Policy, but it's constantly a learning curve. And so the preparation is, is, is it, it only suits us to be prepared, uh, for not only ourselves, but for our clients.

But we're also blessed to have great business partners and mentors and people that are within the industry that really do help elevate us. Mm-hmm. So, so much of what we do comes down to like, you know, 32nd discussions. So sometimes you've got 30 seconds, sometimes you've got two minutes, sometimes you've got five.

Rarely do you have a lot of time. So it's honing in that message and making your point in a very strategic and, uh, time sensitive manner. And you have to take very complex issues and you have to be able to explain [00:30:00] them, like Jodi said, in a very short amount of time, in a very succinct manner. And I believe, you know, that's, that's, you can't do that unless you know your material.

Oh my goodness. Okay. This is really cool. I was writing notes as you guys were talking because I thought everything you said perfectly applies to Doctrine Covenant section 78. Let's go there and we're gonna get a little bit of history about what this section is, because I think what you guys said makes so much sense.

So here's what's going on in section 78, and I really like the section heading. So let's just go there. And we're going to find out right now that it's given through Joseph Smith in Kirtland, Ohio on March 1st, 1832. But then here's what we're gonna read. And Trish, can you read for us in the section heading, starting with the sentence on that day?

On that day, the prophet and other leaders had assembled to discuss church business. This revelation originally instructed the prophet Sidney Rigdon and Newell Kay Whitney to travel to Missouri and to organize the church's mercantile and publishing endeavors by creating a firm that would oversee these efforts to generate funds for the establishment of Zion and for the benefit of the poor.

The firm known as the United Firm was organized in April, 1832 and disbanded in 1834, sometime after its dissolution under the direction of Joseph Smith. The phrase, the fares of the storehouse of the poor replaced mercantile and publishing establishments in the revelation and the word order replaced the word firm.

Thank you. Now this is so cool. So here's what's going on is we've gotta set up to establish Zion in Missouri. And we need to make sure that there are going to be funds that the poor are gonna be taken care of, and that we're going to have a way to print things. And so the Lord's like, we've gotta set this up.

And I just love the things you guys told me because here's the deal, the Lord knows the issues very well, but the saints don't. And so he's saying to them, listen, I need you to get ready. I need you to [00:32:00] prepare. And I think what's amazing is he knows what he's asking them to do is not gonna last. Isn't that fascinating?

Like what does that tell you about the Lord asking him to do something they know won't last? He is allowing them to try and to fail. Ooh. Why is that important for all of us? Because, because we're gonna fail many times. But I really like too that he brings like these 12 people together. He didn't bring one person.

He brought 12 people together and said, okay, I'm not gonna make you do this hard thing by yourself. I'm gonna bring other people with you, and I'm gonna give them the same, the same direction, and you guys are all gonna be in this together. You're absolutely right. You know, in our business, I, we hate to lose.

We just hate to lose. We hate to fail, but sometimes when you fail, you win because it comes back, the issue always comes back. And maybe there was something that was missing, something that made it stronger. Something that made it better. Something that was what took into account more than what you originally proposed.

Yeah. Instead of, instead of, you know, taking this small sliver, you now have a, a big piece. So mm-hmm. I think that that is, you know, failure is a teacher for sure, and especially in these, um, these early times it was to. We're gonna put together something and you know, it could be this or it could be this, but we're gonna get there.

Yeah. In fact, go to verse four. I think what you both of you said is so perfect because here's the Lord saying, look what we're gonna set up. He's gonna set up an establishment that's gonna help the poor. That's in verse three, A storehouse to help the poor of my people. And verse four says, for a permanent and everlasting establishment, and order unto my church to advance the cause which you have espoused.

I love the word espoused. It means agreed. So we right there, I'll read it differently, um, to advance the cause which you have [00:34:00] agreed to, the salvation of man. Now after man, put an equal sign. Because here's what it's going to give them and to the glory of your father who is in heaven. The whole point and purpose is to glorify your father who is in heaven by helping the poor.

And to, and, and it's interesting 'cause in four he says, this is going to be a permanent and everlasting establishment, but we know it wasn't. And the section heading tells us it actually didn't work out, the firm didn't work out. But there's so much power to this concept because if you go throughout section 78, and Jodi, you set this up perfectly in our first segment, highlight, every time you see the word prepare, I have a few.

I'm gonna give the verses I found it in, and if I missed one, tell them. So in verse seven, you see the word prepare. Then you go to verse 10. At the very end we see a word prepare. Verse 11, second line down, there's the word prepare. In verse 13, we have the word preparation and prepare. In verse 15, we have the word prepared In verse 17, at the end of that verse, we have the word prepared.

And then in verse 20, we have the word prepareth. So here's the Lord giving this idea of everything I'm asking you to do. I need you to prepare, prepare, prepare. Even though I know it's not gonna work out, but like you both have taught us they were being prepared for something greater. That failure was preparing them.

Is that a fair statement that failure prepares us? Absolutely. I think so. Jodi is, I love, one of the things that Jodi always reaches her son, she always has told him, Cole, we can do hard things. And I love that. Whenever he has a problem or issue, she always sits down with him and says, okay, how can we fix this?

What can we do? And. The Lord is giving us hard things to do. Mm-hmm. And he knows that we're gonna have, we're gonna have problems, but he provides a way for us to be able to do it. And I love in verse [00:36:00] six, it says, for if you are not equal in earthly things, you cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things.

And that's what we're preparing for. We're preparing to live an eternal life. And if we can't learn it in this life, how are we gonna expect it to live it in eternity? Boy, you're absolutely right. In fact, Trish, I love how in the last segment you taught about this idea that the Lord likes to sit and counsel and he likes to listen and hear.

