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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This is an episode of Jubilation, a Real Jubilee, and you are invited to celebrate with us. So what are we celebrating? Well, doctrine and covenants, sections 1 37 and 1 38. Tell us, and this is a celebration not to be missed. It's going on right now, and in fact, it has been going on for a very long time.

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, 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, Camie Helson.

Hi Camie. Thanks for saying hi to me in the Old Navy. That was so fun. Now, another awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined by two of my friends, so it's always a little bit different. And this week we have two people that I just adore. Sister Jalin Peterson and Belinda Olson. Ladies.

Hi. Hi. What's up? How we doing? I called you Sister Jolyn and after that I'm like, she's not a nun, but I've known her so long. She's like a sister. I should be a nun. I should at this point, just embrace the habit. Yeah. You know? Might be nice, maybe might be nice just to be in a confident at this point. Throw in the hat, put on a habit.

I love it. Dang it. I know. Well, and we're jalyn's been on you guys. For those of you who are new to listening, Jalyn's an old timer. She's been on, this is her sixth year being a guest. She was one of the OGs, the original five that we chose from the very beginning. So it's good to have you on episode one.

Go back to episode one. Check it out. You were, you were on the pilot episode when they were like, we're not sure if this is gonna work. And it did. Yeah. Jolyn won everyone over. Why not? [00:02:00] Green light, just, it's Tammy's brilliant. Its Tammy's brilliance. It's my guests. And so that's why we have Belinda, Belinda was on last year and did so well.

We were like, oh, we have to have her on again. So you're so kind. She's so kind. No, you were awesome. Um, Belinda, tell us a little bit about yourself for a reminder, refresher. Alright. I am from Utah. I love to cook, bake, and garden, and I claim to have the cutest dog ever. His name is Guster. And for those of you who like the TV show psych, that is what he's named after.

I think those are fighting words. Ca Jalyn would say that her dog is the cutest dog ever. Right. Didn't you? I mean, you just saw him behind me. I don't know how you would argue. Well, I don't where he went. You need him to sneak back into the frame. Of course. I love my dog. Raised him from a, from a baby. All right ladies, we're gonna dig into these scriptures and I'm so excited 'cause these are two really good chapters, really good sections.

So if you guys wanna know more about my guests and maybe see pictures of their dog, check out our show notes, which are found at lds living.com/sunday on Monday. So everyone grab your scriptures and something to mark your scriptures with. And let's dig into doctrine and covenants. Sections 137 and 138.

Okay, you two. First question is, what did the Holy Ghost teach you? As you read these two sections, just share with us what did you learn or scripture that stood out to you? One thing I really loved is, especially after reading Section 1 38, is the importance to slow down and to really reflect on the scriptures and allow time for us to receive personal revelation.

In Section 1 38, there's multiple times where it says, I was pondering, I was reflecting. One thing that, uh, really stood out to me was 1 38 verse 11, and it says, as I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened and the spirit of the Lord rested upon me. And then he goes into greater detail.

But how many times have I read different [00:04:00] things and maybe I am just in a rush or I'm checking a box, but I really love when we slow down, especially in the noise and chaos of the world, that when we allow for the spirit to testify to us, the spirit will always show up. Wow. I agree. I'm so glad you pointed that verse out.

That was my experience reading these sections, and I've taught them so many times as a seminary teacher and through this podcast, but boy, 11 was what happened to me as I was studying it. This time, my eyes of understanding were open, and then I'm gonna share with you what I learned later, but it, that's what Belinda said is true, and I will be a second witness to that.

All right, Jolyn. Yeah, I mean, you, like you said, you know, you can read these scriptures and then you read 'em again and are like, oh. So for me, I was just struck again by how much heavenly father loves his children. Mm-hmm. And the grace and the mercy that he extends to us. And, and then, um, doctrine in covenants 1 38 verses two, three, and four, Joseph F.

Smith is reflecting upon the atonement sacrifice that was made by the son of God for the redemption of the world and the great and wonderful love made manifest by the father and the son in the coming of the redeemer into the world. That through his atonement and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved.

So it is pondering and slowing down, but I wonder how much time I take to just really ponder. Feel that love that Heavenly Father has for all of his children, for me and all of his children. Um, I've, I've had those prayers lately where I've just said, you know what? I just, just, let me feel your love today.

Just let me feel of your love today. And, and like just the overwhelming feeling, like if that's the only prayer you can pray, it's miraculous to be able to fill that and know that. Can I ask a follow up [00:06:00] question? Because I, I love your story that you shared. When you pray for that, just let me fill your love today.

Do you have an example of what that feels like or even looks like? How do you know that prayer was answered? Because it, it's not even throughout my day, it will be heavenly Father, I. Just I, I like, I can't for anything else, just let me fill your love. And it's just that overwhelming piece. Like if you just sit in it.

Mm-hmm. And just stop and ponder. 'cause I don't think I do a good job of like, I'll shoot up a prayer, but then sitting down to really hear an answer I think is a lot harder. Like Belinda said, we get so caught up in, in our world. But if I just pray that, and then just sit in that for a few minutes and wait, like just that overwhelming feeling of love that it just fills up your heart, you know?

Mm-hmm. The warm and fuzzy. Thank you, Jolyn. I think that that prayer in my experience is the quickest prayer God answers. Second is humility. Don't pray for humility. That's the second quickest prayer you'll get answered. But yeah, no, you taught me that a long time ago. Don't get that. Yeah. But number one, you pray for love, you're gonna feel like God.

God is quick to answer that one for sure. So, wow. I also think the more we look for God's love, the more we find it and the easier it is to find. Mm-hmm. Oh, I like that. Especially in light of what we're talking about today, because there's a part in here that could seem a little tough. You see God's love in it.

So that's gonna be fun to apply that when we get to that segment, and I will bring that up again. So thank you, Belinda. Well thank you to both of you. Great observations. I love what the Holy Ghost taught you. That was fantastic. So this is gonna be a really fun discussion, and I'm just wondering now, are you guys ready for a jubilee?

Were you so curious? The one I started it out like that. Like what? Jubilee? Yeah, I'm shocked. What I really want is for you to wear your Texas Jubilee dress during this podcast. Totally. I need to [00:08:00] do that. That's fantastic because listen to me, you guys, these sections are all about a major, like in all caps, Jubilee, I've written the word Jubilee, connecting section 1 37 and 1 38.

So in the next segment we're gonna party and we are gonna find out what exactly this celebration is. We'll do that next.

Segment 2

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Okay. You two, let's think back to your New Year's Eve celebrations that you have done throughout your life or attended. We're gonna have to dig deep for some of us back when you were nine or 10 when it really mattered, right? When you stayed up that late. Yeah. Think back to when you stayed up late for a New Year's Eve celebration.

