Conference Talk:
For more information on this topic read “Love Her Mother,” by Elaine S. Dalton, Ensign, Nov. 2011, 77.
Thought:
"Heavenly Father’s royal daughters . . . are virtuous and elect. It is my prayer that you will watch over them, strengthen them . . . and teach them to follow in the Savior’s every footstep."
(Elaine S. Dalton, “Love Her Mother,”Ensign, Nov. 2011, 77)
Song:
“As Sisters in Zion,” Hymns, #309.
Scripture:
"Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord."
(1 Corinthians 11:11)
Lesson:
Read D&C 25:3 as a family and ask:
- What two things did the Lord declare to Emma? - What do you think was meant by “an elect lady”?
Share the following quotation from President Gordon B. Hinckley: “Emma was called ‘an elect lady.’ That is, to use another line of scripture, she was a ‘chosen vessel of the Lord'” (Ensign, November 1984, 90).
Invite your family to search D&C 25:2–10, 13–15. Have half of them look for what the Lord counseled Emma, “an elect lady,” to do. Have the other half find the blessings she was promised. Possible answers are:
Counsel
- Be faithful and walk in paths of virtue (Verse 2). - Murmur not (Verse 4). - Be a comfort to your husband and use consoling words in a spirit of meekness (Verse 5). - Go with your husband and serve as a scribe (Verse 6). - Expound the scriptures and exhort the Church as given by the Spirit (Verse 7). - Write and learn much (Verse 8). - Lay aside the things of this world and seek for the things of a better (Verse 10). - Rejoice and cleave unto the covenants you have made (Verse 13). - Continue in meekness, beware of pride, and delight in your husband (Verse 14). - Keep the commandments continually (Verse 15).
Blessings
- Your life will be preserved, and you will receive an inheritance in Zion (Verse 2). - Your sins are forgiven (Verse 3). - Receive the Holy Ghost (Verse 8). - Your husband shall support thee (Verse 9). - You will receive a crown of righteousness (Verse 15).
Ask each group to share what they found. Ask:
- What counsel given by the Lord to Emma applies to you? - Which blessings promised to Emma would you most want in your life?
Discuss as a family what a woman can do to become an “elect lady” and what a man can do to show honor and respect for womanhood.
(Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The Doctrine and Covenants, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004], p. 50)
Story:
"When I was just a youngster in school there was an epidemic of impetigo, a skin infection. In those days there was not the medication we have now, and the best that could be done for it was to have it painted with purple medicine. Everybody knew who had impetigo if they were doctoring it.
In my school was a family of little youngsters. There was a sadness in their home, and they didn’t have the attention of a mother. The impetigo that first infected their hands and then their faces soon was on their bodies. They came to school in such clothing as they had.
My mother was a room mother then, a parent-teacher assignment. The principal asked if she would go to the home and use her influence to persuade the family to keep the children home, because there was the probability that they would be carrying the infection to other children. My mother’s heart wouldn’t let her do that. I remember her telling us to bring the children home with us.
I remember that for weeks we’d bring those other little children home and Mother would bathe them and doctor them and put on them our underclothing and send them home; and I can remember my mother with a bottle of disinfectant scrubbing for hours and boiling clothing and underclothing against the possibility of her family becoming infected. She was a mother."
(Boyd K. Packer, Memorable Stories with a Message, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000], p. 63)
Activity:
Cut simple flower shapes out of colored paper. Decorate a card, letter, or poster with these flowers. Let each family member add a loving message to it and give it to a mother, grandmother, aunt, teacher, or neighbor.
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