The following transcript is intended to aid in your study. However, while we try to go through the transcript, our transcripts are primarily computer-generated and often contain errors. Please forgive the transcripts' imperfections.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: [00:00:00] Sometimes, just one verse of scripture can change the world. James chapter 1 verse 5 seems like a simple bit of counsel. If you need wisdom, ask God. When 14 year old Joseph Smith read that verse, it seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of his heart. Joseph acted on James counsel and sought wisdom from God through prayer.
God indeed gave liberally, giving Joseph one of the most remarkable heavenly visitations in human history, the first vision. This vision changed the course of Joseph's life and led to the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth. What will you find as you study the Epistle of James?
Perhaps a verse or two will change you or someone you love. You may find guidance as you seek to fulfill your mission in life. You may even find encouragement to speak kindly or to be more patient. You may feel prompted to make your actions align better with your faith. Well, whatever inspires you, let these words enter into every feeling of your [00:01:00] heart.
And then when you receive with meekness, the word as James throat, you'll be a doer of the word and not a here only welcome to the Sunday on Monday study group, a desert bookshelf plus original brought to you by LDS living, where we take the come follow me lesson for the week. And we really dig into the scriptures together.
I'm your host, Tammy Uzelac Hall. Now if you're new to our study group, we want to make sure you know how to use this podcast. So. Follow the link in our description. It's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your come follow me study. Just like my friend, Alison Swavely and Jennifer Yates, ladies, oh my gosh, I met them at education week and they're from Florida and they are delightful women.
I love getting to know you. Now, another awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined by two of my friends. So it's a little bit different each week. And so I'm excited to introduce you to my guests. Today we have an original Sharon Staples. Hi Sharon.
Sharon Staples: Shalom everyone. Good to be back.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Shalom. There are so many people's hearts that are just so overjoyed when they hear
Sharon Staples: your voice. Oh, well, we don't know about that, but I'm glad to be here. Thank you. [00:02:00] I
Tammy Uzelac Hall: do. And we have a new guest to introduce everybody to. We have our friend Vaina Barton. Hello Vaina. Hello Vaina. Hi. Okay, Vaina, where do you live?
Vaina Barton: I live in Kona on the Big Island. In
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Hawaii, yes. We made this. We had to arrange because she's, you're four hours different from us. So Vaina got up real early in the morning. It's 7am her time. Woo. So thank you Vaina . Sacrifice your sleep.
Vaina Barton: You're welcome.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Thank you. And Vaina, I've gotten to know Vaina through the podcast.
She has, she and I have corresponded back and forth and then you came to Utah with your family and we met up at a desert book. That was so fun. I'll put the pictures in our show notes.
Vaina Barton: Cool. Oh,
Tammy Uzelac Hall: yeah. I love that. So tell us a little bit about yourself, Vaina, um, about your family and what you do in Hawaii.
Okay,
Vaina Barton: um, I'm from Tahiti, I was born and raised there, then I moved to BYU Hawaii for school in 03, met my husband there, [00:03:00] and soon after got married and moved to the Big Island after we graduated. We have four children, we have three boys and a little girl. Um, My oldest is almost 18 and filling up his mission papers already.
And my youngest is 8 turning 9 soon. So yeah, it's big. It's a big gap in between, but they, they all love each other and they're just Are just so good with each other. Um, what do I do? I like to bake, uh, cook, um, take pictures, play the piano, write music, um, all kinds of stuff. I like crafting, you know, anything artsy, that's me.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, that's awesome. Okay. Well, I am really looking forward to what you have to share and your insights on today's discussion of the entire book of James. So are you two ready to do
Sharon Staples: this? Absolutely. Yes. It
Tammy Uzelac Hall: [00:04:00] is such a good book. So if you want to know more about my guests, go check out their bios and their pictures, which are in our show notes.
You can find those at ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday and everyone grab your scriptures, your scripture journals, and something to mark your scriptures with. And let's dive into the book of James. Okay. So I just have to tell you this, what I shared at the very beginning, that whole thing, I cannot take credit.
I did not write that. It came directly out of the come follow me lesson for this week, but I just loved it. This idea that one verse of scripture can change the world or a verse of scripture can change our lives. And so I asked you to, to mark something from the book of James that really touched you or changed you in any sort of way.
So as you were studying it, share with me, what did you guys find?
Go ahead, Wynna.
Vaina Barton: So, um, as soon as I actually started reading the epistle of James, it's already right there for [00:05:00] me in the first verse of the first chapter. And when it says, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes, which are scattered abroad, greeting. So I took that for me as, you know, a message.
Um. From heavenly father, um, directly to me and you know how they say like in the scriptures and to yourselves, you know, so I kind of Play around with it and put my name instead of James. And it totally makes a big difference for me. Why not a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes, which are scattered abroad.
And I'm going to say Aloha instead of greeting since I live in Hawaii. I think you should. And, um, when I thought of that, I thought of, you know, I'm a missionary. I'm not just here to. you know, [00:06:00] goof around and play around. I'm here. Well, I need to have joy as well, but I am also here to help, you know, my brothers and sisters that are around me.
And when I read this verse, I Immediately thought of missionary work and I'm like, I'm a missionary, I need to do the best I can, and I need to, um, help my brothers and sisters and share the gospel, and not just enjoy the gospel to myself, you know. So, yeah, that was one of the things and when I thought also of missionary work, I, I thought of.
Um, there's. When the missionaries go out and they receive their letter, you know, I took that as well as a mission and mission letter for me. I didn't serve a mission. And, um, but [00:07:00] when I read that, I knew that this is my mission. I am here. And there's no backing out. I chose to come here. I chose to help. My brothers and sisters, and I'm dedicated to the work.
So
Sharon Staples: yeah That's great. That's really great. And what great what's interesting about what you've just said for me by now Is that you are practicing the whole theme of the book of James you're serving? Yeah, you know faith without works is dead and we're good into that and more, you know through the whole episode But you are actually doing what James said we should be doing.
I just think that's neat. And you're just doing it on your own little personal level, has, of your understanding of your understanding of your mission and your understanding of, of the gospel in your life. I, I think that's wonderful that, that you're doing that. So thank you. Yeah.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Thank you. I love how you put your name in that [00:08:00] verse.
Like I just wrote, I circled James and then I put my name next to it. I've never read that verse with my name in it before. And Va , that changes everything. And then I love how you said, I'm dedicated to the work. I will never take verse one for granted again. And I have. I've always just read it with James and thank you for pointing that out.
That is why we're here. We are here to attend the 12 tribes, the scattered. We are here to gather. Gosh, our prophet has told us that so many times. So there's our commission from James to all of us. So, oh, that was good. Thank you. Yes. Sharon, what'd you find? Well,
Sharon Staples: um, because it talks about seeking and, you know, if any of you lack wisdom, ask of God.
So I went to, to Proverbs. Chapter 2, verses 3 through 5, and it reads, I think, beautifully, and it's almost poetic. Yea, if thou cryest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding, if thou [00:09:00] seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
I just think that is so supportive. of that James verse right at the beginning. It just sustains what he says in the New Testament, what we learned in the Old Testament. I just think it's sweet.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: What's that reference again in Proverbs? It's Proverbs
Sharon Staples: 2, verses 3 through 5. Well, and then it goes through 6, it says, For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
It's just, it's just so confirming. of what the prophet Joseph was after. And he would have read, Joseph was studied in the Old Testament. He read it and he would have known this. And my [00:10:00] assumption is that when he read James, it confirmed everything that he had learned or been taught by reading the Old Testament as well.
