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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Can anyone out there relate to this scenario from my childhood? Okay. I want you to picture it. So sometimes when I was a kid, my mom and my dad, they would leave all of us kids alone at home, often with a list of chores to do while they were gone, and as soon as they left as any kid would do, we assumed our positions on the couch watching endless hours of tv, eating potato chips or nachos there.
We were enjoying our best lives until someone recognized the time or until we suddenly heard the garage door opening, and then everybody in an absolute mad dash would jump up to hurry and get their job done. In the short 45 seconds we had between the sweet freedom we were feeling and the impending doom, that would soon be ours.
Well, I was reminded of this scenario as I was studying doctrine and covenant sections 1 33 and 1 34 because these sections could be summed up with the ironic Christian phrase, Jesus is coming quick. Look, busy. So whether you are on the couch watching tv, eating potato chips, or currently on your way to get your jobs done, today's discussion will show all of us how to not just look busy, but how we all can be busy as well.
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. Now, if you're new to our study group, please follow the link in our description.
It's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your come Follow Me study, just like my longtime listening friends, Jill Nowell and her sister Carrie Holt. Hello, ladies. Okay. 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.
Today I have one dear friend, and I am so excited. I wanted her to be on the podcast for a while, and we finally found a date that worked. I'd love to introduce you to Shannon Foster. Hi Shannon. Hey Tammy, we go way, way back. Way back. Oh my goodness. We were in the trenches as seminary teachers and just the very few female seminary teachers I might add.
I know. And you know, I have this memory that I [00:02:00] think about every once in a while when you are getting married and retiring at the same time. Yes. And we were at the, this is the place park at some kind of area retreat. Okay. And the area director called you up to kind of bid you farewell and. Cried. It was Brother Swain, if you remember him.
Oh, I don't even remember this. Yes, I do. And I remember that was because I knew that that would be my future too. Like that because I was getting married and, and I just remember watching that sweet moment and how much he cared about you. And anyway, I taught for another four years after that. But I, I remember just how much he cared about you and was so happy for you.
And so Earl Swain, if anyone knows him, shout out to his earl and his fabulous wife. Oh my gosh. That is, that is a sweet, Sharon. Thank you for sharing that with me. I completely forgot that that had happened. Yep. Yeah. That was a good time that we worked with amazing people. Oh yeah. I mean, when I think of all of the teachers that we got to learn from and watch, I really think they laid the foundation for us of how important it is to really pay the price of personal scripture study.
I agree. And I, I grew up in a, a part member home and I just, my father was not a member of the church. And those men really impacted me and my understanding of the priesthood and how critical that was and when you don't see it every day, it was just really, really, really, uh, foundational for me. And I, I worked with some amazing men that became like father figures and so we, we know all the same people.
That is a sweet story. Thank you for sharing that with me. Yeah. And this is kind of fun 'cause some of you're like Shannon Foster, if that sounds familiar. Awesome. If it doesn't, it's going to, because I'm just gonna brag for Shannon. Shannon is widely known as the redheaded hostess, [00:04:00] which is so fun. Shannon, tell us about your new project you're doing with Deseret book.
We have formed a partnership with them and they've brought us in to bring in our Come Follow Me material. Our focus is 100% to help people study in depth on their own. And it's because of the journey I went through personally. Mm-hmm. To fall in love with the scriptures. I grew up with this mentality that scholars were other people, not me.
Yeah. Right. And I didn't understand, I did not understand the scriptures. I, I wanted to, there was a fire burning in me, but. I would read a verse three times and maybe I could tell you one thing it said. Right. And so I just went through that journey. I think everyone has to go through. Yeah. And I decided to normalize it.
That's, oh, and you've done a phenomenal job of doing that, so, oh, thank you. You guys, 10 outta 10, highly recommend. You're gonna wanna look her up, find all that you can. All of her product is on Deseret book.com. But if you wanna know more about her, we're going to connect her to you through all of the links.
So go to our show notes so you can read her bio and find the links to all of her product. And that is found. At LDS living.com/sunday on Monday and you will not regret it. I am so happy for you. I mean, it's just the greatest. It's so great as a seminary teacher who paid the price and here you are just, just giving your goodness to the world.
So Oh, thanks honey. It's funny 'cause it's my friends that gave me that nickname and that's Oh they did? Yeah. That's when we knew each other. But I wasn't known as the redheaded hostess, the world, but my friends called me that. So it's, that was kind of the birth of that was those years. 'cause I love to host people and, and I didn't know what to name the original blog I started to share because you know that when we're teaching seminary, you just learn things that.
You're that work. Yeah. I wanted moms to know what I was learning. And so I just started this [00:06:00] blog and I named it the redheaded Hostess. 'cause I didn't wanna give it a church name and have people confuse it with the church. So that's the beginnings of that name. But so funny. You knew me in those days.
Yeah, no, it's awesome. And now you're married. How many children do you have? I have two. I have a 13-year-old and an 8-year-old. Wow. So you're one has red hair. Yay. Yeah, you got one. Yeah, that's right. Love the reds. Yeah. Oh, this is gonna be a fun discussion day. You guys are in for a treat. I am so excited, mostly just to have a discussion with Shannon because she, I just love this woman.
So everyone just grab your scriptures and make sure you have something to mark them with. And we really are truly, I know I always say this, but with Shannon, it's a treat. We are going to dig into doctrine and covenants sections 1 33 through 1 34. Okay, Shannon. So the first thing I always ask my guests is, what did the Holy Ghost teach you as you read and prepared for these sections?
A lot. It's funny because if you would've said at the beginning of the year, you know, what section would you wanna come into? Mm-hmm. I probably would say like 84 or 76 or, but totally. I am so glad to do 1 33. Tell me why. Well, first of all, it's like the Lord putting this exclamation point. He's being very, very clear on what we need to do in these last days.
Mm-hmm. This is kind of like, I, I looked, I was reading this and I'm like, you know when you're on Google Maps and you kind of start exploring and you have to push that recenter button when you kind of, wait, wait, where am I? Do I turn? Yeah. Uhhuh. It is kind of like this recenter button. Section 1 33 is a recenter button.
Ooh. I like that. If, if we're feeling kind of off or not motivated, read section 1 33. It will remotivate you because he is telling you I'm coming prepare. He uses the word prepare seven times. And then one thing I was really noticing, which I think is very timely, since we are not that far away from [00:08:00] studying the Old Testament, when we read Section 1 33, we can see that the Lord does not look at time like we do.
Mm-hmm. He's not saying that's Old Testament. This is New Testament and that's Book of Mormon time. And this is now the last days. It is all woven together and he weaves it into this section like this is my world, my people, my time, my promises, I am fulfilling them. And he will quote, like if you look in the footnotes and just see how often they're referencing Old Testament, new Testament, old Testament, new Testament, old Testament.
