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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A few weeks ago, I was talking with my really good friend about how we tell stories and how some people, they just don't appreciate the way we tell them. And by that I mean a story with all the details. Now neither one is right, whether you like to hear the details or not, but let's be honest, hearing the details is so right.

So here's what I wanna know. What kind of storyteller are you and what kind of story receiver are you? Are you all about just the facts and the main points? Or do you wanna know like what was the person wearing? What time of day was it? Where were they standing? Who was with them? What's their family background?

What number in the family are they? 'cause that all plays a role into the story they're telling. Well, today I'm here with two of my friends who just love to tell and receive stories filled with details. I know this about them. And when you know the details of doctrine and covenants. Sections 81 through 83.

It totally changes the message given to us from the Lord. 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, 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 friend, Kara Boku.

Hi Kara. Now another awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined by two of my friends, and today I'm so excited to introduce you to these two friends. We have Tammy Weaver and Stacie Woolley. Hi, ladies notes. Hi. All right. Tammy's been on before. She's one of my dearest friends. We share a backyard pretty much, and uh, we've been in the thick of it raising kids together.

She's been on a couple of other times. I highly recommend finding her episodes. Uh, but Tammy, introduce us to Stacie. How do we know? Well, we love Stacy. Mm-hmm. I originally met Stacy through Pickle ball, but our hearts connected over the years and she's amazing. She is like love language expert. Oh gosh.

And knows, but she knows how to love people in the way that they can feel [00:02:00] love and it's just such a beautiful thing to have. Love. Stacy, so glad you're here. I am so excited to be here with these two amazing Tammy's Tammy Square T squared. That's right. But Tammy Weaver's, TAMI and I'm the correct spelling, T-A-M-M-Y.

So, uh, I forgot that. That's right. Stacy is the love language expert. I've talked about her on the podcast before. When I've shared, my friend told me what kind of you, you were the one that was able to tell me what love language I respond and love to give. I didn't even know that about myself. I thought I knew all these years.

No, you, you pegged me. You were awesome. So well excited to be here. Excited to have you. Well, if you guys wanna know more about my guests, make sure you go check out their bios and see their pictures. 'cause hello, we're all about the details. You gotta know what they look like and read information about them.

And you can find those in our show notes, which are at lds living.com/sunday on Monday. So grab your scriptures and something to mark them with. And let's dig into sections 81 through 83. Okay. You two. First things first, what did the Holy Ghost teach you as you read these sections? Well, I'll jump in first.

I love these sections and so you're obviously, um, inspired to ask me because I Are you serious? And yes, I love, I love them. They're my favorites. If you saw my scriptures, they're like, you know, whoa, up all over the place with these. But I have a lot of favorite parts. But I'm gonna pick section 82 and I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk about verse, I know you said one, but can I do nine, 10, and, and 16.

Okay. But they kind of go together. But, um, so in verse nine it says, or in other words, I given unto you directions. Okay. And that jumped out to me this time that it's never, ha never has jumped out. So I had to look it up. And in the 1830 Webster edition, nice. It says, directions are like aiming or pointing towards a certain point or course, especially in a straight line.

It refers to the path course or line along which something is moving or is aimed to move. And I [00:04:00] loved that path because it reminded me of the covenant path. And this is covenant language. So he says, or in other words, I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that you may turn, it's another one of my favorite words to you, to you for your salvation.

Um, for I the or I, the Lord am bound when you do what I say. But when you do not what I say, you have no promise. Covenant language, right? God is saying, here's, I'm gonna do this, and this is what I expect from you. Here's your expectations. And, um, I have written in my scriptures, commandments equals direction.

Wow. Right? Which equals Jesus in my life every day. And, and then I just said, God is so good to me. He's good to me. Um, because he has given me my covenants that helped me turn to him. And of course, I love how President Nelson has rebranded repentance to be a turning to God and a reminder. Um, so I just, I felt prompted to read again, sister Freeman's talk from conference in 2023 called Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ.

And just, it just reminded me that not only did the Savior come for me and you and all of us. But he comes to me every day and he walks that path with me and she said, you know, it's not the path, right? Always that's the most important, but it's who's walking with us. It's not the pace that we're walking at or where we are on the path, it's the progress we're making.

And that really struck me. And I think that's why I wrote down God is good to me because he is, he gave me the Savior Jesus Christ to walk with me on this path, this journey. So, and the promises, right, that come from keeping our covenants. But 16 says, behold here is wisdom also in me for [00:06:00] your good. So all these words, like he says, you, you are good.

I'm gonna do this for you. Um, turn. And then, and then if you go to Philippians one. He says, for I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayers and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ. So as we do this, as we follow the commandments, as we follow, you know, the directions as we're aiming towards a certain point, which is our savior and our Father in heaven, it says that we're gonna have the spirit with us and that it's gonna be turned to help us for our salvation.

And I love 16 of uh, on 82 when it said, behold here is wisdom and I'm gonna do it for your good. So for me, this is about a God that loves me. This is about a God that wants to be in a relationship with me. This is like

not a, uh, some, the God of some people think of the Old Testament, you know, that is if you don't do this, you have no promise. This is like. Turn to me. This is for you. I care about you. This is for all that's gonna happen to you in your life is for you, for your salvation, to bless you. And I think that was one of my biggest takeaways from from reading that today, and I've read it so many times, but it was like, oh, he loves you.

He knows you. He's walking with you. Don't worry, it's gonna be okay. Oh, Stace, that was one of the best mini sermons. I can't believe how fast you got that much information in. And I'm grateful that you went. I mean, because when you said 16, I turned there and I read it. And I'm so thankful for what you taught us.

Because when you were saying for your good, in my mind, I imagined when I read that I Good is such a big word for your good. I think for your good. Encompasses all the people you love too, because. [00:08:00] For my good includes all the people that I love. Otherwise it's not good, right? And so I just feel like I said this to my daughter the other day.

'cause she says, everything works out in the end. And I said, and if it hasn't worked out, it's not the end yet. Not the end. It's not the end. And so I feel like sometimes Satan is so good about making everything in this life, the end right when it happens and he just give he, it's a cutoff for him. And we just have to remember that verse I, everything you just taught us, the covenant path is for our good and our includes everyone I love and we just have to trust and hang on.

So thank you Stacie. I love the direction you went. So good. Thank you. All right, Tammy, what do you got? Well, I loved section 81 verse three talking about. As much as Thou Art faithful in counsel in the office, which I've appointed unto you in prayer, always vocally and in thy heart, in public and in private.

And I've been thinking a lot about prayer and the spirit taught me this week about, you know, how important prayer is. And I've struggled a little bit with prayer over the years because I really want my grocery list. Like I wanna pray for my children to be safe and for us all to live together forever.

And this thing that I'm worried about, I want it all to work out. And I kind of have this like. Prayer list. And then, you know, heavenly father knows all. It's a, it's a, it's a faithful, I know that it will be how you want it to be, but then why should I pray if I'm not getting my way? Mm-hmm. It's kind of a little, little pride of like, Hey, I want my way, but I don't need to ask for it 'cause I know that your way is better.

And so one of the ways that I've been, um, trying to do that is, especially like in the morning, um, [00:10:00] I've always been a night prayer. Like, I always like fall into bed and, and pray. But then in the morning it's like, what do I have to do today? And mm-hmm. Start getting all, so my morning prayers haven't been as consistent, but um, over the last little while I've really tried to have a morning prayer where I connect with Heavenly Father and I always kind of lay in my bed and I think about.

The people that I'm praying for. So I'm like, what's this daughter worried about or doing today? Ooh, is Tammy teaching Institute? I should pray for her. In her thank you. People in my circle, I am thinking, you know, what does that person have today? Henly father, bless them. I'm spending a moment kind of ministering almost in prayer to the people in my circle, and it ends up being kind of a more beautiful way to start my morning than, um, a just jumping outta bed and getting to it.

B, grabbing my phone and C, what texts I need to catch up on, or c you know, we're, we're late always, you know, in the mornings we all like to sleep in, you know, you kind of, so I just, I like to take a moment and pray for the people in my circle, and it's been a really special experience. Oh, I love that. I have a question.