Absolutely. Wow, that's awesome.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: It is awesome. I put that cross reference, I'm so grateful you brought that cross reference up, this idea of seeking wisdom. Oh my gosh, so great. Thank you to both of you. Just taking verses that we've just always read and now you applied them to our lives and changed us. I think that's what's so cool about scripture and I think that's what James, the writings of James will do for us today is maybe change many of us in one small way by what he has to teach.
So in the next segment, I'm going to share with you what I found and something that I'm embarrassed to admit. We'll do that next.
So I wanted to share this with you and this is what I'm embarrassed to admit. I have read James chapter 1 verse [00:11:00] 5. So many times, right? So many times. As a seminary teacher, I taught this verse and I've read it multiple, multiple times. I can't believe how many times I've missed verses two, three, and four.
And I didn't notice them until my friend Alison Dayton pointed it out to me about a year ago. And I remembered sitting there with my jaw dropped thinking, how did I miss these verses? So James chapter one, verses two, three, and four. Now we know that five says, if any of you lack wisdom. Let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberty, and abradeth not, and it shall be given him.
That's Joseph Smith's scripture. But the ones before it says this, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. But look at the footnote for that. For 2a, it's not divers temptations, it's many afflictions. So let me read it again. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into many afflictions.
Knowing this, that the [00:12:00] trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. I just was struck with this idea to count it joy. In all your afflictions. I just wonder if Joseph Smith recalled these verses when he was like in the thick of it because then my mind went all over the place tonight.
Was he, did he count it joy when he was in Carthage? Did he count it joy when he was in Liberty Jail? The pioneers count it joy when they buried their loved ones on their way to Utah. Um, one of my favorite. Pioneer Stories is a sister, Philippa Beerer Moyle. She is the husband of John Moyle, and John Moyle is the man that carved holiness to the Lord in the Salt Lake Temple.
And the reason I love her story is because we often tell his story. He got kicked by a horse. They had to amputate his leg. So he had a prosthetic little stump put on his leg and he would walk from [00:13:00] Utah County all the way up to Salt Lake and then he'd stay at Salt Lake for the week to work on the temple.
But no one ever tells Philippa's story and she was left behind to take care of the entire farm by herself with seven children to raise and she'd already buried three children. So she had a total of 10 kids, seven to raise by herself for almost 20 years. And I just think of her and I'm like, did she count it joy?
I'm like, wow, maybe. Um, and then I wondered how often do I count it joy when I am in many afflictions, right? This verse, I just think it's awesome. And I asked you guys to think about this. Like how do we count it joy? When it almost seems like joy is the last thing we can count on. Did you guys have any thoughts about that?
Sharon Staples: I do. Vaina, did you have some thoughts? You go first. Okay, I get to go first this time. [00:14:00] The first thing that popped into my mind was Sharon, think of the infinite, not the finite. Think beyond the moment. Think what's ahead of you. Think the blessings that are there. Think what the gospel promises you in the eternal scheme of things.
Not just the earthly things. So, when I have tribulation, I say, Think infinite. Think infinite. Don't think finite. Think, think beyond. And then, the other thing is, okay, what do you have going for you at this point? So I say, count your blessings. And be grateful. Have, try to turn your tribulation and your hard heart or your wounded heart into being grateful for what you do have.
Then I, I try to count my blessings. And the other thing that came to my mind was, Sharon, don't wait for joy to come to you. Seek [00:15:00] after joy. Seek after joy in this time of tribulation. So, you know, and if you read Psalms 32 and 11 and maybe we have time, we can do that, but anyway, see, you know, go, go for the good stuff.
And then president Monson wrote the most excellent talk and gave it in conference called finding joy in the journey. And it's an excellent talk. Um, and it. And it has buoyed me up on more than one occasion. And the other thing is get to the temple, Sharon, get to the temple, get to the temple, get to the temple.
So those, those thoughts and ideas and activities that I need to engage in to overcome my tribulations, my heartache, um, what's going on in my head. Because it's, it's but a moment. It is a passing thing. Think of the infinite. So those are the thoughts that I [00:16:00] had regarding that. Hmm.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Sharon, I really appreciate when you said, think of the infinite, not the finite.
Like I wrote that, that I loved, but when you said seek after joy, Vaina, you said you loved that. Why did you love that? Well,
Vaina Barton: I, I'm a very bubbly person and I, I love to make people happy and I'm. I'm a happy person. And, you know, through and through. And, um, I didn't realize that until people kept telling me, you're so happy.
You're just so much full of joy. And I'm just like, yeah, I guess. But I think the way that I am is because why I'm happy is because I, I just love my savior and he just gives me joy. And. Knowing him and what he wants me to do, I just want to go out and, [00:17:00] you know, share that love and that joy to everyone and just, um, serving others.
And so when you say seek after joy, so that's why I love it because he is joy and I, I just love that. And that's what I seek for. And everything that I do, try actually in, you know, as much as I could. Yeah. Yeah.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh my gosh, Faina, that is such a great response. I appreciate
Sharon Staples: that. I think. I think Psalms 32 and 11 applies to you, Vaina.
I think this is your scripture. Let's read it. Okay, it says, Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. You obviously are upright in heart, Vaina, so thank you for sharing that. Oh, I think that's awesome.
Vaina Barton: Thank you. I will write down that verse and
Sharon Staples: Psalms [00:18:00]
Tammy Uzelac Hall: 32 11 There it is.
I put that right next to these verses. Because isn't it interesting that we're being told by James to count it joy, just count it joy when you fall into many afflictions. It's going to be okay. It's going to work patience for sure. And it's not going to be easy. And knowing that, and I think it's interesting knowing that James starts out this way.
First of all, that he says he's a servant of God and he's a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he says to count it joy when things get hard. And then he says, if you do lack wisdom. Ask God because he's going to help you know. And so just knowing that James starts out his epistle with these six verses, you have to know that when you go into understanding who James is.
So in the next segment, we're going to learn about who James is and why these verses are so significant. We'll do that next.[00:19:00]
So who is James? I asked Sharon to teach us a little bit about who James is and on your page where it says the general epistle of James, you're going to want to write down some of these facts. So hit it. Well,
Sharon Staples: there isn't a whole lot told about him in, in, in our scriptures. Um, the first thing we learn is that he has, for his name, in Hebrew, Yaakov.
It's Jacob and Yaakov is also James. So that can be confusing. So just know that James and Jacob have the same Hebrew name, Yaakov. And that helped me understand a little bit more as I was reading in, in the, uh, in the Hebrew scriptures, the Tanakh, um, of the, um, of James. Um, he actually is or was the brother of the Savior, so he had close connections with the Messiah, and that he was the leader of the church in [00:20:00] Jerusalem, so he was kind of the head honcho, the emissary, the man to whom people went.
Um, to understand the gospel, um, especially the Jewish people because he, you know, he's dealing with Gentiles and Jews. So it was important for him as a leader in Jerusalem. Um, he, they indicate that he probably wrote this epistle. So it wasn't written by Paul or Luke or one of the others. So he wrote his own letter, the, the epistle of James.
