Real Talk, Come Follow Me - S2E38 - Doctrine and Covenants 102-105

[Music] welcome to real talk come follow me we're so grateful you are here with us and we are just like there's some good stuff coming there's so i ah there's so much in here do we say that every week yes we do that's all right okay well we really love the scriptures that's good right yeah section 102 through 105 after much tribulation cometh the blessing it's one of those you're like i don't want to hear it but it's true because my whole life is evidence right it's true um section 102 we're going to just we're literally not going to spend a lot of time on this but if you're studying come follow me this week which i hope if you are you don't skip over a whole section but it's it's church membership councils and so we just want to quickly talk about the fact that the purpose for it is three-fold and the updated handbooks has really emphasized by in our opinion listing something first as one of the primary goals yeah so it used to be listed and to be and this is the churches you know you can find all this this isn't like they're trying to hide it or anything but it used to be the three-fold mission was save um help to save the soul the transgressor is one of the ways they put it so help the person who needs who transgressed um then the second was to protect the innocent and then third to safeguard the church's purity integrity and good name um they have made updates and a lot of cultural shifts i think have really helped with this and helped us see clearly things that we um weren't willing to see in the past and so they've switched the priorities the number one priority way you just said that by the way well it's true i think don't you think it was very articulate i thought it was sensitive and articulate i just wanted to rejoice thank you you're welcome um and so they've switched those around just a little bit they switched the first and second so number one priority in the new handbooks it's in uh section 32 uh dot two um number one is help protect others and so um the church like our culture and everything is is trying to right some of these maybe wrongs and um obvious oversights that have really hurt survivors especially some abuse survivors and stuff like that that may have felt like the salvation of the um abuse or was more important than theirs than than them getting some help and so they switched that and before we started taping we had a discussion with our team because we understand there's a variety of stories and experiences out there and depending on what your experience is section 102 may pull up different feelings and so i think it's helpful like you said that the church handbook is available and you can read in that section 32.2 and see where the emphasis is really about protection yeah so so please if you if you work on disciplinary councils will you be very clear and aware of this change i'm sure your stake presidents have trained you on this but it may be important to revisit your number one priority is to help protect others specifically survivors the second one on there is to help the person access the redeeming power of jesus christ through repentance and then of course the third is to help protect um the integrity of the church and so i think that's important please please try and keep that in mind because um special sensitivity to so many who have gone through those councils and felt like their voices weren't heard for a variety of reasons and so um please be aware of that the second thing i just i think we we both have a testimony of um is that repentance especially with the help of others um especially others who hold priesthood keys can be the foundation on which we build our eternal salvation on which we course correct to choose like the prodigal son to come back and and be wrapped in the arms of a loving father and to and sometimes we need others to help us with that and so i think uh church disciplinary councils or membership councils as they're called now can be very have been very useful in that so it's just complicated because usually if you're in one it's something that's it's height it's high stakes and repentance is reconciliation and it's relationship-based it's totally relationship-based there is so much we could say on that and and we really wanted to make sure we addressed it but that we made room for the variety of experiences out there and i love that the church has set the precedent that they will adjust these moving forward yeah they'll make adjustments to this revelation so section 103 verse 9 for they were set to be a light unto the world and to be the saviors of men light right so good so good um i have a lot of thoughts on where we could have gone with this conversation but both of us have a love for the youth and sister dalton said in 2012 this is your day and your work has begun now is the time to be worthy of and obtain a temple recommend as you do this work you will become saviors on mount zion and i think about how many youth are out there and we hope that you're joining us each week on real talk that you really are a light in the world and you have the capacity and the i think the power of influence that maybe us older generation we we sometimes ignore we skip over we don't acknowledge you do work every day with teens i have the opportunity to work with teens as well and so i i have a daughter that's a senior this year and she recently was working at a conference where someone not of our faith was from out of state and by the third day of the conference got really emotional and gave her feedback about her light and she didn't know what word she's like i don't know what the word is there's something like light about you and she got really emotional and started to cry she goes i don't know why i'm crying but i've watched you for three days with that light when i had the opportunity to travel to the middle east and speak to youth there they they legally cannot talk about their faith as christians and yet they often have stories and experiences where people comment on their light and i would just say this as members of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints we do not hold the