Lesson
by Michelle
Teachings
of the Presidents of the Church
Lorenzo
Snow
Lesson
16
“That
We May Become One”
Michelle started
her lesson by quoting from Lorenzo Snow, “The voice of the Almighty
called us out from the midst of confusion…to form a union and a
lovely brotherhood, in which we should love one another as we love
ourselves.”
Michelle gave a
little background of the early days of the church: Before the Saints
were driven from Nauvoo, the leading Brethren of the Church met in
the temple. They covenanted that they would “never cease (their)
exertions, by all the means and influence within (their) reach, till
all the Saints who were obliged to leave Nauvoo should be located at
some gathering place of the Saints.” Determined to keep this
covenant, President Brigham Young established the Perpetual
Emigrating Fund in 1849. Under this program, the Church loaned money
to emigrating Saints with the understanding that the people would
repay their loans after they arrived in Utah and found employment.
This program
continued for another 38 years, well after the Saints from Nauvoo
arrived in Utah. This was an inspired program.
President Young
called Elder Lorenzo Snow and others to raise funds for this effort.
It was difficult for elder Snow to ask the saints for donations—they
were poor themselves, having been driven from place to place before
settling in the Salt Lake Valley. He wrote in his journal: “In
performing the mission of soliciting means from the Saints who, after
having been robbed and plundered, had performed a journey of more
than one thousand miles, and just located in an unwatered, desolate
recess of the great “American Desert”, I found myself inducted
into an uphill business. With very few exceptions, the people had
very little, or nothing they could possibly spare.” However,
everywhere Elder Snow went, people gave all they could. He reported:
“The efforts and willingness, everywhere manifested, to eke out a
portion of the little—the feeling of liberality and greatness of
soul, which everywhere I met in the midst of poverty, the
warm-hearted greetings I received even where comparative indigence
held court, filled my heart with exceeding great joy. One man
insisted that I should take his only cow, saying that the Lord had
delivered him, and blessed him in leaving the old country and coming
to a land of peace; and in giving his only cow, he felt that he would
only do what duty demanded, and what he would expect from others,
were the situation reversed.”
Michelle asked
what principle was being exercised/required of the Saints? Sacrifice
The Saints were
being asked to give to something greater than themselves.
President Kimball
said, “Through sacrifice and service one comes to know the Lord.”
As we sacrifice our selfish desires, serve our God and others, we
become more like Him.”
What is the law of
sacrifice? Heavenly Father has given us everything and expects so
little in return. We should give more than we receive. We should
give of our talents.
Sacrifice is
different than service…sacrifice is giving up something that means
something to us.
Through sacrifice
we have the opportunity to grow closer to those we are sacrificing
for. A special bond is created between those we are sacrificing for
and vice versa.
The story of
Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac was an example of
sacrifice but the ultimate sacrifice was the Atonement.
We would not be
where we are today without the Atonement-the ultimate sacrifice. We
are here for one purpose, and that can be achieved through the
Atonement.
Hugh Nibley said
this: “Reconciliation is a very good word for atonement there,
since it means literally to be seated again with someone
(re-con-silio)—so that atonement is to be reunited with God, just
as Paul said: “[The Lord] sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on High.”
“The Greek
equivalent is lutrosis, a ransoming. Paul tells the Saints to prepare
for the salvation that has been made available by disengaging from
this world—“denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world”—so that
God “might redeem [lutrosetai] us from all iniquity, and purify
unto himself a peculiar people.” (
Titus
2:12, 14.)”
Another example of
people living the law of sacrifice were the people of Alma. In
Mosiah 18: 17, 19-22 it says: “And they were called the church of
God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to
pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority of God
was added to his church…And he commanded them that they should
teach nothing save it were the things which he had taught, and which
had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets. Yea, even he
commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were
repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people. And
he commanded them that there should be no contention one with
another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one
faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and
in love one towards another. And thus he commanded them to preach.
And thus they became the children of God.”
We can only have
the blessings of one heart through the Atonement of Christ.
President Snow
said, “If we have division in our midst; if we be divided either
spiritually or temporally, we never can be the people that God
designs us to become, nor can we ever become instruments in His hands
of making the world believe that the holy Priesthood has been
restored, and that we have the everlasting Gospel. In order for us
to effect the purposes of God we shall have to do as Jesus
did-conform our individual will to the will of God, not only in one
thing, but in all things, and to live so that the will of God shall
be in us.”
Unity is essential
in the Church and in our families.
Michelle said that
you can’t be effective in bringing people to Christ if you are
divided.
Conflict is not
necessarily a bad thing but contention is. People can have
differences of opinion, etc.—and can create a better situation
unless contention set in.
The key is
humility. Conflict turns to contention if there is no humility. The
Holy Ghost can help us when there is contention.
Steven R. Covey
said to seek first to understand than to be understood.
We should look for
harmony in our homes and relationships. False harmony can be
dangerous but open communication is necessary.
In order to have
unity in our families and church, respect is necessary. Settle
conflicts with respect. Real listening is important to conflict
resolution.
Michelle said that
when she starts to say something about someone, she remembers “Would
you say something about someone if that person was in the room?”
We need to follow
the Savior’s example.
We become united
as we help each other secure peace and happiness. President Snow
said, “…We have got to know that it is our business to learn to
secure the peace and happiness of those that are around us, and never
take a course to trample upon the feelings and rights of our
neighbors.”
Do things that are
hard to do…it is hard to love people who are different from us. To
have a friend, be a friend.
Build others up,
don’t tear them down. All of us need support sometimes.
In conclusion,
Michelle left us with the following three thoughts:
1-The importance
of sacrifice in building the bonds of unity.
2-The Atonement is
the ultimate path back to our Savior and can bind us together more
than anything else.
3-Make sure to
address conflict in your families and the world around you.
Michelle concluded
her lesson by quoting from Elder Henry B. Eyring:
“Joy comes when
we are blessed with unity. We yearn for that joy which we once had
with Him in the life before this one.”
