Good evening, hope you had a good day. One week left.
THOUGHT: “Every sister who stands for truth and righteousness diminishes the influence of evil. Every sister who strengthens and protects her family is doing the work of God. Every sister who lives as a woman of God becomes a beacon for others to follow and plants seeds of righteous influence that will be harvested for decades to come.”
M. Russell Ballard
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Be sure and check out our RS Blog http://manila12thwardrs.blogspot.com// . Sarah will post information on creating pedigree charts for Christmas gifts
- Our next Temple session and lunch in the Cafeteria will be Thursday, Jan. 5th, the 10 am session. Meet in the Chapel.
- Humanitarian Night, January 18th for all RS, YM and Activity Girls. Mark on your calendar
BIRTHDAYS: December 18th – Bobby Teel; December 23rd – Donna Root; December 25th Devri Darby HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ALL.
Our lesson today was presented by Tiffany Weight “Exaltation
We will review last week's lesson “Final Judgment. What are the three degrees of glory? The telestial, the terrestial and the Celestial. Exaltation is the highest degree in the Celestial Kingdom.
What do you expect from exaltation? The highest and the best, being with Heavenly Father, a little apprehensive about it.
D&C 131:14 What is Exaltation?
Michelle read: “In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees;
And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage];
And if he does not, he cannot obtain it.
He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.”
That is a good definition. What is the difference between exaltation and salvation?
Janet T: Everyone is saved; that is a gift through the atonement. But exaltation is where the elect of God will go.
D&C 132:23-24
Cheryl “But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also,
This is eternal lives—to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he, Receive ye, therefore, my law.”
We will view the prelude into the blessings and requirements of exaltation.
Blessings of Exaltation (lesson manual page 277)
We get an understanding of the Celestial Kingdom by reading D&C 76.
D&C 76:59
Janet S read: “Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
Question: What are the specific blessings?
Janet: All that He has.
Robby: It's hard to comprehend-- all knowledge.
Janet T: The telestial kingdom will be a glory also.
D&C 132:19-20
Cheryl read: “And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, ad powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, In time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.
Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Them shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.”
In the middle of verse 19, it tells the blessings given to exalted people. All heights, and depths, dominions, eternal posterity, increase in fullness, continuation, worlds.
Melissa B: Other religions just don't understand.
Yes, we know the plan of Salvation how at the beginning God created man in his image. The continuation of all knowledge and truth. An increase of knowledge and family
Lynette: We all have weaknesses. We spent so mulch time to get to that point. To perfect ourselves.
Karen: Perfection comes through the Savior. Knowledge comes from our own efforts.
Knowledge is what we take with us. Perfection comes through His grace.
Melissa B: “The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil [died] before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave”.
Lynette: We will become, not correct. We could become exalted.
We have choice, challenge to become like God and the Savior.
Robby: Guy and I talk about this. I can learn things, but I forget, I just can't learn; can remember but not learn. When I die, I will continue to learn and will be able to remember what I learn. He has assured me that I will be able to learn things.
Neal A. Maxwell: “Upon receiving eternal life, whatever the deprivations of the faithful will have been in mortality, fullness will follow. Mortal deprivations will give way to God's celestial benefactions. And he does not give grudgingly. Being a perfect Father, He delights to honor those who serve Him.”
I have a testimony that we are not foreordained to fail, but to succeed. To be able to be in his presence again, He knows our heats and works.
Amy : We have mental limitations because we only use 10% of our brains now, In us, God has created our brain capacity. The capacity is there.
Karen: The realm in the eternal world is depth. Our whole bodies will observe knowledge. The whole earth will be a urim and thummim.
Let's look at the Requirements of Exaltation. We need to focus on them as we strife for exaltation. Look at the scriptures on the handout and tell us which ones mean something to you.
Martha: There are two scriptures that touched my heart. One is Alma 34:32-34. It was the first scripture that I memorized. It gave me purpose. As to why I am here. Should not procrastinate the day of my repentance. The other one, I taught at the MTC after my mission and I would hope to instill in the missionaries, that the power is in the word of God. I feel very passionate about it. It is Moroni 10:32 “Come unto Christ. What a great gift it is.
Robby: D&C 132. I used to be married to another person who was not a member and felt that I would never be exalted because I was not sealed in the temple. Then one Stake Conference a General Authority said that every woman who lived a good life would have the opportunity to be exalted in the next life. Some members would say that it was not possible, but he had said it.
Amy W: The Omniscience of God will come in handy. The Final judgment is only God's. I do know that God has all knowledge and he will be fair. I think about that because I was not born in the covenant. I had no hope, and worried a lot about it. But it will be fair.
The Lord will judge by our works and desires of our hearts.
Michelle: The Lord will figure it out in a way better than we can imagine.
He is a just God. We worry abut our loved ones, but we can have great comfort in the words of the prophets.
Melissa B: Yes, the manual says: We must be married for eternity, either in this life or in the next.
Janet T: There is great comfort that God is all knowing. It is a great assurance.
Amy S: There will be compensation. He knows the injustice of immortality.
I enjoy the opportunity to delve in the scriptures, I want to end with D&C 14:7. “And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” It's a promise from Heavenly Father. What am I doing to prepare? I feel and gain personal revelation, to do better.
Have a great week and a very Merry Christmas with your love ones. Remember that next Sunday we will only have Sacrament Meeting and that starting in January, we will meet at 9:00 am.
Feliz Navidad.
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