It's just a part of his all bringing things all into one. I like that. I. Have realized that the better I know the Old Testament, especially the Old Testament, for some reason, the more I understand what he's saying. Mm-hmm. And so as we come into the Old Testament next year, I just invite people to, 'cause I know it can be intimidating.
It's a very large book, but it, what a blessing that we have it all. Yeah. But it is this centering of everything. If, if you don't mind, can I just give like this high view of the Old Testament Please. I think a lot of people see the stories and they don't connect the dots. Okay. But when we start, it's creation, it's Enoch, it's Noah, it's these stories at the beginning of the world and it is wicked.
Mm-hmm. It's the story of just wickedness all over in Enoch trying to build Zion and then Noah. Is the only one left than him and his family because of the violence upon the earth. And then the next major story is Abraham. Mm-hmm. It is the Lord choosing a family, a covenant family, to bless the rest of his children.
Hmm. And you get the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and, and the promises made to them and the responsibility given to them. And [00:10:00] that family will then grow. Jacob's name changes to Israel. His sons, the 12 tribes of Israel. We, these are the famous stories of Joseph going to being sold as a slave to Egypt.
That family will grow to bless the rest of the world. That is God's plan to reach his children. And they are given responsibilities and promises called the Abrahamic covenant. Yeah. So when we look at this story and we see the story of Moses, I mean, what happened was this family was enslaved. Like that was Satan's great plan is now we've got this powerful family that this covenant line that is now strengthening each other and now they're enslaved.
And they weren't just enslaved physically, they were enslaved spiritually. They were not able to do their holy traditions. So when Moses delivers them, it's a restoration of the gospel into their lives, not just getting them out of Egypt. Yeah. And then I love that they come into Israel and they divide the land up.
They, they divide the land up by tribe. And so there's like this map that's in the Bible back of your Bible that shows you how they inherited the land. Israel then has kings Saul, David Solomon, and then Solomon's son. Rio Bow becomes king. And he is wicked. Yeah. And. Gerome Rebels, he's another man, and he takes 10 of the northern tribes, 10 tribes north, and they become Northern Israel.
This is a part where people really don't understand because it's pretty deep into the Old Testament, and it will change everything when they understand, right? This is where Israel is now a divided nation and Northern kingdoms. The 10 Northern kingdoms are now known as Israel, and the Southern are now known as Judah.
Mm-hmm. They have Israel and Judah, they have their own kings. Now, they will stay divided. They will never unite again, and over time, Israel becomes more wicked than Judah and they get taken captive [00:12:00] by Assyria. This is in Isaiah's day. Isaiah witnessed this. He saw the terror, the warnings the prophets had given them.
And if you, if we look at the prophets call during this time period and that 100 years after, to warn Southern Judah that the same thing is gonna happen to them. That is a majority of the minor prophets. The Lord raised up many people, many prophets to warn, repent, or you'll be destroyed. Repent. You're my covenant people repent.
So Northern Israel is, is now scattered. They're like sheep that don't know their shepherd. They don't know who they are. Hmm. They are, many are killed. But the way Assyria, they, they weren't just attacking Northern Israel, they were trying to expand their kingdom. Yeah. They would do is take them, divide them up and put them out into other places.
Changing them who they were. They don't want them to be Israelites. They want them to be like them. And, and they enslave them. And they're terrorizing them. They, the history of the Assyrians is terrible. Oh, it's awful. Yeah. And then a hundred years later is Nephi in Lehigh now in Jerusalem, Jeremiah, all the prophets around them.
This is Ezekiel's Day. Daniel's Day, like this is that time period when Babylon is gonna come in and they're gonna take him. Yeah. Nefa and his family leave. Lehigh leads them out, and then Babylon comes in and takes them over. Now this is really important today, today's discussion, because this Babylon is a symbol.
Yep. The Lord will use this Babylon as. Get out and that this is k Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon. So this is the story of the Old Testament of, of the story of Israel. This is our story. We're an extension of this story because Judah will be taken captive by Babylon. Jerusalem will leave a be [00:14:00] destroyed, but a remnant will return rebuild Jerusalem.
They'll be known as the Jews. 'cause that's short for Judah. Yeah. And that's the place that Jesus will come to that rebuilt Jerusalem. And they never lost their identity. The Jews never lost their identity. They still know who they are, but the rest are still scattered to the world unless they've been gathered.
And the gathering began with the restoration of the gospel. When we receive our patriarchal blessings, we're specifically told what tribe is being gathered back together. But if we look now at the Old Testament. Many of Isaiah's prophecies, Jeremiah's, the those second Nephi chapters, those third Nephi chapters that Jesus quotes from Isaiah are the chapters about, this is not the end of Israel in the last days.
I have a plan and we are a part of that plan. Mm-hmm. We're an extension of the story. So when we read the Old Testament, we are reading what we were sent here to restore. And our hearts will go out to Israel because we are them. Yeah. And so this is not just like ancient, this is our story and the Wow, I love it.
Access. To know this, I really think the more we know this, when President Nelson said, this is the most important thing happening on the earth today. Because he understood. Yeah. And when he says that our identity is being a child of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ, and a child of the covenant. This is the child of the Covenant Park, what our responsibilities are right now.
Yeah. And we will see this in section 1 33. We totally will. I love so much how you just connected that timeline of the Old Testament. In fact, I can't even think of a better way to begin our study of section 1 33. Then by having that foundation, you are so [00:16:00] smart to bring that in because everything you were saying, I'm like, oh yeah, we're gonna read that in that verse.
And that's what it says in this verse, and that's one of the questions they were asking about the gathering. So that is cool, and I completely agree and I will bear a second witness to what Shannon said, that knowing the Old Testament is so important. To us as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints, pay the price.
It is so worth it. And when you understand the timeline, and then when you go even deeper and you understand Hebrew words, it just changes. It, it, I feel like for me, it makes me become closer to my Heavenly Father in my savior Jesus Christ, because then I know who I am. I love how you kept saying that. It really does remind you of who you are and why you're here and what we're all doing as we are getting ready for the second coming.
So excellent job. Can I just share, um, the words Z car is, we put this on the word of the Year, on the back of our study guide, our guidebook for Oh, cool. The testament because it means to remember, but it's not like, oh, I forgot something. The depth of that word zaka in Hebrew literally means to remember so deeply it changes you.
Oh, beautiful. And what's even better is if you take one of the like. S he, Hebrew is so symbolic. There's one little glyph on one letter. Mm-hmm. That if you change it, it becomes the word man. Instead of, remember implying that he remembered so much it changed him. Wow. That's Hebrew for you. Oh, it's beautiful.
It's my favorite language. Like I have loved studying it, and so that is so awesome. Yeah. In fact, here's something really cool because you talked about the little things, the little dots and the little lines. In Hebrew, you'll love this even more than because you're talking about how he'll remember you.
Those in those little lines and dots on the Hebrew words, those are called jots and tittles. So in the scripture, when it says that he will not forget, he will, he will not forget one jot or [00:18:00] tittle. He, he, that's what he's talking about. So to those who understood Hebrew, they go, oh my goodness. He'll remember those little things.
