A Breakthrough!

Today was a good day...

God answers prayers. Yet there are some that still don't believe, some who don't pray because, they claim to not have had prayers answered. Hannah teaches us how to make prayer effective. 1 Samuel chapter one introduces us to Hannah--an Israelite woman who is unable to have children. She shares her husband Elkanah with another woman--Peninnah, who can have children. She is grieved much because of this and the way she is treated by Peninnah. She turns to prayer. She vows a vow with the Lord that if He will bless her with a child then she will dedicate that son to God. She poured out her soul in prayer. She didn't just pick up the phone and ask for "a large pepporoni, hold the anchioves and it better be here in 20 minutes" type of prayer. Hannah continued praying after her request. And she was true to her word--when a son came she "lent him to the Lord."

Can we make deals with God? It seems like Hannah did, and it worked. I went up to a pair studying these verses in class today to pose this question to them. A big, burly football player that let me know on the first day that he "won't be coming much" and needed to find "someone to goof off with," leaned over, and said, "Yeah!" I quickly refocused. "What do you mean?" "Well, once I made a deal with God," he said. He then briefly recounted the event and I asked him if he'd share it with the class. He said he would. We wrapped up the activity and started discussing this point as a whole class. I explained that Hannah was able to make a "deal" because this was a commandment that God had given, to multiply and replenish the Earth. I then asked this student to share his experience. He spoke, trying to be bold although it was hard for him to say, "I used to chew." He paused, then explained how everywhere he went he was "chewing." Then, he found out that he had cancer. He was scared. "I didn't want to lose my jaw, so I prayed. I was crying and I prayed that if God would take my cancer away, then I would quit chewing forever...It's been five months now, and the cancer is all gone, and I'm never chewing again."

God does answer our prayers, I hope we take time to notice the little things he does, and the miracles that happen all around us.

After class as students were walking out and shaking my hand, a young woman who generally comes in late, talks to other students frequently and hasn't seem largely interested in seminary said, "That was great lesson!" Today was a good day....for more than just Bro. Carter.

Hard Things!

I've been facing some hard things these last two weeks. The adjustment back to high school was not as easy as I had hoped. I really just didn't prepare myself for it. Between my first two semesters of student teaching I had an entire summer to get geared up for new classes and a new semester and new students! This time around I had a week and a half. And a week of that I was still teaching my old class. So, that really blind-sided me. And I'm sad to admit it, but I didn't get off to a great start. For me it's been hard! But, I'm not complaining (maybe whining a little here and there). We all have to face hard things.

I asked class today before we got into Ruth to anonymously write on an index card the hardest thing they've been through. The results were shocking. Ranging from personal injuries, to family member's drug addictions, self addictions, feeling alone and worthless, to wanting to commit suicide. These youth, most of which are from 15-18 years old have already experienced some hard things. What do we do when things get so hard? Naomi's reaction to her trials can help us. In chapter one of Ruth we learn that Naomi and her family have to leave their home of Bethlehem because of a famine. They go to Moab where her two sons marry Moabite women; Orpah and Ruth. Then Naomi's husband dies, and then, both of her sons die, leaving a mother-in-law and two daughters-in-law all husbandless. Naomi has heard that the famine has ended in Bethlehem and decides to go back home. So, what's the message for us? Where do we go, what do we do when we're experiencing hard things? The answer is Bethlehem. The word Bethlehem means "The house of bread." In John 6:35 we learn that Christ is the bread of life. So, when you experience hard things, where do you go?

In class we made a good list of student responses. Christ is at the center of nearly all of them: the House of Bread could mean the temple, church, prayer, the scriptures, family, etc. When life is hard, we need to go to Christ.

John 14:18--I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.

"Whoa!"

What is the power of testimony? Friday brought another round of Open Sharing to our little seminary class at Spanish Fork Jr High. The Spirit was strong of testimony, but also of class unity as the semester is nearing its completion. One student shared on Christ and His suffering, and how it really was for each of us. My mind was turned to a scripture in the 45th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. I marked it and thought of how I could use it in the lesson that day in Joshua. I was excited for it, as I knew the Spirit had led me there. I stood up to end open sharing and begin the lesson, but as I did a young woman in the front row with dark brown hair stood up. She started out sharing about hard times that her family has had and how she had been having a really hard time. She then talked of how she, or anyone in her family, had never talked about the death of her cousin. She said that since his death she hadn't really felt that the Church was true. Then the other night she finally talked to her mom about it and her mom said, "Promise me, that you will pray about the Church." Well, she did. She then explained, "I woke up the next morning and was just filled with the Spirit. And I know. I know that the Church is true."