And the other thing I learned that he was probably stoned to death because he was preaching the gospel. So he gave his life, not only for his brother, um, but the Savior. And that happened somewhere between 45 and 60 of a common era. And it seems to me that so many of the emissaries, the apostles, the disciples, were beaten and bruised [00:21:00] and crucified and gave their lives, um, because they believed in the Messiah.
They believed in the Savior. So my heart has gone out to James for what he did. The Lord is asking me to be a minister. He's not asking me to give my life. And when I read what these men did in the early years of the church, um, I'm really humbled. So, he was, he was probably a very, very good man, and that's, that's all the information I have on him.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Thank you, Sharon. I was struck with this one piece of information, and I appreciated how you said that James was the brother of Jesus Christ. That is what we believe about James. It struck me that James and his brothers did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah until later on. Right. That really blows my mind.
In fact, the scriptures in John chapter 7, verses 2 through 5, they even taunted Jesus. They kind of just weren't really believable, [00:22:00] and it wasn't until possibly his post resurrection appearance to James that's recorded in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 7, where it lists the people who had seen Jesus. It might have not even been until then that James became a believer.
And so I'm thinking about this going back to these verses where he says, now he is a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's talking about how if you fall into many afflictions to count it joy, and if you lack wisdom to ask God, here's someone who lacked wisdom. Here is someone who had to come to learn for themselves.
That Jesus Christ was the Messiah and for him, it's his brother. And so it gives for me so much more power to James chapter two, verse 17. So let's go there. James chapter two, verse 17, and we're going to look at an important aspect of James teachings. And again, for someone who did not believe that his brother was the savior, how did he come to believe?
And I think [00:23:00] for 17 might give us some ideas by Anna. Anna, can you read verse 17 for us?
Vaina Barton: Sure, if it so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Thank you. We have this idea of faith and works, and Sharon, you kind of talked a little bit about that early on, that James will talk about faith and works.
And so we're going to talk about this and this idea of faith needing works, because can you be saved just with faith? No,
Sharon Staples: not according to James,
Tammy Uzelac Hall: right? And can you be saved just with works? Well, that seems silly. Why would you work if you didn't believe in anything? Okay. So we are going to look at some pretty powerful verses.
Now, here's what I want you to do. Bracket off verses 14 through 26. This is just the greatest discourse on faith and works, but we're going to use the Joseph Smith translation. Now, here's where you're going to find this. It's in the appendix of your scriptures, and here's how you get there. If you are [00:24:00] using your own hard copy of the scriptures, go to the very back of your New Testament where it says Joseph Smith Translation and find the translation for James.
And you'll see James chapter 2 verses 14 through 21. There's the re translation. If you're using a digital copy of your scriptures, what you want to do is go into scriptures. Then you have all the scriptures to select from. You want to select that says Study Helps. So click on that book, and in Study Helps, you'll see all the Joseph Smith Translation Appendixes.
Find the one that then says James. Or go to our show notes where we're going to have a direct link. to the Joseph Smith translation of these verses. So that's what we're going to use as we have a discussion about faith and works. So let's start. We're going to read just verses 15 through 21. We'll each take a verse and we'll begin a discussion on faith and work.
So Sharon, can we start with you and have you just read a verse and then Vaina and then
Sharon Staples: me. So you want me to read verse 15? Yes, please. Okay. [00:25:00] Yea, a man may say, I will show thee I have faith without works, but I say, Show me thy faith without works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. For if a brother
Vaina Barton: or sister be naked and destitute, and one of you say, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, notwithstanding, he give not those things which are needful to the body.
What profit is your faith unto such?
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Even so, faith, if it have not works, is dead, being alone.
Sharon Staples: Therefore, wilt thou know, O vain man, I might say woman, that faith without works is dead, and cannot save you? Thou
Vaina Barton: believest there is one God. Thou doest well, the devils also believe, and tremble. Thou hast made thyself like unto them, not being justified.[00:26:00]
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Sharon Staples: Seest thou how works wrought with his faith, and by works was faith made perfect?
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Thank you. Okay. There is the great discourse on faith and works. So as we read those verses, was there anything that resonated within you that you were like, Oh, that is true.
Sharon Staples: Yeah. The whole thing. I mean, I mean, it, I mean, he just explains it so clearly. And what I like about James is he brings in Abraham and it's not just a, it's not just a pure lecture. He brings in an example of a man who operated. On faith with works, my gosh, I mean, he gave up his son, Isaac. He followed God's directions to leave his hometown of Ur and to go into a strange land.
[00:27:00] So he left his home and his homeland and, uh, he became known as the, the father of the faithful because of his faith. And he, he operated on works to show his faith to God. I mean, I don't, I don't know if I could give up my firstborn child. No. No. I mean, probably bought. Yeah. Right?
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yeah. Well, Sharon, I'm so grateful that you brought up the Abraham example because verse 21 is what struck me.
When he says, he talks about Abraham, then he's like, sees thou how works wrought with his faith and by works was faith made perfect. This idea that he probably had a little bit of faith, but he just went ahead and worked and did what he was asked, and that work increased his faith. Am I understanding that right?
Is that what it's saying? I think
Sharon Staples: I, I think that's what it says to me. His faith just kept growing and he kept doing bigger and better things. Yeah. I mean, because the father [00:28:00] of nations, of course, he was preordained to do that, but I mean, he, he followed God's will. you know, just by leaving his home. I mean, that's what he did.
First of all, you know, he, he just did the little things and he became who the, the great, um, prophet for Jew, Gentile and everyone else.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay. You just said something so powerful, Sharon. You said he just did the little things and that led to him becoming the father of all nations. Right. Vaina, what are some of the little things?
You're raising little people. What are some of the little things that you teach your kids to do that you think will increase their faith?
Vaina Barton: Well, family prayer. We do family prayer. We do scripture reading. Um, not often, but we do as much as we can when we remember, right? Sure. Sure. Um, teach them how to fast, you know, all those little things.
And, um, What else? Uh, [00:29:00] serve others, you know, and just be kind in, in all, you know, and just, just be a good person. Always be good.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, I like that. Always be good. Well, look at verse 23 then. Look what the result, this is my favorite result of faith that I've ever read in scripture. He, James chapter 2, verse 23.
is the result of Abraham's faith. Vaina, will you read verse 23? Sure, I would love
Vaina Barton: that. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. I
Tammy Uzelac Hall: just love that. Oh, tell me why you love it, because I do too.
Vaina Barton: Haha.
Okay, so when I read this, I, I thought of, uh, all the friends that I have, and I also thought about what is a friend to me? You know, a friend is someone that you trust. A friend is a person that is on the [00:30:00] same side as you, a friend is a supporter. And immediately I thought of the song, Be Still My Soul, and it just summarizes to me the whole.
Episode James in that first verse of that song that him and this is what it says in the first verse be still my soul. The Lord is on thy side with patience bear thy cross of grief or pain leave to die God to order and provide. In every change he faithful will remain. Be still my soul. Thy best I have me friend.
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. And I just love that. I just love that hymn so much. Being, um, a person who loves music and who, um, studied music in school and who is, [00:31:00] you know, drawn to music. And every time when I feel down, I know that I have a friend and this is my savior. And I know that when I play music, I can feel his friendship, I can feel his love for me, and I can feel him being on my side and being by my side.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, Vaina, I'm just writing down notes because that line that you read, will you read it one more time? Which is the second line about thorny ways. Can you read the wording there?