And he instructs the men to do this. So he tells them, I want you to prepare your things. And you shared with us verse seven, but let's read verses eight and nine. Will you read that for me, Trish? And now verily, thus sayeth the Lord, it is expedient that all things be done unto my glory by you who are joined together in this order.

Or in other words, let my servant, Newell k Whitney, and my servant Joseph Smith Jr. And my servant Sidney Rigdon, sit in council with the saints, which are in Zion. Highlight that, that sit in council with the saints, which are in Zion. And that idea of just sitting in council, talking, listening, but mostly being obedient, doing what the Lord asked.

And if they don't, look at verse 10, Jodi, will you read verse 10? Otherwise, Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand, not the things which are prepared for them. Yeah, this idea that Satan will have some sort of influence in our lives if we can't be obedient or sit in counsel.

But again, failure is preparation. I, I like that theme of this discussion. And also it takes us a while, and, and this is why the gospel's so great, is we are continually learning the same material. Mm-hmm. We're constantly being reintroduced to the same, the, the, the gospel principles. And it's the same with understanding something.

You don't understand something the very first time that you're ex, you're exposed to it or introduced to it. It's that constant, you know, sitting in council and learning, uh, what we do every week. We sit in council, we learn and we learn from each other and, and [00:38:00] all if, if you are prepared to learn and the spirit, the spirit, you have the spirit with you, it will teach you again and again and again.

So I think that that is one thing that, yeah, failure is a teacher, but it's also the repetition and being reintroduced to the same things helps us over and over. Well, it just goes back to what you taught us, that we learn incrementally and that circumstances change. And that's okay. Like the Lord's, he's always in a position to let us learn.

That's what I think is so cool. If we're preparing, Jodi, I wanna know, why do you tell your son we can do hard things? Tell me about that statement. Well, Cole's Cole has some special needs, and his reality isn't what most kids, his age, their reality would be. And so he deals with some things that, you know, it's his world.

And so we have to, we have to make the best of the world that he's in. So a lot of times things are very challenging, very hard for him, but it's not, he still has to learn and he still has to be able to get over it. And he is the type of kid that if something's festering, it will just, it just aches. It just breaks his heart.

And so I try to teach him the way to make your heart heal is so that the skill, let's fix it. Let's move on. So let's fix this hard thing. Let's deal with it and then you can be happy again. And you don't have to sit in this, in this pain. You can let it go. Oh my goodness. Jodi, as you were telling me about your son and that experience I went to verses 17 and 18.

'cause I think these are for your sweet son and for all of us. 'cause I think all of us have the same scenario as your son. So you were describing him, I'm like, yes, yes, and yes. That sounds like every one of us. Will you read verses 17 and 18. Verily, verily I say unto you, you are little children and you have not as you yet, yet understood how great blessed the father have in his own hands and prepared for you.

And you cannot bear all things now nevertheless, be of [00:40:00] good cheer for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours. And the riches of eternity are yours. I love that. I love how that connects to what we were just talking about. I think sometimes we think we're the only ones dealing with these issues, or we're the only ones that have these special, you know, these special needs.

And, and you're right, everybody has issues. Everybody has struggles, everybody has challenges. And if you knew what your neighbors were, you wouldn't trade it. You wouldn't trade your issues for their issues. Yeah. But the, but what we are given is the tools to be able to, to deal with them. And I think that that is such a, such a blessing from our Heavenly Father.

Mm-hmm. And I love that he says that he is prepared for you. This isn't a one-sided street. I mean, this is something, you know, when we enter into the covenant with our Heavenly Father, it is a two-way process and he has prepared so lovingly all these things for our good. And I just think that that just shows just how much we mean to our heavenly Father, that he has prepared this for us.

I agree. You know, one of the things that just hit me for the first time, Jodi, when you read that and this conversation we've had is here's the Lord saying, I need you to prepare, prepare, prepare, prepare. And uh, Trish, you're right, it's not a one-sided thing and it could seem like that when you read Section 78 because the Lord's asking a lot of the saints, especially with that word, prepare.

He uses it so many times. But I love how in verse 17 he says, because I'm preparing stuff for you, like I'm doing it too. Like one of my things growing up as a kid, everything had to be fair. And so in my world if, if I had to do chores, so did my parents or like, I just kinda always felt like we all should have to do the same things and to a fault.

I kind of maybe even raise my kids that way. Like if I'm gonna, 'cause I'll say to them, I'm doing it too. You're not the only one that has to go out and pull weeds. We're all doing it as a family. [00:42:00] But I think right here I just learned that maybe that's how God works because it's not one sided. You're totally right.

He is asking so much of us and he is doing so much for us. The same breath. So trusting that God really is preparing things for us. And then this idea like, be of good chair. I will lead you along in your failings as you're preparing. 'cause I love that it's not gonna work. I almost feel like I hear him saying that be of good chair, I will lead you along 'cause this isn't gonna work, but it's all gonna be worth it.

So all of your preparation and what you two taught us at the beginning of how important preparation is. I, I love that connection that this right here is section 78. Really is the Lord saying, I've got you. Like we're gonna do this together. I'm working on my end. You work on your end. It's all gonna turn out for its good.

Wow. And what he's preparing for you and what he's preparing for me and what he's preparing for Trish isn't all, isn't always the same thing. I think eternal life obviously. And to return live with him. Yes. But the path that we're to. To go down isn't the same. My path isn't the same as yours. Right. But he knows us so well that he knows what we need to get down our own individual paths.

I had a, there's a school teacher who is in my neighborhood and she did a video on YouTube and it was, she teaches second grade and she said, tell me what's wrong with you? And she says, oh, I've got a headache. Okay. She put a bandaid on the head. The next one came up, oh, I've got a, I've got an elbow ache.