Yeah. So how cool do you just applied? Remember, he'll remember you. He won't forget one little thing. So, and will change. Yeah. Because when we understand where we fall in history and what our responsibility is and that the prophets were literally, literally looking to us and that the Lord was prophesying through his prophets thousands of years ago, I will restore Israel.
It wasn't a question of trying, he was looking to us. And so we are those laborers in the vineyard Yeah. That he's looking to and it, he's like, we need to remember so, so much that it changes us. So if I want my children to not just wanna serve a mission, but to serve it because they understand their duty to gather Israel and the excitement and their love for Israel, the Old Testament is a major tool for that.
Oh, absolutely. Oh, Shannon, thank you. My goodness. That was just segment one. The Holy Ghost taught you. You know, you guys, you're, you are agreeing with me. We're in for such a treat today. So thank you for coming so prepared and for sharing that timeline and for beautifully doing that timeline. That's hard stuff to remember and you knocked it out of the park, so excellent job.
Excellent. There's a lot of really good stories in there, but that is, oh, it's a story testament. Yeah. So good. Okay, so in the next segment then we are going to discover what's going on at the time that Section 1 33 is given and why we should really pay the price to study this section and how it connects to the Old Testament.
We'll do that next.
Segment 2
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All right, Shannon, so you're a writer, so I would love to know what are your thoughts and feelings about the use of exclamation points? I, it's so funny because, um, I am a writer and I also have a lot of people on my team that will come in and like, um, massage [00:20:00] things and I'm always like, take out that exclamation point.
How come? Tell me why? Because they have to be very rarely used otherwise. It's like I'm yelling at you and I'm so excited about everything and, but if I use an exclamation point, it needs to belong. It needs to actually put emphasis on something really important. Okay. I'm writing that down. That is such a great thing.
I like how you said put emphasis on something. Yeah. Okay. Which is what section 1 33 is. It's a big emphasis. It totally is. Let's connect exclamation points that Shannon's gonna give us permission to use for Section 1 33. Let's just read the section heading. And Shannon, will you read that for us, please?
Yep. Revelation given through Joseph Smith, the prophet at Hiram, Ohio, November 3rd, 1831. It doesn't say this, but that's two days after section one was given. Thank you. Yeah. Prefacing this revelation the prophet wrote At this time, there were many things which the elders desire to know relative to preaching the gospel to the inhabitants of the earth and concerning the gathering, and in order to walk by the true light and be instructed from on high.
On the 3rd of November, 1831, I inquired of the Lord and received the following important revelation. This section was first added to the Book of Doctrine, covenants as an appendix, and was subsequently assigned a section number. Okay. Thank you. I'm so glad you brought up section one. Let's cross reference next to section 1 33.
Go ahead and in your scriptures write D and C one, and that is important to know. Now why did you bring that up? Because that is the preface and this is the appendix written by the Lord himself both times. So they try to write a preface to the doctrine of covenants and failed. And I think that would actually be a pretty interesting, um, family activities.
Like Okay. If you were to write a preface, which is an [00:22:00] introduction to the book and you kind of wanna overview the themes of it and why this is important for the reader, could you Yeah, that's actually pretty hard to do and the, what is amazing about this is when you go into section one and section 1 33 and see how expertly the Lord weaves in all of his doctrines and prophecies, it's just a testimony of itself.
This is divinely written. Absolutely. And I love this concept that section one is the Lord's revelatory introduction to this dispensation. Section 1 33 would be the Lord's revelatory conclusion to this dispensation. And so many scholars say, and in the Joseph of papers, it says Section 1 33 is called the Appendix, and it's like exclamation points.
So I have drawn exclamation points all around Section 1 33, like this would be his final word to us until 1876 when Brigham Young assigned it a number, section 1 33. But up until then, it was always placed at the end of every edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. So let's do this. What I want us to look at then is turn to section one and keep your finger here in Section 1 33.
And will you just tell me what word both sections start with and we're gonna highlight those. What is it, Shannon? It's Harken and. President Nelson emphasized that as well. Mm-hmm. He did. Let's read the quote. This is so awesome. We're gonna read what he says about the word harken. It's a Hebrew word. It's one of my favorite Hebrew words for sure.
Because it means more than just, and I love how you said with remember, it means more than, in fact, that's what most Hebrew words do. They mean more than what it actually says. Yeah. So Harkin's gonna mean more than just, alright, pay attention. And Shannon, will you read this quote from our late President Nelson?
To Hearken means to hear him, to hear what the savior says, and then to heed his counsel. In those two words, hear [00:24:00] him. God gives us the pattern for success, happiness, and joy In this life we are to hear the words of the Lord hearken to them and heed what he has told us. As we seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ, our efforts to hear him need to be ever more intentional.
It takes conscious and consistent effort to fill our daily lives with his words, his teaching, his truths. And so this concept that Harken means to listen with the intent to obey. He says that a little bit earlier. That's the meaning in the Hebrew word. Listen with the intent to obey. But I love how in this quote, he says, as our efforts to hear him need to be ever more intentional.
And that really struck me with that idea of being intentional. Because my question for you then is like, how do we become more intentional with hearing him if he's gonna start the doctrine of covenants and end it with this idea of hearkening? What's he saying to us? I think it's interesting to even look at what we just read in this section heading for 1 33.
Today's earlier, the Lord is basically telling them to go into all the Earth. This is a very small church. Yeah. And he's, they're, wait, what? I mean they were just been given in section one, this huge assignment to go to the ends of the earth, to the islands of the sea. And obviously for those two days, because they come back to Joseph wanting to know.
What do we do about this gathering? Yes. The whole world. And so they get then 1, 1 33, which is an answer they were intending to harken and wanted more details. They did not have all the answers. They did also, they, they did not know all of the inventions that would soon follow to make this possible. They were just going, going to be figuring out how to board a boat to mm-hmm.
To go somewhere and start preaching and look at all the tools that have come over time. Oh, I like that. To help us do that. [00:26:00] But they're showing us, you harken by asking and acting. Mm, brilliant. I, when I was reading this and I read the introduction. Why they had asked for these things. In my mind, I imagined me being there and being one of the men, and I probably would would've thought after getting Section 1 33 been like, yeah, we just wanted to like go fight win.
Yeah. Like Section 1 33 is pretty heavy. We were kind of looking for more of a Go get 'em champ. Yeah. And they don't know what's ahead of them. They don't know that soon they'll be asked to give up many things and Yeah. Yes. They have a future ahead of them, of a strengthening of the church. That'll be very difficult.
Yeah. But those that held true have given us this, and now we are standing on their shoulders continuing their work. Oh, I think that's brilliant. So one of the things I love that you said is that they were asked to harken and then to obey, or to go and do. And so let's do this in the next segment then we're gonna look at several do words, several words that would go with quick look, busy Jesus is coming, and words that apply to the idea of teaching to the inhabitants of the earth, the gathering, walking by the true light and being instructed from Mount High.