Vaina Barton: Be still my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend, through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Oh,
Tammy Uzelac Hall: I mean, when you talked about at the beginning, when you think of friends, I mean, it's the friends that, that are with me through my thorny ways.
Mm-hmm. my thorniest of ways that I call friends, and now I'm just, I'm struck with that idea that's just beautiful, that the [00:32:00] savior is our ultimate friend in those thorny ways. Yes. That's so beautiful. Thank you for bringing up
Sharon Staples: that hymn. Yes, that's great. I love it. Well, there's a talk
Tammy Uzelac Hall: that the prophet gave.
It's called Christ is Risen, Faith in Him Will Move Mountains. This was in, you can read it in the Liahona 2021, and this is what he said about faith going on what we've talked about. And so Sharon, will you read this quote for us, please?
Sharon Staples: Okay. This is from Elder Nelson, President Nelson. To do anything well requires effort.
Becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ is no exception. Increasing your faith and trust in Him takes effort. What would you do if you had more faith? Think about it. Write about it. Then receive more faith by doing something that requires more faith. There you go. Wow. [00:33:00]
Vaina Barton: I like
Tammy Uzelac Hall: that. Both of you, tell me what your thoughts are.
Vaina Barton: If I had more faith, I would walk on water like Peter did.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Wow.
Vaina Barton: Sure. I mean, why not?
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Right. That'd be awesome.
Sharon Staples: Okay. If, if I had more faith, I would not doubt him when he doesn't heal me, when he doesn't answer my prayers, when he doesn't do what I ask him to do and, and not feel bad. I mean, you know, when I pray to be healed and I'm not healed.
That's when I need even more faith in Him. And when something goes wrong, and I pray that it will go right, and it doesn't, it's when I have to conjure up more faith, knowing that the Lord is in charge. So my [00:34:00] struggle is not something I would do with more faith. It is to be more constant in my faith when my will is not done and his will is done.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Hmm. You're that last part of that quote, Sharon, to receive more faith by doing something that requires more faith.
Sharon Staples: But, uh, yeah, I have to do something that. You know, we're doing it
Tammy Uzelac Hall: now. I feel like you're doing it now in your life. Right. What you're going to require so much
Sharon Staples: faith, so much faith, even when we had a sister in our ward who had headaches for 20 years, and she kept praying that, you know, that.
She said, I don't have enough faith to get rid of my headaches, you know, the half heavenly father and I said you have been Faithful for 20 years in praying that he would give you relief to me that takes a lot of faith To keep going to keep praying to not [00:35:00] abandon because I don't get the answer I want to state that you know to stay the course that to me Requires a lot of faith to stay the course
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Wow, that, those are the works right there.
Those are the works. And when he says to receive more faith, it requires us, we have to do something that requires more faith. That's the working part, isn't it? Exactly. And that's the hard. That's, those are the thorny paths, Vaina. And uh, that, that song, Becoming a Friend of God is our ultimate goal. And we can do that through faith and works.
I think that's the key. That, that's, for me, that is the reason why we have to have faith and works. I just want to be called a friend of God. So thank you. So this, this discussion then will naturally lead us into the next aspect of the gospel that James teaches us about. And this is powerful. And we'll do that in the next segment.[00:36:00]
So I have a fun question for you. How would either of you define or describe the word religion?
Vaina Barton: Um, okay, so I, I looked it up in the dictionary.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Ooh, all right. Love it.
Vaina Barton: Um, so from the Latin, uh, it says religare, I think that's how you say it, and it means to bind. Yes. And when I, when I thought of that, I was like, oh my gosh, yes, this is definitely what religion is. Oh, wow. It is. I will bind myself to God.
And to do all that I can to return to him someday.
Sharon Staples: That's great. That's my religion. Well, that is. That's a great definition. What about you, Sharon? I, I was a little more academic. [00:37:00] I said religion to me is an organized set of values. that dictates a lifestyle to be followed. Whoa, say that again. An organized set of values that dictates a lifestyle to be followed.
Is that a Sharon original? So it is a Sharon original. Love it. Um, but, but you know, I have a set of values and I try to live them and it's my religion.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yeah. Okay. Now listen, this, those definitions were so awesome. There's exactly what we needed for this discussion because we did faith and we did works.
Now we kind of went a little bit out of order. I jumped ahead because I don't think we can really practice what James is preaching about until we have a grasp on faith and works. We've just finished talking about that. So let's go into James chapter one, verses 26 and 27, and we'll [00:38:00] connect it to your definitions of religion.
James is going to define religion for us. James, chapter 1, verses 26 and 27. And Vaina, will you read that for us? Yes, of course.
Vaina Barton: If any man among you seem to be religious, and brittleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this.
to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay, thank you. In verse 27, highlight pure religion. Here it is. He defines pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this. To visit the fatherless, to visit the widows in their afflictions, and to keep himself or herself unspotted from the world.
[00:39:00] And I like the footnote down below, the Joseph Smith translation has not just the world, it says the vices of the world. Doesn't that change the definition a little bit? Yes.
Sharon Staples: Whoa,
Tammy Uzelac Hall: vices. Okay. We're going to talk about this idea of pure religion. I thought this was really interesting that the word religion is only used three times in the whole entire New Testament.
And in our show notes, I have the references for this. It's first used Agrippa. It's second time is when Paul is using the word religion in the book of Galatians. He's talking to the Galatians. And then we have it right here. James uses this word, pure religion, talking about religion to the people. And he's wanting them to really examine what it means to be a believer and to practice this idea of what you said, Sharon, I like your definition.
Say it one more time.
Sharon Staples: An organized set of values. Yes. That dictate a lifestyle to be followed. [00:40:00]
Tammy Uzelac Hall: There it is. So we have the set of values and the dictating the lifestyle. The lifestyle is to visit the fatherless, to visit the widows in their affliction, and to keep ourselves unspotted from the vices of the world.
That is pure religion right there. Now there is a great quote by Marvin J Ashton, and he defines pure religion. And so we're going to read this quote and Sharon, can you read it for us?
Sharon Staples: Pure religion is learning the gospel of Jesus Christ and then putting it into action. There it
Tammy Uzelac Hall: is. Sharon, you and Marvin J Ashton are right on the same
Sharon Staples: page.
Well, we should be because I was his secretary for 10 years. Hey! Of
Tammy Uzelac Hall: course Vianna? You never know what you're gonna get with Sharon.
Sharon Staples: Yes! You know, it's, it's, it's just amazing. It's just amazing. So I had not read this, that, that quote when I, when I gave my definition of pure religion, but they sound kind [00:41:00] of similar.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yes, they do. Well, and then he wrote one of the greatest talks I've called pure religion.
And so I sent you guys a link to this talk and I asked you if you would just read Marvin J Ashton's words about his definition of what it means to be, I mean, I guess a pure religionist, if you would, what stood out to you from his talk on pure religion? Pure religion
Vaina Barton: is learning the gospel of Jesus Christ, then putting it into action.
Pure religion is the ability to cherish, build up, and turn the other cheek. And pure religion is visit the fatherless, widows, and their afflictions. Um, and that, um, part. I'm thinking it's everyone, visit everyone for me. It's like, you know, ministering. Pure religion is keep ourselves unspotted from the world.
