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.
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[00:00:00] You are not going to believe what I came up with for this episode, because here's what we all know. I don't excel at math. You guys know that about me. In fact, it's so funny. The other day, my daughter Sophia was asking me a question that was math based, and she asked me for the answer if I could help her.
And I looked at her and I go, I don't know. I'm not Magellan. I'm going to laugh because I thought Magellan was the good guy at math. No, he's really good at navigating and getting places. It's as, actually, my friend told me, I should have said, I'm not Pythagoras. Hmm. See, that's how bad I am at math. But I got to tell you, as I was studying for this lesson, it became a math equation for me.
And I found myself typing words like some. Total, total of the equation. And I even use the word quotient. I mean, that's crazy, right? Who am I? Magellan? Okay. Pythagoras. Today's study of ether chapters six through one to me, read like a math equation. And I even found a math tutor in these verses, probably one of the best math tutors out there.
And I can't wait to show you what I found. Welcome to the Sunday on Monday study group, a Deseret 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 please 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 friends, Alison Smith and Lori Moore from Phoenix, Arizona. Ladies, I loved meeting you. Thank you for saying hi. Okay, now, another awesome thing about our study group, it's my favorite thing, is each week we're joined by two of my friends, so it's always a little bit different.
And this week I have two new friends and I, well, Andrea's been on before, but she's back with a new friend and I'm so excited to introduce you to Andrea Erickson Lindsay and Kendra Mack George. Hello, ladies. Okay. Listen, here's why I'm excited to have them because they're seminary teachers. You guys, female, strong, awesome, confident, educated, spiritually guided seminary teachers.
And Kendra teaches early morning. FYI. Kendra, what time did you get up this morning to teach?
Well, I don't teach until 630, but I am a morning person, so I have to get my exercise in before. So I was up at four.
I mean, come on.
Still,
though, teaching
at
630.
So fun. So fun. Love it. My students probably hate me as I sing a good morning song to them every morning that is really invigorating, but Okay sing it!
You have to sing it. Oh my gosh, if I sing it,
come on, do it, Kendra,
it's a, it's a song that I sang to my kids to wake them up when they were in middle school and it's really annoying. So I will shout out my co, my co seminary teacher, she hates the song and I am not allowed to sing it when she is president.
She's been gone all week. So are you seriously want me to sing?
Yeah, please do. It makes me
so happy. Okay, ready? It goes Good morning, good morning, good morning to you! Good morning, good morning, I'm glad to see you! Good morning, good morning, it's time to rise and shine! Good morning, good morning, I hope you're feeling fine!
Good morning, good morning, good morning! Good morning, good morning to you! Good morning, good morning, good morning! Good morning, I'm glad to see you! Yay! That's it. There. I have put my vulnerability out there for all to enjoy. I am
so impressed. And I'm telling you right now, if I was still teaching seminary, I'd be singing that every morning.
I'm hooked! Oh,
you're funny. Thank you.
Kendra, that's awesome! Okay, tell us you two, how do you guys know each other?
Hey,
get away,
Andrea.
Well, I first met Kendra when she was Sister Mac. We were missionary companions in Utica, New York. You know,
and she was my second companion, so I was very new in the mission when I got introduced to Sister Erickson.
And yeah,
I was the shocker companion. I was the one that was totally different from her first companion , you know, the second companion, you know? Mm-Hmm. . Mm-Hmm. . You're just like, you think you've got it down and then you meet the second one, you're like, what? ? That's when the second I was, I was the shocker.
When the second one is Sister Erickson, it really is a shocker, and we served together for five months. She was my longest companion. So actually, by the end of our serving together, we were synced, like we could actually read each other's thoughts. We were really good together. It was such a fun companionship.
I loved it. Yep.
How cool is that? Yeah. Oh, I think that's a great connection and that you guys are still friends. You're like that scripture in Alma 17 when you met each other and you're after all those years and you're still loving the Lord. How excited your hearts must have been. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was great.
Now I love women and I love women who do things. So I just have to tell you, I want, I asked both of [00:05:00] them to tell us about what they're recently involved in because they both are doing something that I think you might want to know about. So Kendra, you go first and tell us what you and Andrea do together.
Sure.
So, Andrea and I have a podcast called Gathering Christ, which is really gathering women in Christ and focusing on President Nelson's, or the prophets right now, obviously that is President Nelson, his most current talks, Instagram posts, things that he is saying and how we can better follow him and trust in him and gather in Christ so that we can live more fuller, richer lives in the Savior.
And it's been great. I actually was, we were able to figure this out when Tiffany's last host, who I actually went to high school with and served in the same mission with, um, when she was unable to do it, we were trying to figure out the distance. issue and so grateful that we've been able to figure it out because it has been such a glorious experience to talk of Christ and rejoicing Christ and bring others to Christ with us as we talk about President Nelson's recent messages.
It's been wonderful.
Oh, that's so neat and so needed because you live in Seattle, is that right?
Yes.
Thereabouts. Tell us how, tell everybody how they can find your podcast.
It is Gather in Christ and you can find it on Apple or Spotify, our main platforms. There's also Castbox. Is that right, Andrea? Yeah. So that as well.
We both post. On our Facebook pages, um, Andrea has a formal Facebook page called Speak Truth Gathering Christ that we post our episodes on as well. Um, you can also email us at gatheringchrist at gmail. com.