Have you always struggled with prayer that way? Like ever since you were little? Uh, no. At the grocery list, I, no. I was the best prayer I prayed. I probably, in my entire life, up until the point that I struggled, I'd never missed a prayer, like a night prayer, a meal prayer. But, um, now's the time to get into it, I guess.

But after my daughter died, so, uh. If you've heard the story, maybe, but I'll just briefly, my child passed away. She was two years and three months old, and she was in the care of her grandparents and we had left to go on a trip, and so we left her with her. And I'm telling you, you know, we hadn't left when [00:12:00] we've left some of the kids or whatever, but, but like, this was like, let's pray for her safety.

I never was worried about her. I, I wasn't, I didn't ever get like a prompting of like, don't go, don't leave her. Be worried she's not gonna be okay. And the mm-hmm. The way that she passed away was. She got a, a respiratory virus that attacked her lungs and she, she went to sleep and didn't wake up. So there wasn't any blame.

It would've happened wherever. There wasn't any misconduct by anyone involved. Like it was a peaceful way. I never got a prompting that anything was gonna happen to her, but I prayed that she would be safe and we were leaving, we were driving on our trip. I'm like, bless my, I left two with grandma, bless these, you know, Eli and Joy, that they'll be safe with grandma bless us on our trip.

We're gonna have this great time with our older kids. And I was like, I knew it was gonna be okay. I knew that it was gonna be okay. And so then it's like after that it. The funny thing is it was okay. It is okay. But in my mind, okay, was we come home. Mm-hmm. My daughter's still alive. 'cause I told heavenly father how it was gonna work out.

You're gonna keep my kids safe, I'm gonna come back home. And so the fact that it is okay, and it was better than I could have even imagined, if you will. Um, that's when my relationship with prayer changed because I was like, well, if I'm not gonna get my way, but your way is maybe better or better than I could have imagined, and I know it's gonna be okay, then why should I pray for my child to be safe?

Because it, she might or might not, but it's your plan. So, I don't know, kind of. Wow. Thank you for sharing that, Tammy. I wasn't anticipating that we would get that story out there that soon 'cause I already am crying, so, [00:14:00] um, but I, I was curious to know, I'm like, oh, I wonder if she's always struggled with prayer.

'cause I've know the story about joy. But now having that background, it makes, it just adds so much more depth to what you just taught us about prayer. And thank you for the morning challenge. I'm going to take it. Yeah, that is my new goal from here on out. I'm just gonna lay in bed and pray before I grab my phone and do anything else.

I was priding myself on the fact that I, first thing do is grab my phone, but then I read a scripture. All right, check me. I've been called out so now I'm not gonna grab my phone until I said my morning prayer laying in bed. I love that Tammy. So thank you. Thank you, thank you both of you. Wow. I can tell the Holy Ghost taught you those things 'cause I have felt it as we've had this discussion.

So thanks. Okay, well in the next segment then, we're gonna dig into some of the stories about these sections and we're gonna decide if the details matter and what kind of storyteller my friends are. We'll do that next.

Segment 2

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All right, you two, I wanna know, tell me what kind of storyteller are you guys, and what kind of story receiver are you? Do you like the details? We're you're great. We're great storytellers. We always say, don't ever let the facts get in the way of a good story. That's like our, our family motto. You gotta tell it with all the details.

And if you have. You know, it's, it's always, it's not fault hoods, but you might exaggerate a little bit, just quite how awesome you are. Listen, I'm not gonna lie, I think I've said this before. I know I live in Utah, but I also live in the land of hyperbole. Boy, I love an exaggerated story and I love to tell one too.

I have to reign it in when I do the podcast to make sure I'm not too, in fact, this is funny. A woman in my ward, she's about 89 years old, I've known her for years, and I said that in one of the Relief Society lessons we were in, that I, I love hyperbole. So anyway, and I revere this woman, she's brilliant.

She was on, actually on the Youngman general board in the eighties, spoke in general conference, everything. And she comes up to me after Relief Society and she grabs my arm and she's very quiet [00:16:00] and she says, I will tell you today in Relief Society, you said, one of the truest things I've ever heard come out of your mouth.

And I'm like, oh, well thank you. What did I say? I must have been so smart. And she said, when you said you live in hyperbole. I finally understood all the stories you tell and how you speak, and I'm like, uh, but I love the details. I love to exaggerate. That is so fun. What about you, Stacy? Oh, I, my husband is always like, 'cause I tell every tiny detail and he just wants the facts.

And I'm like, no, I wanna give it all to you. I gotta tell you exactly what happened, how I was feeling, exactly what I was wearing, exactly what the air smelled like. You know, I live in hyperbole with you. I am there. Maybe this is why women need women, because my husband, he, I can see his eyes start to gloss over when I go a little too much in the facts and I'm like, all right, I'll bring it back.

And then I, and then I just tell the punchline of the story and we're done. Then I'll call Tammy and Tammy and I will go to Chick-fil-A and we will talk for hours. Absolutely. Yeah. We gotta, we gotta have all the details. That's the good stuff. It's the good stuff. Okay, so case in point, here we go. Let's go to doctrine and Kevin at Section 81, because Section 81 can be told one of two ways.

Here we go. First wave for somebody who just wants the details and the facts, here's how I'm gonna set him up. At section 81, Jesse Ga or Gauss, I'm not even sure how to pronounce that, but Jesse Gauss, he joined the church and about a year later he was called to be Joseph Smith counselor, and unfortunately he got excommunicated.

So Frederick g Williams was given the calling. Instead his name was inserted into section 81. The end. There's the story. That's all you need to know or. Now ladies get this. So there's this guy, his name's Jesse Ga, or Jesse Gouss, I don't even know for sure. But he was raised in Pennsylvania, lived a little bit in Delaware, and he is 20 years older than Joseph Smith.

So think about that. We've got this young 20 something, Joseph Smith, and then a guy who's 46. So Jesse is at the time now he's 31 when he [00:18:00] first got married to a woman by the name of Martha Johnson. But then she died 13 years later and left him with kids. How sad is that? So he moved back. He moved to where his family lived in Ohio, and when he was in Ohio while living there, he married a woman by the name of Minerva Byram.

And their marriage was a little bit rocky, which plays into this story. So they kind of became estranged. He ended up being a Quaker, and then he was a shaker. And about two years after marrying Minerva, he joined the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And then a year later he's called and appointed to be a counselor to Joseph Smith.

So he is a scribe for Joseph, he's part of the United Firm. He served a mission and while on a mission. He met up with his estranged wife and then for some unknown reason, they're calling it health reasons, he actually returned home early from his mission. He was unable to reconcile with his wife. And according to historians, once he got back to Ohio, they say he continued east and walked right out of the history of the church, never again to return.

Nobody knows what happened to him. End of his story. What? Yeah, he totally left. He was excommunicated on December 3rd, 1832, and people believe that he got excommunicated that it had something to do with his wife. That's all I've been able to find. So because of this, the church needs to replace him and so they do and they call Frederick, and that's who Section 80 one's given to.

So go to verse one. It says, verily verily, I say unto you, my servant Frederick g Williams. Now, in the original revelation though, it said Jesse Goss Gay Gouss, however you say it, but because he had been excommunicated, when the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants came out, they took out Jesse's name and replaced it with Frederick Williams, who then got the calling to replace Jesse.

Now how great is that story? Which one do you prefer? One or two? I, yeah. Well, definitely two, no question. Wow. He met up with his estranged wife and never returned. No one. No one even knows. Yeah, never heard of again. Okay, so [00:20:00] yes. Now that we know the details though, let's go into section 81 because we wanna read verses one through two and see how knowing the history and knowing the details affects the way we read these verses.

So here we go. Doctrine cabinet, section 81 verses one through two. And then I just wanna know your guys' thoughts on these. Tammy, will you read those two for us? Sure. Ve verily I say unto you, my servant Frederick g Williams, listen to the voice of him who speaketh to the word of the Lord your God. And hearken to the calling wherewith you are called even to be a high priest in my church and a counselor unto my servant Joseph Smith Jr.