I am certainly glad that I didn't stand up quicker or before she did. I'm also glad that she had the courage to share, because after that, a young man got up and all he could say about how he felt was "Whoa!"

We didn't have a ton of time for the lesson, but we talked about the power of testimony from the example of Rahab from Joshua 2. She had heard of the children of Israel and said to two Israelite spies who had come in to Jericho to scout it out, "I know that the Lord hath given you the land...the Lord your God, he is the God in heaven above, and in earth beneath."

Because of this testimony--what she knew--she took in the spies and protected them. Because of that the spies told her to put a red thread in her window so that her and her family would not be destroyed. When Joshua and the children of Israel come and, according to the Lord's direction, cause the walls of Jericho to fall and "utterly destroy all that was in the city", we learn more about Rahab. Joshua 6:25 reads, "And Joshua saved Rahab..."

Do our testimonies have the power to save us? Even if they are small and simple, can they bring out a result as was seen with Rahab?

The verses from Doctrine & Covenants 45 read,

"Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him--Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;

Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life...and even unto them that believed on my name gave I power to obtain eternal life." (verses 3-5, 8; empahsis added)

Class was ending and I asked if anyone had learned anything in class today. One student raised her hand and said, "I was reading my scriptures last night and kept seeing the phrase 'Believe in Christ' and was wondering what it meant. Now I know what it means."

I know that our testimonies are powerful, that they can help us overcome whatever we may encounter, and I testify that if we do according to what we know and use our testimonies that they will have the power to save us. Again I ask, what is the power of testimony?

Ode to Elder Maxwell

My last post had two great and fantastic quotes by Elder Neal A. Maxwell and it got me thinking that I should probably devote a post to some of my favorite quotes from this wonderful apostle. Please feel free to add your favorites that I may have missed:

The Lord does not ask us about our ability, but only about our availability. And then, if we demonstrate our dependability, the Lord will increase our capability.

Whether in tranquil or turbulent times, our best source of comfort is the Comforter.

Though we live in a failing world, we have not been sent here to fail.

God, who oversees the interlacings of galaxies, stars, and worlds, asks us to confess His hand in our personal lives, too...Just as the Lord knows all of His vast creations, He also knows and loves each in any crowd—indeed, He knows and loves each and all of mankind!

Ignoring the revelations about God’s astounding capacity is like playing aimlessly and contentedly with wooden blocks featuring the letters of the alphabet, without realizing Shakespearean sonnets were created using that same alphabet.

Spiritual submissiveness is not accomplished in an instant, but by the incremental improvements and by the successive use of stepping-stones. Stepping-stones are meant to be taken one at a time anyway. Eventually our wills can be “swallowed up in the will of the Father” as we are “willing to submit … even as a child doth submit to his father” (see Mosiah 15:7; Mosiah 3:19).

In striving for ultimate submission, our wills constitute all we really have to give God anyway. The usual gifts and their derivatives we give to Him could be stamped justifiably “Return to Sender,” with a capital S.

The details!

I know that God truly is in the details of our lives. Despite the universe being incomprehensibly huge and the amount of His children being unfathomably great, He still hears and answers our prayers.

As the children of Israel got ready to depart Mount Sinai and start the journey for the promised land, the Lord had Moses organize them into their respective tribes and set up camps. Further instructions were given to the Levites who were to be stationed in the middle of the camp with the tabernacle that was meant to be at the center. They were told where to set up their camps, relative to the tabernacle, who was to be in charge, and what their duty was with the tabernacle. In our wonderful visit with Elder Lund he mentioned that the Lord is a great director of personnel. He knows where to put His children where He needs them and when. I shared an Elder Maxwell quote:

The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millenia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to the placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our human lives so that our light may not only lead others, but warm them as well.

I love this quote. I think it's great. Class ended before I could give this quote the full credit it deserved. I really hoped that I would be able to discuss how this seminary class is part of their "human orbits" and that they can do great things for each other, but there just wasn't the time. So I planned to share it on Friday.