Pure religion is help those in need. Build life around the gospel of Jesus Christ. [00:42:00] Pure religion is avoiding, uh, avoid yielding to temptations. It's, pure religion is to show concern and affection. It's to have patience and long suffering. Pure religion is to have courage to do what is right, which is pretty much integrity and to stand for the right.
Do the right thing even when no one's watching. Pure religion is following the teachings of Jesus. It's having empathy and love for one another. That's what I got from that talk. It's
Sharon Staples: a really good one. And I listed the exact same things that you did, Vaina, so we're on the same page. Awesome. I added, I added one more, and that is to avoid the temptations of the world.
Um, and, uh, I may, I may have added that and he didn't, but I, I, I thought that would be good. And to cherish and to build up. And then all the qualities that you listed, I listed as well. [00:43:00]
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Why do you think James didn't just say religion is this? Why do you think he calls it pure religion? And same with Marvin J.
Ashton. Why did he start out by saying religion is da da da da. Why is it pure religion? Well,
Sharon Staples: I can't second guess him, but, um, he was to teach the gospel in its pureness. I mean, you don't, you don't teach part of it, you know, this works when this doesn't and that works on that. He didn't do, you know, hit and miss.
It was, this is it. You know, I mean, it was, it was the actual doctrine and he didn't water it down or exaggerated or anything. So for him, pure religion was the doctrine that he knew and that he was to preach and that he was to live. And anything other than that would be tainted or not as good or, you know, a little off kilter or, you know, do this, you can keep the [00:44:00] commandments except on Saturday night, you know, I mean, there were no exceptions.
So pure religion is all of it, no exceptions. That, that, that would be my understanding.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Well, when you said the word tainted, I liked that because the word pure for me means something without any. Any yuck or discoloration, like it's perfectly clean and pure of all yuck. Right. And so he's defining religion without yuck.
This is what it looks like. Here's what pure religion is. And Vaina, I like how you added your own thoughts. You're like, this is ministering. This is making good choices when nobody's watching. Um, and I like how you ended with, this is just loving everybody. Is it hard for people to practice pure religion?
Sharon Staples: Oh, I don't know about everybody, but It is for me too. What makes it hard? Yeah, well, because we live in the
Vaina Barton: world. [00:45:00] Yes, and we're all different. We're not like exactly the same person, you know? Yeah. And we have to live with that. You know, everybody is different.
Sharon Staples: We have to, yeah, we have to live with our own DNA and our own upbringing and our own nature nurture divisions and so yeah, we each have our own battles.
That's the truth.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yes. This, this line stood out to me from the talk and Sharon, I specifically want to know your thoughts on this because this is what he said. Pure religion is maintaining a balance between sophisticated intellectual information And the basic bread and butter principles of the gospel.
How do we do that? You're a scholar. You have presented papers all over the world. You're smart, educated. How do we maintain a balance between sophisticated intellectual information, and I like how he calls it the basic bread and butter principles of the gospel.
Sharon Staples: Well, it's not hard at all, really. It's not difficult.
It's where you find truth. [00:46:00] So, if truth is found in a Jewish children's book, you incorporate that truth. But you know what truth is, because you have, we've all been given the gift of the Holy Ghost. We've all been given that spirit, and we have discernment. And with discernment, we can tell what is truth and what is not.
So truth in a secular textbook, I can read and incorporate into my life. If I have discerned it through the Holy Ghost, that it is truth. So, you apply the formula, it's not even a formula, you apply the doctrine of, okay, I've been given the gift of the Holy Ghost, I can discern right from wrong, in fact that's in part of our ordinances in the temple, to discern right from wrong.
And if you can do that, truth is everywhere. It is everywhere, not just in our canonized scriptures. So, [00:47:00] I don't worry about reading a textbook that's far out, or that's banned, or that's taken off the shelves. You know, if I can discern that which is true and that which isn't, and I rely on the Spirit to do that.
Mm hmm. Well, that's
Tammy Uzelac Hall: good. Well, and as you, as you were talking, I pictured me putting on a pair of glasses and I call them my pure religion, my pure religion lenses. Like if we can just view everything through these pure religion lenses, boy, it would be a lot easier. Especially when it comes to loving people you don't find lovable or you think aren't, aren't worthy of a certain kind of love, like put on the pure religion lenses because you're about to be shown something.
Right.
Sharon Staples: Yeah. Oh, and what's important about all of that is to have that refreshed, to have those lenses cleaned. Ooh. And you get those cleaned by going to the temple. You get the, the, the truth is revealed to you in the [00:48:00] temple like no other place. And so if I have a real serious question about whether it's true or not, I pray about it.
But boy, I take it to the temple, to the house of the Lord. And I go after a session and I do, I go into the celestial room and I say, father, this is da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. And I, I seek for. an understanding of that particular thing. So you, those lenses need to be cleaned. Amen.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh boy, mine have gotten dirty.
Mine have been. Oh, it's in my life.
Sharon Staples: Covered with felt.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yeah. Well, and then I was thinking, oh, I'm going to go back into that verse of scripture in James 1 verse 27 and add, go to the temple. And then I looked and I was like, oh, well, it's kind of already there. Keep yourself unspotted from the vices of the world.
Sharon Staples: Like it's already covered. And also do the right thing for the right reason. Yeah,
Tammy Uzelac Hall: and be good as Vaina said. Just be good. Be kind and
Sharon Staples: be good. Be good. And you know what's good. And you know what's good, Vaina, [00:49:00] because you have the spirit. Yes. I mean, you know, you're, you're not just pulling it out of a hat.
Oh, that's awesome. You are, you are directed by the spirit. So, you know, to be good and you know what good is. Definitely. We do.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: We know what good is. Okay, well then let's do this in the next segment. We're going to discuss one of the ways that James encourages us to practice true religion. I think you're going to like this.
Let's turn to James chapter three, and you're going to want to bracket off verses one through 18. The whole, it's basically the whole chapter because this is a fun discussion. One of the ways we can practice true religion and James is going to point it out and we're going to feel real bad about ourselves.
Some of us, not all of us, but some of us are going to be called to repentance in this chapter. Am I right? V got a big grin. She knows. Oh dear. [00:50:00] Here we go. So I really like what the come follow me lesson suggested that we do for this chapter. So that's what we're going to do. It says this. Among the rich imagery that James used throughout this epistle, some of his most vivid language is found in his counsel about language.
Then it says, consider making a list of all the ways that James described the tongue or the mouth in James chapter three. And then what does each comparison or image suggest about the words we speak? So you two, what did you mark? I asked my guest to do this, to mark all the different ways that James describes the tongue or mouth.
And just give us the verse when you've got it. Hit it,
Sharon Staples: Vaina.
Vaina Barton: Okay, so I read in verse five, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Verse six, the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. You know, [00:51:00] when I read this one, fire, fire does damage, you know, the things that we could say can burn people, but it can also warm someone's soul.
So it just depends on the way you use that word, fire. Um, the tongue is a world of iniquity. Um, what else? I also put, uh, the tongue is unruly, evil, that's verse 8, can no man tame, uh, full of deadly poison. And I think that's all I got.
