Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sunday School Lesson - They Straightway Left their Nets

No posts last night because we were working on our lesson (I gave it but Jamie really helped me out a lot.).

A main point to grasp was what Apostles do, which made Jamie think of this video:


So good. Well worth watching, particularly the first 4 minutes. He says that Apostles are missionaries who are principally supposed to minister to individuals and families. Interesting since they have such a platform to speak to hundreds and thousands at a time, but he said he's supposed to minister to individuals and families. In an interview with Sheri Dew on the Mormon Channel, he says that when he's sent to Stake Conferences it's actually to find someone that needs to speak to an Apostle, not to call a Stake President. He mentions that recently he was sent to a Stake Conference and ended up speaking with a young woman who really needed to speak with an apostle. I believe in this very much.

I'll never forget when President Monson and Elder Eyring came to regional conference in Yakima when I was a senior in high school. After the meeting, President Monson shook hands for as long as people wanted to speak with him. It took an hour at least. I watched all of it.

A similar story - I watched Elder Jay Jensen of the 70 after he spoke at BYU. He spoke with all who wanted to talk to him. One girl that came up was a Columbian. He had been a mission president in Columbia and was so excited to talk to her. It was just obvious. He clearly loved those people he served.

A similar story - a couple months before Elder Eyring became President Eyring he was going to travel to South Africa (I'm pretty sure that was the place.). There were visa problems (or something like that) but instead of staying home he asked Pres. Packer to reassign him to some place with a Stake Conference so he could maybe help them in some way. So, Moses Lake got to have a visiting Apostle instead of a "normal" Stake Conference. (My friend President Michie who was the 1st counselor told me about it.) He asked a lot of questions and listened mostly on the Saturday. He wanted to know as much as he could in order to help as much as possible on Sunday when he spoke with people both in person and over the pulpit. Very cool guy.

Addendum: President Michie introduced Elder Eyring to his daughter and called his daughter the wrong name. Elder Eyring then said something like, "don't worry too much about it Susette. My dad always called us by the wrong names. The only way we knew who he was talking to was by who he was looking at."

I believe the Apostles. I believe they know the Savior and that they follow him. D.C. 18: 27-28 explains how the first 12 Apostles in our dispensation were to be chosen.

27Yea, even twelve; and the aTwelve shall be my disciples, and they shall take upon them my name; and the Twelve are they who shall desire to take upon them my bname with full purpose of heart.

28And if they desire to take upon them my name with full purpose of heart, they are called to go into all the aworld to preach my bgospel unto cevery creature.

I admire them and want to be like them.

Last story - I once heard Pres. Eyring speak to a group of about 200-300 people at a BYU conference. He spoke at the end and did not have a script in front of him. It was a fairly personal talk. In it, he explained a lot of different things and told several stories, but one thing I was impressed with was how clearly he could explain the gospel (there were non-members there). He explained how we're "Millenialists" and believe peace on earth would come and that the lion would lay down with the lamb and all things would be perfect for a thousand years and tied that into his message in the most clear way I could have imagined. If someone asked you, "do you guys believe in the Rapture (the most common phrase Evangelical Christians use for the Second Coming time - I believe it's the most common anyway)?" what would you say? I know Pres. Eyring would have a great, clear answer. They're good missionaries. I really admire them.

Have a great day.

LaDon


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