Those are the four things they wanted, and that's what this revelation's addressing. So let's get into some words that teach us how to do that. We'll do that next.
Segment 3
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Shannon, could you relate to my story as a kid? Were you guys like that growing up? Did you get chores? Yeah, chores and yeah. Last second. Don't wanna get caught. Not ready. Do kids do that? No. Right. I, it's kind of funny 'cause mine don't either. Like when I ask 'em to do something, they're really good about doing it.
Boy, we waited forever. No, I was being sarcastic. My kids totally do that.
That's great. [00:28:00] Okay. Okay, good. That makes me feel a little bit better. 'cause when it comes to laundry, my kids are the worst. Yeah, totally. I told you, practicing the piano, forget about it. Five minutes is not what I was. Yeah. I found the best bumper sticker. This is a picture that people have put on their car with that phrase, Jesus is coming.
Look busy. I have to show it to you 'cause it's my favorite. Don't you love that? Explain what you're seeing. I'm seeing a very, um, Christian picture of Jesus with a halo around him and knocking on a door. That's funny. Jesus is kind, like busy. I love it because his face almost looks like, I'm not sure they're even doing anything in there.
Like Yeah. It's like, here we go. I don't know what I'm gonna find on the other side of this door. Right. Yeah. There's not a lot of, um, expression other than just non expression. That's a good way to put it. Okay, so let's go into section 1 33. Everybody grab a highlighter because there are so many get busy words.
So many words. That was what stood out to me when it comes to the answer to them. Like, okay, how do we do this? The Lord's like, let me tell you how you do this. So grab a highlighter and Janet and I are gonna call out all of the get busy Jesus's coming words that we could find in verses four through 16.
So Shannon, you take the evil verses, I'll take the odd verses. Everybody grab something to highlight your scriptures with, 'cause there's a lot. And let's just start. And Shannon go in verse four and tell us the highlighted words. So here he tells us to prepare two times and he then tells us how to prepare, which is to.
Sanctify yourselves and to gather together. And I think that's what we, we don't use those words in that way, but that is what the emphasis is right now, which is to sanctify yourselves through your covenants. That is the, the Holy Ghost and Christ, they are able to sanctify and refine us. Oh, I like that.
That happens through our covenants. And so [00:30:00] when we're being asked to be covenant people, a temple attending people that is basically saying, sanctify yourselves. Mm-hmm. And then to gather you together. Now they physically gathered back then I, we probably, a lot of us have ancestors that literally gather to strengthen Zion.
And we are now at a phase where we gather and strengthen the stakes of Zion throughout the world, which he talks about later, but gathering together to strengthen one another, to strengthen the church. And when those numbers come together, we then build temples. Yes. And when we can build those temples throughout the world, then we can even be sanctified better.
Oh, I love it. This is, um, they don't know this language yet. This is this, this section would've gone like around section 6 67. They don't have a temple yet. Right. But the Lord knows what he's doing to his people, and he knows the foundations he's laying and he knows where he's guiding them. And now we can read this and know what he's saying.
I think that's so important to point out and I'm glad that you just did. That is a reminder that even though this comes at the end of the doctrine and covenants, it was received only a year after the church had been organized. They're young. Yeah. They're so young and all of this wording is so new for them.
If they had received it even after getting the the Kirtland Temple, it probably would've made a little more sense. So I love that you've pointed that out, is how new this is to them. And so can you imagine going back in time and just being like, just keep going. There's so much coming. Right. That we could just tear them on 300 temples.
I know. I know. And in fact, like just a couple verses before he says I, I will suddenly come to the temple and that could have several references, but he did suddenly come to the Kirtland Temple to them. Yes. And I thought, well, what would that be like to go back in time and walk the streets after that happened?
Wow. Can you imagine how that impacted that society? Oh, maybe what, how did their prayers change after [00:32:00] that? I love to think of just them gathering and talking about it for weeks and weeks and everybody, and then you have that revisionist history a little bit, or you have that recollection that comes like, oh, I forgot that happened.
That happens to me all the time. Oh, I forgot to mention that. Yeah. You imagine when they had to leave Kirland and the last time they saw that temple, that that happened because it wasn't even a generation later. Right. It was that generation that left, and that was their memories. They, they, they built it, and then that happened.
The Lord came to it, and then they had to leave. Oh. Some people to talk to them. I can't wait. Yes, yes. Oh gosh. Good one. Okay, verse five, go ye out from Babylon. And there it is. And you taught us that in the first segment. The idea and Babylon is often it is a, a reminder of the world and the wicked world. A fallen world is what we're talking about right here.
In fact, that's a fun rabbit hole to go down in church. If you're ever wanting to do something, study Babylon and read about it because there's so much packed in that one word right there. But they're saying, go ye out from this wicked world, be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord, just that call to be clean.
Um. And again, they probably don't even know what is that go out from Babylon that it's a lot to think about too, because you actually can't go out from Babylon. Like back in the day, you could have, you could have like walked out Babylon. Yeah. Babylon is the world and we live in the world. Yep. And I, I was actually reading this and I had this memory of when, um, it was when I was first married and we had this home and it was the cutest little house, but we had these neighbors that there was a lot of trouble in that home.
And we could hear, we could hear it, we could hear, um, the women being beaten. There were many, um, cops called, there were a lot of things that happened where people would come in full riot gear because of that home. And those women there knew that they could run to my home for protection. [00:34:00] And they looked to my husband as this protector to them, which scared me because their husbands were often.
Carrying a gun. Right. And I, it was scary. But I remember living, I, I remember having a conversation with one of them, and I just said, well, why, why do you stay? And she, she's like, this is all I know. Hmm. And she asked me, she says, are you telling me your husband never beats you? Oh, wow. It's like, never. He never, ever.
And that was beyond her comprehension. She's like, this is all I've ever known in life. And I, I just said that, that is not the reality for everybody. You can choose a different life. But that was, she just looked at me like I was telling her the sky was a different color. And I had this realization that we can literally live next door to each other and experience two different worlds.
Absolutely. And when it says, go you out from Babylon. We can live in the world and not live in Babylon, and we can literally choose a different life. It is very hard though, because Babylon is very tricky. Yeah. Very convincing. And it disguises itself as good. And so we have to be very, very wise. And that when you talked about that woman, the word when she said, this is all I know, is so haunting, because I think the call here is to make sure that Babylon isn't all, you know?
Yeah. Like the call is recognize what you, what is around you. Don't let it be the only thing you know, because he does it in verse five. And then again in verse seven, go eat out from Babylon. And, and just that important call. I hope that we never get to the point where we say, it's all I know well, and he's telling me how we can help people.
'cause he can go out, send, [00:36:00] send forth the messengers. Yeah. To pull the world that there's more. Oh, I love that. That's exactly what he's saying in Section 1 33. Yeah. We, yeah. There Wes are Israel. He's gathering back the family, the covenant family, to bless the rest of his children. It is the same story as the Old Testament.