corner on the market on this i'm like yeah yeah this is not to say that as members of the church were the light sources we are a reflection of the light source but do you have any example with the seminary work that you do um where youth have really become that light as a savior in in the world yeah and so i would say gosh i've shared so many and i've had um um so many tender beautiful experiences with students um where they're just their ability to care deeply and to see people who are marginalized uh i didn't i was not that way and the people that were around me for the most part when i was their age we were not nearly as sensitive to being able to see and um wrap arms around people and groups individuals that are marginalized and so when i think about light in that way i think about um i think about ammon and the sons of mosiah going among the lamanites and going pushing away the traditions of their fathers which were to discriminate and hold prejudice against an entire uh nation group of people an entire group of people and they were wrong the nephites were wrong their prejudices their bias that they held against the lamanites and part of it be was because they they had battles and and lamanites had killed their parents and grandparents and so i understand they're dead i understand why they felt that way but they were wrong and ammon and the sons of mosiah totally said there's something there that we can help with and they brought that light to the lamanites and i just i i there's something about that i just feel chills even saying it i just there's something about it where i listen to these teenagers bear testimony of um difficult things they've been through and surviving suicide and just feeling so alone and as i sit and think about it and i listen to him talk about it i think those are the kids that need to be sitting in the living rooms around the world or they need to be sharing what they have on social media or over their gaming systems i can't tell many kids they're like i put my headphones on so i can talk to people and get and build them up they put their head their xbox they go on xbox live to spread light um in a dark place at times if you've ever been on xbox live and i just think man i see so many characteristics of those of those powerful missionaries that that allowed themselves to be used by the lord to spread light to a nation that really needed it and really really um found hope and healing and salvation because of it so that's kind of a long way to get there but it's it's more of a general testimony of the rising generation please i and you know this if you're in my ward those of you are in my ward if anyone talks bad about the youth even if they're joking i will call them out and i will do it publicly and i will give an impassioned plea and i embarrass myself and i just won't stop because there's too much there's so much the the lord can do with that pliability in the youth in these days i love your passion and emotions do you feel it i felt it and i could see it and i hope our viewers could feel it and i would amen everything that you have said i as you were talking i have countless examples in my mind of youth that have gone through some really difficult things one in particular is is my friend aiden who lost his brother in an atv accident who leaves in a few weeks on his mission and when i met him he was in such a dark place and i remember telling him at age 15 that the world needs missionaries like aiden that have gone through some of the worst tragedy and loss that we need their voice to reach those that feel marginalized that feel hopeless and that he would someday testify of christ in a way that comes from that pain and i'm so excited for new york city because they get one of the best missionaries and uh there's a lot of aidens out there and so thank you for bringing the spirit into the studio by reminding us how great it is that we get to be on the planet with these youth today i think it's i think it is one of the great um blessings of my life is to share space consistently with the youth if i'm sorry i'm going to go one other place in section 35 we talked about this um when we were there before but i'm going to bring it up again okay to those youth who don't see that in themselves i'm just going to say this so in section 35 uh sydney rigdon is getting called on a mission and he doesn't see it in himself cindy rigdon and he's like it's not me i can't see that and there's been others that have just been like i can't see a bishop in myself right i was just thinking i can't see a bishop in myself i can't see this in myself and so when you hear this you're like i can see that in some of the people at my high school but i don't see it in myself um the great news is the lord does and so in section 3 or 35 verse 3 says behold verily verily i say unto my servant sidney i have looked upon thee in thy works just pause for a second think what that would feel like the lord said i've looked upon you i've seen you from the time you were born and even before that and your eyes in your closet in your algebra class and when you sit there at night and it goes through your head what just you're not good enough you're not everything about me is repulsive to myself and others and all that stuff that that goes through your minds i've heard thy prayers so i listen to you and i've prepared thee for a greater work and um and then he goes on to talk about john um i prepared the even like john i did that and i prepared information of john and he knew it not and so um even if you don't see it in yourself if you can ask the lord to help you see yourself through his eyes and say where's the light because i don't feel it where's the light because no one shows it to me where's the light because i have a mental illness that makes it really hard for light to get in or addiction or addiction like where where is it can you please help me to see it and i would tell you that that prayer um that prayer will be answered in the way the lord chooses i don't know how or where or when but he answers that prayer um at times when when necessary so you have a greater work you and so there's light in all of you and gainlin