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Week of January 1 2016:
Read
Our Heritage, pages 73-80 (also attached as a PDF)
Write
Write about a time when you received guidance or a warning from someone you trust. How did that guidance or warning help you in your life?
Dear Sisters--
The new year is the perfect time to join the journey! Pick up with us in Helaman, and begin to write your own personal history. Attached is our schedule if you would like to begin.
This week's personal writing was written by Carole Voulgaris from the Ravenna Park Ward. Thank you Carole!
This week’s reading on Peace and War connects the 87th section of the Doctrine and Covenants —in which Joseph Smith prophesies the destruction that would come with the Civil War— to Joseph's other prophesies about the destruction that would come before the Second Coming of Christ.
I’m currently in the second trimester of my first pregnancy, so pregnancy and childbirth are on the top of my mind these days. Reading about Joseph’s prophecies about trials and tribulations reminded me of John 16:21, where the Savior compares the coming suffering of the Saints to the pains of a woman in labor. I think the analogy is apt. I’ve been reading a lot about childbirth lately, and while some of the it is uncomfortable to think about, I take a lot of comfort in knowing what to expect and how to prepare. I’ve enjoyed reading birth stories that go on to describe the joy that can accompany the arrival of the baby. These serve as a reminder that the discomfort of pregnancy and the pains of childbirth are followed by something wonderful and beautiful. Likewise, prophecies about coming difficulties can be useful and comforting as they teach us how to prepare for what we will experience and remind us (as Joseph is told in Liberty Jail) that “all these things … shall be for [our] good.”
In Joseph Smith’s revelation on the coming civil war, the Lord counsels the Saints to prepare for trials by “stand[ing] in holy places” and Joseph seems to respond by busily preparing holy places: he establishes the School of the Prophets and begins plans for the Kirtland Temple. This is a great example of how our knowledge of coming trials can inspire us to meet those difficulties with courage rather than being paralyzed by fear.
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