Unto whom I have given the keys of the kingdom, which belong always unto the presidency of the high priesthood. Thank you. Just those two verses, knowing that this was given to Jesse, how does the history then play into understanding those verses? So they added Frederick Williams' name later? Yes. So the original, when Joseph Smith originally got the revelation, it was to Jesse Gouss.

And then when they redid the writing, they added in Frederick g Williams. Correct. So when, so if you notice, the revelation was first given on March 15th, 1832, and that's in the section heading. But the Doctrine of Covenants will be published in 1835. So when they went to publish them, they read through all the revelations and they're like, oh, wait a minute.

Jesse's gone. Frederick replaced him. The revelation still stands. There's truth still in these verses. So we're gonna apply it to who the new person was. Yep. Wow. That's fascinating, isn't it though? Yeah. So go ahead and just put Jesse back in there and look at some of those words to him. Yeah. How have they been helpful to him?

Well, harken to the calling. Listen. Yes, listen and obey. We love the word Harken. Very good. And he was given [00:22:00] keys. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well that's interesting that he, whatever happened in his lifetime, he was willing to walk away from it and he, and they, and they say be a counselor. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Unto my servant.

My servant. So the Lord saying, my servant Joseph Smith Jr. Be a counselor to him. Be a, a friend, you know, whatever, Cun, whatever you think a counselor would've met at that time. Yeah. Whether it's temporal or spiritual. But he walked off. He left. Yes. Oh. Came home early from his mission. We're not exactly sure why, but yeah, he, all of these verses it's just, it's just so awesome to know the history.

Mm-hmm. Because then you go, okay, wait a minute. And so now that we have that lens, it's gonna be so awesome when we then continue to study section 81. 'cause we're not done. We're gonna really get into more of these verses in the next segment. But I just felt like it was so important to know all the details.

Well, I'm, I'm so glad you did that because I was confused about that because as I was studying, you know, it talks about, talks about the history in 82, a little bit about them going to Missouri and the high, you know, that council where Joseph Smith is, um, sustained as the high priest leader. And I was thinking how the dates don't match up, but thank you for explaining that because that makes perfect sense and it changes so much.

But it also, I think it's really important what you said, put gal's name back in there and now think about what's happened to him personally. Yeah. And if he truly heated, what that revelation and, I mean, I would love to have a revelation in the doctrine m with my name on it. I mean, come on. Right. I don't know, but Right.

Yeah. And he had one and, and why did he give it up? I don't know. I know we, I can't wait to figure out the rest of his story. I'd love to know what happened and, and no one knows, but it's a great reminder us to listen and hear. Absolutely. Well, and another thing too is like [00:24:00] anyone can feel a calling. I mean mm-hmm.

You know, not to be so general about it, but the Lord calls who he needs. And if, if Brother Gouss is like, I'm out, and he's looking around and he's like, Hey, Frederick Williams, step up and here's your revelation. It's the same. Listen hearken, you know, listen to the voice of the, of the Lord, and, um, here's the keys.

So that's kind of neat too, that heavenly Father's like, Hey, you know, I, I got another person that can, that can do this, and it's his plan and his will. I love that application. That was awesome Tammy. 'cause we can do the same for us as we read these sections, we think, well these are just given to these men.

But the reality is everything we're gonna study today has to do with us and that is likening the scriptures unto ourselves. So thank you so much for pointing that out. Okay, so in the next segment then we're gonna dive into a couple more verses and find out what the Lord had to say to Jesse or Frederick or us and we'll show you what they are coming up next.

Segment 3

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Tell me you two, is there a calling that you loved and a calling that stretched you? And maybe it's the same calling. What do you got? Uh, I'll go. Uh, well first of all, best calling ever. Tammy and I have been cocho in primary a few times in our ward Yes. Over the last several years. Mm-hmm. Which is so awesome.

And when I get a chance to work with Tammy. I think, uh, it's such a blessing and probably some of your listeners might be a little jealous of how close I live to you. Um, but that's, that thing makes me happier though when we share a calling. Oh, it's been fun. Mm-hmm. Or when I was gospel doctrine teacher and I had to call you like, what does this mean and love it.

Talk me off the, and then you're like, no, no, no, Tammy. Not that much information. Yeah. Yeah. Slow down. Give us the, the slow, the the me version. I think this might surprise you guys what [00:26:00] I'm about to say about the calling that stretched me the most. Um, so in 2015, I got a calling. Brent b, longtime listener friend in the ward called me in and asked me to be the girls camp cook.

And I burst into tears and said basically, no, go away forever. And I like left his office. And then I sat there for two days crying my eyeballs out. And at the time, this was in 2015, so I had a 1-year-old, a 3-year-old, a 5-year-old, a 12-year-old, a 15-year-old, a 17-year-old, and a. A daughter getting ready to go on a mission.

And I was like, there is no way. It was a camp that was Monday to Friday. It was a full five days. Our ward at the time, it was right before our ward split, it was gonna be feeding 65 people every meal. And it was, I asked for a, like a helper and they said, oh no, we've called too many leaders for camp, so you're basically on your own.

And I was like, I can't do it. I can't do it. But after two days of crying, I called him back and I'm like, I can do it. Heavenly father told me I need to do it. Especially because my daughter that was gonna be a senior, this was her last year of camp, she has food allergies and she basically had never been able to eat what was provided at camp.

Hmm. And so I. Through those tears was like, I'll do it. I haven't slept in two years or more, probably more like five years. When I had those little babies and teenagers at the same time, I'm like, I've not slept. It was camping. We're talking like camp stove feeding so many people, and I did it and it was the best food they'd ever had.

Of course. And because I'm so good at it, no. Mm-hmm. Here we go. It stretched me and [00:28:00] to like, the fact that I just, I just didn't think I could do it. And now all these years later, I've done it several times. I can feed, you know, to the tablespoon. I can tell you how much food those girls are going to eat and leaders.

How many years in a row tell us how many years in a row were you camped? Well, I did it three years in a row. Yep. And then when, when Hope left camp, I took a little break and then I, on my second mm-hmm. Three year stint and, and, uh, ILI love the co like to be with those girls is the, the best part. But it is.

Physical labor, it's your brain is like, oh, no, what if, what are they going to eat? And are they gonna like it? And then the food allergies and, and anyway. Mm-hmm. But I'm really, I'm really good at it. But I, but I started out fearing that I would not have the strength or the capacity to do it. But heavenly father knew that not only would that be a huge blessing to my girls because when I had these babies, it was an opportunity for me to bond with them as teenagers.

And so I really am, I'm grateful that I, even though it was very difficult at the time that I said yes. Perfect example. Thank you. I'm gonna come back to what you said After Stacie shares hers. Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do first the one that stretched me. Um, I, and I'm gonna get, I'm gonna get personal and you're gonna see my, some of my, we, a few of my, or a lot of my weaknesses, my pride.

Love it. All right. Try to get real here. I was in a calling and I loved my calling and I felt like I was really like making a difference. And I was serving and I was helping. And I was serving, um, I was actually the primary coer and I was doing that and it, and it was awesome. And the bishop called me in and gave me a call, another calling to serve as the gospel doctrine teacher.

And [00:30:00] I came home and I cried to my husband and I, of course, I said yes, because my mom taught me to say yes. And just going back to 82, 10, the Lord is bound when we do what he says. So, right. I'm a Covent woman and I'm gonna say yes, but I was heartbroken. I went home and I cried. And not because gospel doctrine is bad or anything, but I felt like I was doing something.

Maybe I felt it was more important to be with youth. I, I don't know. Okay. That's my pride, that's my, you know, thinking that I knew better what was right then. It's not that I thought the bishop was wrong, 'cause I didn't, I just, I felt sad. I felt like I can't make a difference and I, I just felt so fulfilled mm-hmm.

In my callings when I served with the youth, or when I served in the primary. And so I, you know, went home and I started preparing and I taught a few times. And, and one day, and I, and by the way, I, I started taking a class from Professor Stein at BYU. Yay. I love him. He's amazing. Yep. One day, as I was preparing my lesson, just as clear as anything.