Oh, she put a bandaid on the head, oh, my stomach hurts. Oh, I'll put a bandaid on the head. And they said, why are you treating everything the same? She goes, you're all gonna come to me with different issues and I'm gonna try to help you out with your issues. But if you think I'm teach treating someone differently, it's because their issue is different.

So I'm not gonna give them all the bandaid on the head. Maybe somebody needs a cracker, maybe somebody needs a hug, maybe somebody needs something. And I just thought that was such a great way to illustrate. [00:44:00] Our needs are not never really the same. Yeah, and the same with, same with the with the Lord. He's preparing us and giving us what we need individually on our own path.

Oh, beautifully said, Jodi. And I think that's what the Lord's trying to teach us with this United firm is that everybody's individual, everybody needs things done for them. And so thank you. Thank you. And thank you for this awesome discussion on being prepared and what the Lord's preparing for us because as you were talking Jodi, about everyone's on a different path.

This is such a great chance for us then, because in the next segment we're gonna talk about what it looks like when we all have different paths and how we respond to the paths that we're on. We'll talk about that next.

Segment 4

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To prepare for our discussion for this segment, I asked my guests to do something very specific, and what I asked them to do was to make a list of everything that happened to them in one day, and they had to list the good and the bad, and they're gonna be brave right now and go through the list, tell me everything, what happened in a day, and give us all the good things and the bad, bad.

So I had a, i, we go back and forth to where our parents live. And so I was ta, I was pulling weeds. I was in the, and I lost the dog and I couldn't find her and finally found her. And then, um, I, I get everything ready to come home, and then we drive home. We're driving home. It's raining. We're always having to wait, but we finally make it home.

And it's just been a long day. But at the end of the day, I realize I got a lot, a lot of things accomplished in a short amount of time. And, um, even though it didn't seem like it was anything substantial, I saw the Lord's blessing in helping me to find something that was [00:46:00] lost. I found, I found the blessing in being able to, to make it home safe and to, to get the things done that I needed to get done.

I love it. Okay, Jodi, go for, go through your day. I was a little more descriptive. I was like, I, I probably would've been too, I wanted to say, Trish, did you write down anything you ate? What was your food that day? That's for sure. I don't eat very much. That's one thing. I'm not a big eater. Alright. All right.

I'll allow that. So I started in the, and taking a shower, and then I always say a prayer in my closet in the morning and. Always, I think of my mom and dad and usually after I say my prayer, there's thoughts of my mom and dad and they, they both passed away. So, um, and it's been recently, it's been in the last two years, so, so I had a sweet thought of mom and dad and then, um, I had a doctor's appointment with my son where we talked about some pretty heavy stuff.

Then I went to the office. I was just on this organization kick and I got so much done and I got some reports done and I got some things filed away. Tons of emails, which I'm always behind on. Uh, then I had a meeting with one of my clients. Uh, we had a really hard conversation about some issues that we're dealing with.

Uh, then I, um, I have a different, I have a couple hats. I sit on a, a board and so, um, went to a board meeting. It's, it's difficult because the state of the nation in general right now is just kind of topsy-turvy in how we're handling things. And do we go down one path? Do we go down a different path? And I just was thinking about that during that process.

Then I hurried to go pick my son up from school, which means I have to wait in the parking lot. 'cause if I get there five minutes later, I don't get a good spot if I get there at the right time. So I was waiting, uh, it's my favorite part of the day to be able to pick him up. Took him home. Uh, and then I had a flat tire, so I had to go fix [00:48:00] my, fix the tire.

Uh, the guy who did it was very, so nice, so nice. Uh, then I have a weekly call with another CL client. Uh, we talked about some tough situations, some, and then, uh, I got home and start my laundry, my meal prep, which is the, my least favorite part of the day. Then I walked my dog and then, um. Then I realized I still have a headache that I've had for seven days and I took something for it.

So, mm-hmm. You wanted me to go through my day, so I'm going through my day now. Tamara, you tell me what, what, what you want me to. From my door. Well, Tamara, just so you know, Jodi is OCD and I mean to the point that when she does her grocery list, she goes down her grocery list through aisles. And I have been in the store where people stop her and ask to see her grocery list.

I mean, she knows exactly what she's gonna get going through the, through the aisle one, aisle two, aisle three. See? So sure. Is there any other way to grocery shop? Exactly. I even bag my groceries according to where I'm gonna put 'em. Like all the frozens go together. Me too. Me too. Yeah. Then when I get home, I know.

Yes. I love it. Okay. And now I know the difference between you two because Trisha's more of a general like this is so perfect. Okay, so here's what I want you to think about then. Let's go back into section 78. In our last segment, we ended with verses 17 and 18, which were so perfect because he's calling us his little children and he says to you, listen, little children, you don't even understand how great the blessings the father has in his hands that he's prepared for you.

Yeah, you had really hard days. Absolutely. And you probably had harder days than the ones you've described and you've had better days. And, but honestly, he, he's just saying, listen, little children, which I love because when I think of my kids, when they were little children, I thought, oh, you have no idea what's coming.

Like, it's gonna get so much [00:50:00] better, I promise. You know, there's so many good things, but when you're a little child, you can't even imagine the next day. And so I think he's trying to give us perspective, like, you can't even imagine what I've prepared for you. And then he says, just be of good cheer, 'cause I'm gonna lead you along, which we know we've learned that in church.

But then here's the instruction he gives us. And I want you to just ponder. Verse 19 and think about the lists that you made. And IW and I just wanna ask you a question after we read verse 19. So, Jodi, will you read verse 19 for us? And he who's received with all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious.