Oh, we never did my, I'm pretty sure our parents forwarded the clock and went, all right, we're going to bed. We did that one year. My nieces and nephews, we forwarded the clock and went, all right, one year. That's all I've done throughout all parenthood. We did the New York. Yeah. Smart. Absolutely. 10 o'clock.

You bet. 100%. You know what best New Year's Eve I party I ever went to was at Tammy Ax, where she and her roomies threw a casino party. Yeah. That was the best one I've ever been to. Did back in the nineties before it was, you know, taboo. It was so funs by the last time I went to a New Year's party. I love it.

That was a blast. The rest, I'm like, you know, we're playing a, doing a puzzle, eating a cheese ball. Yeah, for sure. Okay. A family. Yeah. So, okay, I want you to think about then the last celebration you went to, or are any of your celebrations? Think. Think right now the countdown begins. All right. And everybody's gathered together and they're counting down, you know, 10, nine, you get to 5, 4, 3, 2, and then the clock strikes midnight.

What generally happens cheering. Yeah, right. So much cheering. In fact, if I was teaching this lesson in my gospel doctrine class, I would make everybody do a countdown. I'd have balloons, I'd have streamers up in my [00:10:00] classroom. Like this is such a fun lesson because this is a lesson of celebration. So turn to section 138 and I'm gonna have you guys mark some celebratory wording that I have overlooked many times, but it's Old Testament wording and it makes me so happy.

So in section 1 38, we're going to read three verses that have the same wording. We're gonna start with verse 18, and I'm just gonna have you guys read, I'll call your name out. So Jolyn, will you please read verse 18. While this vast multitude weighted and conversed rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the son of God appeared declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful highlight, declaring liberty to the captives.

And then let's go to verse 31. And Belinda, can you read that for us? And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel. Let's highlight it there where it says, proclaim liberty to the captives.

There it is again. Liberty to the captives, and then cross-reference that to verse 42. And then Jalyn, will you please read verse 42? Mm-hmm. And Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to then that were bound, were also there.

And highlight right there to proclaim liberty to the captives. And I'm gonna give you another cross-reference for that whole scripture chain. You wanna put Leviticus in the Old Testament? Turn to Leviticus, chapter 25, verse 10. Let's read that verse. And Belinda, will you read that for us? Yes. First I have to get there.

This is when Jolynn has the advantage with her, uh, digital book. She doesn't have to sing the Old Testament song. That's true. I'm Genesis. I'm gonna let you struggle with those two thin pages. Stick together. Alright, 25 10, and [00:12:00] ye shall hollow the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof.

And it shall be a jubilee unto you. And ye shall return every man unto his possession and ye shall return every man unto his family. Okay, highlight that verse. There's the word proclaim in there, and it's gonna be a jubilee. Let me tell you a little bit about what these three verses in 1 38 have to do with this Leviticus.

It's an Old Testament ritual. It's a practice that they did at Old Testament time. In fact, this is gonna be fun 'cause I would love to know your thoughts and comments about this celebration. Okay, so here's what it is. Every seventh year in the law of Moses, you're supposed to let people go free, who've come into bondage or slavery, or who lost property due to debt.

They're all gonna go free and they get their stuff back. Now, the Israelites, they live in this land where it's based on agriculture. So everybody survives because of agriculture. And we, we know this from Old Testament reading, and so everyone's supposed to have a piece of land. And when the children of Israel, they came in, they divided up the land so that every tribe got their land and then they would till it and they would stay the, the land would stay in the family.

So the problem with living in an agricultural society is that their income is seasonal. So they usually have to borrow money to plant their crop, and they can't pay it off until harvest time. And then if you have a really bad year, then you can't pay it off at all, and then you're left into debt. So what happened frequently is the people who couldn't pay off their loans would come into bondage, their land would get seized, and then oftentimes they or their children or their spouse would also be seized and they would go into servitude for the rest of their lives until they could pay off the debt of that land and the money they borrowed.

Isn't that nuts? Yeah. But there's some really good news, because you guys, every seven years, there's this degree of releasing people from bondage. Now, here's how they're released. They can be redeemed if there's a kinsman in the family. Now, a kinsman is like another family member who says, oh, I have enough money.

He's part [00:14:00] of my clan. I will take care of him, and they'll pay it off. But if they don't have a kinsman who can do it, they have to stay in servitude and lose their land and become enslaved people. However, after seven periods of seven years. So go ahead and crunch the numbers on that. Jalyn, you're our mathematician.

What's seven times seven? 49. Nice. Perfect. I am not a mathematician. Don't make me do math on the spot. So every after, after seven periods of seven years, on the next year, which is the 50th year, so you live for this, it's called the Jubilee year. This is where we get the celebration. 50 is jubilee. This is so fun.

Mm-hmm. It's a celebration. And what this does is in the jubilee year, on the day of Yom Kippur, you blow your trumpet and everybody goes free and everybody gets back their land. No questions asked. Full stop. End of story. It is the most jubilation moment I think in the Old Testament where people are like, hooray, we are no longer enslaved.

Our family is finally free. You know? And the sad thing is, is that dad might have died and the brothers are still enslaved paying off the debt, and now 50 years have gone by and they're finally free. They get their family land back. All is well. So when we talk about this idea right here, proclaim liberty to the captives, that's what it's talking about is this day of Jubilee.

This is universal for everybody. So everyone gets it now. Talk to me right now, pros and cons, friend or foe. What do you think about this jubilation or this year of Jubilee? The law. Absolutely. I'm all for it. Should we do it today? Not, there should be some conditions placed on who gets the Jubilee who visit as our, as our financial planner.

Jolyn, I mean, um, I, well I was just thinking like, you know, I, we're not gonna let, I don't wanna like the purge where we gotta lock everything down and who, you know, let's keep the wicked people, the people, the [00:16:00] murderers and the scary people. We're not forgiven that, but debt. It'd be nice. Just wipe it all out.

Mm-hmm. House. Just think if every country did that, you just wouldn't have any. There'd be no, there'd be no debt. No debt. Sure. Your, the value of the dollar. You wouldn't do anything, but whatever. So there are some cons to it then, right? I don't know that our society could, well, sure could handle this year of jubilation.

That's why it's so outdated. We don't celebrate it anymore. I think though, what an amazing example of both justice and of mercy. Ooh, tell me more. And while we were reading, uh, verse 10, I looked at the footnote where it says, and you shall sanctify the 50th year. Like it has that Hebrew word there, which I know you love.