Sharon Staples: I did the same thing. So I put the unruly evil, cursings and blessings, full of deadly poison, fire, it boasteth.
He said kind of all the bad things that tongues can do. Yes. A lot of bad things, didn't
Tammy Uzelac Hall: it? Mm hmm. And it's interesting because the, the analogy he [00:52:00] gives at the very beginning, he talks about how, and this was really what kind of blew my mind. He says in verse three, behold, we put bits in the horse's mouths that they may obey us and we turn about their whole body.
So just a little tiny bit in their mouth can control a horse. In verse four, behold, also ships, which though they be so great and are driven by fierce Yet, they are turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Very small thing controls a huge ship. And then he goes into this whole dialogue about how, and I like how you said this, Vaina, a little member.
Then you've got this little tiny tongue, and can it do the same? Can it completely control the direction we're going? And how?
Sharon Staples: Uh, I'll give an example. About 40 years ago, and I cannot give you a reference, I was watching a PBS program and they were talking about what's out there in the universe, you know. And I thought, well, everything is matter. We know that everything is matter from the Pearl [00:53:00] of Great Price. They said, even the language you speak is in the universe forever.
And I thought, what? And then they went on to explain it. And they said, if you curse, if you bless. If you sing, if you shout, whatever you do, those words are in the universe. They are matter and they are there forever. And it's at that point I think I stopped swearing because I did not want my voice to be swear words in the universe.
Vaina Barton: That's funny, I kept
Sharon Staples: picturing you swearing. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, well, I did. I was a, you know, I was a drunken sailor at a time, and uh, But what I'm suggesting, and what I got from this, and what I'm suggesting is that, that what we say is so significant, [00:54:00] That it is always there, it is always with us, even though we don't remember it, even though we can't bring it back, you know, it's the old adage of, you know, you know, um, throwing feathers from the pillows into the wind and then trying to gather them again.
You can't gather back your words. So, um, knowing that they're out there, ha has tempered, has tempered my language. I, I, I don't swear nearly as much and if I do, I cover. My mouth with a pillow, so it doesn't go out into, so it doesn't go out into the universe. But I think what James is saying is true and significant.
You know, what he says about the bit in the horse's mouth, what he says about whatever we say, it can be evil, it can be good, it's a little thing. A little thing has great consequences. And that's what [00:55:00] I, that's, I thought, oh my gosh, Sharon, you've got to clean up your act. And I tried to at that point in time.
And I try to remember that. And, and try not to bad mouth people, you know, like, you know, she is such a lazy and I think, wait a minute, that's, that's going to be out in the new universe. Somebody else may hear it, you know, maybe God will hear, well, God does hear it, but maybe so anyway,
Tammy Uzelac Hall: I, that's a profound statement that you just made.
Like I'm still stuck with that. Even the language you speak is in the universe. Every
Sharon Staples: word. Yeah. I believe them. I believe them because I believe I should put that in my house. I believe everything is matter. Everything is matter.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Even my words. Well, then you can even take that up a notch. Everything is matter and everything does matter.
Exactly. Words matter. Yes. Words matter. Words matter. Well, and in verse 8, when it [00:56:00] says, But the tongue can no man tame, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Yes. I mean, it doesn't take a lot of poison to make someone sick. Let's be clear. It takes, it could take more to kill you, but it just needs, just a little bit of poison can make you uncomfortable or sick.
So when you think about how words can be poisonous. You can get just a little small word from someone that makes you feel like, Oh, that didn't make me feel good. But when someone unleashes horrible words to you, that lasts a lifetime. I don't, like, you will spend your whole life. Trying to repair that or take medicine to fix it.
It's, it can be so awful. And, you know, Vaina, I really appreciated how you said fire. You said fire can damage or it can warm. And what, and then it made me think like, what do I, what am I doing with my fire? Am I damaging or warming people? And I want to know, do you have an experience from your own life where words, We're warming to you or damaging like you have an experience with [00:57:00] words
Vaina Barton: Yeah,
Sharon Staples: right all the time yeah constant every day Yeah. You just have to be careful. I mean, you just have to have the pure love of Christ in your heart and your activities and, and hopefully that will be demonstrated when you deal with others so that you're not being nasty.
Vaina Barton: Exactly. And I always. Try to remember the words that Thumper's mom said.
If you ain't got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. Right. That's right.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Well, I asked, and I asked you guys this question. Do either of you have a story about a time you were blessed or grateful for someone's warming words? Yes,
Sharon Staples: I actually... I
Vaina Barton: have a bunch. Uh, can I share just one quick one? I would love it.
Um, so when I was, when I was at BYU Hawaii, uh, I was trying to get into [00:58:00] the music program and to do piano pedagogy. That's just piano performance. And, uh, I didn't pass my first audition, and it was really devastating, and I had to go back and do a second audition, and I almost didn't make it again, but the Dean of the Fine Arts at the time was, uh, Preston, um, Preston Larson, and he just came outside after I was done, and he just told me, you know what, we're gonna let you in the program, and I know you're gonna do good.
And he just encouraged me. And I was like, okay, that's all I needed to hear. And I'm just so glad that he, he let me in the program and I got to graduate and have my degree in piano and you know, till this day, I'm just so very grateful. And I just love. You know, sharing music and playing the piano for whoever wants, uh, help [00:59:00] and whoever needs help, you know, and trying to teach them when I can.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Wow. That's a great example. Yeah. Yeah. Very warming. And look what it does now. Do you play the piano in your ward? Yes. All the time. Can you just sit down and play anything?
Vaina Barton: Uh, pretty much. Yeah. I could just open him and the only thing I can't do is play by ear. That's the only thing. But I can, I could just.
Play anything. Read the music, yeah. Open any page. Yeah. I actually do have my website for music, so I just started writing music.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: That's awesome. That's so cool, Vaina.
Sharon Staples: Good for you. Thank you. Oh, that's wonderful. And you're using a talent. Yes. You know, you're expanding on your gifts. That's great. That's wonderful.
Yeah.
Vaina Barton: I just wanna share the love to everyone. loved them. And what better way than through music, you
Sharon Staples: know, .
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Amen. So true. That's great. [01:00:00] Um, Sharon, you, you definitely have warmed your words have warmed me many times and likewise, and especially when I come to you with ideas, you've never shot me down. You've always encouraged me and said, sure, you could do it.
It's awesome. And I just, there is something powerful about words that
Sharon Staples: warm. Absolutely. Yeah, they're great.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yeah, that's the message of this. So thank you. Thank you to both of you. When
Sharon Staples: I worked, you know, I did mention that I was a secretary to Elder Ashton, and I may have told this story before, but When he would come back from the temple on Thursdays, you know, they fast before they have their temple meeting and then they have a lunch there.
And then he would come back from that about three or four o'clock in the afternoon and they always would give them chocolates, two or three chocolates for their dessert. So he would walk into my office, put the chocolates on my desk, not say a word, not say anything, and then he would walk into his office.
So I had two or three [01:01:00] chocolates every Thursday afternoon, of course, which was wonderful. But then, about a half an hour later, 20 minutes, he would buzz me, and he would say, Staples? Yes, sir. Do you want to have your testimony strengthened? Yes, sir. Come into my office. So I'd walk into his office, and he would tell me a strengthening testimony building story that he learned from the prophet, or from one of the other apostles, in that meeting that day.
