Learning By Our Own Experience (Joseph Smith History 1:27-54; D&C 2)

Last week we had a great lesson in our class based on JSH 1:27-54 and D&C 2 that I haven't had time to blog about until now.

There were four insights that we picked up on together in class that I know I, at least, hadn't ever considered before.

Joseph Smith's Experience in the Sacred Grove Was The Best EFY Ever
EFY is the Church's summer religion camp for teenagers, as you likely know. The camps are super fun, and very inspirational! I attended two or three myself, and absolutely loved them. As great and uplifting as they are, their effect is unfortunately not entirely permanent, as is true of all spiritual experience. Most attendees leave EFY with high hopes for how they will live a more godly life upon returning home, and while I would imagine most indeed remain better than before, I would guess that most people are like me - you don't maintain the same level of zeal and you therefore don't fully reach your hoped-for new standard completely. As we discussed it as a class, that was common among those of us who had attended.

Accessing Heaven's Help in Decision Making (D&C 6, 8, and 9)

"Communication with our Father in Heaven is not a trivial matter. It is a sacred privilege," Elder Richard G. Scott recently published in the June 2014 edition of the Ensign. "It is based upon unchanging principles."

What are those unchanging principles?

Elder Scott shared one immediately after the statement above: "When we receive help from our Father in Heaven, it is in response to faith, obedience, and the proper use of agency."

What is "the proper use of agency?" What is "agency," anyhow? These are great questions to ponder, and there are a number of great sermons which seek to address them. I'll include a few of them below, and invite you to read and watch so that you can come up with your own answers.

A great starting point would be the following three-part video series including thoughts shared by Elder David A. Bednar.

Martin Harris - D&C 3, 5, and 10

We've now studied three sections of the Doctrine and Covenants that deal with Martin Harris, and will soon move on to studying about other people who supported Joseph Smith, like Olivery Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon. But before we move on, I thought it would be good to post a few links to where we can learn more about who this Martin Harris character was and important lessons we can learn from both his good and bad example.

From the life of Martin Harris we learn that when we are humble, we are blessed, and that we can make important contributions to the Lord’s work despite past mistakes. Learn more about that in this really great article on lds.org, here.

And here's the great talk given by Elder Oaks back in 1999. He says that he has "been saddened at how he is remembered by most Church members. He deserves better than to be remembered solely as the man who unrighteously obtained and then lost the initial manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon." You'll really want to either read or watch the whole thing. It's a classic.

Responding Faithfully to Opposition (Joseph Smith History 1:21-26)

"I took occasion to give (a local preacher) an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil..."

And yet "I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation."
- Joseph Smith History 1:21, 25

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The following post is actually being written today by our whole seminary class. It consists of our responses to some questions on the topic of responding faithfully to opposition.

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In his most recent general conference talk about Joseph Smith, Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge teaches that truth will always be opposed. Why is that?

• Satan gets to people and tempts them to do wrong
• Some people in power or popularity base their prominence on lies, and so they oppose the teaching of truth because it undermines their authority by exposing their errors
• Some people feel pride, and seeing someone else live by or teach truth makes them feel inferior, so they make fun of or ridicule the other person in an effort to make themself feel better.

Studying the Scriptures

Class! Do you remember that you are awesome?

I hope so, because you are.

This first week of seminary has been really fun, and I hope that you would agree that we're off to a great start.

Today we talked about how to study the scriptures more effectively. As mentioned before, you will get as much out of seminary as you want, and studying the scriptures with a real intention and desire to learn from the spirit is the best way to make the most out of your seminary years.

So, how can you make your time studying the scriptures daily more effective?

I put together a playlist of short videos addressing this question a few years ago. Check them out below, if you want.

Welcome! ... and Prep Week Invitation

Welcome to an exciting year of seminary in the Laie 6th Ward!

Sister Hsu and I are excited to be learning with you as we study the Doctrine & Covenants and Church History this year.

This week, to prepare for our first days of class next week, we invite you to consider the following question and to watch one or two of the following videos:

"Am I a seeker of truth?"

Joseph Smith was.