And the things of this earth shall be added into him even as hundredfold ye more. Okay. I'm curious to know what difference does it make in our life when we receive all things with thankfulness? I think just going through my day, you know, starting it off with, with a prayer and then having a thought of mom debt, regardless of what happens for the rest of the day.

I at least know that my parents are thinking about me. That, that I, that I have that con, I still have that connection with them, even though they are not physically here. And then as you go through the rest of the day, yeah, I, you know, had some issues with the doctor, but the things that we're going to be able to accomplish from there is gonna be so much better.

Like, yeah. We're gonna have to do some testing, we're gonna have to do some things. But I think at the end of the day, it's, it's better. And I talked about my tire being flat. Yeah. My tire was flat. Big deal. Like the guy was so nice, it really took like 10 seconds. It wasn't a big deal. And I, I felt better having been around him than the in position of having the flat tire.

I, I think that, that gratitude just, you know, just, you know, I, I talk about how it's my least favorite part of the day is to fix dinner, but the best part of the day is to sit with my family. And we do it every day, and it's just, our little family is just the three of us. And it's, you know, like a, like I say, [00:52:00] my favorite part of the day is taking cold to school, picking him up, and then having dinner.

Those are the things that we're doing together. So, you know, anything, you know, there's a smattering of, of of work meetings during the day. But it's also what I do because I enjoy it. It's hard. It's hard. Yes, it is hard. But I also, it's very gratifying. My work is very gratifying. Oh, Jodi, I loved how you made so many connections.

Thank you. That makes me emotional. Well, I, that was a hard day and you found so much good in it. Gratitude makes us, you know, realize and makes us look for the joy rather than the bad things. And there's a quote by, um, Joseph e Wirthlin that I love, and it says, gratitude is the mark of a noble soul and a refined character.

We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, and more likable. And I just think gratitude. My, our mother always taught us, when you're having a bad day, go out and serve someone else.

Mm-hmm. And there's so many times, I can't tell you what I'd call my mom on the way, on the way home from work and just unloading like, this happened, this happened, this happened, this happened. She says, and she'd always say. Tell me something good and then I'd be like, that's not why I called mom. Okay, alright.

I'll come up with something good. But it always kind of changes your perspective because we can list the bad things that happen all day long. But it is when we stop to find the good in our lives. And I think that's also when we notice the Lord's hand in our lives most often. Tell me this because it almost like, I don't want it to be like a platitude 'cause it kind of feels like the Lord's like, you know, cheer up, bloom where you're planted, receive all things with thankfulness.

Why is the benefit of the Lord saying this to us? What does he want us to understand? Receive all things with [00:54:00] thankfulness and we'll be made glorious if we do. I think he's telling us that, you know what? It's gonna be worth it. It's gonna be worth it. You just, it's gonna be hard, but just like, you know, Jodi said with, you know, we can do hard things and we can, we can get these things done and not every day is going to be Disneyland.

You know, there's gonna be some, some days be nice. There's not, there's gonna be hard times, but you know that, that, but that doesn't mean all day is gonna be bad either. Yeah. I mean, so we've got to just realize that, you know, that these hard times will pass and um, and when they do, we are going to receive a glory that is a hundred fold.

I mean, it's, it's gonna be something that we can't even understand. Yeah. And I think it just, it's a way of trying to say, you know what? It is gonna be okay. And it's not I gonna just be okay. It's gonna be a hundred times better than you could ever even think of. And that's kind of hard to wrap your head around like a hundred times better than the best thing that's ever happened.

I mean, that's, that's a pretty amazing, um, promise. Yeah. I like how you wove in the, you can't even understand, like you said in verse 17. Can't even understand how great it is. Thanks, Trish. I think it's okay to have bad days. It's okay. And it's okay to have bad things happen, but, and I Chuck hold this all the time, but it's not okay not to learn from it.

Mm-hmm. Like what is happening isn't just happening because you know, there's something that you can learn and do and, and make it better. And I think that that's what, that's what gratitude is all about and is, and when you have the attitude of gratitude or when you have the compassion in your heart to understand or define the good, yeah.

It really does make, makes, makes things so much better. Um, I agree. And elder RAs bands talk, words matter and it was a conference talk for, in [00:56:00] 2024. He says that there's three phrases that, you know, we should practice every day. It is. Thank you. I'm sorry. And I love you and I love, I mean, you think about this, just those simple three phrases.

Thank you. How hard is it? And Trish is very good about this. We will go to McDonald's to, and, you know, get the Diet Coke or whatever, and she be, thank you so much. Mm-hmm. And a, a very sincere thank you to that person. And they're always so filled with just tenderness. When, when someone is expressing just gratitude.

Yeah. She's very, she's very good about finding, you know, saying thank you. And, and, and our parents have taught us that as well. But just that simple word, thank you. And finding and the, to the Lord, I think if, if it means that much to someone helping you out and serving you, what does it mean to the Lord to hear you say thank you or to, to, to express gratitude for what you have and, and for what you, what you're going through.

That's a great challenge for this week. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna be more sincere in my thankfulness. Like when I'm gonna be, I'm gonna try and be more sincere in my thank yous. 'cause you're right, sometimes I'm like, thanks, thank you. But maybe be a little more like meaningful. That is a good challenge.

The thankfulness challenge. Well, this is kind of cool though because I did ask my guest to do something. 'cause now I'm just thinking about this. Uh, I asked you guys to watch a video called The Healing Power of Gratitude. It's from our prophet president Russell M. Nelson. And it is such a good video. We're gonna put the link in our show notes so you can go and watch this.

