I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from The Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity - the pure love of Christ - will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness.
- President Marion G. Romney

Friday, August 21, 2015

Being a Disciple of Jesus Christ


One of the problems and blessings of taking a religion class on a block course is that there are so many great principles covered every week that you could go a million different amazing and beautiful directions.

The last two days have been very difficult and amazingly fortifying at the same time. A little back story, my parents live in a basement apartment in the home we live in. I love having them close and our boys get to see their grandparents every day. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement that we all love, I'm not just saying that, I know they love it because they say so every day. Four weeks ago my father had surgery to remove a bone spur from his heel. They had to detach his Achilles' tendon and reattach it to complete the procedure. He has been on a wheelie scooter and in bed. My mother has been working very hard to take care of him. 
Wednesday morning as I was preparing to take my youngest son to school I heard my Father yell up the stairs to me. I don't recall what he said, but what I heard was, 'stop your mother before she gets out the door'. I made casual conversation with her until I noticed that she wasn't looking so well. I asked her where she was going, her reply, 'I'm not feeling well so I'm driving myself to the Emergency Room'. I told her, 'no way'. I'd drive her. I called a neighbor to help take my son to school. And started down the driveway. I heard a prompting to call 911 instead. Long story shorter; by last night 9 pm she was no longer able to talk clearly, she was bed-bound and she was struggling to breathe. And Thursday morning she was moved to the Neurological ICU and intubated to help breathing. There have been many prayers offered and she's had priesthood blessings. Given the situation I've been drawn to the story of Christ raising Lazerus from the dead and his sisters' comment that if he had been there he would not have died in the first place. I would like to have been able to write about that miracle for my blog post and receive credit.  I had hopes that quick action and prayer and blessings might have kept things from going further, but how much has my faith and testimony to answered prayers grown while seeing the Lords' hand in our lives at this time? I wouldn't change it. 

So now onto the assigned portion;

Read Luke 10:38–42; 11:1–13; 12:13–40; 13:23–24; 14:16–33 and the institute student manual commentary for Luke 11:5–13, “The Parable of the Friend at Midnight” (p. 115). Make a list of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and what the Savior taught about counting the costs of following Him. 

  1. Identify one of the teachings from your list that you would like to apply more fully in your life. Write a paragraph about how you could apply that teaching and what difference you believe it would make in your life.
  2. Read Luke 14:33; Omni 1:26; Mosiah 2:34; Matthew 13:44–46. Explain in writing what is ultimately required to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

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