Preparing for the Savior's Second Coming

Hello Everyone!

This week’s topic is preparing for the Savior’s Second Coming.

Some scriptures that we were supposed to look up are in Mark 13

5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:

9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

 23-But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

 35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

The words heed and watch are a different color in the scriptures to point out how often they are used.

Three things that people should watch for in order to prepare to meet the Lord are:

1. In verse 7 He says, “when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.”

2. In verse 8 He says, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.”

3. In verse 10 He says, “the gospel must first be published among all nations.”

Our teacher gave us some additional scriptures that we could look at and see if there were any additional things we can do to prepare for the Second Coming.

Doctrine and Covenants 87:8

 Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen.

What is taught in this scripture is that we need to be righteous when the Second Coming happens and that it is coming faster than we think.

Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:32

And again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, be fulfilled.

This scripture teaches us that what Daniel from the Old Testament taught about the desolation that will happen before the Second Coming will be fulfilled.

Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:37

And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

What this scripture teaches is that before Christ comes, his angels will come and gather up those that are elect or those that are righteous from all of the world.

Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:46-50

And what I say unto one, I say unto all men; watch, therefore, for you know not at what hour your Lord doth come.

 But know this, if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to have been broken up, but would have been ready.

 Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.

Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing; and verily I say unto you, he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

From these scriptures we learn that we do not know when the Lord will come but we should watch and be ready for the Second Coming and life our life righteously and serving others.

Doctrine and Covenants 33:17

Wherefore, be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom—

This scripture uses the parable of the 10 virgins to help us remember that we need to be prepared and striving to get into the door.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:56-57

And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins.

For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.

This scripture also talks about the parable of the 10 virgins.

The Widow and Her Two Mites

Hello Everyone!

The assignment that I picked this week is one that I really love. It is over Mark 12:41-44 which is the story of the widow and her two mites.

Here are the scriptures:

And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.



And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.



And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:



For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

Why was her giving her two mites significant?

The reason why Christ taught his disciples this lesson was to show them that it was quality and not quantity that matters most when we are giving to others and to the Lord. In the Institute Manual it says,

The rich gave much yet kept back more; the widow’s gift was her all. It was not the smallness of her offering that made it especially acceptable, but the spirit of sacrifice and devout intent with which she gave. On the books of the heavenly accountants that widow’s contribution was entered as a munificent gift, surpassing in worth the largess of kings. ‘For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath

not.’”

The widow was poor and did not have much to give but she gave her all and in comparison it was substantially smaller than what those around her were giving. Christ doesn’t care if someone gives $100 or $1 as long as they have a willing heart and are giving all that they can. This idea applies to both tithing as well as serving our fellowman.

This week one of the principles that I came up with and shared for that assignment had to do with this scripture.

My principle was:

Each one of us should give all that we can in service of the Lord. Even when our contribution is less than others, as long as we know that we gave all that we could give, it does not matter.

I then shared about why this principle is important and what we can learn from it.

I have always loved the story of the widow and her two simple mites. I remember when I first came to live with my aunt she had a big deck of Mormon Ad’s hanging on the fridge and I liked to go through them once in a while and look up the scriptures or what was referenced on the bottom and the Mormon Ad of this scripture always stood out to me most because you can tell that she is a poor widow and she is holding out all that she has and she knows that she will need those mites to live but she sacrificed them because she knew that’s what she needed to do. Others around her could give so much more than she but she still gave what she could. This example is one that we should follow, each one of us. As long as we can honestly say that we gave all that we could and were being obedient, than that is what matters most.

In the same chapter but verse 30 Christ tells us that,

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

The reason why I shared this scripture is because this widow is a perfect example of what Christ said we should do. Even though she needed those two mites she gave them up. Giving all that we have is not something that is easy or simple but it is something that will be a trial for us and it will teach us and bless us.

Have you heard the scripture that says,

“…for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all that we can do.” (2^nd Nephi 25:23)?

How does this scripture apply to the widow?

