Sunday, March 29, 2015

5th Sunday Lesson on Indexing

Presented by two presenters.
Part by first presenter:
Today we are going to talk to you all about FamilySearch indexing.  What it is and why it is important.

-Watch video "Indexing Is Vital" and narrate.
Narration
{
Documents were created about our ancestors all through their lives.
-Birth Certificates
-School and Work Records
-Marriage Certificates
-Census Records
-Death Certificates
- and Obituaries
-All of these have been stored in various places around the world.
-As we work on our genealogy we need the data contained on those documents.
-We search and search, hoping someone has possession of those documents and has entered them into a computer, so that we can enter them into our family trees.
-Many of these documents have been photographed, but it takes a long time to get all of that information into computers.
-Indexing is the process of reading those documents and entering the data into computers.
-Once that information is in computers, by people indexing the records, it can be searched by web sites like FamilySearch. Then people who have been trying and trying to find their ancestor’s information can finally find it.
}

-So the basic idea of indexing is that documents we need for genealogy are all over the world and can be brought to us quickly with computers.  The problem is to get computers to know what document we are looking for.

-Computers do not understand paper and handwriting very well.  Humans, on the other hand understand written text.  We are the translator between the document and the computer.

-When we index records we take paper documents and make them so they can be found by someone in their home using a computer.

-Because of the great tool that indexing these documents is to hastening temple work, our leaders have asked us to make time for indexing.

Indexing is very easy to incorporate into the patterns of our lives.  We would love to meet with you and your families to talk about how to work a little indexing into your lives.

-A significant contribution can be made with any amount of time.

The stake and ward have established indexing goals for us for the year,so let's run through these really quickly.

-Our stake has a goal for everyone in the stake to learn to index, and for each person in the stake to index 500 names this year.
-Our ward has a goal to index 100,000 names as a ward this year.
In order to accomplish this, the ward has a goal to have at least one registered indexer from each family by the end of June.  We and our other ward indexers are available to come to your home and show you how if you need help getting registered.

-There is work to be done in indexing at all levels of experience.  So there is work for you no matter what.
-There are a variety of projects to index that match every different persons’ strengths and weaknesses.  
-Don’t let the thought that you will make mistakes keep you from indexing.  There are many checks and balances in place to prevent error and to train you along the way.

-We are available to come to your home and help your family get started with indexing or help you over any bumps you may be having along the way.  Just contact one of us to set up a time.
Now my fellow presenter is going to share with us some of the blessings of indexing.

Part by second presenter:
-These are the promised blessings/Why I index
 -Protection
 -Redemption

 -Edification

How can relying on the Savior’s grace help me become a better teacher?

Is there anything we have talked about in past weeks that I didn’t explain well that you have questions about?

What have you learned in personal gospel study this week?

Have you had any interesting gospel conversations with friends or family this week?

How can relying on the Savior’s grace help me become a better teacher?

What is grace?

Grace is the enabling power of the atonement

We may sometimes experience feelings of inadequacy or feelings that we aren't good at something we are trying to do.  If we humble ourselves and admit we can't do it alone, we can exercise faith in Jesus Christ. He can help us with any struggle.

We all have things we could be stronger in our better at. If we follow the Savior's commandments and also ask him to help us then he week enable us to be better. Enabling us to be better is called grace.

As we have talked about before the commandments aren't to limit what we can do, but what are they for?

They are to show us how things really work to be successful in life.   So part of grace is his instructions on how to have a successful life. Those instructions tell us how to draw on the power of the atonement to fully have the grace of God enable us to be better.

Does that make sense? Anyone have anything they would like to add? Does anyone have any questions so far?

Elder David A Bednar,  In the Strength of the Lord, Ensign November 2004
"Brothers and sisters, please pay particular attention to the word grace as it is used in the verse I just read. In the Bible Dictionary we learn that the word grace frequently is used in the scriptures to connote a strengthening or enabling power:
"'The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.
"'… It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts' (p. 697).
"Thus, the enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity. I testify and witness that the enabling power of the Savior’s Atonement is real. Without that strengthening power of the Atonement, I could not stand before you this morning."
Grace Is An Enabling Power.
10 ¶ And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?
Alma 26:12
 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

2 Nephi 25:23
 23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

God’s grace enables us to be saved after we have done everything we can.  We keep the commandments and repent when we have not and then God’s grace bridges the gap between us and God.  It also gives you strength to keep commandments we struggle with and gives us abilities to do things we never thought we could.

How would you encourage friends are feeling inadequate?  Perhaps they have had sins they need to repent of.  Perhaps they have a calling that they are having trouble doing.  Perhaps they are having trouble with their school work.  Perhaps they are having trouble with their testimony.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Youth Lesson - What Can the Scriptures Teach Me About the Atonement of Jesus Christ? March 2015

Have you learned anything in your gospel studies that you would like to share?

Who is not here that should be in our class?