That sanctify then made me think of the sacrament, and then it made me think of Heavenly Father and Jesus. And you know, that really those people who are in servitude, they are abiding by the law of justice. Mm-hmm. They, there was a situation, a circumstance, they couldn't meet their obligations, but how amazing that in that 50th year there is such incredible mercy that all of their debts are forgiven.

And it just makes me think to those verses that Jolyn read and how grateful I am for the atonement of the Savior. And as we think about the different words for him, redeemer, or advocate, um, those were a lot of things that came to mind. And I can only imagine such incredible. Celebration, some of those circumstances why people would've been in servitude were out of their control, and some of those things happened to us and they're out of our control.

But that this is a really great way for us to liken the scriptures to ourselves and to also extend mercy to others. Yes. Which made me think of verse 59 and um, section 1 38, it, it's very clear like after they've paid the penalty for their transgressions Yes. Right. And are washed clean, then you [00:18:00] get a reward.

And also in section 1 37, it talks about the same kind of concept in verse eight nine, for idle. Lord judge all men, according to their works, according to the desires of their hearts. And I liked. Verse eight with it because it's who would have received it with all their hearts, right? Like it's a God is looking upon the heart, right?

To Belinda's point of like, maybe you get stuck in some sort of situation that is just kind of outta your control. But the But the Lord is gonna look to the desire of your heart. Yeah, works are important, but you still get the chance to receive a reward. We're still gonna be like, it's like you get 'em all again.

Yes. Okay. I love how you're starting to connect this idea. I love it. I love all your connections to this Jubilee celebration and then section 1 37 and 1 38. 'cause when you think about the people who were in servitude because of the debts, I love this concept of, I'm sure the desire of their heart was to pay off the debt.

I'm sure they wanted to, but they just couldn't. And don't you love that God allows for that in the great plan of happiness that he takes into account the desires of our hearts and the works and that those who could have, he would allow. There's so many cool connections. And so, Belinda, going off of what you said too about the verses two through four, in the next segment, we're then gonna connect that specific wording to this whole Jubilee celebration.

We'll do that next.

Segment 3

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You guys are on it. This is as great as I hoped it would be. Thank you so much for, for reading these sections so well, I think I've read these sections more in these two weeks than in my whole lifetime. Thank you. This is perfect. Thank you, Belinda. Perfect. Yes, it's exactly right. I'm like, I read every back story.

I read everything. For, for those of you listening, what you wanna know is I [00:20:00] usually give my guests an outline every time to say, okay, here's what we're gonna cover. All I said to them was, you need to know these sections inside and outside because I'm gonna apply some Old Testament stuff and then I want you just to connect the dots.

And they understood the assignment. Like, you guys, no, you said awesome. You said, I want you to read it, read everything about it, know everything about it. Then read it again, read it again, then read it again like you did a good job because this is, you're gonna love this when this comes alive. Now. Okay, so let's go back into section 1 38.

Now, Jaine, you said you read all the backstory. Can you tell us a little bit, or either one of you, Belinda, can you tell us a little bit about why Joseph F. Smith was thinking about the spirit world? Like what's going on in his life to have him even ponder or reflect on second on first Peter, that man is just being hit left and right.

I mean, first of all, world War I. So you got everybody dying Spanish flu pandemic. Yep. Tons of people are dying. And then personally, his son dies. Um, then he has who, he just loved him and I'm sure he loved all his kids, but his son dies. Then his son-in-law gets in an accident and dies. Then the, the wife of the son that, that died, dies.

Yes. Like it's just, and it's all within a short span of time and to me that's even more poignant that, you know, he, he's pondering and reflecting upon the gray and wonderful love made manifest by the father and the son and the coming of the redeemer. Right. I mean, we, we know why he's kind of pondering that and why that would weigh heavily upon his mind.

And Joseph Smith was in the same kind of a situation mm-hmm. When he had the vision in section 1 37. But that's a lot going on. To me, if you can do something to earn a vision like he was there. Yeah. I don't know that that's how it works, but, um, it, [00:22:00] yeah, he was going through a lot. Yeah. Thank you Jolyn. And with all that he's going through, isn't this beautiful to think that the first thing that we have is what you talked to us about in the last segment, Belinda, verses two, three, and four.

Here's what he's reflecting on. And Angeline, you, you brought this up too in our first segment, Belinda, will you read verses two, three, and four for us? And reflecting upon the great atoning sacrifice that was made by the son of God for the redemption of the world and the great and wonderful love made manifest by the father and the son in the coming of the redeemer into the world, that through this atonement and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved.

Okay. Highlight or circle the word redeemer. This is so fitting then because it says right there, the coming of the redeemer, that through his atonement and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved. The cool thing about the word redeemer right here, going back to our story of Jubilee, do you remember what I called the person who could pay off the debt at the seven year period?

The kinsman? Yes. Redeemer in Hebrew is the kinsman and it's the Hebrew word goel. Is that so neat? That's cool. That's cool. So there's another level right here. So section 1 38 is a jubilation. It is a jubilee where the Lord is saying, I'm the kinsman. I will pay off your debt. I'm going to redeem you from being enslaved with whatever it is in your life that's enslaving you and every, and everybody gets it.

Every single person and he's gonna outline in section 1 38 groups of people who are going to get it, two groups, and we'll talk about that in a minute. But let's go back to verse 42 and I have two cross references I want you to put next to verse 42. In verse 42, it says that Isaiah declared prophecy that the redeemer circle the word redeemer right there.

That's the kinsman. The kinsman was anointed to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that were bound were also there. That [00:24:00] Isaiah scripture is found in Isaiah chapter 61 verses one through three. So you can cross reference verse 42, just knowing that's where he says it in Isaiah 61 verses one through three.

Then you wanna put this cross, cross reference Luke chapter four, verses 16 through 30. Because not only did Isaiah say this, but in Luke chapter four verses 16 through 30, this is such a cool story. So the Lord, he, there he is in Jerusalem. And he's in the synagogue and he stands up to read from the scriptures and he's reading before all of these prominent important people.

And he chooses to read Isaiah chapter 61 verses one through three and he reads them in the synagogue. That's what verse 16 tells us. Verse 17 says, and was delivered unto him the book of Isaias, which is Isaiah. He opened the book and then he started to read and verse. There it is, verses 18, 19, and 20. And Belinda, will you read verse 18 for us?

Yes. This is my favorite. It has like seven colors around it. Oh, I'm gonna ask why it's your favorite after you read it. That's so cool. Okay. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised.

Keep going. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and he closed the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down and the, and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. Okay. Why is that your favorite? Why do you have it marked? I love the imagery of this. I think the first thing is that it talks about healing the brokenhearted.