Friday came and it's a special day for Bro. Carter's seminary. We have "open sharing" where students can stand up and share their spiritual experiences, favorite scriptures and testimonies with the class. We had some group presentations to finish, so when a lull in the sharing came, I stood up to end open sharing and introduce the class presentations. I went back to sit down and enjoy the presentations, when I caught a glare from our class president. She said, "Bro. Carter! There were more people that needed to share." I asked who and she pointed to a couple of people who did not get up to share, nor looked anxious to share. I knew that there would be enough time after the presentations to do some more sharing and hoped that they would share then. The presentations were great! I stood to elaborate on a couple of the stories that they shared. Then, nothing else came to mind--we still had 5 or 6 minutes, so I said, "We can use the rest of the time for open sharing."

A young girl quickly stood up and shared a scripture from Esther, when Mordecai hints that Esther's placement and timing might be God's work to save the Jews. "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" She said that this scripture made her think of the Elder Maxwell quote (above). Then she said, "I want to bear testimony that God answers prayers, because today He answered mine!" I was intrigued and listened more intently. "I read this scripture and reread the quote last night and really wanted to share it today. But when time ran out, I thought I had missed my chance. I prayed, 'Heavenly Father if You want me to share this scripture I know that You will prepare a way. I really would like to share it, but only if it's what You want.'" Tears welled up in her eyes. She then began to bear her testimony about how she knew that we were all in this class together for a reason and that God had brought us all here. It clicked. I remembered that I had forgotten to share on that quote and principle before turning the time back to open sharing. The Lord didn't want me to share the quote, He had prepared her for it and was answering her plea. I want to share one last quote from Elder Maxwell, "God is in the details!"

Snowflakes

At the end of the Bishop Peterson quote, written in green in the previous post, I added: "Like snowflakes!" To serve as a reminder to the students of their individual and unique purpose I hung up snowflakes that they themselves made. Here they are!

He knows us all!

Sometimes it's hard to remember that He is really aware of us. I think we know that He does, but it's a tough thing to always realize=God loves us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And there is purpose in trials. And we have a purpose. God knows it, even if we don't. But we can often lose focus amidst all we have to do and all that goes whirling and twirling about us.

In Exodus 31 the Lord instructs Moses on some individuals' purposes (at least, in part); they are to build a tabernacle and they've been given skills and talents wherewith they could accomplish that. As I was preparing I found a quote that CJ had in that chapter by a former counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. I felt that I should hand this out as a glue-in to my class. I'm glad it was more than a thought, because events would happen that could have prevented me from sharing it. First of all, this is embarrassing, but I gotta be honest, I didn't know who Bishop H. Burke Peterson was. I figured that he could have been in the Presiding Bishopric, but was worried that he was just a bishop from a local fireside. If he was a local bishop, then I probably shouldn't be sharing it as a glue-in. Then, when Thursday came along (just this past Thurs. the 6th) I forgot to bring the quote. Luckily, I have a great wife, so I called her and she read the quote to me and I typed it up to make the handout. I passed it out in 6th period, but changed the order of how I taught things in 7th. So, in 7th, I almost forgot. Near the very end of class, I saw the quotes and asked if I'd handed them out. The class said "no". As I passed this quote out and we read the first couple of lines I felt that this quote was gonna be really important to SOMEONE in here.

"One of the greatest challenges is to overcome the feeling that we are unimportant, that we are not special and unique. Do you think for a moment that Heavenly Father would have sent one of His children to this earth by accident, without the possibility of a significant work to perform?...My dear friends you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you...Your mission is unique and distinctive for you. Please don't make another have to take your place. He or she can't do it as well as you can. If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here."

Fridays are a special day in class. We have "open sharing". This is when students come up and share spiritual experiences, scriptures and their testimony. One student stood up, the same one who found the murmuring/manna principle about God's love. She said that she was really struggling the last couple of days feeling really unimportant. She said she had felt really depressed and wondered what her purpose was. She said that the Spirit hit her so hard when we read that quote and she reread it that night and did her scripture study. Her testimony reconfirmed to me that God does know us all. He is aware of us. And that He has a great purpose for each of us. She closed her testimony saying, "The Lord walked with me last night."