What can the scriptures teach me about the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

"The principal purpose of the scriptures is to testify of Jesus Christ, [and to help] us come unto Him and partake of His Atonement." - from the lesson outline

Do you have any scriptures about Jesus Christ that are meaningful to you?

Do you have any scriptures which have helped you better understand the Atonement?

People in the old testament and in the book of Mormon knew of Christ. Their animal sacrifices were to remind them off Christ. When something is like Christ to make us remember him we sometimes call that a type of of Christ.

Jacob tells us about this :
Jacob 4:5
5 Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son.

What are some types of Christ you can think of in the scriptures that remind us of Christ or symbolize Christ?

Abraham and Isaac
Genesis 22
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 ¶And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

Exodus 17:6
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Who knows what was going on at the time of this scripture?

How is this example of Moses striking the rock and water coming forth a symbol of Christ?

Let's read from 1 corinthians 1:10 to give us a little more about the rock and the water and other things the Lord gave Israel to teach them of Christ.
1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Christ is the rock we should build on. From him comes living water. Those waters are absolute truth and atonement.

Additionally, it talked about the going down into the Red Sea when it was parted like going down into the waters of baptism. Coming out onto the other shore was like coming out of the waters of baptism free from the sins that keep us captive.

Numbers 21:4-9
4 ¶And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 ¶Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

What does this story symbolize?

Israel was ungrateful and rebelled against God. Consequently they ended up having a harder life. Moses have them a symbol of their salvation and all they had to do was look.

When we sin we have to choose to partake of the atonement that is freely available to us.

Many of the those in Israel refused to look and died. Many refuse to partake of Christ's Atonement and have much harder lives than they need to.

President Boyd K Packer, “The Reason for Our Hope.”
"Several years ago, Sister Packer and I went to Oxford University. We were looking for the records of my seventh great-grandfather. The head of Christ’s College at Oxford, Dr. Poppelwell, was kind enough to have the college archivist bring the records. There in the year 1583 we found my ancestor’s name, John Packer.
The following year we returned to Oxford to present a beautifully bound set of the standard works for the library at Christ’s College. It seemed a bit awkward for Dr. Poppelwell. Perhaps he thought we were not really Christians. So he called for the college chaplain to receive the books.
Before handing the scriptures to the chaplain, I opened the Topical Guide and showed him one subject: 18 pages, very fine print, single-spaced, listing references to the subject of “Jesus Christ.” It is one of the most comprehensive compilations of scriptural references on the subject of the Savior that has ever been assembled in the history of the world—a testimony from the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
“However you follow these references,” I told him, “side to side, up and down, book to book, subject after subject—you will find that they are a consistent, harmonious witness to the divinity of the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ—His birth, His life, His teachings, His Crucifixion, His Resurrection, and His Atonement.”
After I shared with the chaplain some of the teachings of the Savior, the atmosphere changed, and he gave us a tour of the facility, including a recent excavation revealing murals which dated to Roman days.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Youth Lesson - How can I use the words of living prophets and apostles to strengthen my faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ? - March 2015

Is there anything in your gospel studies from this week that you would like to share our that you have questions about?

Any interesting gospel conversations you have had with friends or family members this week?

Today we are going to talk about: How can I use the words of living prophets and apostles to strengthen my faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

Let’s start by reading the definition of an apostle in the Bible Dictionary.  (Have the class find phrases that describe the role of an apostle.)

Elder David A Bednar said this about what it means to be a special witness of Christ:
The role of an Apostle today is the same as it was anciently (see Acts 1:22; 4:33). Our commission is to go into all the world and proclaim “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (see Mark 16:15, 1 Corinthians 2:2). An Apostle is a missionary and a special witness of the name of Christ. The “name of Christ” refers to the totality of the Savior’s mission, death, and resurrection—His authority, His doctrine, and His unique qualifications as the Son of God to be our Redeemer and our Savior. As special witnesses of the name of Christ, we bear testimony of the reality, divinity, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His infinite and eternal Atonement, and His gospel.(Elder David A. Bednar, "Special Witnesses of the Name of Christ," in Religious Educator 12, no. 2 (2011): 1-11.)

Doctrine and Covenants 107:23
23 The twelve traveling councilors are called to be the Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world—thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling.

Doctrine and Covenants 27:12
12 And also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles, and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry and of the same things which I revealed unto them;

Do you remember anything from the last general conference that was a strength to you?

Do you remember anything from the last general conference that was something you didn’t know or something that you understood better?

Do you remember anything from the last general conference that testified of Christ or his atonement?

Read The Living Christ with the class and discuss it.


Who was speaking in the video? The apostles.

What we they doing with the words they spoke? Testifying of Christ.

Ask the class if anything stood out to them in the video.

One thing they said in the video was that if we partake of the atonement, our ability to carry our burdens will increase. How do we partake of the atonement?  Repent daily, take the sacrament reverently and with focus.

One apostle in the video said that God sees is not as we are, but as what we can become. He knows what we are capable of.

Watch some of the videos from Special Witnesses of Christ.