Here is a special guest Bro. Mike Lapp. He is a convert and was introduced to the church as a teenager, but did not join until after he was married and had 2 children. A sister missionary helped him feel the spirit and recognize that The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was the true church and where he wanted to be. He shared how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has literally changed his life and given him so much joy even through many physical trials there family has faced. He shared his testimony of the plan of salvation and that knowing that he will have his family forever makes all the difference. Without the gospel in his life, he knows he would not have the close family that he does today. It took years for him to see that he needed the gospel in his life. He had no idea what he was missing, but through the spirit he was able to see there is more to life. Satan does not want you to see beyond right now. By exercising our faith, and learning about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we can receive personal revelation and be healed. Thank you Bro. Lapp for sharing your conversion story.
After that we divided up into 6 groups and each took a section of the lesson "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" to study and find the doctrine and scriptures for that section. Then each group shared what they learned.
Here is Sis. Taylor Lapp with her dad and Bro. Hooker studying "Through Christ we can be cleansed from Sin". Taylor liked the scriptures 3 nephi 27:19 and summarized by saying "Be healed, and come home"! How many people in the world need to hear that? 3 Nephi 27 is a great chapter for this whole lesson.
Here are Simon, Jared, Nathan and Katie. They also talked about being cleansed from sin. They shared that we are to believe in the Savior and obey his commandments. He wants us to accept and follow his teachings. Its up to us though. Katie shared from a talk by Brad Wilcox called "His Grace Is Sufficient" . We would encourage you to read or watch the whole thing.
In this group, Sammy Meyer- (who just put her mission papers in and is now waiting for that wonderful letter that will change her life!), and Spencer and Cameron. They studied Repentance. They shared that to do this we must first Recognize we need to repent, then Stop doing it, Confess our sins, Make restitution and Acknowledge the Savior who takes away our sins and heals us. We have not truly repented unless we have changed our ways. The scripture they found was Doctrine and Covenants 58:42-43 which teaches us to confess and forsake our sins and God remembers them no more.
Here is Travin, McKay and Will. They studied about baptism. They shared that it is the first covenant we make. With this we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. We cannot enter into the kingdom of God without baptism by the proper priesthood authority. This ordinance represents being born again with a new life of commitment to Christ. We renew this covenant every week when we take the sacrament. The scripture they found was 2 Nephi 31:7-9 which shows us that Jesus set the example for baptism.
Next , we have Brandon, Hunter and Alex. They discussed the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the good news. It is a gift that helps us do lots of things. Like understand truth and guide us in our daily life. However we need to keep the commandments of God so we can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. Alex bore his personal testimony that with the Holy Ghost he can see more with it than by himself. It is a simple thing but we can't overlook it. It makes the biggest difference in our lives. Within the gift of the Holy Ghost comes so many other gifts. We must ask for the Holy Ghost to be with us. The influence of the Holy Ghost makes life not just about enduring to the end but brings joy to life.
Here is Jack, Sarah, and Tyler. They actually went earlier because they had meetings to get to but there topic is next: Endure to the End. After you have made covenants and have been washed clean, we still make mistakes and we must continue to build on what we already know. This is enduring to the end. This brings us direction and peace and happiness. Tyler compared enduring to the end to playing a sport. We may know the rules of the game, but only through practice do we get better at it. They liked the scripture in the pamphlet 2 Nephi 31:20 that says we must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ.
We learned so much today! Jared shared another great thought from his mission president. The first keys to revelation is information. These amazing youth proved that. We felt the spirit of revelation in class as you learned and shared what you learned. All had a chance to stand up and speak to the group which is great practice and not easy to do but you all did an amazing job!!!! Thank you so much!
And this happy beautiful girl is Karissa Sears- the second daughter in their family to leave this year. She had her farewell today and will be leaving this month to the Taiwan Taichung Mission. She will be learning mandarin chinese, even though she has taken several years of french :) She has faith that God knows what he is doing and that as we turn to Him and serve others, we will feel true peace in this life. We wish you well Karissa and know you are ready to share your testimony and smile! We will be praying for you.
Next Weeks Assignment.
Continue working on your own lesson plan for "The Gospel Of Jesus Christ". Take this exercise we had in class and continue doing it with each topic of the lesson for yourself. We handed out Simons and you can use that as a guide but more importantly make your own. Write down key points you learn and scriptures to teach them in your study journal. We will start practicing teaching each other this lesson next week.
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