And this is funny actually, in my last podcast, like I have studied having a whole heart and a broken heart a lot because I think that there have been times that have been really painful in my life and that oftentimes I need to, I. I'm stubborn and I need [00:26:00] to, uh, not necessarily question why things have happened, but to really rely on the Lord.

And I think it's one of your podcasters who has said like, that trials can either make us better or bitter. Mm-hmm. And that I want to choose for those to be opportunities that I rely on the Lord. I love that it says to preach deliverance to the captives. That's the beautiful imagery there. And then, uh, when it talks about setting sight to the blind, and again, we have that word of liberty, and I just think it's one of those opportunities where we can liken the scripture to ourselves and to slow down and to realize that we have gone through trials and tribulation and that the Lord is there for us and that we just need to soften our heart to receive him and let him in.

Oh, I think that's awesome. That's the biggest mic drop in history. Like I. It's the attorney in me, I think is just the biggest mic drop ever. Oh. It just gets up and like they're fulfilled. Yeah. Yeah. I mean he just, he sits down. Yeah. It's, I mean, it is so cool that the savior then is like, it's me by the way.

Mm-hmm. That's me that I just read. Yeah. And. They freak out. Like they're like, whoa. So blasphemous all of that. And here we have in Dr. Cabinets 1 38 Isaiah saying, no. He said he was gonna do it, and here he is doing it. That's what this whole vision is about, is about how the kinsman is going to proclaim liberty to the captives and every one.

That's all of us, every single one of us. So the beautiful thing about this is that here we are, we're on earth, and he has created this genuine jubilee year for every single one of us. And you can just imagine that all of them in the spirit world are counting down five. Four, three. You know how exciting that the savior, yes, he was crucified, horrible, but he's coming here.

He's coming here and this is gonna be the most awesome moment. So let's look at what they must have been experiencing when he came. So there's [00:28:00] two groups of people that will be able to have Liberty declared to them. Here's the first group. It's verses 12 through 15. So let's go there and as we read these verses, I want you two to highlight or circle any words that seem like they could be connected to Jubilee or jubilation.

Like what is it about this group that makes them the ones counting it down? Here we go. And I'm gonna read these verses. And there we're gathered together in one place, an innumerable company of the spirits of the just. And I love that we've talked all year about who are just men. I remember in section 76 we laughed 'cause it said just men.

And we're like, is what does that mean? Does it, is it specific or is it just men? And we're gonna find out the definition of just men right here. They had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality. And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, had suffered tribulation in their redeemer's name.

All these had departed the mortal life firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection. Through the grace of God, the father and his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, I be held that they were filled with joy and gladness and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand and they were assembled, awaiting the advent of the son of God into the spirit world to declare their redemption from the bands of death.

And then we want these verses starting in 18, and we're gonna go 18 and 19. While this vast multitude weighted and conversed rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful. And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall and from individual sins on conditions of repentance.

And then 23, and the saints rejoiced in their redemption and bowed the knee and acknowledged the son of God as their redeemer and deliverer from death and the chains of hell. Their countenance is shown and the radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them [00:30:00] and they sang praises unto his holy name.

Okay, what'd you mark? Lot of rejoicing, joy, redemption. Mm-hmm. Glad this. One thing that I marked that just made me slow down a little bit was in verse 19, and it was looking at what are the four things that the Lord is preaching and like slowing down to think about those. Oh, let's label them. Belinda, I love that you pointed out.

There's four of them. Will you read that verse for us? And there he preached to them one, the everlasting gospel. The second one is the doctrine of the resurrection. The third is the redemption of mankind from the fall. And then the fourth is also the, uh, redemption from individual sins on the conditions of repentance.

Fantastic. The, the beautiful thing for me about this is when I thought like, here we are on earth, right? We're waiting for this jubilee year, and here are these people having their jubilee moment and how the kinsman, the redeemer, will deliver us from every single kind of bondage. And it made me think of all the things that we, we find ourselves in bondage too.

And I wrote like addiction, pornography, drugs, cigarettes, oppression, depression, anxiety, physical health issues, like everything, the whole umbrella, the Redeemer of Israel is going to take care of it for us. And we just have to be just men. And just women, right? Just believing in his name, proclaiming his name and the thought of these people assembled waiting for him to come.

I just can imagine that's the countdown of all countdowns. So exciting. In verse 50, it just said, for the dead had looked upon their long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage. Yes. And so like even that, right? Like I even thought of those people that are up there that are like that, you know, prior to, to Christ coming, right?

Mm-hmm. We're just like, [00:32:00] man, I just. And he's talking about all the great people that were up there. He is saying Daniel and Malachi and Elias, and I mean, he's seeing all of these people that were up there and it's like for the deadhead looked upon. So even those people had looked upon the long absence of their spirit from their bodies as a bonded, what does that teach you about our bodies then?

Does that change your perspective? Yeah, I was just gonna say like, what a, what a gift your body is, right? And there's things that we can accomplish in the body here on Earth that is harder to do. Or you know, we need somebody to do it via proxy for us. On the other side, like even the great, all these people that he's saying are up there and I'm like, oh, I never thought of it.

That they were like, okay, hurry up. Like we want, we wanna get back to our body. But like the thought of their captivity is that they don't have a body. Can you imagine counting down, going, I can't believe I get my body back. I'm so excited. I want my body back. I mean, if we thought of our bodies that way now.

Because a lot of people are like, I could do without, I know. Like how exciting changes perspective. Oh, I think that's great. Yeah, it really does. It really does. Awesome. Jolyn. Okay, so that's the first group of people that had the countdown waiting for him and that was so exciting. In the next segment we're gonna talk about a second group of people that the Lord is going to deliver and their situation is a little bit different.

We'll do that next

Segment 4

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turn to one Peter chapter three verses 18 through 20. And maybe you don't really have to turn there, you just have to know that that is what Joseph F. Smith is reading and thinking and pondering on. And it's actually in section 1 38. So we can read these verses. They're in verses seven through 10. So let's go to section 1 38, bracket off seven through 10.

And here's what he's reading and we're gonna dive into these verses. So Jolyn, can you read all of those for us? For Christ [00:34:00] also ha once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit. I wish also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was preparing wherein few that is eight souls were saved by water for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit.

Perfect. So he is pondering on this, this idea of a spirit world and he sees these two groups of people. We saw the group of people that were rejoicing and waiting for him, but there's a group of people right here in this verse where it talks about how he went to preach to them that are dead. And this concept of these group of people, he's like, well wait, did he go to see all the people or just part of the people?

And we're gonna get the answer to that. So let's go into verse 20 and 21 and we're gonna mark a couple of words. And so again, what we, I want you two to do is what we did last time. Mark words that describe maybe why these people or what these people are experiencing. Okay? We have a second group of people.