I just had this overwhelming, it was like my mind and my heart was just expanding. And I just, all of a sudden I realized that this calling was for me. Hmm. And you know, we have so many callings where we are, we're serving, we're running around, we're doing things for other people. And most of our callings are, and it's not, the gospel doctrine wasn't, but this one, I just got to sit back and study.

I just got to sit back and learn. And in doing that, my heart just expanded. And you know, the scripture that talks about how we'll have hidden treasures of knowledge and greater light and knowledge. And I had never experienced something like that before. It was like a physical [00:32:00] opening of my heart. I was understanding things I had never understood before and all of a sudden, and I realized how blessed I was, that God was allowing me this, this little, I only got to do it for 18 months, but this little 18 months of just me getting to just study the scriptures every day, like, wow.

Like who gets to do that? Right. And awesome. It just was such a testimony builder to me that God knows what we need, even though I thought I knew, he knew what I needed. And it was this like sweet thing. It was like a kind thing, like what a, my mission president used to always say, and my mission president, I'm really spoiled, is Elder Anderson.

But he always used to say, heavenly father is a kind father. And he is, he is. How kind is that, that he just, lemme just sit back and just study the scriptures and let my heart just learn and grow. Wow. So that was the, the calling that stretched me or that I struggled with. I, you know, that I felt like yeah.

Um, helped me grow the most. My favorite callings, I, you probably figured it out. Ones that I just loved are, are serving with the youth and serving in the young women's. And probably my very, very favorite is, is the eight 16 to 18-year-old Sunday school. So, oh, fun. My favorite, happy them. Yay. I love, yay.

Shout out to them. I love them. Okay, so both of you answered perfectly and for everyone listening, I did not even prepare them with what we were gonna talk about and their answers. Are a perfect fulfillment of the verse we're gonna read next. So this is really cool, Stacie. I love that you said God is a kind father, like he is so kind.

And I wanna show you his kindness and his promises to us when it comes to callings. So let's go back to section 81. This is where we are and in verse one it says, harken to the calling wherewith, you are called even to be A. And where it says A I put a little arrow into the side, I wrote, insert calling, like whatever calling it is that you've been [00:34:00] given.

And I just believe with all my heart what you said, sta that, that God gives us callings to make us better. Even when you're like, are you kidding me? I have zero music talent. Why would I say yes to primary coer? And uh, my kids know we just say yes and, and we believe that we're going to be blessed. And I always was like, do we really believe that or is that what we just say?

So we do say yes, but we're going to show you here that the Lord does bless us. So you insert your calling Hearken to the calling. Where're with you are called even to be a gospel doctrine teacher or camp cook or whatever it is. But then I love verse three, therefore verily I acknowledge him. Now him is Joseph Smith.

So he's saying to Jesse, therefore Verily I acknowledge him, Joseph Smith and will bless him, Joseph Smith. And you're like, well, of course you will. 'cause he's the prophet. But then it says, and also the, mm-hmm. So now I'm going to acknowledge you and bless you Stacie and Tammy, because you're hearkening to the calling.

Wherewith, you have been called. Isn't that awesome to think that when you say yes to a calling, God's like, okay, I acknowledge her and I'm going to bless her for saying yes to this calling. And then here are some requirements that he asks of us. And we're gonna number these, and as we do, I'd love for you to just give some insights or thoughts that you have when you read these verses and you're, what you shared in your stories is really what we're gonna mark.

So here we go. Number one, in as much as thou our faithful in counsel, that's the first thing he wants you to do. Be faithful in counsel in the office, which I've appointed unto you, number two, in prayer, always vocally and in thy heart. So keep praying, play in public and in private. Number three, also in my ministry, in proclaiming the gospel in the land of the living and among thy brethren.

So whatever calling it is, however you can do your ministry, minister in proclaiming the gospel in the land of the living, and among thy brethren. Well, and I love the result, verse four. And in doing these things, thou will do greatest good unto thy fellow beings and will promote the glory of [00:36:00] him who is your Lord.

So that's the best case scenario that's gonna come out of you saying yes. Then a couple more things, then he says, wherefore number four, be faithful. Stand in the office, which I have appointed unto you. The fifth one is sucker the weak, the sixth, lift up the hands, which hang down, and the seventh strengthen the feeble knees.

But I'd love to know of the seven things that the Lord asks us to do once we say yes to a calling so that we can, I love it. We will do the greatest good to the fellow beings. We're gonna promote the glory of the Lord. Is there one that stood out to you? I think for me, sucker the weak. And I think the reason is because I love what it means.

Sucker tell me. Run to. At least that's one of the definitions of it. And I love that thinking. And so as we run to those who are in need and who are weak, I know as a young women's leader, I feel such an important responsibility to run to these young women in every way. To build them up, to love them, to help them feel welcome, to know that they are loved, that they are daughters of God.

And what does that mean? Knowing you're a daughter of God? Honestly, there's nothing that can compare with that, with anything in the world, right? That brings a confidence that is incomparable. And so I, I just, I love that sucker, the weak. And of course then it continues to onto the other two, which are part of that.

But I just, that those are tender words for me. And I have been, also had people sucker me and run to me.

I like that so much. Thank you. Sta what about you, Tam? Well, and I'm kind of thinking about the ministry in proclaiming the gospel and how every calling that we have is a little ministry. Like sometimes it's with the youth. We love the youth and to, [00:38:00] to have these wonderful positive role models in their life is so beautiful and to work with the primary children is so wonderful.

But as sisters and as neighbors and friends and, and everywhere we go, we are a. In a ministry, and it's our job to love each other and, and lift each other's burdens. And, you know, of course lift up the hands and strengthen the knees. But anything we can do to support the family, support the people in our ward.

You know, I always kind of joke that I'm in a pickleball ministry right now because it's, it's, it's a group of women gather and yes, we're playing a sport together, but we are talking about the things that are. You know, concerns and we're, we are supporting our families. The, the network, the women. The women who the women, uh, reach is the world, right?

Like we have our own, our own families, but our communities like. We need to lift and build each other because then we can be strong and strengthen as we go and serve and bless all the lives around us. And so I think it's important women gathering and sharing and supporting each other and strengthening and, and really like, part of proclaiming the gospel, uh, is loving each other and mm-hmm.

You know, building and lifting each other. So I love that word ministry. Like you have a little job to do and that's, it's not hard, you know, sometimes it's like, Hey, proclaim the gospel. That doesn't mean that you have to give a book a Mormon away every minute. I mean, that, that opportunity might come and that's wonderful.

But I think the fact a ministry is serving and loving the people around you, and that includes maybe a stranger that you run into that day or somebody that pops in in the morning when you're thinking about through your day of like, you know, Hey, maybe let me run into somebody who needs a little. [00:40:00] A little lift, a little love.

Mm-hmm. Oh, I think that's great. Next to that verse, then I just put pickleball ministry, Tammy Weaver. She is so good at that too. She is, is truly ministers. Mm-hmm. When it comes to pickleball. Oh, that's awesome. Thank you. You two. That was so cool. Those six things are so important and in this, like, I love how much time we can spend on section 81 because it's just packed with so much goodness.

And in section 81, there's a really important if and then statement and it's connected to a, a, a word that was repeated three times, and we're gonna show you what that word is in the next segment.

Segment 4

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I've been really excited about this. So, in preparation for this episode, I made something for my guests and I delivered it to them this morning. 'cause Stacie lives close to us. And actually she was at Tammy's house playing pickleball this morning. Okay. Grab your box and open it and then tell the listeners what is inside Tammy.

I wanna know Tammy Weaver. Did you peek? He said what? She said, I, I promise I didn't peak. Hey, I had to make her promise other Tammy, because I, you know, I can tell she, I wondered, I'm not gonna lie. I, she shook. She definitely was shaking it. Oh, I'm so excited. Ooh, it smells good. Oh, look how pretty you guys are.

