Today I want to share two talks from October Conference 2016. I was asked to teach a class in Relief Society on these talks and it's fresh on my mind.
The first one is by Elder Hales: " Come Follow Me" by Practicing Christian Love and Service
Elder Hales explained: The disciples were taught to turn from the ways of the natural man to the loving and caring ways of the Savior by replacing contention with forgiveness, kindness and compassion. 'the new commandment' to 'love one another' was not always easy to keep. The the disciples worried about associating with sinners and certain classes of people, the Savior patiently taught, 'inasmuch as ye have done it uno one of the lest of these my breather, ye have donut unto me.' or, as a Book of Mormon prophet explained, ' when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in eh service of your God.'
As the Savior's latter-day disciples, we come uno Him by loving and serving God's children. As we do, we may not be able to avoid tribulation, affliction, and suffering i the flesh, but we will offer less spiritually. Even in our rials we can experience joy ad peace.
Our Christian love and service naturally begin in the home. Parents you are called to be loving teachers and missionaries to your children and youth. They are your investigators. You bear the responsibility to help them become covered. In truth, all of us are seeking to be converted. which means being filled with our Savior's love.
Youth, you are some of our most effective gospel teachers. You come to church to learn so that you can go home to teach and serve your family, neighbors, and friends, Don't be afraid. Have faith to testify of what you know to be true. Think how full- time missionaries grow because they are faithfully living a consecrated life. Using their time an talents and bearing testimony to serve and bless others. As you share your testimony of the gospel, your faith will grow and your confidence will increase!
Some of our most impactful Christian service is given by holding family scripture study, family prayer, and family council meetings. For more than a hundred years, Church leaders have called us to set aside uninterrupted time each week. But many of us are still missing the blessings. Family home evening is not a lecture from Mom and Dad. It is our family time to share simple spiritual concepts and experiences, to help our children learn to care and share, have fun together, bear testimony together, and grow and progress together. As we hold family home evening every week, our love for one another will grow stronger and we will suffer less.
Let us remember, the most important work we do in our families is through the power of the Holy Ghost. Whenever we raise our voices in anger, the Spirit leaves our companionships and families. When we speak in love, the esprit can be with us. Let us remember that our children and grandchildren measure our love by how much devote time we give them. Above all, don't lose patience and don't give up!
Brothers and sisters, if we hoax to fully done so yer, let us turn more toward forgiveness, kindness and love. Let us renounce the war that so often rages in the heart of the natural man and proclaim Christ's caring love and peace. "
The bottom line as Elder Hales stated is that "as the Savior's latter-day Saints, we come uno Him by loving and serving God's children."
The next talk we discussed was by Elder Holland: "Emissaries to the Church"
He gave this talk on the Priesthood session and told the brethren: " We are asking you as home teachers to be God's emissaries to His children, to love and care and pray for the people you are assigned....that means leaving behind the tradition of a frantic, law of Moses-like, end of the month calendar in which you rush to give a scripted message from the church magazines that the family has already read. We would hope, rather, that you will establish an era of genuine, gospel-oriented concern for the members, watching over and caring for each other, addressing spiritual and temporal needs in any way that helps...we are aking you as home teachers to be God emissaries to His Children to love and care and pray for the people you are assigned, as we love and care and pray for you. May you be vigilant in tending the flock of God in ways consistent with your circumstances, I pray, in the name of the Good Shepherd of us all, whose witness I am, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen."
There you have it. Those were the talks we discussed on service.
Con amor,
Vero
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