August 14, 2011
Good evening sisters. What a wonderful Sacrament Meeting we enjoyed today. Thanks to Luone and her children for the wonderful musical number.
THOUGHT: “You have to be committed to the relationship. You might not always feel committed to the person—sometimes the person is not someone you want to be around for a while. But the idea of marriage and family is much bigger than how we individually feel at any given moment.”
(Quote from Family Focus, ' Strategies for Sacred Living'. 'Intentionally living five key principles can help your family flourish' by M. Sue Bergin BYU Magazine Summer 2011)
Thanks to Steffanie Garces for the wonderful Cooking RS Activity Thursday night. The recipes are posted on our RS Blog. Here is our link: http://manila12thwardrs.blogspot.com/ Sarah has done an amazing job with our blog. Check it out.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- BYU Campus Education Week August 15-19.
- Father-Son Outing August 26 and 27.
- Coming up September 10th is our Ward Day of Service from 8:00-noon.
- Coming up September 16th. Ward Temple Night.
BIRTHDAYS: August 18th Angie Gardner
Our lesson today was presented by Amy Smart who was substituting for Amy Waldron. Please keep the Waldrons and her dad in your prayers.
Eternal Marriage Lesson 38
I am so grateful for Relief Society, because I know that you sisters have ideas and comments that contribute greatly to our lessons. Our lesson today is on Eternal Marriage and we are actually celebrating marriage in our ward. We have had one recent Marriage and will be having two marriages this week. Marriage is a blessing especially when it is associated with Eternal Marriage.
President Kimball: “We have no choice … but to continue to hold up the ideal of the Latter-day Saint family. The fact that some do not now have the privilege of living in such a family is not reason enough to stop talking about it. We do discuss family life with sensitivity, however, realizing that many … do not presently have the privilege of belonging or contributing to such a family. But we cannot set aside this standard, because so many other things depend upon it.”
Spencer W. Kimball (Special Women's Fireside, Sept. 1978)
Loved Amy's lesson about family. None of us live in a perfect family. It's all part of mortality. Today we will focus on the blessings that come from living those eternal principles that are part of the doctrine of Eternal Marriage. What the Lord has presented to us. Why Eternal Marriage is a blessing.
Quote read by Kaelie: “Adam and Eve were married by God before there was any death in the world. They had an eternal marriage. They taught the law of eternal marriage to their children and their children's children. As the years passed, wickedness entered the hearts of the people and the authority to perform this sacred ordinance was taken from the earth. Through the Restoration of the gospel, eternal marriage has been restored to earth.”
What do we learn here? That Eternal Marriage was established through Adam and Eve until the Apostasy when the doctrine was taken away.
What is the Lord's doctrine of Eternal Marriage?
Janet: Priesthood ordinances
Darla: It's between man and woman.
Shanae: It's the key to exaltation
Janet: It's the highest level in the Celestial Kingdom
It's based on faithfulness. What does it mean when we say if we do not keep our covenants, it doesn't work?
Francesca: We can be happy as long as we keep the covenants, but if the covenants are broken, then the marriage can fall apart.
Importance of covenants
Kaelie:
Eternal Increase
Nichole: All of this is offer in a temple only.
Only in the temple
Thank you. That is the Key.
Pat J read Quote: “Not only must an eternal marriage be performed by the proper priesthood authority, but it must also be done in one of the holy temples of our Lord. The temple is the only place this holy ordinance can be performed.”
Why is it important to know that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God?
Cathy M: We went to a sealing and the sealer said that we came her to have a body. When Mike and I got engaged, we understood that together we had a purpose of why we are here.
Lynette: In this day and age, we are faced with the challenge of same sex marriage. We have a need to be more powerful as a people to combat those things that aren't right.
Quote: “Many people in the world consider marriage to be only a social custom, a legal agreement between a man and a woman to live together. But to Latter-day Saints, marriage is much more. Our exaltation depends on marriage, along with other principles and ordinances, such as faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. We believe that marriage is the most sacred relationship that can exist between a man and a woman. This sacred relationship affects our happiness now and in the eternities.”
How does the Lord's view of marriage differ from the world? My family and I went to visit Michael's parent in Maine. His mother joined the church when he was 3 years old, his father was in the military and he joined 5 years later. She was searching for more than what religion she had. Her next door neighbor had a sticker on her car that said: “Happiness is Family Home Evening”. We and Michael's family are the only members of the church. His parents don't live in Maine anymore but since they were going there to visit the rest of the family, we decided we would go also, so we could see grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was fun to be with them. Friday morning I had a discussion with my mother-in-law about marriage. Some of the young couples were living together. One girl said that since they had not lived together yet, they weren't quite sure if marriage was the thing to do yet. This is the norm for the world. On the way home, I rad a magazine article about this woman and how hard it was for her to grow up in a home of divorced parents where she hardly saw her father. She decided that when she got married, she would not do that to her children. So when she met someone, she decided that they would live together for a while, which they did and then they got married. But they ended up in divorce anyway.
Pat H: I served two stake missions and while teaching people the gospel, they would recognize the truth of Joseph Smith, but when it came to the principle of eternal marriage, some of them didn't want each other eternally. They wanted to be baptized, but didn't want eternal marriage. Commitment and respect is more important than love. There is so much to commitment. If we love the Lord enough, then love can transfer to your companion. But there are many couples who don't want eternal marriage.