It applies to the widow because we are saved by the grace of the Lord because He died for us but we must first do ALL that we can just like how this widow gave ALL that she had. Not to go off on a tangent but I really like this scripture because it reminds me that by doing nothing we are not saved. Christ did not allow us to be saved by doing nothing. He worked hard for us and suffered all the pain in the world for each one of us. “After all that we can do” in my opinion is our way of showing Christ that we understand what He did for us and we are in a way paying Him back by working hard to “earn” the grace He has given us.

This summer I have learned that after I get work, if I don’t feel like I worked my hardest, I don’t feel like I earned the money I received for that work. I want to be like the widow and give all that I can in service and in appreciation and not just for the blessings I will receive but because by giving my all I will feel like I truly earned my reward.

There are many ways that we can follow the widow’s example of sacrifice and obedience. In our jobs, our callings, in our families, our tithing, home teaching, visiting teaching, helping our neighbors or other ward members and friends, and the service that we give to others are a few of the things we can do in being examples.

We just need to remember to give our all in all that we do and be like the widow!

The Lord Appointed Other Seventy Also

Hello Everyone!

This week I am covering Luke 10:1-24 which is about how “The Lord Appointed Other Seventy Also.”

1 After these things the Lord ^aappointed other ^bseventy also, and sent them ^ctwo and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

 2 Therefore said he unto them, The ^aharvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

 3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as ^alambs among wolves.

 4 Carry neither ^apurse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and ^bsalute no man by the way.

 5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, ^aPeace be to this house.

 6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.

 7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the ^alabourer is worthy of his ^bhire. Go not from house to house.

 8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they ^areceive you, eat such things as are set before you:

 9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The ^akingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

 10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,

 11 Even the very ^adust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

 12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.

 13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

 14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

 15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.

 16 ^aHe that ^bheareth you heareth me; and he that ^cdespiseth you ^ddespiseth me; and he that ^edespiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

 17 ¶And the ^aseventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

 18 And he said unto them, I beheld ^aSatan as lightning fall from heaven.

 19 Behold, I give unto you ^apower to ^btread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means ^churt you.

 20 Notwithstanding in this ^arejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather ^brejoice, because your names are ^cwritten in heaven.

 21 ¶In that hour Jesus ^arejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things ^bfrom the wise and ^cprudent, and hast revealed them unto ^dbabes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

 22 All things are ^adelivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth ^bwho the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will ^creveal him.

 23 ¶And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the ^aeyes which see the things that ye see:

 24 For I tell you, that many ^aprophets and ^bkings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

In these verses the Lord tells his disciples many things that will help them on their journeying to teach.

They are:

- Go two by two (Like missionaries today)

- Pray for labourers for the harvest (Those that will teach and gather)(My favorite part about this one is when it says “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few.”)

- Go your ways (I love how He always compares us as lambs and he says here that “I send you forth as lambs among wolves.”

- Carry nothing with you (the missionaries are supposed to go with only themselves and what they know and have learned, kind of like when we die all that we will have to take with us is what we have learned. I think that is why it says this.)

- When you come to a house say, “Peace be to this house.”

- He says that you should accept what is given to you by those that are accepting of you (reminds me of how return missionaries say that they would never turn down something they were offered to try even if they didn’t want to try it)

- He gave the seventy “power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (I think if I were ever to be a missionary the last part of that would give me great comfort!)

Joseph Smith wrote 13 Articles of Faith and #6 starts out by saying that “We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church.” In Luke 10:1-2 supports how we have a group of men called the Seventy and how we have missionaries that go forth and serve others and teach them the gospel. Verses 8-9 support how the men heal the sick. Verses 17-20 supports how our missionaries have power over Satan and that nothing will hurt them.

What exactly is a Seventy?

On lds.org a Seventy is described as “An office to which men are ordained in the Melchizedek Priesthood. Today, the quorums of Seventy are General Authorities of the Church who are given the apostolic authority but are not ordained Apostles. They devote their full time to the ministry.”