So verse seven says, for Christ also have suffered for sins. The just so cir circle or highlight the word, just that word means Jesus Christ. Yeah. So Christ for is another way to redo that is on behalf of, so Christ, on behalf of the unjust is us. It's every single human being who ever lived on earth. And so he's going to do that for everybody.

But then he also went and preached unto the spirits in prison, highlight prison. And we're gonna do this. Highlight prison there. Go to verse 28, highlight the word prison. It's in verse 28. And then you wanna highlight prison in verse 42. There it is again. Prison. How can you do this where I don't even, like, I read it through all those times and go, oh, I didn't know that it [00:36:00] said, you know, prison that many times.

Or liberty to the captives that many times. I know. Look at, well that's, it's just what Belinda said at the very beginning because all of a sudden the eyes of my understanding were open. Like how, where was I for all these Old Testament wording before? I know. I know. It really works. Really works. Okay, so let's talk about this.

We're gonna talk about who's in prison and what exactly does this mean. So let's go to some verses that describe what this prison is like. Here we are in section 1 38. We're gonna read verses 20 through 22, and then we'll go to a couple others. So Belinda, will you read 20 through 22? But unto the wicked, he did not go.

And among the ungodly and the unrepentant who had defiled themselves while in the flesh, his voice was not raised, neither did the rebellious who rejected the testimonies and the warnings of the ancient prophets. Behold his presence nor look upon his face where, where these were darkness, rain. But among the righteous, there was peace.

Ooh, where these were darkness rained. Now go to verses 27 and 28 and 29, and let's read a little bit more about this place. Angeline, will you read 27 through 29? Mm-hmm But his ministry among those who were dead was limited to the brief time intervening between the crucifixion and his resurrection. And I wondered at the words of Peter wherein he said that the son of God preached unto the spirits in prison who sometime were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah and how it was possible for him to preach to those spirits and perform the necessary labor among them in so short a time.

And as I wondered, my eyes were opened and my understanding quickened and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth to teach them. I'll pause there 'cause we'll find out where he went. But let's talk about then all the people who are then in the spirit world who are in prison.

'cause this is kind of weird. So I have the these two really great quotes so we can define what is prison? What are we talking about here? [00:38:00] Here's one of the best explanations I've found on Spirit Prison. The Apostle Peter referred to the Postmortal spirit world as prison, which it is for some in the spirit.

Prison are the spirits of those who have not yet received the gospel of Jesus Christ. These spirits have agency and may be enticed by both good and evil. If they accept the gospel and the ordinances performed for them in the temples, they may leave the spirit prison and dwell in paradise. So right there, we know there's a paradise in a prison.

And I know in our brains that might be like, that's so unfair. Like people who never got a chance to hear are in prison. 'cause our earthly word prison is so like, you know, three hots in a cot and you're never getting out. But it's, I think it's just more of an area, a frame of mind. We're just using wording here.

So we have these two sections, paradise and Prison, but then there's a sub place in prison. So go ahead, Jalyn. Also in the Spirit prison are those who rejected the gospel after it was preached to them either on Earth or in the Spirit prison. These spirits suffer in a condition known as hell. They have removed themselves from the mercy of Jesus Christ who said, behold, I God have suffered these things for all that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself even God, the greatest of all to tremble because of pain and to bleed at every poor and to suffer both body and spirit after suffering for their sins, they will be allowed through the atonement of Jesus Christ to inherit the lowest degree of glory, which is the ESAL Kingdom.

Thank you. So we have paradise, we have prison, and then we have a little subpart in prison. Uh, my mission president used to call it Hotel Hell, where people check in, rarely check out. It's really hard because these people have to overcome such a level of pride and arrogancy and a willingness to just accept and lean into the atonement.

But they have [00:40:00] to be for, they have to go through their own experience of repenting. Isn't that sound terrible? A tender mercy for me is that I've been going back through and listening to President Oak's talks. Hmm. And this week I happen to stumble upon a talk called Trust in the Lord. And it is from October of 2019.

And in this talk, president Oaks cites Section 1 38, like the most of any other, um. General conference talks, and there's a part that he says that I think is really important. He says, there is so much we do not know that only sure reliance is to trust in the Lord and his love for his children. And he goes on to say, the father and the son's work of salvation continues there.

Our savior initiated the work of declaring liberty to the captives. And that work continues as worthy and qualified messengers continue to preach the gospel, including repentance to those who still need its cleansing effect. And I think that that quote goes to show us that it's true on both sides of the veil.

Mm-hmm. That we still need that. And while we may have questions or may not have a perfect clarity of everything, that it's really important for us to understand the nature of God and that when we have questions about. The who or the how or like the exactness of how things are. Mm-hmm. That when we know that God loves us, that it will all work out and that we may not be able to figure it all out with our mortal minds, but that God loves us and it will work out.

Oh, I read that same, I'm so glad you shared that. You read that too. I read that same talk. Yeah. You're just kind of led to that when you, when you're looking at section 1 38. 'cause Belinda's, right, like at the, at the whole talk really about that. And I've been shocked at how many things I've run across here.

Just since President Oaks was [00:42:00] made the profit of how many times now his name is coming up and like all the stuff I'm studying recently, like it's, it's fascinating but also, you know. God loves you, but there will come a point because I also know people with the Eat, drink and be merry, you know? Well, whatever.

My kids will be my stuff for me when I'm gone. Like they'll, they'll, they'll do my ordinances for me. Sure. And I, I remember thinking like, well God, that's kind of a big risk to take, right? Because you can read that and go, well, okay, but surely those people who are being preached to in the spirit prison have got a little more perspective than the people down here.

And why wouldn't they, you know, accept that? And we just, like Belinda said, yeah, quoting, uh, president Oaks, we just don't know, right. Like Right. Um, we don't know if these are people that you know are just prideful and they've dug in and it's like, I don't. I don't care what you're, you know, even, even I'm on this side of the veil now and still learning the same stuff and I still don't believe it.

Um, and I, I can remember teaching every time I would teach this lesson and section 76 to students, it would just bring on so many questions about, well, what about my uncle who yeah. Has been married and divorced and sleeps with his girlfriend and yada, yada yada. Yeah. And he served a mission. Like, what about that guy?

And I would always be like, okay, let's just stop for a minute and take a breath because we don't know everything. And I would always go back to section 1 37 verse nine. I mean, that was my favorite verse to quote all the time. And we've, we've read it and I love it because in, in verse nine, it says, I, the Lord will judge all men according to their works.

