Sunday Lessons

Good morning, sisters!

Sorry this has taken so long to get out. I'm still figuring out how to send email from yahoo. I think I've got it now!

We had two wonderful lessons the last two weeks. Thank you, Lori Dunford and Sue Varley for teaching, and Diane Sweeney and Tanya Vogt for summarizing the lessons!

Love,
Sis. Geissinger

Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009
Our lesson this week was from the Joseph Smith manual, chapter 41, “Becoming Saviors on Mount Zion”. The early saints were so anxious to do baptisms for the dead for their ancestors that they were allowed to perform the baptisms in the river before the Nauvoo temple was built. Malachi 4:5-6 says “I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

When we do temple work for the dead we become saviors on Mount Zion by performing sacred ordinances for them that they cannot perform for themselves. Our hearts are turned to them and their hearts are turned to us. Going to the temple not only blesses our ancestors, but blesses us as we are able to devote time to communicate with the Lord and feel His peace and guidance. Thanks to Lori Dunford for teaching this wonderful lesson.

-Diane Sweeney (summary)

Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009
Our lesson this week was taken from the Joseph Smith manual, chapter 42, “Family: The Sweetest Union for Time and for Eternity”. What a blessing it is to live in a time when these priesthood blessings are restored and to have the privilege and opportunity to be sealed to our family for all eternity. Joseph Smith stated in D & C 132 “Verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; … it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.

“Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory”

Not everyone has a chance in this lifetime to get married. Maybe your situation has you longing for this great blessing. Please know that the Lord is aware of your heart and your desires. He will provide a way.

All though we often focus on the ordinance itself, I felt the most powerful part of the lesson given were the following questions:

Am I the type of wife my husband would want to spend eternity with?

Am I the type of sister my family would want to spend eternity with?

Am I the type of daughter my parents would want to spend eternity with?

Am I the type of mother my children would want to spend eternity with?

Am I the type of friend and sister in the gospel that my fellow sisters would rejoice in seeing in the eternities?

Only you can answer these questions. May these thought provoking questions prompt us to make those changes in our lives, so that we may answer a resounding yes to those questions that apply to us. Thank you Sister Sue Varley for teaching a spiritually rich lesson that pierced the hearts of many. I know it did mine.

Your friend, Sister Tanya Vogt (summary)