Come, Follow Me Daily Study Guide for the week of March 8-14, 2021 covering Doctrine and Covenants 23-26. For personal and/or family study of the scriptures, geared towards families with teenagers.
**This is a suggested outline that coincides with the Come, Follow Me manual. There is not just one right way when it comes to studying the scriptures. Everyone should study in a way that is best for them, but I do hope that you find these outlines helpful.
**SCRIPTURE JOURNALS – I highly suggest getting a scripture journal for each person. Many times my outlines will suggest writing something down in your scripture journal. These are also great for writing down any impressions or “Aha” moments that you might have as you study the scriptures. Composition books found at the Dollar Store work great!
**A free PDF DOWNLOAD of the Study Guide is available at the bottom of this post, making it easy for those who’d like to print out a copy. OR you can add Melanie’s Library to your mobile device home screen by following these instructions, click HERE
**SONGS – For a list of suggested songs for each day of the week, be sure and check out the blog called Music for Latter-day Life by clicking HERE
**OPENING SONG SUGGESTION FOR NON-SINGERS – We are not big singers in our family but I know how powerful music can be when it comes to inviting the Spirit. Instead of singing, we have begun listening to the song suggested on Music for Latter-day Life and as we listen we each write in our scripture journals how we have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives or something we are grateful for. It has been a wonderful way to get everyone in the right mindset and to invite the Spirit for our family scripture study.
FHE DAY
Start the week off right with a Family Home Evening that is focused around the upcoming week’s Come, Follow Me. Sign up for the Teach Me FHE email group and receive an FHE outline delivered right to your inbox every Sunday morning. Sign up at the bottom of this post.
THE SAVIOR CAN LIFT ME UP OUT OF MY AFFLICTIONS
BACKGROUND
OBJECT LESSON: You will need two glasses of water. Have ice cubes in one glass and no ice in the other.
Show the two glasses of water. Talk about being outside running around or doing yard work on a hot summer day and you come in all hot and sweaty. Which drink would you want? The nice cold one with ice or the lukewarm water? Most of us prefer the one with ice because it’s cool and much more refreshing. What if your freezer is out of ice? Do you know how long it takes for a typical ice cube to freeze? It takes 3-4 hours. If you came in all hot and sweaty, how hard would it be to then wait 3-4 hours before getting a cold refreshing drink? It would be hard and it would take a LOT of patience.
Are some things easier to have patience with than others? What are some things that are easier to have patience with than others? (List things together as a family such as how hard is it to have patience for your next dentist appointment? How hard is it to have patience for a new episode on your favorite TV show?)
What about trials in life? Are those easy or hard to have patience with?
SCRIPTURE
Let’s read what the Lord told Joseph Smith when persecutions started to increase.
READ: D&C 24:8
MINI LESSON
As you watch the following video, look for similarities between the runner and Joseph Smith’s life and also with your own life.
VIDEO: Your Great Adventure: Overcoming Life’s Obstacles (9:43), click HERE
PONDER & DISCUSS
- What stood out to you in that video?
- How can we relate this video to that of Joseph Smith?
- Can you relate to the runner in this video?
- How do you think it felt to have his friends laugh at him when he told them about the race?
- Has there ever been times in your life when you just felt “done”? If so, how did the Savior help you through it?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (optional)
CONFERENCE TALK: Continue in Patience by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
CONFERENCE TALK: The Power of Patience by Robert C. Oaks
VIDEO: Continue in Patience (0:54)
BLOG POST: 8 Insights to Patience for Parents of Wayward Children
EMMA SMITH IS AN ELECT LADY
BACKGROUND
SHOW IMAGES
Images used for educational purposes
This is Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma Hale Smith. Emma was a great help and strength to her husband Joseph.
In June 1830, Emma and members of the Knight family wished to be baptized. But enemies of the Church tried to disrupt what should have been a sacred experience. First they destroyed the dam that had been built to provide deep enough water for the baptisms. Even after the dam was repaired, the persecutors gathered to shout threats and mock those being baptized. Then, just as Joseph was about to confirm the new members, he was arrested for upsetting the community by preaching about the Book of Mormon. (CFM manual)
The persecution forced the confirmations to be postponed until nearly two months later, in August. In July 1830, the Lord provided the revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 25 to Emma. In this revelation, the Lord told Emma that she was an elect lady and gave her instructions regarding her family and Church responsibilities.
SCRIPTURE
(The following questions are taken from The Doctrine and Covenants Family Reader)
READ: D&C 25:3-8
- Why do you think the Lord called Emma an “elect lady”?
- What does that term mean to you?
- How would Emma’s responsibilities (verses 5-8) help build the kingdom of God?
- How would they be a help to her husband, the Prophet?
READ: D&C 25:10-16
- How can we follow the Lord’s counsel to “lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better”?
- According to verses 11-12, why is the Lord “pleased” with sacred music?
There’s a popular saying that goes, “Music is what feelings sound like.” Do you believe this to be true, why or why not? How has music strengthened your testimony or has helped you to come closer to God?
MINI LESSON
VIDEO: An Elect Lady (5:18), click HERE
After watching the video, go around the room and ask everyone to share one thing that stood out to them. Also ask, “What do you think Emma was like?”
Another way we can get to know Emma is to read the words of people who knew her best.
READ VOICES OF THE RESTORATION: Go to the Come, Follow Me manual for this week and at the very end where it says “Voices of the Restoration” share one or all of the insights about Emma from three people who knew her best. You may choose different family members to read each one while others follow along.
