Student Choice Assignments
- How
did you and what did you do to complete the assignment?
I read all of the
scriptures, and I am organizing them in an appealing way and putting them on my
blog. Then I am going to try to use it
to teach my family including my younger siblings a family home evening
lesson. I thought about this assignment
a lot and I looked up a lot of people’s viewpoints on it, so I feel like I have
a pretty good understanding of what this lesson was intended to teach us.
- Why
did you decide to do the assignment you did?
I decided to do this
one because it sounded more interesting to teach my family and more appealing
for me to learn about.
- What
do you think is the best thing about your assignment, and how do you think
it could it be improved?
I think the best part,
are some of the quotes I found from prophets because I learned a lot about
sacrifice. I liked Gordon B Hinckley’s
little quote/story that I shared in the part I am attaching. It was super simple and super
straightforward, but yet such a good example for me, and for anyone who opens
their heart to it.
Unit One
Topic Choices (Choose One) Choice 2: Luke 10:38–42;
11:1–13; 12:13–40; 13:23–24; 14:16–33. Being a Disciple of Jesus Christ
- Luke 10: 38-42: Mary is opening her house
the savior and her sister is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him while
Mary is running around trying to prepare the house, and she asks the
savior why he is just letting her sister sit there when she should be
helping. The savior basically says
that she has chosen the better thing, and that Mary is worrying herself
with too many things when really there is only one thing that matters the
most, and she is overlooking it.
- Luke 11: 1-13: The Lord taught
people that their lives should reflect righteousness. He helped them see
how important it was that their hearts be clean, their motives pure, and
their service sincere. The Lord summarized this doctrine in these famous
words: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy
neighbor as thyself”. I like that the scripture says If you want to give
the best to your children always, then why wouldn’t the Lord do the same?
So obviously if we ask, he will give if it is the best for us. This makes me think about how important
service truly is to being a disciple.
- Luke 12: 13-40: There are a lot of quotes I
like that went along here so I will put them. Basically, we need to be willing to give
up anything and have the Lord be our main thought and our main priority is
what I got out of these scriptures too.
It talks about how we will leave everything behind. It reminded me of a country song I heard
a couple weeks ago that was called “Trailer Hitch,” by Kristian Bush that
is just now coming out. It said “you can't take it with you when you go, never seen
a hearse with a trailer hitch".
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“Can we imagine them asking the
Lord in prayer, "Father, please bless my lawyers so that I can get that
portion of the estate that I deserve"? His answer would be, "Dear
child, I don't care whether you get any of that money. I just wish you cared
about me half as much as you care about wealth. 'Take heed and beware of
covetousness'."
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“So far as we are informed, the
rich man mentioned in the scriptures who died while his barns were bulging
with goods that he couldn't use was not an evil man. Jesus didn't say that he
was dishonest, immoral, or lazy. Certainly, he appears to have been very
successful in his occupation. He must have been an intelligent and
industrious worker to have accumulated such a great amount of wealth. The
Lord didn't call him a sinner; he merely said he was a fool. Apparently, this
man had misunderstood the real objectives of life and was therefore
unprepared for death. With his wealth stacked around him he heard the Lord
say, 'Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.' ("Luke
12:20Luke 12:20.) Certainly anyone is foolish who exhausts his energy on
those things that can never bring him any benefit, and yet this is exactly
what so many people do. Our testing is being given in a world of opposites
where we see the contrasts of good and evil, success and failure, right and
wrong side by side. The wheat and the tares are frequently allowed to grow
together until harvest time. These contrasts can help us to develop our
judgment and our righteousness." (Principles, Promises, and Powers
[Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1973], 121.)
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"A modern illustration of
that principle is suggested in the apocryphal story of two men standing
before the casket of a wealthy friend. Asked one, 'How much property did he
leave?' Replied the other, 'He left all of it.'" ("Tithing," Ensign,
May 1994, 35)
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"Those who
combine honor, integrity, devotion, and sensitivity to family and friends are
rare indeed." (The Teachings
of Spencer W. Kimball, edited by Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City:
Bookcraft, 1982], 354-355.)
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- Luke 13: 23-24: In these scriptures, the man asks the Lord if only a few will get to Heaven. The answer is the part that sticks out to me though because the Lord tells him that he can get there if he strives, without a yes or no answer. It is true that only some will get there, but each of us have the potential to and it depends on our own actions and love for the Lord. He doesn’t want us to go about thinking about how many can get there or how hard it will be to get there. He wants us to try our best without comparing our own actions to others. We need to strive to do our best. Not our best compared to other people.
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"'Strive to enter in at the strait gate.' Strive
means to struggle in opposition or contention, to contend, to battle for or
against a person or a thing opposed, to strive as against temptation, and to
strive for truth.
"Well, in all that striving, remember Temple
Bailey's parable for mothers:
"The young mother said to the guide at the beginning
of her way, 'Is the way long?' And the guide replied, 'Yes, and the way is
hard, and you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be
better than the beginning.'