I cannot remember all of the words that he said, But they're out there in the universe, and they're in my heart, and they're in my soul, and I had my testimony strengthened more and more and more every Thursday afternoon after having eaten one or two chocolates. So words do warm, and words do help, and the better the words, the better the help.
So it's [01:02:00] just amazing.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: That is amazing, Sharon. Thank you for sharing that story. You bet, you bet. In fact, I'm going to have that be my question this week. What, what words have warmed you? I want to know what people would say. What are some words that have warmed you or that have helped you or encouraged you?
That would be so cool to read. Um, instead of destroyed or damaged, I think that was great. Fire can damage, but fire, fire, fire can also
Sharon Staples: fire can, can destroy. She, she, she used the word destroy. Oh
Tammy Uzelac Hall: yeah, you did use destroy. Yeah,
Vaina Barton: it does damage. Yeah. Well,
Tammy Uzelac Hall: you know that being in Hawaii. Yeah. Thank you both of you.
Okay. So here's what we'll do. In the next segment, we're going to study James final words, and I can't help but wonder how he learned this really poignant truth. We'll do that next.
Okay, you two. [01:03:00] So my question is, how did you first learn about prayer? Like, did someone teach you to pray? I'm just curious. My parents. Yeah? By their example, they taught you how to pray? Excellent. What about you, Sharon?
Sharon Staples: My mother would... Take me and my brother, I can remember even being three years old, three years old, and she would make us kneel by our bunk beds, and she would teach us to pray.
Not a member of the church, we were Lutherans at the time, but it was now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And then, God bless mom, God bless dad, amen. Yet, you know, it was just simple, but at three years old, I remembered that and I've remembered it to this day, and she always taught me to pray, um, throughout my life.
You know, well, did you pray about it? Not being a member of the church, but a good practicing Lutheran. And, [01:04:00] um, and to believe in it, not just to say it, but she taught me to believe that my prayers were heard and answered by a God, whom I did not know or anything about or any of that. But yeah, that's where I got my start.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay. Sharon, thank you. I asked you that question because as I was studying in James chapter, um, five, let's turn there. I wanted to know because I was wondering how did James come to such a firm confidence in his ability to say James chapter five, verse 16. Now, we know that he was Jesus's brother, which meant that Mary was his mom.
And this is interesting because we don't hear a lot about Joseph after the incident where they lost Jesus in the temple when Jesus was 12. And some scholars believe that possibly he may have died. And so if that's true, Mary would have been left alone to raise these children. And so I wondered, was it Mary's example that taught James this verse?
Or was [01:05:00] it another experience that we might cross reference it to? So let's go to James chapter 5. I want you to bracket off verses 3 through 18. And there's a word that's repeated several times and you'll see it. Verse 13 says, Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. So James is going to give us this awesome discourse on prayer.
If you're afflicted, pray like your mom said, Sharon, I love that. Well, did you pray? Okay. Then we have in verse 14, is anybody sick? Let them pray. Verse 15. Let the prayer of faith save the sick. He's talking about all this prayer and then we go to verse 16. Sharon, can you read verse 16 for us?
Sharon Staples: Sure. Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman availeth much.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, thank you. Cause I put a w o in front of the word man right there in my own scriptures. So it does say woman or man. Awesome. Underline the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous woman or man availeth [01:06:00] much. Now I want you to cross reference this to acts.
Chapter 12, verse 17, because I was thinking about this. Okay, did he learn that his prayer would availeth much because his mother taught him? Did he learn from his own experience? Maybe he learned from the story in Acts chapter 12, verse 17. Maybe this was his moment of conversion. I don't know. This is the story where Peter is in jail.
They had just killed James. The, the Apostle James, Peter, James, and John. And Herod decided, Oh, look at the Jews. They love that we just killed James. Let's kill Peter too. But they couldn't kill Peter because it was over Easter. So he put him in prison. And then the scriptures teach us that while Peter was in prison, the saints were gathered in the home of Mary.
And they were praying. Oh, were they praying? They were praying for the deliverance. I don't even know. I'm like, were they praying for the deliverance of Peter? Were they just praying that Peter would be safe in prison? I'd love to know what the specific prayers were, but while they're [01:07:00] praying for Peter, an angel appears to Peter in the prison and says to Peter, Hey, get up, let's go.
You're getting out of here. And he tells him to get dressed and he unlooses the chains and Peter escapes from prison, runs to the home of Mary. And this is where we have one of the greatest scripture stories about a cute little girl named Rhoda. We love Rhoda and this young maid hears a knock on the front door and she goes to open it, but she doesn't open it.
All she hears is Peter saying, let me in, let me in. And Rhoda runs as fast as she can back to everybody who had been praying. I love this story. She doesn't open the door. She just runs back and she's like, you guys, Peter's at the front door. You're not going to believe this. And they said to her, you're crazy.
You're mad. There's no way Peter's in prison. And she's like, no. In fact, I love that the verse of scripture says, Acts chapter 12, verse 15, they say unto her, Thou art mad. And she's right here. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. No, it's absolutely Peter. I just know it is. And so then they said, no, it's just [01:08:00] his angel.
But Peter continued to knock. And when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. And I wonder, right there, we know that James was there because in verse 17, it says, Peter says, beckoning unto them with a hand, hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of prison.
And he said, go show these things unto James and to the brethren. And he departed and went into the other place. That James is the brother of Jesus. So it's like, you go tell James, the brother of Jesus, that I am free, that prayers worked. And so I think back to this story and then I go back to Hebrew where here is James saying, Oh, and by the way, everybody, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman availeth much.
I think he really knows and believes these verses. And I have had that play out in my life. I have had countless prayers. Where they have been answered, and I asked the two of you just to think, is there an example where you believe that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or [01:09:00] woman availeth much that you could confirm this verse with?
Vaina Barton: Yeah, definitely. I, I actually asked one of my friend if I could share her story on the podcast and she said, sure, go ahead. You were there. You know what happened. So, so this is my friend. Um, she's also from Tahiti. She was here a couple years ago and she moved to Utah and then moved to California. So her husband had a diving accident.
And it was just so, so heartbreaking and it was hard to, um, grasp that idea that he could make it or could not make it. And I was just so, um, torn up with the idea that he's not going to make it and he's leaving behind two kids and one on the way. And I, I just needed to go to my Heavenly Father and pray to Him.
I just needed [01:10:00] comfort for myself. And also, um, I just needed to know what to do. And so I could help prepare myself and know how to support my friend. So I just went in for a prayer and I just knelt down in my room and I had poured out my soul to my Heavenly Father, and I said, Heavenly Father, you know, I have my friend's kids with me.
My friend is on Oahu at the hospital with her husband, and they don't know if he's going to live or not. And I just want to know, is he going to live? That's all I said. And I heard the firm answer coming from him, saying that he's coming home to me. And I need you to be there for her. And that was it. That is all I, I heard and I, I heard it and I felt it in my heart.
I was like, okay. [01:11:00] And as soon as I ended my prayer, I just sat by the side of my bed and I just cried because I felt, you know, all the pain that My friend was probably going through at the moment and a couple hours later, she calls me from the hospital and telling me that, um, they're taking her husband of life support.