PONDER & DISCUSS
- What about Emma do you admire the most?
- What was one of Emma’s strengths that you would like to develop?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (optional)
CONFERENCE TALK: An Especially Noble Calling By Joy D. Jones
CHURCH WEBSITE: Music Quotes
NEW ERA ARTICLE: The Power of Music
NEW ERA ARTICLE: Beyond the Notes
ENSIGN ARTICLE: The Power and Protection of Worthy Music By Elder Russell M. Nelson
WHAT IS COMMON CONSENT?
BACKGROUND
What does it mean to sustain church leaders? Has anyone ever opposed?
Watch the following video of April 2015 General Conference and listen for people who opposed. You don’t need to watch all of the video, I’d suggest listening only to the 0:38 second mark or the 1:24 minute mark.
VIDEO: The Sustaining of Church Officers, click HERE
SCRIPTURE
READ: D&C 26:2
What does “Common Consent” mean? Find out by looking up and reading the 2 short paragraphs under “Common Consent” in the Guide to the Scriptures.
READ: Common Consent, first 2 paragraphs
GOSPEL LIBRARY>>SCRIPTURES>>STUDY HELPS>>GUIDE TO THE SCRIPTURES>>COMMON CONSENT
What does that mean to you?
D&C 26:2 it says, “And in all things.” Common Consent includes more than Church officers, this same principles applies for policies, major decisions, acceptance of new scripture, and other things that affect the lives of the Saints. (D&C Student Manual)
MINI LESSON/PONDER & DISCUSS
SHARE QUOTE: President Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “The procedure of sustaining is much more than a ritualistic raising of the hand. It is a commitment to uphold, to support, to assist those who have been selected.” (“This Work Is Concerned with People,” Ensign, May 1995, 51; CFM Manual)
What happens if somebody does oppose like what happened in April 2015 General Conference? Let’s read the Church Handbook to find out.
READ: 30.3 Sustaining Members in Church Callings, Read 2nd – 6th paragraphs (Start with the 2nd paragraph that begins “The person who conducts…” and stop when it says “In unusual circumstances…)
GOSPEL LIBRARY>>HANDBOOKS AND CALLINGS>>GENERAL HANDBOOK>>30. CALLINGS IN THE CHURCH>>30.3 SUSTAINING MEMBERS IN CHURCH CALLINGS
Discuss what you learned about what happens if somebody opposes. According to an article in LDSLiving, during the April 2015 conference President Uchtdorf designated local stake presidents as the assigned priesthood officers for dissenting members to talk to.
When Should a Person Cast a Negative Vote?
QUOTE BY JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH: “I have no right to raise my hand in opposition to a man who is appointed to any position in this Church, simply because I may not like him, or because of some personal disagreement or feeling I may have, but only on the grounds that he is guilty of wrong doing, of transgression of the laws of the Church which would disqualify him for the position which he is called to hold.” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:124.)
Could a Person Hold an Office in the Church without the Consent of the People?
QUOTE BY JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH: “No man can preside in this Church in any capacity without the consent of the people. The Lord has placed upon us the responsibility of sustaining by vote those who are called to various positions of responsibility.” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:123; see also D&C 20:65.)
SHARE THE FOLLOWING TAKEN FROM THE BYU RELIGIOUS STUDIES CENTER:
“…Many early members of the Church felt that common consent meant they would be involved in making decisions and policies and in determining the course of the Church. In other words, some of them felt that the Church would follow the standard of parliamentary procedure. After all, many of the revelations and instructions concerning common consent described this procedure as the members’ opportunity to consent or vote for all things in the Church (see D&C 20:63, 65, 66; 26:2; 28:13; 102:19; 104:21, 72, 85; Official Declarations 1 and 2). These words generally summon the images of electioneering and all the trappings of politics.”
“…This privilege of voting is more an act of ratifying leadership callings and decisions rather than actually making those decisions. Such decisions are left to the Lord and His anointed servants. Because politicking is not part of the process of voting within the Church, members signify their approval of a proposed action by raising their right hand.”
What is our responsibility when we sustain Church leaders? Watch the following video and listen for the 4 improvements that President Eyring suggests we could and must make.
VIDEO: Sustaining our Leaders with Elder Eyring (3:58), click HERE
Go around and have each person share what stood out to them. Which improvement did President Eyring suggest that you feel you could work on?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (optional)
CONFERENCE TALK: This Work Is Concerned with People by Gordon B. Hinckley
CONFERENCE TALK: The Power of Sustaining Faith By President Henry B. Eyring
BYU RELIGIOUS STUDIES CENTER: Law of Common Consent
D&C STUDENT MANUAL: The Law of Common Consent
GENERAL CONFERENCE DAY
Study a recent General Conference talk. A great way to study a conference talk is to read along and highlight the parts that stand out to you. Then after the talk, review and discuss what you have highlighted.
THIS WEEK’S TALK: We Will Prove Them Herewith by Elder David A. Bednar, click HERE
CATCH UP DAYS
Do one of the days that you missed OR any of the additional resources listed.
Yours Truly,
P.S. For more Come, Follow Me resources, check out my post Your Ultimate Guide to Come, Follow Me. It lists over 100 Come, Follow Me resources that are available online starting with the church’s resources at the top. You can find it by clicking HERE.
P.P.S. Sign up here for the Teach Me FHE email group and receive FHE outlines delivered right to your inbox every Sunday morning.
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