Tysha R: We can look back at past generations and can see that commitment was a social norm. But along the way people lost the knowledge of why it was that way. For some it's a rebellion thing, but I think that for the most part, people don't remember why marriage commitment is important.
Satan is so subtle. He has created this change in the way we look at relationships. He tell us that we deserve to have this exhilarating feeling all the time. That is being selfish. The Lord taught us to sacrifice for each other. That's why there is so much divorce. People want that feeling to be there all the time.
Lynette: As I look at the list on the board, I feel that there is one that can act as the umbrella over all the rest. And that is choose your companion carefully. I have a cousin who was an area authority and was just a Mission President. He had dinner with Elder Hales. When my cousin was in the BYU Bishopric Elder Hales told him that he must counsel his young people to be careful who they married. That it was better to remain single than be married to the wrong person. He asked him, are you still teaching that principle?
We have to be careful in our choice and make sure who that companion will be, because there is so mulch to consider. Personalities, mental illness, etch.
Luone: I see great consequences of people living together, divorcing, marrying again, etc. I was talking to my children that we go forward to do temple work how hard it will be for future generations as they do temple work. With so many not marrying, living together, having children from different spouses, can you imagine trying to connect families. Who goes with what father, mother, etc. It will be a challenge.
Kaelie: While other people suffer from heartache, there is beauty to think we can be good example of what families can be. Many people are tender hearted who are afraid of making commitment. We can be the good example for others to see that families can be strong, can find more confidence.
This was the experience with Michael's family. When his parents joined the church they couldn't see why. Now they can see the fruit of their faith. They see the children committed to each other. They do have respect for the members of the church. Here is happiness that we can have.
What are the blessings of an eternal marriage in this life and in eternity?
Megan: Satan can counterfeit all emotions except peace. Only the Holy Ghost can give us that.
Sister Randall: I find that we can have the same common base regardless of how different we may be otherwise.
Tysha R: We can have the spirit to guide you and help you work through it.
Again we can talk about the broad topic that brings out the differences among all, but the key is to have a personal relationship with the Lord. He knows each one of us, of each of our children. He is the one who can make a difference.
Francesca: When I think of all these blessings, why would you want anything else.
Covenants is the Key too.
We know that our marriage can last forever. Death can part us from one another only temporarily. Nothing can part us forever except our own disobedience. This knowledge helps us work harder to have a happy, successful marriage.
Janet: I have a friend whose husband felled off a roof and became paralyzed. She raised her five children and took care of him for 25 years before he died. She honored her covenants.
How would we cope without the eternal perspective?
We know that our family relationships can continue throughout eternity. This knowledge helps us be careful in teaching and training our children. It also helps us show them greater patience and love. As a result, we should have a happier home.
Because we have been married in God's ordained way, we are entitled to an outpouring of the Spirit on our marriage as we remain worthy.
Mary T read quote: “We must seek earnestly to obey every covenant that we make in the temple. The Lord has said that if we are true and faithful, we will enter into our exaltation. We will become like our Heavenly Father. (See D&C 132:19-20.) Temple marriage is worth any sacrifice. It is a way of obtaining eternal blessings beyond measure.”
Pat H: The Lundbergs have a website that I feel is very worthwhile. So much so, that I have sent the website to each of my children. Their feedback was great. They became aware of things that they needed to change in their marriages. One is “A wake up for wives and A wake up for husbands.
Shanae: While we were on our honeymoon we sat at a table with couples that have been married for 60 years, 26 years, 29 years. I asked them if they had any advise for us. Never say never and always. Always make up quick. Even non-member have perspective of Heavenly Father.
Visitor: Do not make each other your rock. Make Christ your rock..
Yes, it's a three person relationship. Husband, wife and Christ.
We all go through different stages in our life. That relationship with the Lord is good. Seek earnestly to obey and keep our covenants, including sacrifice.
I loved Elder Scott's thoughts on Marriage. We will now read President Monson's thoughts.
“Choose a companion carefully and prayerfully; and when you are married, be fiercely loyal one to another. . .President Howard W. Hunter said this about marriage: “Being happily and successfully married is generally not so much a matter of marrying the right person as it is being the right person.” I like that. “The conscious effort to do one's part fully is the greatest element contributing to success.”
“If any of you are having difficulty in your marriage, I urge you to do all that you can to make whatever repairs are necessary, that you might be as happy as you were when your marriage started out. We who are married in the house of the Lord do so for time and for all eternity, and then we must put forth the necessary effort to make it so. I realize that there are situations when marriages cannot be saved, but I feel strongly that for the most part they can be and should be”.
Luone: We need to choose our companions carefully. Look at their families, how they interact with each other. Do they use sarcasm? Some use sarcasm and cover it up as a joke. Don't put people down. Avoid that.
We have talked about grace a lot. I was so touched with the song Amazing Grace that Luone and her children sang. And it is through the grace of the atonement that we can be healed, can overcome, can be better, can get through the challenging times. We are bless with joy.
Back in March when the honor code was such a drama and we had a lot of LDS people talking about the honor code, I was so impressed with Danny Ainge. He was on a talk radio show and was talking about his experience in playing professional basketball. His team mates poked fun at him, telling him he wouldn't fun any fun. How restricted he was. He told them, he had fun, he had a wonderful wife and children. Years later, those teammates were going through their own struggles. Who is having fun now? He quoted from the Book of Mormon: Men are that they might have joy.
There are lots of thing that can make you happy, but life is about having joy and that only comes from God. In our homes, family, we can find joy that is everlasting.
0 comments:
Post a Comment