Yep. Absolutely. It, yeah. And he says with a loud voice, he's like, yes. Don't just hope they notice. I love that with a loud voice. That's very easy for me to do. I like that so much. So good. So take the rest of the time for in your scriptures and just go through these verses and highlight all of the action words you can see.
I mean, look, what a great discussion you can have just from three or four verses and how deep they are and what the Lord wants us to know from these. Because he's saying, I need you to be busy because I am coming. That's the message here. And so you'll see so many other action words, but in the next segment we're gonna talk about an action word that Shannon so perfectly set up in the first segment when she said this word is said seven times in section 1 33.
We're gonna talk about that word next.
Segment 4
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Okay? This is gonna be a such a fun question for you. I even giggled a little bit when I wrote it down. You ready for this? Yes. Here's my question, Shannon. Uh, have you ever been on a blind date? Yes. I don't even want to think about those dates. How old were you when you got married? 32. So you did the time?
Yes, I did. I went on a lot of dates. Yeah. So my question about a blind date is have you ever had to go on a blind date where you had to meet the person at a, at a certain spot and you had no idea what they looked like? Like how did you find them? I did not have to do that. That would've been a nightmare, actually.
Such a nightmare. Can you imagine for anybody that's ever done that kind of date? I've done one and it was very uncomfortable because I was like, is it, is it you? Is it you? Oh [00:38:00] my gosh. Is sounds like a hallmark film. I did. I had to meet a guy at a restaurant and it was very uncomfortable because every time a guy walked by me, I would make eye contact and then he would keep walking.
Every time I'm like, and even one time I'm like, please let, let that be my date. And he just met his, met his girlfriend or his wife. It was so awful. Oh, I wanted to kind of think about this idea because if you were to meet someone at a blind date that you didn't know, what would you need to know? Gimme some answers.
Basics. Like basics on what they would look like. Are they tall? What color of hair? I think knowing what they're wearing would probably nice, but most of all, if they could tell me where they would be, oh, I like that. Just go, go there. Yes. Give me a location. Of time would be good. Exact time. Okay. These answers are so perfect for our discussion.
This is awesome because what we're gonna do is we're gonna apply this idea of needing to find someone you've never met to section 1 33 versus 17 through 33. And listen, finding the person that these verses talk about is a way bigger deal than finding someone who might buy you dinner. That's all I'm saying.
So bracket often highlight verses 17 through 33. One of the things I love about Section 1 33 is that scholars have called it apocalyptic because these, while we did talk about how these were the Lord's last words to us, what I like is they are actually his words concerning last things. So like the book of Revelation is at the end of the New Testament with apocalyptic verses about the second coming, section 1 33.
Same sort of at the end of the doctrine and covenants with these apocalyptic wordings that could mean so many different dual things. And then you get to verse 19. And if you have a highlighter, I want you to highlight verse 10 and then draw a line across the page and connect it to verse 19. Because both of these verses come from the same story and you're gonna cross reference it to Matthew chapter 25 verses one through 13.
But in verse 19, we have two [00:40:00] important get busy words. But we're gonna talk about the first one that stands out first of all. So Shannon, will you read 10? Actually read 10 and 11 and then 19. Yay. Let the cry go forth among all people awake and arise and go forth to meet the bridegroom. Behold and lo, the bridegroom cometh.
Go ye out to meet him. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. Watch therefore for ye note, neither the day nor the hour and the 19 wherefore prepare ye for the coming of the bridegroom. Go ye, go ye out to meet him. Thank you. So in verse 10, in verse 19, had a very similar get busy word. And Shannon, you told us this word is found seven times.
What's the word? Prepare. Fantastic. Okay. This word, tell me why that stood out to you. Well, what's interesting about these verses is that the Lord is speaking to a lot of different people in here. I am imagining a lot of the listeners are first 10 people. They're, they're, they're the people that want to be awake.
So Israel is the bride and Jesus is the groom. Mm-hmm. We know he's coming and we wanna be ready, not just ready when he comes, but to go meet him. That is very different than being caught off guard. Yeah. And there's different metaphors in the scriptures about being ready for the second coming. We wanna be the wise versions who have our oil lamps trimmed.
We are ready, we know he's coming. We don't know the hour, but we know he's coming. We're already. Another one in the scriptures is a thief in the night. Mm-hmm. You are not expecting him at all. And there's some of that in here where he is like, all right, I'm coming. Be ready, meet me. And then there's gonna be some people who are not ready and they're, I'm still coming and they're gonna see the justice of my hand.
And so what we want is to be prepared and watching and praying for him to come. That holy urgency of, [00:42:00] of not being afraid for him to come, of looking forward to it as this great celebration, the moment we've been waiting for. We wanna be that group. Yes, absolutely. I loved everything that you just said when you talked about going out to meet him and, and then the connection to the word prepare.
This was so, I love this so much when I was studying the word prepare, because it drew me, especially with this story about the virgins, it drew me to President Camille Johnson's talk in April of 2025 when she talked about the virgins and the statue that has been put up in front of the Relief Society building in downtown Salt Lake City.
And one of the things she did in this talk was she beautifully connected the word prepare to being whole in Christ. And this concept of being whole in Christ, here's what she has to say about how to become whole in Christ. So we're gonna read this quote, and after we do, Shannon, I would love to know from you.
What stands out to you about how she tells us we can be whole in him, because while we can prepare for him, I love this connection because we, I can say, okay, how can we prepare for him and we're gonna give the seminary answers. Go to church, read your scripture, say your prayers, attend the temple, pay your tithing, which absolutely work.
But I feel like Sister Johnson sort of turned it up a little bit and said, let's reframe this idea of preparing and let's talk about actually being whole in Christ. So I'll read the quote and then I'll have you tell us about it. Here we go. We are whole in Jesus Christ when we exercise our agency to follow him in faith, submit our hearts to him so he can change them, keep his commandments, and enter a covenant relationship with him, meekly enduring and learning from the challenges of this earthly estate.
Until we return to his presence and are healed in every way, I can be whole while I wait for healing, if I am wholehearted in my relationship with him,
that is amazing. I am reading that, realizing how in line that is with what the Lord is saying here. Yeah. [00:44:00] That covenant relationship with him when we submit ourselves to him, because he's saying, get outta Babylon. Babylon divides. Mm-hmm. The Lord makes us one with him. Yeah. Satan's always trying to distract and divide and he's saying, just get out.
Get out of the midst of it. Anything that pulls you away from me get out of it. Mm-hmm. And here he's saying, submit, submit your hearts to me and we will then be changed and transformed. And that's the beauty of like, when we look at the story of Enoch, I love that we get to study that at the beginning of next year.
Mm-hmm. They were living in this incredibly wicked world and then they were transformed in it. They were absolutely changed and made one, and that was through him. That was possible. Yeah. And that's what she's saying here is this covenant relationship, relationship with him, learning from him, he will transform us.