According to the desire of their hearts. There's just that we, we really don't give that verse enough credit. Yeah. I think the desire of our hearts is going to weigh so much. And, and we use that in tongue, in cheek almost sometimes here in this earth life. But I wonder if we [00:44:00] really would really look at someone and go, oh, but the desire of their heart, it might weigh more than the stupid things they've done.

And so I love that God will do that for us. I think it's that whole where your heart is, what you've treasured, what we've made as mm-hmm. What we've made as god's in our life, above and beyond Heavenly Father. Right? Like the idols that we have. Um. I mean, I look at stuff like, sometimes I'm like, okay, I love my house.

Like I'm, I'm putting that as an idol. I'm making this as a, like, we can make money an idol. You can make the internet, you could, um, you could make your kids and they're sporting like you could make anything an idol in this world, right? Yeah. And so I really, we say, looks on the heart, but I think our works are just the evidence of where our heart has been.

I don't think it's a like, get out of jail free card. 'cause like, oh, but he was a good guy in, in the grand scheme, God's plan is eternal. Yeah. And he does love us so much and is in, again, relentless pursuit of us and better to claim the blessings and, and show where our heart is now. While we're in the body.

Mm-hmm. Then to kind of wait and go, okay, well you know, I got a chance in Spirit Prison. Well, let me throw this to you. Yeah. So one of my favorite quotes of all time is in Jesus the Christ Uhhuh, and it's in chapter three and it's footnote three. Mm-hmm. So unless you reading the footnotes, you're gonna miss it.

Those footnotes and we'll, we'll throw this in to section 1 38 for our discussion, and this is so, such a great way to end this part of Spirit Prison. It says, in the judgment with which we shall be judged. All the conditions and circumstances of our lives shall be considered. Now listen to this, the inborn tendencies due to heredity, the effective environment, whether [00:46:00] conducive to good or evil, the wholesome teachings of youth, or the absence of good instruction, these and all other contributory elements must be taken into account in the rendering of a just verdict as to the soul's guilt or innocence.

And so I love that idea when we have these places, paradise, prison and Hell. So in the next segment then let's talk about what's going on in Prison slash Hell and what the Lord did being in that short amount of time that we've finished with in verse 29. What did he do in that short amount of time to make sure that everyone had a chance to be liberated?

He's gonna liberate the captives. We'll find out in the next segment.

Segment 5

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Okay. What in the world is going on in prison then? What's going on in the spirit world? I asked Belinda to do this for us, Belinda. How in the world was he able to make sure that everyone had a chance in that short amount of time that we ended with what's going on? He then gives a force of missionaries.

So not only do we do missionary work on this side, but we do missionary work on the other side. And while I was really studying these scriptures, I had the opportunity to go to the temple and I think about when we set like a baptism date with someone. Physically on earth, we can say, you know, a week, a month, whatever the case may be.

But that when we are thinking about these verses, those people may be waiting centuries, millennia for us to do their work. Um, but that there is still the opportunity for the Lord to liberate the captives. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. This is so neat to think that. I love that idea that we set baptismal dates, but every time we go to the temple, it's setting a baptismal date for somebody on the other side.

Or an endowment date. Yeah. Or an initiatory date. That is Belinda. I'm never gonna take Temple attendance the same again. That is so cool. [00:48:00] But I think about how much work as a missionary, how much work I had to go into planning someone's baptism. Wow. Very cool. That I love, I loved the language of this, right?

Because to me it is military language. Oh, right. Like, it's like armoring up, right? Like he organizes forces. Mm-hmm. Right? Like, like we're his forces and he commissioned them to go forth and to declare the acceptable day and to proclaim liberty. Like these are, it's very much like an army going to liberate the captives and we gotta armor up and, and go in there, right?

Like, so it. Just as much on that side of the veil. As, as you know, we are on this side of the veil, as of putting on the full armor of God. Very cool. I really loved verse 33. It says, these were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and that it takes faith no matter where you are in your journey.

Mm-hmm. And that it, it, it still takes the Holy Ghost. It still takes that experience and that all of us really need that remission for sins. Yes. It's, it's article of Faith for. It totally is. That's such a fun one too, because when you put that word vicarious in there, they're taught article of faith number four, except for vicarious.

Vicarious, yeah. Someone's gotta do it for you. I imagine them going, but when and who? And you know, how long did they have to wait? Are they anxious? Are they, come on, please. Somebody do my work for me. Will you just get to the temple? I know you sense this urgency. Like that word vicarious for me is this urgency of Get it, please.

Will someone please do my work? So they're taught verse 33. I love verse 34. And they're taught all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but [00:50:00] live according to God in the Spirit. And then verse 35.

And so it was made known unto among the dead, both small and great. Highlight that when you read that in scriptures, it's scripture wording for everybody, small and great. As, as far as like size goes small and great, title, small and great financial, small and great, whatever it is that phrasing is, every single person has the opportunity to be able to be taught and to be redeemed.

And then I love how Gillian, you brought up in verse 30 that he organized his forces. I have highlighted, he appointed messengers and then verse 31 tells us they're chosen messengers. But then I love in verses 38, all the way till you get to verse 53, he tells us by name, who some of these messengers are.

Was that so much fun? Who did you notice? Could you imagine? You're like, I'm called to this mission and my district leader is Mother Eve. Read that verse for us. This is so cool. 39. I love that. Of course we loved that one. So 39 and our glorious mother Eve with many of her faithful daughters who have lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God.

Oh, that makes my heart so happy. Those are your sister training leaders. There you go. I, I, you, you reminded me, you know, in all of the reading of this where you said like, how anxious are these people and how, how long have they had to wait and, you know, millennia, like how long have they been waiting? And in part of reading this, I read, I don't know if you did, um, Susa, what was her name?

Suse Young Gates. Suse Young Gates. She's Brigham Young's daughter. Okay. And, but she grew up with, with Joseph F. Smith and she was. She was a gangster for, for, for temple work. I mean, she was like very much, she was a well-respected female in [00:52:00] relief society and she did so much genealogy work and really advocated for teaching of how to do genealogy.

And she published this big 600 page book on it and then was really an advocate because at one point it was like, well, you know, when they put the lessons in the release Society manual, like that's a little too much. Like let's kind of back it off and just kind of get the spirit of the whole thing. And she was like, you.

We can't save spirits with the spiritual thing. We have to have the data. We have to have the information to get the names to do it. And she said in one of her things of like, these people could see an angel of the Lord and it's not gonna get 'em, convince 'em to these businessmen and these women, like the importance and the urgency of temple work and, and how we need to.