Um, and I was ready and I knew, okay. Alright, I'm gonna be here when you come back, and we're gonna help you out. And it was just, to me, just saying that prayer, just so I could know what to do, and so I could be there, to prepare, and to help my friend. And I, I just, it was just a crazy time. Um, but in the end, you know, everything, everything worked out [01:12:00] according to Heavenly Father's plan and it's just so beautiful how everything just fell into place after when she came back and it was just.
I'm just so grateful that Heavenly Father is aware of, you know, all his children, you know, and that he made sure that to help me and to, uh, guide me in what I need to do to
Sharon Staples: help her. Wow, that's wonderful. Thank you for sharing. Yeah. Yeah. That's great.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Especially because when you read that verse, you think it means that you can change the will of God.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous woman availeth much. Like you're going to get what you're asking for and your, yeah, your, your story is so beautiful because the, the much that it availed was preparing you to help your friend. That is powerful. Yeah.
Sharon Staples: Thank you. That's great. I may have told this story before.
I don't know. I [01:13:00] was on my mission. I was in the Andes mission in Peru, and there were four or maybe six sisters living in an apartment building, and it was P Day, and it was time to pack it in, and so everybody said, well, we want donuts, you know, go to the donut shop and get us donuts. So, as was the custom in any, in any mission, we prayed before we left the apartment.
And said, you know, keep us safe, may everything be okay, and you know, we'll be fine when we're gone. So we were walking down the stairs from our apartment and a voice came out of the blue and said, don't go. And I thought, whoa, I'm not gonna pay attention to that. So then we walked a little bit further and the voice said, don't go.
So I stopped my companion and I said, do you hear anything? Have you, have you, do you have any feelings or do you have a, an inclination or did you hear a voice? Nope. Nope. Everything's fine, but we kept walking, and on the bottom of the [01:14:00] stairs, don't go. And I said, she said, what's up? What are you doing? Why are you stopping?
I said, I have heard three times, don't go. She said, okay. And she grabbed my hand, and we walked back upstairs. And I, of course, I was going to keep walking, but she said, Oh no, if you heard that three times, we're going back. So we went back, and all the sisters were disappointed. Oh, come on, it's nothing. Come on, go get the donut.
No, we're not going. The following morning, we all went into the mission office, and the president said to us in our opening prayer meeting, he said, Well, you had a lot of excitement over there last night. And we said, what? He said, yeah, the terrorists blew up the donut shop.
What? Yeah, they didn't blow it completely up, but they set it on fire. And it was, you know, so who knows if we would have been there at the exact same time before, after, whatever. But the fact that we were told [01:15:00] after praying, keep us safe, don't go. And my companion was smart enough and wise enough and in tune enough to say, okay, if you heard it three times, we're not going.
So. I learned then that it's important to listen. If you're going to pray about something, listen for the answer. So prayer is important, but listening to the answer is as important as the prayer. Like Binah said, she heard that her friend was going to be okay. That's all she prayed for. Is it going to live?
And she got the clear voice, yes. Well, I got the voice and my companion was the spiritual one and listened, so, but it, you know, you, you have to not only pray, you have to listen for the answer or for the guidance.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Fantastic, Sharon. What a great story, you know, and my, my [01:16:00] experience, I like how we all have come, because I had us all think of a story we could share, how different all three of our stories were, because I looked up the word effectual, and it means successful in producing a desired intended result.
And I thought of my own experience, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous woman availeth much, um, just for me praying all those years to get married, and starting at 18 that I would get married, it goes back to faith and works, like God did not answer the prayer that I wanted him to answer it, but the fact that I was continually praying all the time, I didn't stop praying, I didn't stop doing the little things like we talked about at the beginning, and because of that, My prayers became effectual when it was right for God, and I think by praying, I was able to accept his will, and so I like that, that the effects that we want, the effectual is the outcome, and my outcome was much different than I ever imagined, and it's the right outcome, because I let God have [01:17:00] it.
And we've talked about this a couple weeks ago, I let him be the captain of my salvation. And that is what it's all about. And so, yeah, I just, I like that. I like how James is so confident in that and how he went from maybe ridiculing his brother to becoming, like you said, Sharon, an incredible apostle of the Lord and we're all capable of doing that.
And so when you read James's words, you kind of wonder, did they come from his own experience? Was his tongue a fire? Did it warm or damage? Maybe he knows for a fact, effective words and they're out there in the universe as you taught us, Sharon. So thank you. Wow. What a great discussion. That's
Sharon Staples: it. We're done.
I've learned a lot. Thank you, Vina. You're for your insights. You're welcome. Great. You're great.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Take a minute and just gather your thoughts and what is one takeaway from today's discussion?
Vaina Barton: I love what Sharon said. Pure religion is all of it. No exception. And that is true to me. You know, there is no exception.[01:18:00]
You do it all, or you just don't. Right.
Sharon Staples: You know? Great one. I think mine is, study the scriptures. Don't just read them, because you can do a cursory reading of James and it sounds good and you read the words and know duh duh duh duh duh duh duh. But if you actually delve into what they mean and what effect they have on my life, to study the scriptures and then to apply the doctrine.
Because every, almost every scripture we read was significant about my behavior. You know, faith that works is dead, and be believers, you know, just be doers of the word, not just believers. And, um, prayer, how significant prayer is, and, um, just everything that, that for me, I need to not just read the scriptures.
Especially, I've never paid any attention to James, except if any of you [01:19:00] lack wisdom. That's the only thing I know about James, until I started studying this, and it's filled. Yeah. With beautiful gospel principles and ideas and doctrine and helps. So what I got out of it is, you know, uh, put forth some effort in studying the scriptures.
Just study them, you know, gain knowledge, gain faith, and then apply them. Powerful. It's a good book. Really? Such a good book. Yeah. And it's short.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yeah. It's such a good book. Yeah. Um, mine goes back to how we started when we had you find it. When you had me put my name into the very beginning, Tammy, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes, which are scattered abroad greeting.
I liked that so much. And how you said, I'm dedicated to the work you the very beginning and you ended with it. Like you're dedicated to the work. And then Sharon, thank you so much for reminding us. Think of the infinite, not the finite. And, uh, I will always [01:20:00] remember that when it comes to verses two through four to count it joy.
Just think of the infinite, not the finite. So thank you. Thank you all. Thank you. Such a great.
Sharon Staples: Awesome. It was awesome. Thank you.
Vaina Barton: You're welcome. Thank you.
Tammy Uzelac Hall: Wow. Okay. Well, I want to know what you guys learned. So if you haven't already joined our discussion group on Facebook, and if you're not following us on Instagram, go do it.
Because it's a great place where you can just share what you're learning. I'd love to know what stood out to you from the book of James because it is such a good book. Or you can even ask questions. That's so fun. And the whole community weighs in on questions or send pictures of your scriptures as you've marked them.
And then at the end of the week, we do a post asking a question from this episode. So go and answer that and share your thoughts. You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday. And if you go there. We're going to have links to all the references that we use as well as a transcript of this discussion and a glue in for this episode.
So go check it out. The Sunday on Monday study group is a desert bookshelf plus original brought to you by LDS [01:21:00] living. It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall. And today our incredible study group participants were Vaina Barton and Sharon Staples. And you can find more information about my friends at ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday. Our podcast is. It's produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited and recorded and mixed by Cole Wissinger, and our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom. Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week. And please remember that you are God's favorite. I'm