But I wanna know what stood out to you from this video? Where then lines that the prophet said that you're like, oh yeah, I've gotta remember that. And it was during his hashtag give thanks campaign that he did. Um, what did you guys mark? What Or sorry, what did you notice that he said? I think I noticed that that gratitude heals.

Mm-hmm. And it is we, when he gave this. It was [00:58:00] during COVID and there was a lot of un uncertainty. There was a lot of fear. Um, there was a lot of, you know, just people didn't know what was happening. And I think he, he was trying to teach us, look, don't, just don't let fear, um, control you. Look at the good things, you know, that are happening in your lives.

I mean, COVID was a very difficult time for so many people, and it was, and it was very, very difficult. And a lot of people lost loved ones. But it also was a time where we got to spend a lot of time together as families. We got to be together. And we, most families had not spent that much time together, probably ever.

Mm-hmm. And so it was a time that we had to, to be together. And especially for us, our, our parents were, were sick of that time. And it gave us a time to be able to be there with them. I mean, with our jobs and with everything going on, there was no way that we could have been able to spend that much time with them.

And I look back on that now, that time, and I was like. COVID gave us, you know, it was really the two years before our parents passed and it gave us time with our parents that we wouldn't have had otherwise. And so while COVID may have been a very difficult time, it's also a sweet time for us because it, it was a time when we were with our family.

Hmm. Thank you Trish. I think that when the prophet says there's power and gratitude. Yeah. Like, what does that mean? Power and gratitude. When you think about power, you think about, um, being able to change things, being able to be a force over things. And so if you think about gratitude in that way, that that is something that we all have, we have that power every day.

We have the power to, to change someone's, someone's outlook on life just by a simple smile. Or we have the power to be able to change things by being grateful for, for. For what our circumstances are. [01:00:00] I think that's one thing that the Lord really, it, it pleases him for us to be pleased with him. Yeah. Oh, I like that.

Our mother was just an amazing lady. She was very service oriented. And my dad, he had a kidney transplant and he had to go do these infusions. And I remember one day we went into the infusion center and it was a Saturday and there was like seven other people there. And uh, we live in a small, in a small town.

And um, we go in and my mom and I talked to everybody there. And the lady when we left, you know, the nurse said, oh my gosh, you guys know everyone. And I get on the car. I said, mom, where did you know all those people from? And she says, Trish, those are just the Lord's children who needed a little extra help today.

Mm-hmm. Sweet. I just remember thinking about that and I was just like the, the nurse thought we knew everyone and we didn't know any of them. We did, we knew them when we left, but we didn't know 'em when we went in. Oh, then that makes me think of the quote that I loved was when he said that giving thanks is a fast acting and long lasting spiritual prescription.

Like that was so cool. I'd never considered that. Gratitude could be the prescription for things that the ills of our day. Um, so thank you to both of you for what you shared. I thought that was so powerful. And going back to now when I see hashtag give thanks, I'm gonna take the challenge from Jodi. I'm gonna give a sincere Trish, thanks.

I think that is so cool. So thank you to both of you. Well, in the next segment then we get to study about a young man who the Lord encouraged to be thankful and to always be glad regardless of circumstances. We'll show you who that is and tell you his story in the next segment.

Segment 5

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So this is fun. I don't think I even set you guys up for this because I just wanted your raw [01:02:00] answers. Okay. So sit back. Yeah, I'm looking through my notes and I'm not seeing what you're talking about. You got nothing for this, so this is gonna be fun. Okay, so sit back, you just get to dream right now. We're gonna do a dream board.

You guys ever made a dream board or a vision board? Yes, I haven't. I don't believe in 'em, but to not happy. Okay, then this is gonna be new for you, Trish, so, okay. I'm thinking outside the box. Yes, you're gonna think outside the box because you're gonna create a board right now and you're gonna put tons of pictures up on it.

Sometimes people do it for things they want to have their life to look like, so they'll put all these pictures of things for the future. We're not doing that because whatever. Here's what we're gonna do. I want you to create a board right now, and this is gonna be a dream board or a vision board of everything that makes you have joy and gladness.

What are you putting on the board? Just say out all the things right now. Family. Like for instance, mine. Mine has cheese. Oh, very good. Trish, yours has your family. Sure. Look, Trish goes, oh, like righteous answer first. Keep going. Well, you dunno. My family. Well, you do know my family. They're a lot of fun. Oh, they're, they make me happy.

I was gonna say my family too. And when I say family, I mean every single person. My sisters, my, my brothers-in-law, my nieces and nephews and our, you know, our great nephews and nieces. Like we have a personal closeness with every single Oh, shout out to all of them, by the way. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. How fun.

They're just so much fun. I mean, we, we work together, we play together. We just, I mean, when we vacation most of the times it's all together and it's just because I enjoy them. Love it. Okay, so family's on your Joy Gladness board. Keep going. Uh, the lake is on mine. I love to be, love to, to boat. I love the smell of the water.

Oh yeah. I love everything about being out on the lake. So the lake's on mine? Mm-hmm. Perfect. I like dirty diet Coke. [01:04:00] Oh yeah. What's a dirty diet Coke for people who haven't had one? Well, my favorite is Diet Coke with coconut and lime. Mm-hmm. Coconut cream. No, I just like the regular coconut. Just coconut.

Coconut. Delicious. I love that. Especially when it's spicy, like the bright amount of carbonation. That makes me happy. Super good. Keep going. We are a big music family. Our, our parents owned radio stations and so we grew up in the music business and, um, we go to concerts a lot and we sing our hearts out and we just.

That always makes me happy. Oh, I like that clean laundry that is folded and put away. That's happy. Oh, that's a lot of joy. Yeah. Yes. And you didn't have to do it. Can we add that in there? I didn't. I didn't have to do it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Love it. No traffic on the freeway. Mm-hmm.