Okay. Okay. Tell everybody what it is that was in your box. I'm wearing a beautiful crown that is made of what? What is this made of? What kind of leaves? La leaf. La. Oh, come on. We gotta fluff our hair up, Tammy. Oh, fluff. Fluff. Okay. Fluff your hair. I made you crowns of Lara Leaf. Okay. I love them. Beautiful.

Go ahead and wear them on it'll channel in all the positive vibes for us. This is so cool. Okay, now here's something very fascinating about a la. Leaf crown. So history states that in ancient [00:42:00] Greece, beginning in 7 76 BC wreaths of Lara leaves were crowned victors of athletic competitions. And so whoever won the game, they had a Lara crown.

And this is kind of fun. It's a symbol of victory, power, and glory. It's also a mark of honor. And the LA crown was reinstated to the Olympics in 2016, so it got brought back. So now the winners get these LA crowns. Now turn to section 81 verse six. We're gonna find out what this crown has to do with everything we've just been talking about and an if and then statement.

So here we go. Verse six, Stacie, will you read that for us? That, and if thou art faithful unto the end, thou shalt have a crown of immortality and eternal life in the mansions, which I have prepared in the house of my father. Thank you for emphasizing if, let's circle if, and then she emphasized thou, which is our then, so that's our if and then statement If thou are faithful.

Now get your eternal truth, color, if you have one this year, highlight if thou are faithful, the word faithful right there, because three oth, two other times the Lord says, be faithful in verse five. It's up there. So highlight, be faithful in verse five and highlight it in verse three. In as much as thou word, faithful.

So being faithful in all of these instances, if you are faithful, it's so important you are going to have a crown placed on your head, a crown of immortality and eternal life. And so this is really kind of neat. I have these quotes about a crown, and this is by Monty s Niman. He is a professor. And Stacy, will you read this for us?

Gotcha, Kate. And then I'm gonna have Tammy read the second paragraph. Awesome. Those who gain exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world shall wear crowns, perhaps literal crowns may be worn on occasion, emblematic of their victory over the world, and signifying that they [00:44:00] rule and reign as kings and queens in the eternal house of Israel.

But at all times, they will be crowned with honor and glory and immortality and eternal life. Thank you. And then Tammy, read this next thing about crowns. In the gospel sense, a crown is the sign and symbol of eternal exaltation and dominion of godhood in the kingdom of God. Our Lord has been seen, envisioned wearing a golden crown, and those surrounding the throne of deity have been seen similarly identified.

Paul speaks of such persons as having an incorruptible crown and as inheriting a crown of righteousness, James says they shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. John records a similar affirmation and Peter speaks of receiving a crown of glory that feth not away.

The crowns so spoken of are crowns of eternal life. Thank you. Now we're gonna connect this back to this idea of being faithful. So if you are faithful, you will have a crown. That's our if and then statement, A crown of immortality and eternal life in the mansions, which I have prepared in the house of my father, according to verse six.

And I wanted to know from the two of you, and I asked you this question ahead of time to think about because I wanted to know what has happened in your life that keeps you pushing forward to be faithful and to the end and all these instances. Be faithful. Be faithful. Be faithful. It is a lot harder to do.

A lot easier said than done for sure. So I wanna know what keeps you faithful. Well, first of all, when I think of, um, this if then statement, I don't think of the savior, the crown. He's holding the crown and, and I think that he is very solid and stable as he is holding the crown. I think when he's [00:46:00] saying like, if thou aren't faithful, he's not like holding the crown and like moving it out of the way just as you got there.

Or like, you know, like the got you last uhhuh, you know, game that you play with your cousins and stuff growing up. But it's like, it's like if you're faithful, here's the crown, but he is solid and stable and he's holding the crown. Now I might get distracted and I might not be reaching for the crown, but he's not trying to be like, well, you weren't faithful enough.

It's just like, like he is solid and, and there with the crown. And it's my job to keep my eye on the prize. And I think that when, you know, when Joy passed away, that was like, you know, that was earth shattering. That was like, or testimony shattering if you will. Mm-hmm. Like what is the plan? Is this real?

Is, is is my child? Am I gonna see my child again? And I have been, you know, that that grief of losing her on this earth was a lot of years of processing and still, you know, there's still grieving days, but to keep your eye on the crown and know that that. Because of the savior, we can have eternal life. Um, it just keeps me solid and focused.

I'm like, I am all in. I want that crown and I want everybody I know to have that crown. And God has promised us that, you know, if we're faithful, which is moving forward, which is staying on the covenant path, which is um, doing our best, but our best is walking forward one foot in front of another. We don't have to be perfect.

We don't have to be, we have to want the crown. We have to not be distracted by the things that are around the crown. He is their solid and we just have to walk towards him and reach for it. And being faithful is just staying on the path. Just move forward. [00:48:00] I love that so much. I did too. I love that you said faithful is just moving forward like that.

Simple. That was so cool, Tammy, and, and I watched you after Joy passed away and I, I watched you and your family. You just moved forward and that was really hard. I remember one of my favorite stories is when we were out walking, 'cause that's when we, that's when you processed, you started to cry. This is what you said.

You go, the only thing I'm super grateful for is I would've been so mad at Heavenly father if I'd already potty trained her. That was like the one moment we laughed. We're like, okay, she's laughing. We can do this, we can do this and that. Those walks remind me of us just, you just move forward. You got up every day and you move forward.

And I've loved watching your testimony grow and your example to me and my family. Um, you are an example of just moving forward and it has not been easy. And there are a lot of days when you just didn't wanna move forward. Yeah. You did it. Yeah. Even though moving was slow, it's okay. There's no, there's no scripture that says how fast the pace has to be.

Like you said, Stacy and, and Sister Freeman. That doesn't matter. Just, just keep moving even if you're crawling. Right. The progression. Mm-hmm. For sure. Thank you, Tammy. That was awesome. That was beautifully said. I, I loved hearing you talk about the, the saviors holding the crown. Right. And he's mm-hmm.

Saying, here it is, and it's kind of back to a little bit what I said in the beginning where it's a, he's a kind father. He, he wants to be in a relationship with us. He's saying, and, and here it is, and the level and the degree of how we keep our covenants is how that relationship will. Come to be, right?

Mm-hmm. And we're all at different places. We're all so different, but yet so unique and so wonderful. And the other thing that I love, Tammy, that you said is you said we don't have to be perfect. Yeah. Such an important reminder. I had a big sign up in my house for when my kids were growing up and it said, we're, you don't have to be perfect, just perfect [00:50:00] triers.

Just keep trying, keep progressing, keep going, keep moving forward. And, and sometimes, and Tammy, I haven't experienced what you have and I can't imagine that kind of loss. And I am so grateful for your example of continuing forward and trusting God. Mm-hmm. That's what you've done. You've trusted him and you're, you're holding him to your covenants.

And as a daughter of God and a covenant keeping daughter of God who has access to priesthood power, you are saying, okay, I am gonna keep my covenants and I know you're gonna keep yours because you are a promise keeper. And that is so inspiring to me. To see that. So thank you for sharing that and for your beautiful example.

Stacy, has there been a time in your life when you've had to count on your covenants?

You know, I, um, there's been a lot of times in my life that I've had to count on my covenants. Um, I, one particular, um, time in my life that, um, I, I can remember specifically and, and I'm gonna use my mom as an example. So my parents got a divorce when I was 12 years old. And that changed the dynamic. And we were the perfect, you know, we were the perfect LDS family.

Mm. We had six kids and we went to church every week. And, you know, that was back in the day when you didn't hear a lot about families getting divorced. And, um, my father, who I love dearly and is a, a good man, made some poor choices. Decided to leave our family, um, and leave the church. And my mom was left alone with, with six little kids, 17, all the way down to four.

And, um, it was hard. You know, we, we went through some really hard times, but as I have, um, as I watched my mom, who is my hero, I love her. She's almost 90. She'll be 90 this year. She lives with me. She's a rockstar. [00:52:00] But as I watched my mom handle this and stick to her covenants and heard her pray and, and heard her testify of Jesus Christ, it strengthened me.

