Sunday Lesson, Mar 26th

Our lesson on Sunday was on two conference talks. We started by discussing Principles and Promises by President Monson from October 2016. He reminded us that as we are obedient we can obtain promised blessings. Elder Ballard talked about the temptations of Satan and how we can overcome them.

President Monson shared a story of a man who was a coast guard in WWII. At one point he found himself in a life or death situation. He needed to climb a 40 foot rope, but did not have the strength to get all the way to the top. He had always lived the Word of Wisdom and he desperately prayed that the strength promised for living that principle would be granted to him. The man said that “as he finished his prayer, he felt a great surge of strength. He began climbing once again and fairly flew up the rope. When he reached the deck, his breathing was normal and not the least bit labored. The blessings of added health and stamina promised in the Word of Wisdom had been his. He gave thanks to his Heavenly Father then, and throughout the remainder of his life, for the answer to his desperate prayer for help.”

We discussed that obedience to God’s commandments gives us confidence to call upon Him in our times of need. When we are obedient, we will have faith to ask and receive blessings from God. We will be spiritually prepared to overcome any obstacle.

In Elder Ballard’s talk from the October 2010 Conference, he compared a fishing lure to Satan’s tactics to trap, trick, and ensnare us. He knows we all have weaknesses and he uses those weaknesses to catch us. Elder Ballard specifically says that Satan uses addictions to limit our agency. An addictions is anything that is habit forming and difficult to break; all of us have addictions that keep us from the best choices. Elder Ballard explained that addiction, “overpowers the part of our brain that governs our willpower, judgment, logic, and morality. This leads the addict to abandon what he or she knows is right. And when that happens, the hook is set and Lucifer takes control.”

We discussed that we need to be aware of “red flags” in ourselves. When we notice we are taking the first steps in addictive behavior such as doing things or thinking about things that we know we shouldn’t be doing, we can write them down so we can be aware and do our best to avoid going further down those paths.

When we fall into the trap of addiction, we can find hope again through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We can turn to Him in prayer to find the strength and will power to make better choices in our lives. It is through faith, prayer, and calling upon God that we will receive the blessings in our lives to have the strength to do hard things and make good choices.