Um, perfect weather. Yeah. The sun shining a little bit of a breeze. Just nice weather. So much happiness. Okay. When everyone thinks of their vision boards, and this is so fun to do with like a seminary institute class, I would love to do this, like write everything that would make you happy and we're gonna add something to our vision board.

Let's go to doctrine and covenant section 79. So this revelation was given to a young man by the name of Jared Carter and the Lord asks him, I love this idea because he's talking about something that will bring him great joy. We're going to read verse one and then verse four, and these are the two main verses that I think are so great.

Well, okay, who are we kidding? Actually, we're gonna read all four verses. It's only four verses long. Let's just read it. It's such a good section. So we're gonna start out, and Jodi, will you read a verse? And then Trish and then me, and then back to Jodi Verily, I stand to you that it is my will that my servant Jared Carter should go [01:06:00] again into the eastern countries from place to place and from city to city and the power of the ordination.

Wherewith, he had been ordained, proclaiming, glad, tidings of great joy, even, even the everlasting gospel. And I'll sin upon him, the comforter, which shall teach him the truth and the way wither he shall go. And in as much as he is faithful, I will crown him again with sheaths. Wherefore, let your heart be glad, my servant Jared Carter.

And fear not sayeth your Lord, even Jesus Christ. Amen. Okay. From these four verses, what are some things you could also add that the Lord's encouraging us to add to our joy board the gospel and, and having the gospel in your life. Yeah, absolutely. The, the everlasting Gospel. Put that on your joy board and I love how you can say, it doesn't matter where you go, go anywhere, just go and claim the gospel.

It doesn't matter where, 'cause it, wherever you go, it, it's needed. So yes, you can't make a mistake. You cannot love that. And by the way, he's 30 years old when he's getting this mission call. And Joseph Smith is much younger than him. Well, you know, he's like 26, I should say. But anyway, Jared's 30, he will die at the age of 48.

He doesn't know that the Lord does. He doesn't have a lot of time. He dies in the faith. And I just, I love this idea. Like go the glad tidings of great joy. I love verse two, the comforter. You could add the Holy Ghost to your joy board. That's a great connection. And to let your heart be glad. But I'm gonna go back to this verse because Trish, I said earlier I would do this when you shared with us in section 78, verse 22, that the idea of a steward and you both connected it to take care of something every day.

I was struck by verse one when he says, go again into the Eastern countries. I highlighted, go again. And for the first time in my life I read that and went, I feel like the Lord is just saying that to us every morning when we wake up again. Just go again. Here you go. We're gonna do it again. Like [01:08:00] every day is a go again moment for me.

And the Lord's just saying to us, it's okay. Like, go again. I know. Get up. Let's go. Have glad tidings of great joy through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the comforter. Like, and let your heart be glad just by doing what you can and doing your best. Because I don't know, that go again just really resonated with me when I read this today.

Like, woo, how many go again, moments do we have where you sometimes you just wanna be in bed all day, right? Yeah. But sometimes it's those go agains that get you to the, to the, the best. Like, okay. Right. I did it. I, I went and I did it again. Like sometimes when you think, you know, um, Trish talked a little bit about her dad, but he was having health issues and he needed a kidney transplant, and we just kept praying that he'd get the transplant and every day was that.

Go again. Pray again. Pray. Pray for it again. Pray for it again. And then one day he got a transplant. It had made all of those go agains and those daily, daily pleadings with the Lord, like really he's gonna get it like it. It made that go again, just like totally worth it. And sometimes we have to go and we have to be faithful and we have to to do those Go Agains.

I know there's something I've been dealing with lately, and it's like sometimes it just eats at me, and then sometimes it's like, it's fine. Like, we dealt with this yesterday. We'll deal with it again today and maybe tomorrow it'll be better and maybe it won't, but just keep going. You're fine. Get up and go.

Oh, I like that Jodi. Sometimes the go agains are worth it. Oh, that is so good. Well, tell me then you two, because you have lost your parents, and I'm so sorry for your grief and your loss, and I'm curious to know if this verse were said to you by the Lord. That there are glad tidings of great joy in the gospel, and to let your heart be glad and to fear not apply them to the situation you've been in.

How is the gospel of Jesus Christ a source of joy? Or is it, I [01:10:00] think that's our biggest source of joy is, um, you know, just on Good Friday, we place the, the headstone on our parents' grave. And it's very hard to see your parents' name in stone. I mean, it's very final. Mm-hmm. But as I was thinking it was, we happened to, to do it on Good Friday.

And I just remember thinking at the time, because of Christ's sacrifice and his atonement, this isn't final, this isn't the end. And when, you know, as Jodi mentioned before, we're so cl we were so close family, we ha we're very close to our parents and losing them was very, very difficult. But the joy of the gospel and the, the joy that the gospel brings me is knowing.

That it's just a separation. It's not, it's not permanent. And I'll get to go again and see 'em. And when I get, get to go and hug them and see them again, that is just going to, I think I will understand what the joy of a hundred fold is when I get to get there. Wow. Thank you. And we've talked about this a little bit, Trish and I, in verse two it says, and so I'll just say to us, and I will send upon you a comforter, which will teach you the way that whether you should go.

So I'm gonna send you a comforter and you're gonna continue your life. And that's one thing that we have really noticed is that grief. Grief sucks, but you know what? It is manageable. We have been comforted in so many ways, and especially, um, understanding that they're, they're living again. They are absolutely in involved in our lives.