And is, that is one of the, the things that has helped me stay faithful and cleave to my covenants. Um, one day I said to my mom, and it was years, you know, I, I might, I might have even been married. And I said, mom, how? How did you do it? And she had a very simple answer. She said, I could have turned to the world another man, friends, but I chose to turn to the Lord and it's made all the difference.

She said It wasn't always easy. In fact, there were times when it probably would've been easier if I could have turned to the world. But the world's fix is fleeting and God's God's fix is eternal. My mom is gonna have a crown for me. My mom's faith and faithfulness, and quite frankly, her striving made all the difference to me and my life.

And as I've experienced my own losses, health challenges, heartbreak, disappointment, you know, all this stuff, all this stuff that we experience, even gentle chastisements and reminders from my Heavenly Father to turn. And face him. Um, she taught me that nothing, nothing is too hard for the Lord. Nothing is too hard for the savior that I can trust.

The savior's promise that he is gonna walk with me. And great examples like, like Tammy's. Wow. And I heard you tell similar things, Tammy, other Tammy. Tammy with a y. Stacie, you know that my covenants are precious, more precious to me than anything in the world. Yeah. And I trust the Savior's promise that that, [00:54:00] and I felt his love like angels filling a room with song.

And I know that with every part of my being, that he is my kind father and I am his precious daughter. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for answering that question. I didn't even prepare you for that. That was like. The Holy Ghost. I, he knew you had a story to share, so thank you to both of you. That was awesome.

Okay, so that is section 81. It's filled with so much goodness. And in the next segment we're gonna dig into section 82, but not without telling you the story. And for this section, you guys, you're gonna wanna know the details. I can't wait for you to hear what they are. We'll do that in the next segment.

Segment 5

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Turn to doctrine and Covenant section 82. And we're going to just go to the section heading, which has just the facts. Tammy, will you read the section heading to section 82? Yes. Revelation given to Joseph Smith, the prophet in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, April 26th, 1832. The occasion was a council of high priests and elders of the church.

At the council. Joseph Smith was sustained as the president of the high priesthood to which office he had previously been ordained at a conference of high priests, elders and members at Amherst, Ohio, January 25th, 1832. This revelation reiterates instructions given in an earlier revelation to establish a firm known as the United Firm under Joseph Smith's direction.

The term order later replaced firm to govern the church's mercantile and publishing endeavors. Thank you. Okay. Those are the facts. There you go. But now the details. What did you think, Stacy? Do you think the details change everything when you read this section? Yes, they changed everything for me. Okay. [00:56:00] I asked AC to give us the details, tell us the story and the background leading up to section 82 and what we wanna know.

Okay. So we know that Joseph Smith and Emma were living in RA Ohio and they were living with Elsa and John Johnson. And this was a, a couple that was older and their kids had moved out. And so, um, Joseph and Emma were living in their, it was kind of like a summer kitchen. And you know, I told you, I'm gonna tell you all the details 'cause I'm a love, love it.

So, so dig in, so, you know, get comfortable. Um, and just down the street lived Sidney Rigdon and his family. Now, this was late March and March 24th to be exact. And, um, Joseph and Emma had adopted the Sweet Murdoch twins and they were, um, 10 and a half, 11 months old. And, um, they were sick with the measles and in fact, so were the Riggin kids.

They were all sick. And as you can imagine. Well, I've had the measles, so I know my, my mom was up with each one of us, um, way into the night and taking care of each of us. So I imagine that Emma was pretty exhausted. Bless her heart. I love this woman. And, um, this, on this particular evening, um, Joseph had said to her, I will take care of sweet little baby Joseph.

'cause he was the sicker of the two. And he said, you get some rest. And so I'm sure she probably was like, no, no. But she did it because she was exhausted. I love him for this. It makes me even love him more. And so Emma, um, took sweet Julia, who was a little healthier at the time, she was doing better and went to bed and Joseph stayed up with Sweet Joseph.

Well. As an evening wore on, Emma finally convinced Joseph to get some rest, and she said, let me take Joseph. And she took him into her bed with her and Joseph. She said, sleep on this little trundle bed. It was a little trundle bed that was right next to her bed. And so he went to sleep on the trundle bed.

He was exhausted. And some time in the wee hours of the [00:58:00] morning, um, a mob of angry men burst into their home. And, um, I I, I try to think of this and I think, okay, when I am tired at night, I am delirious. You can hardly wake me up. And, and I think to myself, how frightening this must have been for Emma. I try to put myself in her spot and I say, oh my gosh.

Can you imagine? Wake up, you've got these two babies who are sick. These crazy people are coming into this small space, and they're grabbing your sweet husband and they're dragging him out by his head and, and they're grabbing his hair and they're scratching him and they're dragging him out the door.

Joseph managed to kick one of them in the face, and that, of course, only made that particular Mobber more angry and attack him more brutally. They dragged Emma's screaming, who knows what the babies are doing? I'll let, I'll leave that to your imagination. But they dragged him out and they, one of the men jumped on him 'cause he was fighting and, and basically choked him out until he passed out.

And when he, it says when he came to that, he could see a few yards away that Sidney Rigdon, his friend and counselor was laying on his face. And of course, can you imagine Joseph is probably thinking he's dead. And I'm gonna be dead too. And he's pleading for his life and they are stripping him of all of his clothing.

They are scratching his back. One of them grabbed a vial of nitric acid and tried to pour it down his throat, which would've could've killed him, could've hurt him, you know, permanently. Fortunately, he squeezed his teeth together and the vial broke on his teeth and it, you know, went down his face burning his lips.

Um, as they had, you know, I said they had to torn off his clothes, and so they said, let's, let's get some hot tar and let's [01:00:00] tar and feather him. Now, I've never obviously been tarred and feathered, but I cannot ima, I mean, a little burn, and I am weeping. Mm-hmm. I cannot imagine having hot tar poured on your back that's been scratched and bruised and then.

Feathers. Mm-hmm. I can't imagine how his heart was feeling too, you know? Yeah. I mean, not only is he being beat physically, but how is his heart feeling that this is happening to him? So they tarred, they feathered him, they beat him. They yelled insults at him. They took the Lord's name in vain, which I'm sure was so hard for him to hear.

And then they left him. They heard a sound, and they ran off when he was able to pull himself together to walk back to the house. Um, Emma saw him and imagine how she felt. She fainted, she screamed, um, and his neighbors and relatives came to him quickly and they spent the rest of that evening by the fire trying to pull off the tar from his back, from his face.

Um, and you know, this story, that's all of that mayhem and brutality and terror, you know, makes my heart pound as I'm even talking about it. Then to know what happened next. I am filled with so much admiration and love for this man who the next morning woke up, he got dressed, his, his bruised, scarred body.

He got dressed and he went and he taught a sermon on the pure love of Jesus Christ. And as he is teaching this sermon about Jesus to this congregation, he's looking out you guys and he's seeing people that were his mobber. But there's no, he's not blaming anyone. He's not even insinuating anything. He's just preaching [01:02:00] forgiveness.

And Jesus, he's talking. Mm-hmm. He's proclaiming, like we talked about in 81, he's proclaiming the gospel to his brethren in love and I, I, I. I can't even imagine this. I mean, the, the, the personal righteousness, the celestial traits that this man had, and he's a prophet of God. I know he wasn't perfect, but he was a prophet of God.

And he, to me, that is just strengthens my testimony in, in him and also in just the importance of, of how we should act when we're treated. And it's what the Savior would do, right? Yeah. So then, wow, Stacy, on top of all of this, he is, three or four days later, his sweet baby Joseph dies because he's been exposed to the cold.

He has a high fever. It was a stressful situation. He dies. And then on April 1st, a few days after that, he's asked by the Lord, he had been asked to go to Missouri. Wow. This is a covenant keeping man. Yeah. I mean, in his grief, in his terror, in his broken heart. He is picking up and he's going with Sidney Rigdon, who's just barely, also he's, he's recovering from a head injury and whatever else had happened with him and they're leaving with New K Whitney and they're gonna travel for from April 1st all the way till they arrive in Missouri on April 24th.

