"Better late than never", they say...

I have missed doing a post for the last two lessons sorry. So this is a catch up!

CATCH UP #1

Three weeks ago sister Debbie Carmichael taught the lesson in RS. Freedom To Choose was the topic. We discussed the eternal nature of agency and the importance of being able to choose to come to earth to prove ourselves through the choices we make.

Debbie asked us to make a list of things we are "not allowed to do" because we are LDS. The list included things like; smoking, drinking, drugs, dressing immodestly, swearing, Sunday activities like recreation, work and sport. Then we discussed how choosing not to do these things and instead keep the commandments, can bless our lives and leave us free to choose again. We compared that with the opposite, choosing to participate in these things, and how that can limit or impede our ability to exercise freedom of choice.

An important principle was raised during the discussion and that is even though we are free to choose our course of action, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. The consequences whether good or bad, follow as a natural result of any choice we make. Thankfully we have a loving Heavenly Father who provides commandments to help guide us towards eternal life and away from the temptations of Satan. If we choose wisely we can know true and lasting happiness.

CATCH UP #2

On Sunday sister Angela Stewart taught our lesson. That Your Burdens May Be Light was the name of the talk and the topic of the lesson. This talk was given by Elder L. Whitney Clayton Of the Presidency of the Seventy at the October 2009 General Conference.

Angela brought out through her lesson that in a general sense, our burdens come from three sources.

1. Some burdens are the natural product of the conditions of the world in which we live. Illness, physical disability, hurricanes, and earthquakes come from time to time through no fault of our own. We can prepare for these risks and sometimes we can predict them, but in the natural pattern of life we will all confront some of these challenges.

2. Other burdens are imposed on us by the misconduct of others. Abuse and addictions can make home anything but a heaven on earth for innocent family members. Sin, incorrect traditions, repression, and crime scatter burdened victims along the pathways of life. Even less-serious misdeeds such as gossip and unkindness can cause others genuine suffering.

3. Our own mistakes and shortcomings produce many of our problems and can place heavy burdens on our own shoulders. The most onerous burden we impose upon ourselves is the burden of sin. We have all known the remorse and pain which inevitably follow our failure to keep the commandments.

No matter the burdens we face in life as a consequence of natural conditions, the misconduct of others, or our own mistakes and shortcomings, we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father, who sent us to earth as part of His eternal plan for our growth and progress. Our unique individual experiences can help us prepare to return to Him. The adversity and afflictions that are ours, however difficult to bear, last, from heaven’s perspective, for “but a small moment; and then, if we endure it well, God shall exalt us on high.” We must do everything we can to bear our burdens “well” for however long our “small moment” carrying them lasts.

Burdens provide opportunities to practice virtues that contribute to eventual perfection. They invite us to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and put off the natural man Through the atonement of Christ we can become as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon us, even as a child doth submit to his father (see Mosiah 3:19) Thus burdens become blessings, though often such blessings are well disguised and may require time, effort, and faith to accept and understand.

I think we all know and understand that Heavenly Father allows us to carry burdens in order to help us become the best we possibly can. Here's hoping we can be graceful in meeting our challenges head on!!