and scott see it in you so i hope that people feel that if we say nothing else if we stop the episode now i feel like our time has been well spent because we need the diversity and the power and the wrestle of our youth today we need you on the team we don't want your voices quiet we want to hear you yeah be loud we need it yeah and maybe a quick note to the parents maybe we should be quiet a little bit more than we think yeah it's hard to talk less listen a little bit more and and help our youth identify the light that's within them right um so should we should we jump into the united firm and section one over yeah oh yes let's do 104 i love section 104 changing tone dramatically so we've gone from a lot of emotion to a discussion quickly on stewardship shocker it's been five minutes since i said my favorite word my new my new profound testimony of stewardships that you've helped me discover it happen live on camera every week verses 12 and 13 talk about literally the stewardship which is appointed unto us and in verse 13 it specifies that the lord has made every man accountable as a steward over earthly blessings which i have made and prepared for my creatures and so i think right now we're going to talk environmental care yes and stewarding over earth and creatures i i did a google search of endangered species and plants and it took me into some long lists and you may want to include that in this week's discussion with friends or family as we as we try to apply these experiences and counsel for the early saints for our everyday life hawks bill turtles is what i want to share turtles little hawksbill turtle education so fun facts about the hawksbill turtles they are named because of their pointed beaks fun yeah and they resemble both a bird and a turtle the female turtles return to the same nesting ground where they were born to lay their eggs so they're really cool on like home and tradition yeah you know um the turtles can be found on coastal waters of more than 108 countries but they're endangered right now because of coastal development the area where they have successfully nested um and then dogs and other animals that maybe haven't traditionally been in those areas have destroyed where their nests are in people have also harvested their eggs for food and so once again that's not a very happy note but i think it's one of the ways in which we see we are interacting our stewardships sometimes come in conflict with other stewarding right and that idea of where we can go as a family discussion this week or as individuals or on social media where how are we caring for our yards our our water we're living in an area where there's a drought taking care of our animals taking my dog ruby jane every month to the groomers and making sure she gets her medicine and gets probably better food than we're eating let's just be honest picking up garbage in the park my daughter is obsessed about if there's any garbage anywhere she's she will stop and try to pick up and be an example to me on that so what are your thoughts on stewarding in the world and the environment well here we go okay let me just say this uh what i will not do with this conversation is reduce it to a political discussion about parties and party lines and stuff i just i simply am completely uninterested in personally in in that type of rhetoric i want to know what god thinks about the planet i want to know it's his creation it's a gift for us i want to know what god thinks and all this other stuff that's that's fine and you want to fight battles if you feel to fight these battles in your own stewardship with them policies politically i think that's great but i'm not going to reduce it to we're better they're worse right i'm just not going to and so i get worried about this uh verse 17 when it says for the earth is full and there is enough and to spare and then that gives us some sort of weird license to say well then we can kind of do whatever we don't need there's about 20 we don't have to if we're if the earth is going to be just fine um that is not what that says that is lifted out of context look at the verses before and after um he says like you mentioned in verse 13 i have made a a stewardship over earthly blessings verse 14 i the lord stretched out the heavens and built the earth my very handiwork implied in that not yours right it's my handiwork and all things are mine and it is my purpose to provide for my saints for all things are mine that's the second time then verse 16 but it must needs be done in mine own way and behold this is the way that i the lord have decreed to provide for my saints and that the poor shall be exalted in that the rich are made low for the earth is full and there is enough in despair but i prepared all things and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves we are to be wise stewards over this planet we can't just take whatever we want out of god's pantry and expect it to always be full we have to be white's wise stewards it's like having children and then not caring for them at all not not helping them not giving them a chance and our planet is a is a beautiful stewardship so there's a section in gospel topics um called environmental stewardship and conservation i did put this in my book so you can see it in there we'll put it we'll put a link to it in the show notes there's over 30 scripture references to answer these questions what why does god care about the earth what is the role of the earth in the plan of salvation what does it mean to be a steward of the earth and its resources uh and then this wasn't the earth created with enough resources for all and then the final question is if the earth will be changed at the second coming of jesus why does it matter if we care for the earth and conserve and so uh we'll put the link to that you may just want to read through that today and rather than um i would just encourage to rise above the political rhetoric um where we take shots at each other for not being why stewards over there while we're we think we're wise stewards over here um and see what god has to say about this in fact as i was reading this this last time it made me think about the rich young