Because it's 800 miles. It's 800 miles. Yeah. Yep. To then have this council and then give us section 82. Section 82. Wow. Stacie, see the details because now go to section 82. Let's just look versus one through five. He gets to Missouri, he has a council, and here's the first revelation he receives. So we'll each read a verse, we'll take a turn and we'll go Stacy, then Tammy, then me.

Starting with number one. Yep. Okay. Verily, [01:04:00] verily I say unto you, my servants, that in as much as you have forgiven one another, your trespasses, even so I the Lord forgive you. Nevertheless, there are those among you who have sinned exceedingly. Yay. Even all of you have sinned. But verily I say unto you, beware from henceforth and refrain from sin.

Lest sore judgments fall upon your heads. I forgot to ask you to do this, but mark anything that stands out to you in light of knowing the details. 'cause I, that's what I just did. I'm like, oh, I forgot to tell you guys that. Okay. Verse three, for of him unto whom much is given, much is required, and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.

You call upon my name for revelations and I give them unto you. And in as much as you keep not my sayings, which I have given unto you, you become transgressors. And justice and judgment are the penalty which is affixed unto my law. Therefore, what I say unto one, I say unto all, watch for the adversary spread if his dominions and darkness raininess, thank you.

Actually do Verse six two. Here we go. And the anger of God kindle against the inhabitants of the earth and none do with good for all have gone out of the way. Okay. Oh, verse seven, we have to do verse seven. Stacie do verse seven, back two. Yeah. And now barely. I say unto you, I, the Lord will not lay any sin to your charge.

Go your ways and soon no more. But unto that soul, who sin shall the former sins return sayeth the Lord your God. Okay. Just knowing the background right now, tell me what stands out to you of verse seven. One verses one through seven.

Well, I think just, you know, the forgiveness lesson here, right? Right. You know that he, you know, was like the savior and was like, forgive these the, for they [01:06:00] know not what they do. Forgive these men who, and I think as he was preaching that day, I probably would've stood up and said. A little bit snarky, like, here I am, I'm here.

You guys are jerks. You know, like, like we, I, you know, I'm a little, you No, I totally get it. Right. Right. Well, like when you're asked to talk in church, you love to start out with a funny story like, somebody called me and Yeah. You know, you always like do this kind of like, you're apologizing, but making fun of the fact that you're speaking, you would've been like, well, I've been through a lot.

Yeah. I mean, I don't know. Who knows what he said? He, my, my tooth is chipped. Yeah. Yeah. And the thought of him, like, he was large in stature. Right. I mean, I don't know if they know exactly how tall, but he was a big man. Like the fact that a crowd could drag him out mm-hmm. And do so much abuse that on him.

It just is mind boggling. It, it, it's so, it's, it's, it hurts my heart to think of what he went through, but then he stands up and he preaches forgiveness and, and we know that Joseph was, was. Always worried about his own sins. Like he is looking inward, he's talking to himself when he says, you know, much is given, much is required.

He, he was always, I mean, that's one of the things that took him into the grove was mm-hmm can my sins be forgiven? Which church will, should I join? But it was more like, I'm a sinner and I wanna return to the, how do I do that? And he, that's always how he was, was looking inward. That's good. So when he said to them, um, you know, there's among you that have sinned, all of you have sinned.

I know in him, he's also thinking about himself like, we are sinners and we need to get back and here we are together. Let's get back to the savior. Oh, that's good, Tammy. Yeah, I love that because I was thinking about, can you imagine Emma is probably like, Lord. Why? I mean, we're doing all these things.

Mm-hmm. We're [01:08:00] trying so hard and now we, we've lost babies. We've, you know, people are after us and now my husband's being dragged out and, and, and beaten up. And I, I would probably say when is enough? Enough. Mm-hmm. Right. Absolutely. Well, especially the much is given, much is required. He could have been like, well that's not me 'cause we're poor.

Like, exactly. I'd like for there to be more given maybe. And, and the Lord's saying right here, oh no much is given. Meaning much is given. Were keys. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Stacy and Tammy. I, I love what you guys have pointed out. This is a fun discussion to have. I'd love to have people have this experience in their gospel doctrine class when they teach, because yeah, things now stand out in a way they probably wouldn't have before if you didn't know the details.

And now these verses one through seven are just so powerful. So we're gonna take everything we've learned. Then we're going to take everything, all of our segments talked about serving, being blessed, receiving a crown, and then the Lord is gonna double down on all of that with just one verse. We'll show you what that is in the next segment.

Segment 6

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Now, Stacie already set us up with this beautifully when she shared what the Holy Ghost taught her, we're gonna get our eternal truth, color, whatever it is, and we're just gonna highlight one verse section 82, verse 10. Highlight that. And Stacie, will you read that for us again? I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say.

But when you do not what I say, you have no promise. Okay? This right here is God's truth, like the, it is the absolute eternal truth statement. I have a quote, this is from President Nelson and then Elder Christofferson. And then I have a question for my ladies. So let's read this quote. Tammy, will you read us the first one from President Nelson as it pertains to this verse?

President Nelson, once we make a covenant with God, [01:10:00] we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon his relationship with those who have forged such a bond with him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy. Once you and I have made a covenant with God, our relationship with him becomes much closer than before our covenant.

Now we are bound together because of our covenant with God. He will never tire in his efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust his merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in God's heart. He has high hopes for us. Thank you. And then Stacie, read this one by other Christofferson. God will indeed honor his covenants and promises to each of us.

We need not worry about that. The atoning power of Jesus Christ who descended below all things and then ascended on high and who possesses all power in heaven and in earth ensures that God can and will fulfill his promises. It is essential that we honor and obey his laws, but not every blessing predicated on obedience to law is shaped, designed and timed according to our expectations.

We do our best, but must leave to him the management of blessings, both temporal and spiritual. Thank you. Okay, so here's my question for you then. How has the Lord kept his promises in your life? Do you have a story? Well, thanks for asking. This is a pretty, um, special experience for me and I'm grateful to be able to share it.

Um, so about a year and a half ago, my girlfriends and I, um. Uh, Monica, Liz and Karen giving 'em a little shout out. We were headed to, on a girls' trip. We're friends from college and we were going to Florida and it was late October, and so it was a little chilly, but in Florida it's still okay. And so we decided to go to the beach and we went to the beach and St.

Augustine and this Utah girl was like, well, the water's not that bad. And so I got in and we [01:12:00] were swimming around and having a great time. Well, pretty quickly I realized that I was really far away from my friends who were on the shore, and I had thought to myself, what in the world? How did that happen?

And I couldn't touch anymore. I couldn't touch the, the sea floor, the ocean floor. And so I was like, well, I'm a good swimmer. I'm gonna start swimming. So I started swimming and I realized pretty quickly that I was not making any. Forward progress. And so I was swimming on my back and I was diving under the waves and I was doing everything physically possible to be able to get back to shore.

And um, I wasn't making any progress. And this went on for about 15 or 20 minutes. Well, my girlfriend Liz decided that she saw me out there and was like, why is she out there so far? So she, being from California, thought, I think Stacie's caught in a rip current. I'm gonna get out there and I'm gonna save her.

So Liz swam out to me and was to me in a second because the. You know that Rip Current caught her and brought her to me and she said, Stacy, I think you're in a rip current. I need to get you, get you back. And so she started pulling me and quickly I realized that that was not gonna work out. She was going under the water and, um, that it was, that wasn't gonna be good for either one of us.

And so we were trying to swim parallel 'cause that's what she told me I needed to do. And we weren't making any progress. And Liz turned to me and said, Stacy, we're in real trouble. And, um, we started to pray and, um, there was no one on the beach except for, and we were pretty far from shore now about a hundred yards.

And, um. My two friends that were still on the, um, the beach were, were just kind of not we, they just thought we were out there playing around. They weren't really worried. And Liz started to scream for help and it took a while for them to hear us. Um, and Monica heard us, and when she heard us, she started to go into the ocean.

But the waves [01:14:00] had become so big and so tumultuous that she couldn't get to us. And the, the waves were smashing her to the ocean floor and try, as she might, she could not get to us. And so all she could do was pray and call on the powers of heaven. And so she did. She prayed and she called on the powers of heaven to calm the waters.