That's the promises here that these, when this was given, they were just beginning to experience themselves. Now we get to be living, walking, breathing examples of this. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that because one of the things I love that you mentioned was the covenant relationship and we become whole in him through the covenants that we make with him and keep, and going back to verse 19, when it says, prepare ye, now I'm going to think become whole in him for the coming of the bridegroom.
But then go ye, go ye out to meet him. And it reminded me back of being on a blind date. Mm-hmm. How could you possibly know? Who you're going to meet if you haven't known about him. And so, you know, you said, I'd not, I wanna know the basics. What is he wearing? Where will he be? What's the location, what's the time?
And we wanna know all of that about Christ, but when he comes, we will know him because we are whole in him, because we've been learning about him keeping our covenants. So there's this awesome in verse 19, prepare and then go out to meet him. Isn't that great that it didn't [00:46:00] say go out to meet him and then prepare like that?
You absolutely have to become whole in him so that you'll know who to look for when he comes and you'll be able to recognize him. One thing I've learned is the, I know we have a lot of scripture. We were given a lot of scripture at the beginning of the dispensation. We were given the Book of Mormon and the doctrine and covenants to help us between all of these scriptures we have and hopefully more that we can get.
Every story teaches us about him. Mm-hmm. It teaches even if it's about Gideon or it's about Ruth or. Uh, there's just one after the other of him showing us how he saves, how he transforms, and so often it's surprising. And so we come to know him better and better and better and better through every story, through every church history person that we Yeah.
Here it's, the more I know, the more I know him. And so when I'm going out to meet him, I just, he's so much more colorful mm-hmm. Through every story than, than maybe just the, the easy ways. We talk about some of the stories. There's a lot more depth underneath them. Yeah. I was just studying Elijah and the way the Lord taught him and brought him up to the prophet, he became, it was intense.
Oh, absolutely. When you just pause and Abraham, Abraham himself, like the, we, we kind of focus in on these like highlights, but then you kind of go into those other chapters in between those highlights and you realize Abraham's story, the way that the Lord transformed him, it becomes so apparent how he transforms us and we can recognize that.
And when we go out to meet him, we're going to meet our savior. Mm-hmm. The one who's done that to us too. Yeah. And we've recognized it and we've seen it, and we're going out [00:48:00] to meet him with just gratitude and worship and, and, and he's doing it for our family members who we love and we want them to be saved.
So it's more than just go to meet him. It's just, it's go run, go to him and be grateful and fall at his feet. I like how you said that. Go run to meet him. In fact, then I go to verse 33 because I think this is exactly what will be the result of it. When he comes, we read verse 33 for us, and they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.
One day we'll know what that means. We can guess now and we're gonna look back and go, that was a really good description of something that you can't describe. Right? Nope. It's such a great verse. I like how you said that you can't even fully describe, but because we're prepared, because we're whole in him.
Oh, so much joy. It will be awesome. So thank you. Thanks for all of your thoughts on that. That's, that's a great word and I love it seven times, so it's must be important. I actually think there's just some things, you know, you think about a lot. Like there's, that they're just planted in your heart. And there is this part from CS Lewis's Narnia series and it's the last battle, which is the end.
Okay. And it, it seems like all is lost and then it's not. Because of Aslan. Mm-hmm. And so it was basically the last days. And CS Lewis is attempting to describe heaven, the, these songs of everlasting joy that will experience in the future. Okay. And he describes it, like, imagine that you're looking in a mirror and you're seeing the reflection of what's outside.
So you're trying to see it and he says, you're looking at, and you see the sea, you can see a sea like the sea, the ocean in the mirror and the valley. And he says, and the sea in the mirror and or the valley in the mirror, or in one sense, just the same as the real ones. Yet at the same time, [00:50:00] there were somehow different, deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story, in a story you've never heard, but very much want to know.
The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country. Every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can't describe it any better than that. If ever you get there, you will know what I mean. It was the unicorn who was a part of the story, who summed up what everyone was feeling.
He stamped his right fore ho on the ground and made, and then he cried. I have come home at last. This is my real country. I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we love the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.
Come further up. Come further in. I felt the spirit so strong, Shannon, that part I have come home at last. Yeah. And that I, I know I'm skipping ahead, but that is verse 45 where he says, for since the beginning of the world have not been heard nor perceived by the ear, neither have any I seen, oh God, besides thee how great things thou has prepared for him that waited for thee.
Okay. Hold, hold that thought then, because in the next segment we're gonna talk entirely about that verse. We'll do that next.
Segment 5
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Alright. Let's go back into section 1 33, verse 45 that we ended with in our last segment, because this is, there's a word in this verse that I thought, this is an absolute get busy word, but it doesn't, it seems like it doesn't require much doing, but it's probably the most difficult thing we're gonna be asked to do.
So, Shannon, will [00:52:00] you please read verse 45 for us? We're gonna highlight one of the words, and then I want your thoughts. About the verses leading up to 45, 'cause I know you have something to say. So I'll read 45 again. Here we go. For, since the beginning of the world, have not men heard nor perceived by ear.
Neither have any eyes seen, oh God, besides thee how great things thou has prepared for him that wait if for thee highlight the word wait or eth. This word right here seems like a word where you don't have to do much at all. But for many of us in our lives, the waiting is the hardest part. And I love this word in Hebrew.
So I highlighted eth into the outside of my scriptures. I wrote a cross reference. So you wanna go to Psalm chapter one 30, verse five, and let's go there and read it. And Shannon, will you read this verse for us? Psalm chapter one 30 verse five, I wait for the Lord my soul, death, weight, and in his words, do I hope.
So the word wait in this verse is said twice, and in Hebrew it's the word qva. It's spelled Q-A-V-A-H, and here's what it means. It's probably originally from an Assyrian word, which means to twist, to stretch then of like tension or enduring. It could have Arabic connotations, meaning strong or strength, but I love that the point of the word kava is it's a deliberate tension filled waiting.
Now that changes everything for me. It doesn't mean you're just waiting while you are watching TV and eating chips and nachos that we are, because we've prepared for him that wait if for the, like this idea that we are waiting, but boy, isn't it so true. We are waiting in attention filled experience here on earth that we're waiting with this idea of stretching and twisting that the Lord is having us learn things.
Tell me your thoughts and talk to me about these verses in verse 45. Well, I also love what leads up to that because he's calling on us mm-hmm. To call on him to come. Yes. And, and so he [00:54:00] says like in verse 40, calling upon the name of the Lord day and night saying, oh, that that was run the heavens, that that was come down.
And I mean, have you often thought that or had friends say, can Jesus just come like, we're so ready? Right. I felt connection to that verse. The more we know about when he comes or the Zion we can build before he comes, the more we would actually. Not wait in terms of wait around, but get to work. Yes.
Holding that and wait on his timing, but do all we can to, uh, maybe part of going out to meet him is to build the holy people he needs. For sure. And so we're out there working. The waiting is also working. It's laboring, it's wearing out our lives in all the good sense to prepare ourselves and those around us.