They are a part of our lives. They continue to. To worry about us just, just as they did here, but they also continue to love us exactly the same as if they were here given us a hug. And we feel that constantly. And it's because of that and the understanding that that we, we can, we can go, we, we [01:12:00] will get up and do it again.

Mm-hmm. I like the connection you just made to the Go Agains because when we're in the thick of the go Agains, like you just pointed out, that the Holy Ghost will tell us, wither we shall go. And sometimes when you feel stuck in your go Agains, it's okay. The Holy Ghost is going to guide you so that you can absolutely let your heart be glad and fear not like everything you're saying, you guys is connecting beautifully because you can't imagine how great the blessings are gonna be.

Right, right. A hundredfold, Trish, you can't even understand how great it will be. It really is the gospel of joy, of great joy, in fact. So much joy. So thanks for connecting that. That was good. Okay, so after he gets done giving Jared Carter some really great advice, and now by way of which all of us have great advice, in the next segment in section 80, he's going to give a mission call and we get to guess where the missionary's going, and we'll have fun with that coming up next.

Segment 6

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All right. Do you guys ever do, or have you ever been to the mission calls here in the States? For people who are listening, they do big things for mission calls, and sometimes people put up maps and you have to guess where the people are going. Have you guys ever done that? Yep, I have. Have you ever guessed correctly?

I'm just curious. I have not, no. Well, well, you know that's not true, Joey. Yeah, go ahead. Tell the story. So our nephew, we really thought that he was going to go somewhere that would be tropical. Tropical, but that would be Spanish speaking, which, and he got called to Ariba, so. We didn't pick it. It was Trinidad, port of Spain.

We didn't necessarily, we just, we just felt really strongly that it would be tropical, but Spanish speaking. And they were like, well, maybe it'll be one or the other. But it really truly was kind both. Hey, good guessing. That is awesome. You know, it's funny, when I go to them, I've never guessed correctly, ever, but I always guess my mission.

'cause I'm just like, that'd be [01:14:00] cool. And I went to one and I, and I was like, I'm not gonna guess my mission on this one. I guess some random, and then he got called to my mission. I was like, ah, I should have guessed my old mission. Yeah. I never get 'em right. Yeah, most of the time we don't either. No, no one knows.

Well, I'll tell you a funny, uh, not a funny story, but we were called as missionaries when we were Jodi. How old were we? Probably, I was probably You were seven. I was eight maybe. Yeah. We were called as a family to be steak missionaries. And I'd never seen this done in a church. Our family, our entire family was called on a steak mission and we served for two years.

And we had to learn the discussions and we had to teach and we went and we taught as a family. We had missionary tags, everything. Tags. We had our own missionary tags. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know that. Jodi, you served a mission when you were younger. Well, yeah. And it's so funny because I think they were trying to, and maybe we didn't do a good job, but I don't remember, I like to say Jodi, I don't remember.

We, we, we accomplished it. You were the new program at the church and it failed because of you. Sure. Exactly. I don't believe that for a second, but we actually did convert like two families and so it was a really cool thing for us. And, and they, my mom and dad were very good about, okay, you guys do this, you do this discussion, first discussion, you do the second discussion.

And everybody participated. So. Oh yeah, that is so, okay. This is so perfect then, because section 80 is exactly what you guys are talking about. No one would've ever guessed in a million years where this young man was going. So let's go to the section heading. It says, revelation given through Joseph Smith, the prophet to Steven Burnett.

That's who it's given to. Highlight his name. He's 18 years old. He's being called on a mission. Go into Section 80 and Jodi, will you read verse one for us? Verily Blessed sayeth the Lord unto you. My servant Stephen Burnett. Go Ye, go ye into the world and preach the gospel to every creature that cometh under the sound of your voice.

Okay, now Trish, I want you to tell us where did he get called on his mission in verse [01:16:00] three? The entire universe. Anywhere he wanted he, he could not mess up, he could go anywhere. Yes. Read that verse for us. This is so fun. Wherefore, go here and preach my gospel, whether or to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west.

It matters if not, but you cannot go am Miss, you're like you can go anywhere. Would that be the greatest mission call? Can you imagine today if somebody got that? Go wherever you want. You pick a place you can serve. This is so much fun. So yeah, you cannot go am Miss, just go and serve I. Here's where I want you to preach that this is such a fun mission.

Call for him and he wants a mission companion. He gets assigned a mission companion and his name's Eden Smith in verse two. Eden Smith is 26 years old. So that is quite an age gap for companions and they're gonna go and they're going to preach. But here's what I love when it says, it doesn't matter where they go, here's what they're asked to preach, and this is significant for all of us.

So we're gonna read verse four. And Jodi, will you read verse four? Therefore declare the things which she have heard. And verily believe and know to be true, that is his assignment. You were to preach and teach the things that you've heard, things that you believe, and things that you know to be true. So I asked my guest to think about this for a minute because I thought if all of us were called on a mission and we all have, so to speak, but if you got a mission call and all it said was serve wherever you want and only preach what you know and believe to be true, what aspect of the gospel would you teach about that?

This question, I really had to think about it for a while. Um, but what really just kept coming back was that I am a child of God. I think that the most simplest but the most profound, when you understand who you are, what your, what your value is, what your worth is. Then everything else kinda comes and goes with that, is just having [01:18:00] that sure knowledge that you were a child of God, that you were before you were here, and you will be when we leave this earth.

And just to do your best to, to be that example and to be, um, of value to your Heavenly Father. How do you know that Jodi? You know, you learn it at an early age. If you, if you grow up in the gospel, you learn, I'm a child of God, this song, I am a child of God. And I think that's one of the earliest understandings that we get.

But then it, it's just, it is just taught over and over and over. And then when you go through trials and then when you face things that are difficult, you understand that there is someone there for you and, and, and just as your parents are there for you, your heavenly Father is there for you tenfold.