And that was, you know, in 1918 or prior, right, where she was just such an advocate for, um, doing genealogy and getting the actual data for like, we gotta get the names we gotta get and we need to teach people how to do this. So even when the church curriculum is kinda like, well it's a little too much, a little too heavy.

Let's back off on that. 'cause people don't understand. She was like, no, like, yeah, like front front, you can, you're, we're not gonna save one soul if we don't know the soul. If we don't know the data behind it, so yeah. I think there's so many ways to participate in this gospel of restoration. One of the things that I have on my phone is the indexing app.

Mm-hmm. And like if I'm sitting at a movie waiting for it to start, and it's been really cool how it's been a missionary tool for someone to ask what it is that I'm doing and to just share a little snippet of that. But that if someone doesn't have the opportunity to [00:54:00] serve inside the temple, that there are ways outside to do, uh, preparation, whether that's through something like indexing or family history work.

And I actually have a really good friend who is serving a mission at, um, the Family History Center. And it's cool to hear the amount of stories. And I'll never forget I had the opportunity to do some indexing and then the name was something a little bit off and I like slowed down and took note of it.

And I think I was at the temple maybe six months later doing baptisms for the dead. And I. Heard that name and I had to open my eyes so that I could see the name, the location, the birthday, and it was someone that I had done indexing for. Wow. And I just, it pierced my soul, like all the warm fuzzies that the work that we do is really important.

And it's not just for abstract people mm-hmm. But that it is for people who are waiting and that they're really reliant on the fact that we have bodies on this earth and that that's something that we need to, and that they're pleading and waiting for us to do. And it's just so important for us to, like what I said in the first section, to just slow down.

Mm-hmm. And even if that means scheduling time to go to the temple, but to really make it a priority and a commitment and to do our very best to keep that regular appointment with the Lord. I love that you say that we, we have a staying in, in the corporate world, you gotta go slow to go fast. Mm-hmm.

Right. And so like. If you slow down and, and we're really getting it right and we're having, like, if, if you were just plowing through that and, and you know, which we all do, we're all guilty of that. Like, what a huge moment you would've missed, right? Mm-hmm. Like that person was waiting for you to do it and to get to the temple.

And, um, I, you know, I, I think our spiritual progression would probably be a lot faster if we would slow down. Yeah. Um, in the [00:56:00] learning of it and the, and the ordinances and, and all of that stuff that we're doing. You know, both of you what you've shared, it's so cool because if you look through verses 38 through 53 and highlight the names of all of these chosen people who are preaching in the gospel, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the spirits, and then you get to verse 50.

Now the in context of what we've talked about, maybe the reason why they felt like not having their bodies was bondage is because I wonder if they're thinking I could do so much more with my body. Right? Like they are waiting for somebody to deliver them who has a body because they don't. And now I'm kind of thinking, oh, that's even a deeper layer of why they want their bodies back so much because they can't do what they know needs to be done and they're waiting on us.

Yeah. And so as you continue to read all of these names of people, then you get to verse 55 and 56 and the he says, I observed that there were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God. And then next to verse 56, I want you to write. And in the next segment we're gonna discuss how this first connects to all of us and what our role is in this Jubilee celebration.

We'll do that next.

Segment 6

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Let's read verse 56. Belinda, will you read that for us? Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of the spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men. Okay? Underline many others.

That's you. That is you. Absolutely. I love this concept that we were in the spirit world and we got to have lessons. We were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord. Isn't that cool that we received our first lessons? That is what I love. We used to teach on my mission that when your investigator fills the spirit and they go, I feel like I've known this.

I go, oh yeah, [00:58:00] verse 56. You'll learned it in the world of spirits. You've always known this. So here we receive our first lessons in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard. Put a box around vineyard. This word is so significant. So what you wanna know about the word vineyard in the scriptures when you read it, is the word vineyard is a symbol for a place of spiritual labor in the house of Israel.

And the vineyard is our specific place in the field. When you read about a field in scripture, the field represents the world, but a vineyard is your specific place where you're going to labor for God. So Christ is the Lord of the vineyard and we are his servants. And I think this is so cool because then you go back to that verse and you're reading it to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.

Now, I had these two ladies watch a video about what it takes to make a vineyard work. And I wanna know this from you. Of all the things the Lord could compare his work to and where we're working, why does he compare it to working in a vineyard as opposed to like pulling weeds in a garden or you know, working in like with grain.

Why is he saying a vineyard? I really like the imagery of a plant. I'm a crazy plant lady. I told you I like to garden. Um, but I love, I couldn't help but think about Jacob chapter five and Jacob chapter six. Yep. And you think about it, that those plants in order to produce fruit need to be pruned. They need to have the dead cut out.

And it can be something that seems like it's really painful to the plant, um, or that it's painful to us, but that we need it to learn and to grow. I also like that it's referring to a vineyard because grapes I think are actually one of the hardest things to grow. And there's a lot of science. There's a lot that goes into it.

And that it's not just nilly willy, but that it has a lot of plan and intentionality. It seems like [01:00:00] grapes and vineyards, whether it's olives or grapes, like it seems like those are growing worldwide, right? Like it seems like even in the old world, maybe that's just 'cause I always picture, you know, people with their great columns and their olive, their, you know, their, their grapes around.

But, um, it also because there's so much symbolism of the grafting in and the mature versus the non mature and what kind of fruit is produced from a mature branch as opposed to a really young branch. Mm-hmm. And how you need that maturity to help the plant produce the kind of fruit that will make the best product.

I was surprised to learn the timing of picking grapes. Even when he picked it in the video, then he described how it's supposed to feel and if it doesn't feel that way mm-hmm. I mean, we have a garden at my house and you just know when it's ready to pull a tomato when it's red and, and you can even let it sit on your, you know, and get a little more red.

But a grape is so fickle, like it just, if you pick it at the wrong time, it's no good. I just, my mind was blown by that video about a vineyard would be so hard to work into. Yeah. Not to mention the spiders, 'cause they love to live in there. Black widows, they live in the grapes like, no thank you. There's all these pests and crazy stuff in there.

And I just think that must be one of the most arduous places to work is in a vineyard. And there's so much trickiness to it. And so everything that we've shared here, I love this idea. Labor in his vineyard, I should say. So for the salvation of the souls of men, that is a tricky work. That is hard It, it is laborious.

Yeah. As people, we're very complex. Mm-hmm. And so we are the fruit, we're we come from the branches. Yeah. And he talked about, I mean, he is talking about in the context of wine Right. And he, he [01:02:00] squished the grape and what was the skin like and how squishy was the grape. And then even he put the seeds in his mouth, which I never thought I was shocked.