'cause he says earlier, he says, call your solem assemblies. He wants us to gather and strengthen one another and prepare the people, build as many temples as possible so we are ready to receive him. So that tension filled waiting, I love that it's, um, come and pray for that and also go to work and find P Gather.
Mm-hmm. Gather my people together. And your CS Lewis quote was just so perfectly timed because when you read verse 45, and that is how I read it now I'm gonna have to put that quote in my scriptures because to me I'm reading it by him saying, you can't even imagine what I've prepared for you. How great it's going to be for you that are waiting.
And what you said for you that are building Zion for you, that are busy with all these busy words I've given you in here, it's so gonna be worth it. It's just gonna be the best. And do you think we'll just go And we thought Babylon was a good place, right? I mean, we we're impressed by those hanging gardens they built.
That is so true. Isn't that fun? We, we do. We get so impressed with things in the world. So even think of the [00:56:00] greatest place you've ever been in Babylon, it's nothing compared to what God has prepared for us. You know, it's interesting because week two of next year with the Old Testament is Moses one. And I was reading that the other day and I was like, oh, I saw a whole different side to it, which is Moses learning more of his divine nature and then seeing the creations of God.
And then he says, now I know that man is nothing. Well, he grew up in Egypt, the greatest nation on the earth at the moment. He was being asked to go deliver Israel from Egypt, which is mm-hmm. Now he's like, man's nothing compared. And if you think about, if we have, if we went to Egypt, we would see the ruins of Egypt.
Now, yeah, if we went to Balon, we'd see the ruins of Babylon. But look all around you. You see God's creations alive. Uh, his, his works are alive. Mm-hmm. They are not the ruins of his work. They are everywhere, but all these things that Matt has put so much trust in are ruins now. And when he, and he'll warn, he's like, I'm gonna come, I'm gonna flatten this mountain.
I'm all these things that we think are immovable overnight, like Babylon fell in one night, he, once he bears his arm, it's done. It's it's over. Oh, how cool is it that you said that? Because in section 1 33 verse three, that's exactly what the Lord says for he shall make bear his holy arm in the eyes of the nations.
Like what she just said is what that verse means. It's a, it's a sign of strength. And because he did that, he, he can do anything. And I remember reading that a couple times in here where he was like, do you know what I can do? Do you, do you know who I am? Like I can do anything. I have done anything. I got this.
You know what would be an interesting thing to do as a family is to go through and just give the Lord a bunch of titles. Like he's the conqueror, but he's also the savior. It's the same [00:58:00] person who's promising to transform you. And to that we will call out. His loving kindness is the same one that can just level the mountains.
Yes. So put your trust in him. Oh, I really like that connection. Especially when you go through and you read verses 48 through 53, like who is the savior to you in those verses? Because that's one we don't often talk about, but the concept of him saying, I have trodden the wine press alone. I've brought judgment upon all people and none were with me.
I've trampled them in my fury. I mean, he's progressing all of these things that makes you feel a little bit scared of him. But then you get to verse 52, and I love this verse because to me there's a word in here that doesn't say it, but I think it's a Hebrew word he says, and now the year of my redeemed has come and they shall mention the loving kindness of their Lord and all that he is bestowed upon them according to his goodness and according to his loving kindness forever and ever.
And that loving kindness, I think is heed in Hebrew. Um, that's one of the meanings of it for sure. And I think that that's, I think it is heed because heed is covenant wording, and that's covenant wording to me. Just look down the footnotes, look at all those Old Testament verses that the Lord is right. I, it is woven all in his words.
Like he wants us to know all of these prophecies and to know that they will happen like it. And now he says, and now is the year of my redeemed is come. Yes. It's not a question. It will happen. So go ye out to me. Like be that group. Yeah, the group who's taken off guard, because they're, they're, they're stuck in Babylon.
I like that. Be that group. Let me write that down. I have so many notes. Shannon, this is awesome. Wow. This is such a fun discussion. Such a great section. Okay, so obviously we could spend way more time, but we [01:00:00] don't have enough time because we have to go into the next section. So please continue to study Section 133 and like Shannon has encouraged us, look for Old Testament wording.
Look for connections to the Old Testament because it's there. And section 1 33, it fits the. The exclamation point at the end of the doctrine covenants, it has to be important. It's like you said, it's the Lord yelling, yelling to us. Please pay attention to what I'm trying to say to you. So that is so awesome.
But we do have another busy word and in the next segment we're gonna talk about a busy that everyone can do in their own way. We'll do that next.
Segment 6
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Make sure you have a highlighter. Let's turn to doctrine and cabinet section 134. And I want you to take a minute right now, hit pause and go through and highlight the first two words of every verse, because it's the same except for verse nine. A little bit different, but every single verse begins with what Shannon we believe.
Okay. Can you tell us a little bit of history about why this was written? This is not an article of faith we believe. Now this is a declaration of belief, so this is happening. If we were to look, this is not chronologically put. Let's make that clear. Yes, thank you. They were still in Kirtland, but the Saints in Jackson County have been chased out of their homes.
The Kirtland Temple has not yet been dedicated, so this is those Kirtland days. But there's a lot of problems that are happening. They know the Constitution, they know the Bill of Rights, and they know that their grandfathers fought in the Revolutionary War. They know that their rights are not being upheld, and they are stating that in this section.
Wow, perfect summation of Section 1 34. So as you read this, it's very political. It's all about what their rights are. And [01:02:00] the connection for me that I found in Section 1 34 comes from a talk from Elder Oaks in April of 2021. He talked about the US Constitution. Now, for any of our listeners who do not live in the United States, you might think, well, what does that have to do with me?
And I love this paragraph that Elder Oaks said to all of us when it comes to government and what we believe and how we can act. And Shannon, will you please read this quote from Elder Oaks? What else are faithful Latter Day Saints to do? We must pray for the Lord to guide and bless all nations and.
They're leaders. This is part of our article of Faith. Being subject to presidents or rulers, of course poses no obstacle to our opposing individual laws or policies. It does require that we exercise our influence civilly and peacefully within the framework of our constitutions and applicable laws on contested issues we should seek to moderate and unify.
Thank you. So when you think about Section 1 34, and for me, I'm not good at political stuff, it makes me nervous, but what I said at the very end of the last segment was that there's a way for all of us to be busy when it comes to policy. And so I want us to think about this and I love how the Come Follow Me lesson says this.
It asks, what does this section suggest about how the Lord's Saints could feel about government? And I'd love to know what your thoughts are. How can we all be participants in government and laws and give our we believe statements? Without offending. Let me just point this out. In section 1 34, they are literally experiencing what it's like to build Zion in the last days.
And so reality has now set in, this is years after section 1 33 when they're probably leaving, going, let's go do that. Let's go gather Israel and build Zion and have people come. And then when they try, mm-hmm. What happened? They hit against all of these interpretations of the law [01:04:00] or them not putting forth the law.
