Sunday Lesson: Sept 27th

The lesson this week was taken from two General Conference talks given in April, 2015. The first was from Elder Kevin W. Pearson entitled Stay by the Tree. The second talk was from Elder Dale G. Renlund, Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying. Both talks help us to remember that enduring to the end requires total commitment to the Savior and to our covenants. It is not an easy task. Elder Pearson asks the question, "Why do we struggle to be faithful? We struggle when we are caught between competing priorities. Causal obedience and lukewarm commitment weaken faith." He gives us 6 important principles that help us endure to the end:

1) Don't forget to pray - Our wise teacher taught that even when we are upset or angry, we need to pray. Anger leads to sadness, which leads to courage, which in turn leads to hope.

2) Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him - We cannot lose sight of our purpose here, to gain eternal life. "He is the way, the truth, and the life."

3) Press forward with faith - Faith is a principle of action and power.

4) The Book of Mormon is Key to Spiritual Survival - "Don't let something you don't fully understand unravel everything you do know....Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It's the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are lost.

5) Don't be distracted and deceived - To heed means to give special attention. Do not give attention to those who do not follow Christ.

6) Stay by the Tree - This is Lehi's plea to us. We will stay by the tree because we are fully converted. Hold to the Rod of Iron. 1 Nephi 15:24-25

Elder Renlund reminds us of Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned for 27 years for his role in the apartheid struggle. He later became the elected president of South Africa. He was known world-wide for his forgiveness to those who had imprisoned him. He often deflected accolades by saying, "I'm no saint - that is, unless you think a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying." The gospel teaches us that we may become perfected by repeatedly relying on the doctrine of Christ; exercising faith in Him, repenting, and partaking of the sacrament. Pres. Monson has taught, "One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final."

The greatest example of enduring, and enduring well was our Savior, Jesus Christ. Elder Robert D. Hales said, "Our greatest example comes from the life of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. When suffering upon the cross at Calvary, Jesus felt the loneliness of agency when He plead to His Father in Heaven, 'Why hast thou forsaken me?' (Matt. 27:46). The Savior of the world was left alone by His Father to experience, of His own free will and choice, an act of agency which allowed Him to complete His mission of the Atonement. The Lord could have called on legions of angels to take Him down from the cross, but He faithfully endured to the end and completed the very purpose for which He had been sent to earth, thus granting eternal blessings to all who will ever experience mortality."

When we finish this mortal existence, we hope to say as Paul did, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7). Don't quit, don't ever give up. Evaluate your lives and keep on trying.