FHE: Worship

For more information on this topic read “The Sabbath and the Sacrament,” by L. Tom Perry, Ensign, May 2011, 6.

Let us prepare and conduct ourselves on the Sabbath in a manner that will call down the blessings promised us upon ourselves and our families.

(L. Tom Perry, “The Sabbath and the Sacrament,”Ensign, May 2011, 6.)

“The Chapel Doors,”Children’s Songbook, p. 156.

And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God (Moses 5:5).

Tell your family your favorite hymn, and explain why you like it. Sing it as a family and ask:

- What are your favorite hymns and why?

- How does sacred music make you feel?

- How does it improve your worship of the Lord?

- According to D&C 25:12, what does the Lord teach about sacred music?

Read together 2 Chronicles 29:25–30 and mark all the references to music and its different forms included in their temple worship. Ask your family why they feel that the kingdom of Judah included so much music in their worship? Read the “First Presidency Preface” in Hymns (ix–x) and discuss the following questions:

- What blessings of inspirational music are mentioned?

- What hopes of the First Presidency are included in the preface?

- What can our family do to enhance our worship through music?

Remind your family of the hymn that you shared to begin this scripture study time and share your experience with how you have been blessed because of this hymn and others. Encourage your family to use the hymns more often as they worship the Lord.

(Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The Old Testament, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2009], p. 144.)

The most challenging adjustment for many Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarussian people contemplating baptism into the Church was in moving from a purely private religious life to participation in public worship. During the Soviet era, a tradition developed among many believers that religion is a purely private matter with God and that devotions need not be, or ought not to be, publicly displayed.

Olga is a young university student who had always wanted to find God’s love and the love of other people, but she had resisted invitations to attend other churches because she was afraid of public worship. She justified this reticence by saying to herself: “If God loves me, it doesn’t matter where I pray to Him. I can do it by myself.”

Olga and her mother, Larisa, met Sister Cynthia Robbins and Sister Melinda Richards on the street. These missionaries invited them to church, but instead, Larisa and Olga, desiring to be taught the gospel, invited them to their home. It did not take Olga and Larisa long to receive a strong spiritual witness of the restored gospel, and they accepted the invitation to be baptized. Olga and Larisa had not yet attended church and were told that this was an important requirement for baptism.

A short time later, Olga attended a Latter-day Saint worship service but afterward was assailed with doubts. Thinking about the experience for several days afterward, she decided against baptism. But because she had lost the missionaries’ telephone number and thus could not tell them of her decision, she and her mother attended church the next Sunday so they could speak with the missionaries.

This time at church, however, Olga had a wonderful spiritual experience during the sacrament service and afterward felt the great love of the members toward one another and toward her. She recalls:

“That Sunday changed my life forever. I understood through the Spirit that I had to belong to this church. I saw such a great faith and kindness on the faces of the people! I felt how their faith was penetrating into my soul. I understood everything without words. I understood that my fear after the first Sunday was a temptation of Satan.

“The feeling that I received right after my baptism cannot be described in words. I just can say that it seemed to me that I was flying twenty centimeters above the ground on my way home. I loved everyone; I was so happy. I felt that I was a beloved daughter of my almighty and kind Father. I wanted to hug all the world. I was thankful to God for helping me to find a beautiful church family. I was thankful for being in this church family with my mother.”

Eight months later, Olga’s father came back to the family after a period of separation, received the gospel and baptism, and was later ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood. Olga’s joy was full: “I cannot find the words in Russian or any other language to describe my feelings and blessings since my baptism. Now I have my entire family in the gospel, and I am eagerly looking forward to going to the temple together with my father and mother.”

(Howard Biddulph, Morning Breaks: Stories of Conversion and Faith in the Former Soviet Union, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996].)

Select eight to ten gospel pictures (from the Gospel Art Kit or printed from lds.org). Arrange them on the floor or table so everyone can see them. Ask one person to leave the room. Remove one of the pictures and rearrange the remaining pictures. Have the person return and determine which picture is missing. Repeat with other family members.

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