In the meantime, Liz and I continued to, to swim and try to stay a afloat and not panic and pray. And, um, a few minutes went by, I don't know, we're guessing it's about 15 more minutes. So I'd been out there about 30 minutes. Um. Out of nowhere. I saw a, a figure running down the beach and, um, this figure, and by the way, my friend Karen had called 9 1 1.

So we, we didn't know that, but she had done that. And this figure came running down the beach as fast as she could. And then I didn't see her anymore because the waves were so huge that we couldn't see. And in an instant, she was swimming to us. And in, in this parallel way, just beautiful strokes. When she got to me, she looked at me and she said, my name is Claire and I am an off-duty lifeguard.

I'm 19 years old and I am going to float you. And I remember being shocked because I, I looked at her and I said, where's your floaty? How, how, how are you gonna float me? How are you gonna float us? And she said, I'm going to float you. Turn around and face the ocean. She took one arm, her right arm, and she put it around Liz.

And she took her other arm and she put it around me and she faced us towards the ocean and she held us. And I remember thinking, is she standing? Like, how is she doing this? And Monica will tell the story that she looked into the wa, you know, looked at [01:16:00] us and she could see this girl who looked like an angel with her wings just around us, spread out and holding us.

And she floated us and she said, uh, we've called 9 1 1. They're on their way. I'm going to, we're just going to go under the water. So we would count and we would go under the water and we would come up as the waves crashed onto us. And probably about five or six minutes passed and she kept saying, you know, you're doing good.

You're okay. And we were silent. We were just praying in our hearts, but just in survival mode. And soon we realized that help wasn't coming quickly enough. And so she tried a few different tactics to get us to the shore. And what we didn't know was that the ocean that was calming from the prayers of Monica and our prayers, and all of a sudden we felt our feet touch the ground.

And then it was taken out from us again. And then a couple minutes later it touched again and we could stand in the same place. It was the craziest thing. And we stood and she had her arms around us and she backed us up. And right then the fire department was there to help us. And here's this girl who was truly a savior, like the A savior for us.

She saved our lives. She floated us, which symbolically for me is what the savior does for me every day, right? Mm-hmm. And did then too, through her as an instrument. Oh, Stacie, thank you. And it goes back to section 81. All the promises like he will acknowledge and bless us in as much as you are faithful and in as much as you are praying.

I mean, you were acknowledged and you were blessed that day in the ocean because you were faithful, because you were praying. I mean all the things. It's so cool, Stacie. So thank you for sharing that story. I just knew we needed to hear it. You're awesome. Hey Tammy, give us yours. Well, I just love this.

Thought about being bound in our covenants, and I [01:18:00] think of it kind of like a three legged race, right? Mm-hmm. Like I am bound, uh, you know, to God through Christ. So Christ and I are partners in this three legged race. Mm-hmm. There might be times when I stumble and I fall, or I'm slow and Christ is basically dragging me to the finish line.

And I, you know, we love Elder Kean and every time he gets up for conference, I kind of get really excited about what I'm gonna hear. And I love this idea of being like, God is in relentless pursuit of us. And so we are bound to him and he is going to do everything he can to get us there to the finish line.

And through Christ as, uh, you know, we, here we are, we're partners. Their team wins. We know that. And the experiences that I've had in my life have just made me. Realize and sort of be excited to be on Christ's team. And I think when we, when we know that we're bound through our covenants and you know, taking one step forward, then we're gonna make it to the end and Christ is the best partner for that to mm-hmm.

Keep going towards God and win the race. Oh, I'm so glad you shared that. I love, love that I wrote a three-legged race next to the word bound in my scriptures. It remind, it reminded me of something I heard once where picture Saran wrap we're saran wrap to the savior. Great. Because like, isn't Saran wrap?

Like, it's like, yes, we're gonna wrap it up bound three legged race. We're, we're bound to him and it's, he never letting us go. He's not, because we have free agency. I mean, we could take a knife and hacksaw, you know? Mm-hmm. We have to choose to be bound. Yeah. So by keeping our covenants, you know, he's not gonna ever.

Hack saw us away. He's not gonna, he's not gonna cut that rope and let us go. So, so he's, I mean, we're bound. He's, he's dragging us [01:20:00] across the finish line. I almost imagine him now, Tammy, with what you've taught us both times, is I can just imagine me in a three legged race with the savior. And in one hand he has the crown already.

He's like, we already won. Yeah. Like, let's just do this together. And he is running with us with a crown in his hand. He's like, we just gotta get to that finish line. This is so cool. You already won the price. It's already here. Yeah. So just, let's just finish this together. That's how I feel like life is, let's just finish this together.

I can't think of a better way to finish it. So, oh, ladies, thank you. What a great discussion today. Oh my goodness. Okay. Oh, 11. So just gather your thoughts and what's something you learned? What's an eternal truth that resonated with you today? Well, something that Stacy said really resonated with me, and it was, I'm a covenant keeping woman, so I say yes.

And how in her calling, um, you know, her mind and her heart were expanding. And I felt that was some of my calling. But, but mostly like, because of my covenants, I say yes, and I want heavenly Father to know you can count on me because I ca I ca I've counted on you my whole life and you know, we're bound together so you can count on me and I can count on you.

So I love that I say yes because I'm a covenant keeping woman. Oh, that's beautiful. I love that. Neat too. And, and mine is, is what Tammy said about I could, I love the visual of the savior holding the crown. And you said, my job is to keep my eye on the crown. And as much as I love pickleball, I've had some.

Some addictions with it. And sometimes I've taken my eye off the crown and I've had to really stop and say, what is the most important? And the crown is the most important. And I think as, as women, we have a lot going on in our lives, right? As daughters of God, we're serving in the kingdom, we're being moms.

We're, [01:22:00] I'm a grandma now. I have nine beautiful grandchildren. And I helping, you know, and I'm supporting my husband and I'm trying to maybe bring in some extra income here and there. And I'm trying to keep my house clean and I trying to serve all the people that I administer to, right? Like all the things, everybody, we're all doing it.

And I think there's a lot of really good things that we're doing. Plus we wanna play pickleball, but I think sometimes it's easy to take our eye off the crown when we don't even realize it, the good, better, best stuff. Mm-hmm. And we have to stop and say what is best? And I want the crown. I wanna get over the finish line with Jesus.

I want. I want him, I want that. And there's nothing that's gonna tear me away from that. So I love that. Keep my eye on the crown. Excellent. Oh, so good. Well, I just wanted to say that how my life is blessed. When my daughter passed away, I thought that there was no way that I could, uh, feel joy again. Like the sorrow that was in my heart was so heavy.

Hmm. But now the, all these years later, I am so eternally blessed by my posterity. I have joy in my posterity. I have um, I have these beautiful grandchildren and my children love each other and our home is a place of joy. And I think at that time I never thought that I couldn't see past. It was so heavy.

But now I'm so grateful, and I think it is because. My eye is on the crown and the covenants and the promises that I've made that heavenly father will take care of me. And I feel joy in my life with this beautiful family that I never thought that I would have. Thank you. We needed that. Thank you Tammy.

Um, I have things written down that you've said that I've loved. I mean, Tammy, I love that you said Faithful is moving forward. Stace, I love that you said the world's fix is fleeting when you talked about your mom and [01:24:00] that story. Um, but really, I think truthfully, my eternal truth was that you guys didn't take off the crown.

And since you put them on, we have had this discussion and I've been talking with these women that I love who've been wearing these crowns, and it's just a beautiful representation to me of covenant keeping women who will have a crown of immortality and eternal life because of who they are and who they're becoming.

I, oh, I just love you guys. So thank you. Thanks for today. That was really cool. And we love you all. You're amazing. Pleasure to be here. Oh, I love you guys. Love you. Okay, well, I wanna know what you learned, what truth stood out to you from our discussion today. Go join our group on Facebook or follow us on Instagram and share what you have learned.

And then at the end of the week, we post a question from this specific episode, so 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 because we're gonna have links to all the references as well as 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. 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 today. We will see you next week, and please remember that you are God's favorite.