Sunday Lessons

Today was fast Sunday. Rick and I attended the ASL branch and were asked to be the interpreters for sacrament meeting. We then stayed after church in order to get our temple recommends renewed from the Stake. The Bonnys were in town and it was fun to visit with them. Betty Jones was also there and we hadn't seen her in a long time. We gave her a ride home after.

We came home and hurriedly finished dinner before the ASL sister missionaries arrived. We had marinated chicken and several salads. The missionaries did a fun activity with our family and then taught a little lesson and challenged us to look for God's miracles this week! Later that night we had our Come Follow Me lesson with the grandkids taught by Jenna. She did such an awesome job! 

She showed Evan and Eli the object lesson where you have a bunch of pepper in a bowl of water and then dip a finger with dishsoap into the bowl and watch the pepper scatter to the edges of the bowl. This shows how with the help of the holy ghost you can be "in the world, but not of the world." She talked about the things of the world compared to the greater gifts that Heavenly Father has in store for us.  

She told the boys that they could either have a treat now (a little marshmallow), or if they could wait a whole five minutes then they could have a big treat (no bake cookies). At first Eli (age 3) wanted the marshmallow, but Evan (age 4) knew better and said they would skip the marshmallow and wait for the "real" treat. 

We went outside and she had two pathways written in sidewalk chalk on the back patio. The said "Son of Man," and had a picture of an entryway to a path with bright colors, rainbows, and candy. The other path said, "Son of God," and had a picture of an entryway to a path with a few rocks. Then she asked Evan and Eli which path they would want to walk. Of course they chose the enticing colorful pictures. 

But then she had them look through a rolled up paper, that looked like a paper telescope to see what was at the end of each path. On the cement wall at the end of each pathway was a picture. The entryway with the picture of rocks had a picture of Jesus at the end. The other picture had someone who looked like he was in chains. The pathway with the colorful images had different steps such as parties, temptations, addictions and so forth. 

The pathway with the rocks had steps such as baptism, studying scriptures, going to church, and going to the temple. That pathway led to Jesus and the other pathway led to misery. She explained that it was easy to be enticed by the bright, colorful things of the world, but if we kept our eye on Jesus (as shown when looking through the paper telescope) then we would stay on the right path of making and keeping covenants. Then we went in at ate her yummy no-bake oatmeal cookies! Great lesson, Jenna!! 

Temple Quarry Hike

 
My appointments today cancelled at the last minute and so Janelle and I decided to go on a hike. It turned into quite the adventure! Rick and I had been asked to speak (sign) in the ASL Branch this Sunday and I so shared the experiences from our hike for my talk. Here it a portion of my talk!  

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days ago, my daughter and I decided to go hiking. It was a beautiful morning, and the planned hike was a simple two mile walk on a gravel path. We walked along the trail and enjoyed the beautiful view as we visited while walking. When we were near the end of the trail my daughter explained that this was a good place to hike to the top so that we could see the full view of the valley. This meant going off the trail and scaling the mountain. I looked up at the boulders and steep sides of the mountain and expressed my nervousness about attempting to climb it. But my daughter was confident and said that she had climbed it before with her friends and that the view would be worth it. I was hesitant but decided to go ahead and try it.  

As we started to climb, I looked down and started to imagine what would happen if we were to accidentally slip or fall. I was very nervous and said that I didn’t know if this was such a good idea. My daughter encouraged me to keep going and we finally arrived at the top. It was indeed a beautiful view!! We walked around and took some pictures and then decided that we had better get back. The sun was out in full force now and I no longer had any water left. I was tired and starting to get hungry and I hadn’t brought any food along.

I saw a dirt road and wondered where it led. Surely that would be better than having to climb down the steep sides of the mountain! We started walking on the dirt road. After walking quite a ways we could see that the road was leading us farther and father away from where we needed to be. So, we turned around and started the long walk back to the place where we were before. Only now we couldn’t find the place we had gone up and wondered how we would get back down. I was getting nervous and started to pray.

I realized that it had been a mistake to leave the trail to climb up the mountain with no one to guide us. But it was too late now and so our only choice was to hike back down. We needed help finding the location to hike down. I prayed and asked my daughter to pray also. We continued to search for a place we could hike down. Finally I looked over and saw a stack of rocks. My daughter had explained that a stack of rocks was called a cairn (KA-REN) and cairns were used to help hikers know where to go. I knew that Heavenly Father had answered our prayers by helping us to find the cairn. I felt happy and relieved. We were able to climb down and make it back to the trail safely, which was such a relief!    

I would like to compare our hiking experience with the Plan of Salvation. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ placed us here on earth to get a body, be tested, learn and grown and become more like them. They want us have joy and so they provided us with a beautiful plan called the plan of salvation.  

We can become disciples of Jesus Christ by following Heavenly Father’s plan. This plan brings us blessings, peace, and joy. His plan also includes commandments. This is similar to the hiking trail. When we walked on the trail, we were safe. We knew where to go. We were on the right path. If we went off the trail, we were in danger of becoming lost.  

Hiking up the rocks was stressful and dangerous. Likewise, if we decide to ignore God’s plan and follow our own plan, we can become lost. Some people think that God’s plan is boring, while going off His path may seem enticing and dangerous. Some may think that God’s plan is too limited with no freedom. However, following God’s plan actually gives us more freedom. When people don’t follow God’s plan, they often lose their freedom to choose.   

The good news is that God gives us many opportunities to repent and change even if we have already gone off the path. My daughter and I went off the path and then didn’t know how to get down. We needed to look to God for help to get back to the trail. God knew that His children would sometimes make mistakes and go off the path. So, He allowed His son, Jesus Christ, to atone for us so that we could repent. We can repent and ask for forgiveness and get back on the path. We all can become disciples of Jesus Christ. We might be on the path. We might be off the path. Wherever we are we can start now to move forward in the right direction.   

I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know Jesus Christ has a plan for us. He loves us. He was willing to come to earth in humble circumstances. He was willing to give His whole life teaching and serving others. He was willing to suffer for all our sins and He was willing to die for us. I pray that we can all become disciples of Jesus Christ by following His path and His will.