Just like you know when he wants to bless us, a hundredfold. He's there for you. He knows you and he knows what you're going through. Uh, I think it's so important when you get your patriarchal blessing and you understand how the Lord sees you through his eyes and what, what he sees your worth is and your capabilities, your strengths, your weaknesses, and then just to know, okay, I'm his child and these are the things that he's given me.

So I, I just think that it's just, it's learned incrementally. It's learned all through your life and, and it's reiterated, especially when you need it the most. But it's also a very tender, my son bore his testimony a couple weeks ago and his testimony was that he was a child of God and as a, as a mom, that's just like, that's, that's the sweetest and the most insightful thing that he can say.

Yeah. Oh, what a cool moment for you. He gets it. Yes. How old were you when you got your patriarchal blessing? I was 21. You were. Mm-hmm. So you had a little more knowledge, a little more, you know, dirt under your feet. You had lived your life. I'm curious to know, is there anything in your patriarchal blessing where you were like, God knows me.[01:20:00]

Yeah, almost all of it really. Um, yeah. He talks about my personality and, um, he says, I have, I have a pleasing personality and sometimes I have to remind my husband I have a pleasing personality.

Um, it's, and I just was like, I, I remember, I remember when my older sister, Carrie, had gotten her patriarchal bus in, and I just thought, oh my gosh. I was sitting there and I, and I think she was 16 so I would've been, you know, 14 or something. And I just remembered like, oh my gosh, what a special thing for her, for the Lord to recognize her talents.

And I just wanted that so much. Then when I got my blessing, I was, I was older, and so I was praying about a few things and I was looking for some answers and got them, but not specifically, but it did strike me that, yeah, the Lord knows me. He's, he is talking directly to me. Hmm. Jodi, thank you. My friend Sharon, who's often on the podcast, she taught something in Sunday school the other day.

She teaches gospel doctrine, and she said many of these revelations are patriarchal blessings because they're directed towards specific people. And so when we read them, you, you could go, well, it doesn't apply to me. But the reality is, is it applies to all of us. And so he, everything you guys have shared today has been proof of that, that he knows us, he loves us.

He's preparing things you can't imagine. And, and all of his encouragement, I felt like were just three really cool patriarchal blessings for all of us, that we are his children and he loves us. So thank you. Jodi, what about you, Trish? What would you teach about? That the worth of a soul is infinite and that it doesn't matter who you are, where you are in your pathway, you are worth to our, to your heavenly Father.[01:22:00]

And whatever we we do in this life, um, that worth never goes away. And you have someone that loves you for every, everything you are. And at the end of the day, he knows we're gonna make mistakes, but because he knows that he's provided us for a way to repent, he's provided us a way to let those things go and to return to him and to be happy.

And, and I just think the, the gospel is just a, is a way to, to find happiness. I remember listening to your podcast and, um, we, it was in the Book of Mormon and talking about having goodly parents. And I remember thinking at the time, I have goodly parents that I thought Goodly meant they were good, they were nice people.

They, you know, there were people that could be counted on. But I remember I thought, uh, listening to the podcast and you said that goodly means covenant keeping. And now that our parents are gone, that means so much to me to know that I had covenant keeping parents because, because of the covenants that they made and the covenants that they taught us, we get to be together forever as a family.

And that to me shows that I'm worth it. Wow. Thank you, Trish. What a great testament. I wanna be part of your family. I love your family. That's so fun. Oh, how close you are. Well, thank you ladies. That was an incredible discussion. We're done. That's the end. How fun was that? No, we made it. We made it. Okay.

Gather your thoughts, and I just want you to share with us what's an eternal truth that you learned or you were reminded of as we discussed these sections today. We can do hard things. Mm-hmm. And that it'll be worth it [01:24:00] a hundred fold. Yeah. What about you, Jodi? I think that the most important thing is that we have been given the keys, whether it's through the priesthood, whether it's been to the scriptures, whether it's through family or friends.

The Lord can reach you individually and he will give you what you need when you need it. And you just have to trust. And so if, if you've ever been in a position where you needed that knowledge and you relied upon it, it was given you and it will be given you. And just to always remember just that you are a child of God.

And, and with that comes great power and great wisdom. Hmm. I like that. I like how you connected it back to being a child of God. Um, I'll tell you what I learned. So Trish, I love how in the very beginning you taught us, it's all about effort and time. And that was like the theme of this whole discussion about the putting in the effort and the time and, and you went into talking, we can do hard things.

We can put forth the effort and the time. And when we do, we're gonna learn so much. And then Jodi loved it when you said it pleases him to be pleased with him. That was really cool. Wow, this was a good discussion, so thanks for taking the time. Thanks for still being my friend after section 77. Thanks, Tamara.

Thank you for letting us be on the podcast. We enjoyed it very much. Absolutely. Oh, I love you both. Well, what was your eternal truth? What did you learn from our discussion? What really hit you? And you thought, oh, I've gotta remember that. Go join our group on Facebook or follow us on Instagram to share what you've learned.

And then at the end of the week on a Saturday, we're gonna post a question from this discussion. So comment on the post that relates to this lesson and share your thoughts. In fact, here's the question I wanna ask. How do you get through your go again? What's some advice you have to someone who's in the midst of a go again moment?

You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes [01:26:00] for this episode on LDS living.com/sunday on Monday. And it's not a bad idea to go there anyway, because it's where we're going to 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 beautiful study group participants were Jodi Hart Wilson and Trish Hart. And you can find more information about my friends at ldsliving.com slash 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, you can't even imagine how much God loves you and you are his favorite. The.