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- Luke 14: 16-33: I especially
noticed the part in this scripture where it says the we need to hate our
father and mother and children.
Obviously he does not mean hate.
I think that he just meant we cannot put ANYTHING above him.
Luckily in the gospel, the doctrine is set up so that as we strengthen our
families we get closer to him.
However, in the situation that is not the case and they are forcing
us otherwise, nothing should be put before him, even our own families.
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"But you are
wondering what the Lord of the Feast meant when he sent his servant to
'compel them to come in.' I believe this to be the solution: God will never
coerce the human mind-never fetter the human will. He will force no man into
heaven; no man into hell. But he has never said that he would not create
compelling situations, and so shape human affairs as to induce men and women
to do things of their own volition that they would not do if circumstances
remained unchanged." (Conference
Report, April 1918, Afternoon Session. 76.)
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God will never coerce the human mind-never fetter the
human will. He will force no man into heaven; no man into hell. But he has
never said that he would not create compelling situations, and so shape human
affairs as to induce men and women to do things of their own volition that
they would not do if circumstances remained unchanged.
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"To say that his disciples must hate all that is dear to them is surely
a hard saying. But we discover from other interpretations of the doctrine
(Matt. 10:37-38) that the meaning is that anyone who loves his father, mother,
wife, and all that is dear to him, even his own life, more than he loves Christ, is
not worthy of him and cannot be his disciple. The thought is very clear in
this instruction that all who seek eternal life are required to come to
Christ willing to give up all that they possess, if necessary. Should they be
unwilling to do so, even to the laying down of life in his cause, then they
are not worthy of his kingdom. This is reasonable; no unjust demand is made
by our Savior, for he came and laid down his life for us that we might have
life everlasting. He suffered for us; should we not love him more than we
love our own lives?" (The Way
to Perfection [Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949],
272 - 273.)
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Getting thus settled precedes consecration...Being
settled keeps us from responding to every little ripple of dissent as if it
were a tidal wave. We are to be disciples, not oscillators, like a 'reed
shaken with the wind.' (Matt. 11:7.) More members need the immense relief and
peace which can come from being 'settled' without which those individuals
will be like 'the troubled sea, when it cannot rest.’
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"While we cannot expect
discipleship to be cost free, we can receive God's helping grace, including
compensatory blessings, along with inner joy over what is jettisoned in
putting off the natural man...We can ease the stress induced by our
inconsistency, pain through which we put ourselves repeatedly. Unfortunately,
like Oliver Cowdery, we do not always 'continue as [we] commenced' (D&C
9:5). As with our wasteful automobile driving habits that consume extra
energy because of quick starts and stops, so it may be that with inconsistent
discipleship we actually inflict costs on ourselves in the face of divine
counsel." (Men and Women of
Christ [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991], 25.)
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"All of us can accomplish a
great deal in life if we are willing to pay the price of persistence. But are
we willing to pay that price? Most of us are good starters and poor finishers
of everything we begin. Moreover, we are prone to give up at the first signs
of defeat. As stated by Buffon, the great French naturalist, 'Most people are
willing to do a thing once, many will do it twice, some will do it ten times,
and a few will do it a hundred times-but I, Buffon, will keep on doing the
same thing again and again a thousand times, if necessary, until I have
finally done it right.' If we really want to succeed we cannot give up the
tenth time or even the hundredth time. No matter how rough the going, we must
persist until at last the goal is ours. The will to succeed expresses itself
only through perseverance." (Roderick L. Cameron, Grant Oratorical
Contest, December 1, 1964, BYU
Speeches of the Year, 1964, p. 4)
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"The call to discipleship is
a call to continue. To carry on. To persist. To endure. To finish. The Lord
needs finishers, those who make the commitment and then walk the road-no
matter the difficulty or challenge-to the very end." (Robert L. Millet, An Eye Single to the Glory of God:
Reflections on the Cost of Discipleship [Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book Co., 1991], 80.)
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"One Wednesday
I paused before the elegant show window of a prestigious furniture store.
That which caught and held my attention was not the beautifully designed sofa
nor the comfortable appearing chair which stood at its side. Neither was it
the beautiful chandelier positioned overhead. Rather, my eyes rested upon a
small sign which had been placed at the bottom right-hand corner of the
window. Its message was brief: 'FINSIHERS WANTED.' The store had need of
those persons who possessed the talent and the skill to make ready for final
sale the expensive furniture the firm manufactured and sold. 'Finishers
Wanted.' The words remained with me as I returned to the pressing activities
of the day. In life, as in business,
there has always been a need for those persons who could be called finishers.
Their ranks are few, their opportunities many, their contributions great. From the
very beginning to the present time, a fundamental question remains to be
answered by each who runs the race of life. Shall I falter, or shall I
finish? On the answer await the blessings of joy and happiness here in
mortality and eternal life in the world to come." Thomas S. Monson
“Finishers Wanted” talk.