And he like, yeah. Shocked. And then he like rubbed him against the roof of his mouth. And, and then even once wine is produced, you have all these sommeliers and like the different flavors and blah, blah, all this stuff. Right. But like, we are also very complex people and, and people have been planted in different places of the world and different vineyards and have had different experiences and we're picked at a wrong time or Yeah.

You know, not picked soon enough. Right. So there's, this is kinda what we're. What we're left with and, and, but not one is any less significant or insignificant when we're looking at the whole big vineyard picture. Because I kind of like grapes if they're green. I like it more firm. Grape. I like it. But if you're making wine, that's not the grape you want.

Right. But I want a crisp, fresh green. Oh yeah. And I, and I want it without seeds. Don't put seeds even in it. So like, it takes all kinds of kinds, I guess. Right. And we need to, to meet people where they're at in the vineyard. That made me think of across reference, it is in Jacob chapter six, verses four and five.

It says, and how merciful is our God unto us? For he remembered the house of Israel, both roots and branches, and he stretches forth his hand unto them all day long and they are a stiff, naked, and again saying people, but as many as will not harden their hearts, shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I be see each of you in the words of soberness, that you would repent and come with a full purpose of heart and cleave unto God as he cleve it [01:04:00] unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of day heart and not your hearts. Wow. Oh, that's a great cross reference.

It just makes me think like God is in the business of redeeming people no matter how hard that is, and he will take anybody who's willing to be a servant in that vineyard and that that's a hard job. Yet he's saying, listen, I need you. I need Belinda, I need Jalyn. I need all of you to index while you're waiting for a movie to start to serve in a little branch.

Jalyn's young woman's president for four girls to serve in your part of the vineyard and help these four little sweet women who only you will know when the plucking is the right time. Only you will know what these sweet little grapes of yours need. I just, I love the beauty of this. Yeah. They've been planted in very different ground than I was planted in.

And I like your grape thing, Jolyn. 'cause I like a green grape too. I don't have any use for any other kind of grape, but I love that there's so many different types and the Lord's like, I like all grapes. Like I like them all. I can do, I can, I'll do whatever I want with them. Like seeds in my grapes. Yeah.

He's like, I can even use grapes that have seeds in 'em. Belinda, why did that gross you out with the seed part? I don't like that texture, but I'm very picky about my grapes. They have to be a certain texture. Yes. Uh, but I, I loved it. I loved that It's, you know, every time that I am eating grapes, I'm going to be thinking about these sections.

And like I said, I have never read these sections as much as I have in preparation for this. I mean, just in thinking of like the people we serve and the people that we're called to suit up armor up and mm-hmm. And be sent out and preach. It's our job just to love as God would love. Yeah, right. I don't have the hard job of judging.

I don't need to do any of that. I just get to be the one who recognizes that [01:06:00] these people are, they're in very different circumstances than I was. And it's not my job to go in and be like, I'm gonna make you just like me. And that's all I think that all of us can ever want, right? Is that those we serve and those whom were, we're called to, to preach, to just feel the the pure love of Christ from us.

Yeah. I think that's the best thing to hope for. I love agree. It makes me think of a quote, I think it's from Spencer w Kimble that says, God does notice us, but it is often through another that he meets our needs. Yep. And no matter whether it's something big or something small, um, isn't it also President Kimball's wife that said to never suppress a generous thought, like no matter what it is to ensure that we're there and that we are serving others.

And that's the whole plan. That's how God shows his love and his mercy for us on both sides of the veil. I think that's what this section has taught us he's doing on both sides. And I love how he ends in verse 60, Joseph F. Smith. Such a simple little lending. Belinda, we read verse 60. He says, thus was the vision of the redemption of the dead revealed to me an I bear record.

And I know that this record is true through the blessing of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, even so, amen. I I love that, that this record is true. I will add my testimony to that. I do know that this record is true, and from this discussion today, I have learned so much more about the spirit world and what it looks like for everybody.

And I'm so thankful this was included in the doctrine and covenants. It opens our eyes and our understanding, just like we learned at the very beginning when you shared that. And I thought that was so perfect. The eyes of our understanding were open today as we discussed this. So thank you ladies. Let the countdown begin.

It's already begun actually. 3, 2, 1 Jubilee celebration. Woo. This is so fun. Woo woo. So woo, thanks for joining me. This was great. Okay. Gather your thoughts and I just wanna know, what is your takeaway or what eternal [01:08:00] truth did you learn as you studied this section and as we discussed it today? One thing that came to my remembrance is like, as I talked about President Oaks and how we don't know everything.

Mm-hmm. I think about when I was young, my parents got divorced and my parents had a cancellation of ceiling and I was 11 and I was really confused and I didn't know all of the, like technicalities of what that meant. And it was a great opportunity for me to really learn more about the nature of God and to know how much God loves us.

And that, uh, this section helped answer so many questions and sometimes people may perceive it as a negative thing to have a question about a church. Doctrine or a scripture or understanding, but we have this entire section because of a question that President Joseph F. Smith had and also the effort that he put in to help study and to help learn, and that it's important for each of us to have a personal witness.

I was just thinking like as we've had a change in our prophet that we're, we have the opportunity to receive personal revelation and a witness that the priesthood is rule and that President Oaks is the prophet to lead and guide us now during this specific season. Amen. I agree. Thank you. Yeah. And if you haven't read that 2019 Talk Good from President Oaks, go read it.

It's real good. For me, it was three times in that section. I did not know that, that it says. To proclaim liberty to the captives. And anytime the Lord repeats himself, I think you, you gotta pay attention. So I think that's, that's our job, right? And that's, that's what Christ did. That's how he showed us to do it.

And what a gift. [01:10:00] Like what mercy? Because like you said, what am I captive to what, what do I need liberty from? I just think there's, that is such a great, a great phrase and all those different meanings to that. Very cool, very cool. Jolyn. Thank you. Mine was first Jolyn when you talked about praying to know that God loves you.

I love that you shared that moment with us. I felt the spirit that was so powerful. Very cool. So thank you for doing that. Mm-hmm. And then Belinda, I loved it so much how you started us out. When you read that Joseph f Smith's eyes were open, his eyes of his understanding were open. That was a great way to start this whole thing out.

And then you ended by showing us how your eyes were open and that you had so many of your answers were given to you by studying Section 1 38 and how you said more than once you studied the section more than you've ever studied a section. But you are a witness of that truth that when you really dive in and, and you, that seemed to be your theme.

When you take the time to slow down and read and ponder and reflect, you can gain so much knowledge. And so thank you for sharing that with us. That seemed to be the theme of your whole comments today, and I loved it. So thank you for sharing that with us and that God loves us Jolyn, because you're right.

He does. So, thanks ladies. Thanks, Tam. Thank you.