And when you bring the Book of Mormon into this mm-hmm. And how many times we are warned in the Book of Mormon to live the commandments. This is God's land. And if we don't, we will lose it. Like this is over and over and over again that the Promised Land has a purpose and the Lord is very aware of. What is supposed to happen, the Saints are trying to establish Zion, and then these laws are put into place for it, and they're not being upheld.
So that is what they're asking for, is for the, just the law to be upheld here. Mm-hmm. And then they're gonna go and do what they were sent to Earth to do, which was to build Zion. And that's all they're asking for. And so that is, we're always being asked to vote. We always get that first presidency letter to use our ability to vote and to hold up these laws and to vote for the right laws that will allow us to do what we need to do here on Earth.
Oh, I love that answer. You're absolutely right. Because even though the laws of the land were not in their favor, God was, and so, you're right. They continued to build Zion. That was what their goal was. Laws were often in their favor. They were just not being upheld. And that's, yes, exactly. They were in the Wild West.
That's, they were on online. It's a different time. Not like the wild West of Salt Lake. They were on the very edge of the country and that Oh, yeah. When they went to build Zion there, um, it was a wake up call for a lot of them. Like, this is not the civil life they were used to. Oh. Can you imagine leaving New York and the frivolity of life there to go, I mean, Partridge wrote his, was it Edward Partridge, I think, that wrote his wife and was like, um, life's gonna be different.
Are you down here? And it was, they were different people and they were being called on that, the laws, it was in the con, like it was the same laws, but [01:06:00] they were not being treated the same in that part. Oh, thank you, Shannon. Thank you. That's a great lens to view Section 1 34 through as you read it, and then, and apply it to our day to day, just to continue to build Zion God's in charge.
And, and I just love how they're doing these declarations. Like here's what we believe. Yeah. And then again going back into Section 1 33, but we've also been asked four years earlier to gather Zion, to walk by the light and to prepare for the second coming of Christ. And so I think if that is our foremost goal and becoming whole in him, we're not gonna fail.
We just can't. And I think 1 33 is the perfect lens to look through it because he, he basically will come and flatten everything that's been built up on this earth. Like there's so much symbolism in there. Mm-hmm. I mean, can't, might he also flatten an actual mountain? Absolutely. He could absolutely do that.
Yeah. But the symbolism in there is that things that we have built up and put so much trust in can't just be flattened and he will come and take his kingdom back. He will rule and reign on here on this earth. And so we do have earthly governments, and that's what 1 34 is calling on, is the reason those earthly governments exist.
And that they need to uphold those. But ultimately Section 1 33 is the long picture. Absolutely. Oh, thank you Shannon. This was such a fun discussion. Oh my gosh. I love it. I love everything you shared. So that's the end of our discussion. That's it. That's section 1 33 and 1 34. So just take a second, gather your thoughts and tell me what eternal truth did you learn today or what's something that you'll take away from our discussion?
I have a whole page of notes. I can't even believe it. So many things. I don't know what to focus on today, except the thing I think I'm hearing personally within my own heart is to continue to find the strength and the energy to prepare. Hmm. [01:08:00] And, and to go ye out to meet him and to do all I can to not just prepare myself, but to prepare others and to be that group of, um, we're waiting with our lamps trimmed.
Yeah, we're, we're not being told to wake up. Hopefully we are awake and we're ready and we're watching and we're trying to create Also, let me add this. I have learned that sometimes we talk about the gathering, like it's a service and, but he says in section 1 33 to, to don't, not to gather in haste. He wants us to gather very responsibly and to be prepared.
And I think about those saints who gathered to Kirtland, like Lucy Mac Smith and Hiram, and people were giving up their land for these saints coming in. And it might've felt like a sacrifice, but ultimately they strengthened everyone else. They got Lucy McSmith and Hyron Smith and Joseph Smith Senior.
Yeah. And we can go Joseph Knight and the whole Knight family. Right. And as we. Gather, we are strengthening Zion because we need them. We need those people. They'll strengthen us and they'll strengthen our children. And so it's not just this like call to duty, it's helping us as well. And so to go eat out of Babylon, to recognize wherever Babylon may be in my life, to try to get it out, and then to just use all the energy I have to strengthen, to build, to transform myself, to tr, to help others transform around me, and to use these hours before he comes to truly prepare, which means to give our hearts to him.
Like President [01:10:00] Camille Johnson said, wow, I will amen what you said. Thank you, Shannon. Uh, my takeaway, and I have so many notes, but I loved when you read the CS Lewis quote. That when that line I have come home at last was so great. Thank you for being inspired to bring that and apply it to that verse, to verse 45.
Because I just think sometimes and, and I love how you applied it to Babylon because he's saying you can't even imagine how great it is. And our own little earthly eyes think what we have is our maybe already pretty great and greater than Babylon. Yes. That's why I'm telling you to leave it. 'cause and and please don't make it be the only thing you know.
I loved it when you shared that story that touched my heart too, that Babylon can't be the only thing we know. He's inviting us to know him. He's inviting us to go ye out to meet him. And we will. And when we do, we will know him. Because we've paid the price to become whole in him. So thank you, Shannon, for teaching us that today and for pointing out all of the beautiful things in here and for getting us excited for the Old Testament.
Oh, it's kind of, it's our favorite year isn't, can I come back on next year for Old Testament? Would you please, I would love it. I love the Old Testament. I, I love it. It is every week. There's no week that you won't wanna study it. Agreed. And then now that if, if we can just keep that high view of Israel, the Isaiah will make so much more sense.
Oh, completely. And the, honestly, the Book of Mormon makes so much more sense. Yeah. When you understand if your foundation is Old Testament, forget about it. Yeah. Every book of scripture makes sense. Then second Nephi. Oh, okay. Yeah. Right. Jacob? Five, I got it. Yeah. Oh yeah, I got it. House of Israel. Oh, that's me.
Oh, okay. Perfect. Yeah. And you understand why the Lord's surrounding us with that message? Yes. Thanks, friend. I'm so glad you were on this episode today. Thank you for saying yes. It's been a long time coming and it was absolutely perfect. So you're the best and I'm [01:12:00] so happy for you. Congratulations. Thank you.
What a huge feat. That is an accomplishment, and I'm praying all the best prayers for you and your success. Thanks Tammy. What was your takeaway or eternal truth that you learned? And go join our group on Facebook and Instagram to share because today was packed. It was so good. I love Shannon. And then ask questions if you want.
At the end of each week, we usually post a comment that relates to this lesson, so share your thoughts. You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode, LDS living.com/sunday on Monday, and go there. Anyway, it's where we're gonna have links to the references that we use today, 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. It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall. And today our incredible study group participant was Shannon Foster. And you can find more information about my friend at LDS living.com/sunday on Monday.
Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited and mixed by Cole Wissinger, and our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom. Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week, and please remember, you are God's favorite.