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"Just think how
many things there are in life that we quit with serious consequences to
ourselves. We frequently see disaster when we quit our marriage through a
divorce, or we quit our business through bankruptcy, or we quit our
employment through failure, or we give up our citizenship through treason, or
we quit our church membership through apostasy, or we break off our
relationship with God by our sins.
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"It is probable that no one
ever does any of these things deliberately. We just let our personal
situation deteriorate until it almost falls to pieces of its own weight.
Someone has said, 'I never had to put religion out of my mind; I was so
open-minded that it fell out.' Some people say they have fallen out of love
as though they themselves had nothing to do with it. Or that they have lost
interest in the church through no fault of their own. Or that their
patriotism just happened to die for no reason at all. It is probable that
none of these are ever true. Satan did not fall from heaven until after he
had committed so many sins of rebellion and betrayal that his further
residence in heaven was impossible." (Principles, Promises, and Powers [Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book Co., 1973], 228 - 229.)
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"Mine has been
the opportunity to meet many wonderful men and women in various parts of the
world. A few of them have left an indelible impression upon me. One such was
a naval officer from Asia, a brilliant young man who had been brought to the
United States for advanced training. Some of his associates in the United
States Navy, whose behavior had attracted him, shared with him at his request
their religious beliefs. He was not a Christian, but he was interested. They
told him of the Savior of the world, of Jesus born in Bethlehem, who gave his
life for all mankind. They told him of the appearance of God, the Eternal
Father, and the resurrected Lord to the boy Joseph Smith. They spoke of
modern prophets. They taught him the gospel of the Master. The Spirit touched
his heart, and he was baptized.
He was introduced to
me just before he was to return to his native land. We spoke of these things,
and then I said, 'Your people are not Christians. You come from a land where
Christians have had a difficult time. What will happen when you return home a
Christian and, more particularly, a Mormon Christian?'
His face clouded,
and he replied, 'My family will be disappointed. I suppose they will cast me
out. They will regard me as dead. As for my future and my career, I assume
that all opportunity will be foreclosed against me."
I asked, 'Are you
willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?'
"His dark eyes,
moistened by tears, shone from his handsome brown face as he answered, 'It's
true, isn't it?'
"Ashamed at
having asked the question, I responded, 'Yes, it's true.'
"To which he
replied, 'Then what else matters?'" Gordon B Hinckley!
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- Student Manual Parable:
1. Read Luke 10:38–42; 11:1–13; 12:13–40; 13:23–24; 14:16–33 and
the institute student manual commentary for Luke 11:5–13, “The Parable of
the Friend at Midnight” (p. 115). Make a list of what it means to be a
disciple of Jesus Christ and what the Savior taught about counting the
costs of following Him.
o To be a disciple we see in all of these scriptures that we must be willing to give up our money, our comfort, our families, our riches, our property, our time etc. In every story there are many things that we are asked to give up. However, the common theme is that we need to be willing to give ANYTHING up in the name of Lord, and have him be our first priority.
o Pay our Tithing
o Pray to him
o Love one another
o Real Trust in God
o Serve and Sacrifice for our fellowman.
o Consciousness of the real need for prayer
o Patience for the Lord’s Time
o Persistent, righteous and faithful prayers
o Our minds and our hearts must be devoted to him at all times.
o We must remain loyal to our Heavenly Father, through our eternal marriages and our families.
o He taught that the cost of following him may be immense and it may be great, but that does not mean that it will not be worth it.
I feel like one thing I could sacrifice my time. I pay my tithing, and I am willing to give up anything. I feel like if I was asked to lay my life on the line, I would without hesitation. Ironically, giving up my life literally for him seems easier to me that figuratively giving it up. It is actually harder to remember all throughout the week and the days to keep him as my main priority. It is interesting that I can love someone enough to die for them at any time, yet not enough to never forget to pray, and never forget to read my scriptures etc. I want to try to do better with making time for things during the week, especially since I am about to graduate and this is my last religion class I will be taking, so I won’t have something like this that will force me to ponder on his words and teachings during the week. I have always had seminary or college religion classes during the times I have been busy, so that has not been as big of an issue as it will be once I graduate.
3. Read
Luke 14:33; Omni 1:26; Mosiah 2:34; Matthew 13:44–46. Explain in writing what
is ultimately required to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
o Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
o Omni 1:26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.
o Mosiah 2:34 I say unto you, that there are not any among you, except it be your little children that have not been taught concerning these things, but what knoweth that ye are eternally indebted to your heavenly Father, to render to him all that you have and are; and also have been taught concerning the records which contain the prophecies which have been spoken by the holy prophets, even down to the time our father, Lehi, left Jerusalem;
o Matthew 13:44-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it
Ultimately, it is required to give everything and anything. We should offer our whole souls, fast and pray, all that we have because we are eternally indebted to him. He gives an example in the Matthew 13:44-46 verses where he compares us to a merchant that saves everything, and once he sees what he wants which for us should be the kingdom of heaven, and for him in the story it was pearls, he spent everything he had been saving, which was his most valuable asset. We need to be willing to give up everything we build up for our eternal goal, which is the kingdom of heaven.
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