ruler remember what the i've done all these things everything from a book and then the lord says there's one thing you lack and it's sell all that now has it give to the poor what's the purpose of stewardship to take the resources of this planet and help people and it says he went away and wept bitterly for he had much possessions he was in an ownership mindset right the lord is looking for stewards and this this rich young ruler at that point was an ownership mindset and he wasn't willing to give up um he was not an environmentally he was not a good steward environmentally and therefore a lot of people were going hungry that could have been helped that's such a great insight i love it when we squeeze in stewardship in our show okay couple minutes on science camp zion's camp yes section 105 for all of us i think this is one of the most hopeful experiences of the early saints for me it is something that i have reflected on so verse 14 says for behold i do not require at their hands to fight the battles of zion so basically the synopsis the cliff notes is they all thought they were going to march and do this battle section 103 says get people make create a group and go redeem the saints that are exiled in missouri and so they're they they're ready shoot aim they knew all the things right and then they get there and it doesn't happen and in our in our real talk journal we talk about this on 108 specifically that you know they they had approximately 230 men women and children and had march and they had invested so much in this and they thought it was going to look a certain way and then they get there and it doesn't look that way at all not at all not at all so what do you want to say about zion's camp because i think this is such a really important place to stop and consider in our own lives when we think we've given been given all this revelation we're following up on it and we're doing what the lord wants hike hike march march march and then the rug gets pulled out from underneath they're ready to fight and then there's this big storm that comes in at the fishing river i may feel like i'm saying that wrong i don't know i thought it was a lake and uh anyway my goodness i'm having anyway so they go through this a body of water yeah and it fills up and it swells and they can't and they can't battle and joseph smith then realizes the lord is in this storm and um they thought so in section 103 the lord is as they're recruiting people to go redeem zion it says uh behold i say to you that redemption of zion must needs come by power and so they're thinking military army militia power and so they go in with that aim but then in section 105 after the flood and after they retreat and tensions kind of cool off a little bit and they find other ways to to help the people in missouri um the lord comes back through and just basically says um verse 11 in section 105 this cannot be brought to pass until mine elders are endowed with power from on high the power that is going to redeem them is temple power not military power and so we're still in that phase of what do we do to help bring to pass how do we bring zion how do we bring heaven to earth it's temple power to make and keep covenants in the temple and it's also just a great story about how when you have it all planned out ready aim fire and you're all excited and it just totally goes different that the lord is is completely okay and he says that he accepts their offering yeah and i think wilford woodruff specifically talks about the experiences they had while having that where they saw the power of god upon them as a mission and that the value he received from that there are a number of significant general leaders that come from that experience so they don't go and do what they thought they were going to go and do but while they're doing it joseph smith said that he could see that out of those men and women that they became a different kind of people and he even calls it abrahamic sacrifice as well because you know we can all relate to that where we're like wait heavenly father i thought you wanted me to duh and now i'm home early for my mission or now i'm divorced or i never had children or i have a chronic illness and everything has changed the way i thought you had me on this path and now we're here and i'm not doing what i thought you called me to do i think it's such it's such a real talk story yeah in our lives and really you can't i mean it's a gift that keeps on giving section 10105 and so i would encourage you to stick there i'm going to change your invitation good here we're watching the spirit work on here's our invitation um uh i find you i knew you were going to go there i love and describe to them the light you see in them if you are if you are um young find someone close to you and do that for them you may even want to write it out or text or text it so they have it when i see your light this is how i describe you and you could be things like you're forgiving you don't don't hold grudges you you listen you give good advice you seem to always um want to fight for me even when i don't treat you the way that i should or whatever the case may be will you just celebrate celebrate the youth um that are around you in the church out of the church it doesn't matter um and and help them see the light that they have to share with the world and help encourage it bam let's do it let's do it thank you so much for watching this episode of real talk come follow me we'll talk to you next week you guys you guys please like and subscribe and click the bell like and subscribe what did i say you did it like and subscribe that was so perfect click the bell just do it [Music] you

Channel: Seagull Book

Views: 6,913

Rating: 4.9305553 out of 5

Keywords: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, LDS, Seagull Book, Covenant Communications, Doctrine and Covenants, D&C 102-105, Real Talk, Real Talk Come Follow Me, CFM, Come Follow Me, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Ganel-Lyn, Scott Sorensen, Scott, Sorensen, Zion's Camp, Teens, After Much Tribulation

Id: 0IfmXjJPPRY

Length: 25min 35sec (1535 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021