Yep. Fantastic. Okay. Thank you for sharing that, Kendra. Now, Andrea, you have a new project that you are working, that you've just launched.
I mean, it's so exciting. Tell us about it.
Well, I've been working on this for seven years, and this has been, and it's been in the back of my mind for longer than that. But, uh, seven years I've been working on a doctrinal children's book series. The first book is out. It's called God's Plan, and it covers the first three doctrines that we teach in seminary.
And it's The Godhead, The Plan of Salvation, and The Atonement of Jesus Christ. The next book, the next three, the last book, the last three. So that's how it's set up. And it's been quite a Herculean effort, to say the least. But I have, yeah, I've done that. And I have a little activity book, but that's just, I give those away at book signings and things.
So it's, it's just something I did on the side.
But it's a cute activity book for kids. BF
Yeah, I thought, you know, one of the things that my book, I really try and focus on is because I have my Master's in Religious Education, so one of the things is to meet every learning style's needs, and that is what I do in the book, is I cover auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners, the hands on learners.
And so there's activities in the book, there's music, there's guided experiences so that they can just know a little bit more. There's prompts to talk to parents about certain things so that they can open up that dialogue, because parents and caregivers are, they're so It's important in this process. You can't really get out of it.
So it, it, it is something that just promotes the proper line of authority because parents really are the first line of defense for their families.
Oh, amen. I totally agree. Okay. Well, for those of you listening, we're going to include links. in the bios for these two lovely women. So if you want to go read their bios, see their pictures and click on their links to find everything they're working on, go to our show notes, which are found at LDS living.
com slash Sunday on Monday and go check that out and check out everything they're doing because I can guarantee it will be worth your time. So we are studying either chapter six through 11. And this record has so many kings that ruled the Jaredites after the brother of Jared. And some are righteous and some are wicked.
And we're going to learn all about it today and talk about it. So grab your scriptures and we're so glad you're studying with us and grab something to mark your scriptures with because we're going to dig into ether chapter six through 11. Okay, you two right out of the gate. Tell me, what did the Holy Ghost teach you as you read these crazy chapters?
So I'll be honest, I was a little, um, I was a little intimidated by reading these chapters because I thought this is ridiculous. First of all, that this is going on and what am I going to pull from this? And so I really, I really had to think about this and say, okay, what? What is the lesson and [00:10:00] the recurring theme for me over and over?
I tried to find a scripture within those verses, but I couldn't. Because what kept reoccurring to me was Isaiah chapter 9, verse 12. Isaiah says, when all the destruction, there's Syrian destruction, all that stuff's happening. But it says, for all his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
And then my thought went to Elder Patrick Kieran quotes, God is in relentless pursuit of you. He wants all of his children to choose to return to him. And he employs every possibility measure to bring you back. And I feel like for me, that was the theme of these chapters, is that God is not willing to give up on us, that He will do whatever He can, but that it is our choice.
on whether or not we choose him or we choose the world. Oh
my gosh. I'm writing down what you just said. In fact, at the top of my scriptures in Ether chapter 6, I wrote Isaiah chapter 9 verse 12 and highlighted it in yellow. That is an awesome theme for the chapters we're studying today. Thank you, Kendra.
So good. What about you, Andrea?
Well, you'll have to forgive me. I was educated at BYU and we believe in drinking from fire hoses there, and so this might feel like that. I'm going to give a lot of information really fast. Fire hose away. Okay. So something that I like to do is look for patterns, and I'm finding a lot of patterns as we're going through of how you stay close to the Lord.
Okay. And how you fall away from the Lord. And so you see that in these chapters really clearly. And some of the things I was jotting down as I was reading was, we've got to keep the commandments. We've got to follow the Council of Prophets. We need to study the scriptures and keep our lives pure, ready to receive the Lord's direction and how important that is.
And then There's a danger in accepting the Lord's pattern. One of the first things they do wrong is they want a king. They want to accept the world's pattern. They got all the way there just to be still there in their hearts. To have not fully left or unpacked the world. And, and you know, we can change our physical location, but if we don't change our hearts, we're going to have problems, which we see in this.
And I think for me, one of the pivotal verses was Ether 819. Thank you. And it says in there, For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it from the beginning of man. I, I, I wrote next to ether ate deadly dance. You know, because here's, here's the girl, like, she's going to do the dance and request the death, you know, and, and we've seen this before, okay, this is exactly what happens with John the Baptist, and there you have it, you have Satan's pattern, he works in secret, he's trying to, um, manipulate, wait, He's trying to control, and I think it's so vital and important that, that we recognize there's, there's two things going on with the Lord's always teaching.
The Lord's always inviting. He's always doing it, but we have to know there's an unseen world that we're fighting against too, and we have plenty of players in our world that have bought into it.
Yeah. Ooh,
Andrea,
that is awesome. Great things that the spirit taught you. We are going to have such a cool discussion as you can probably already tell.
I mean, these women know their stuff. So in the next segment, then we're going to dive into one word that really stood out to me as I was studying these verses and we're going to talk about that word in light of what we've been asked to do and something fun that elder Holland said back in October general conference.
We'll do that next.
All right. You too. I want you to describe for me qualities of a committed person. And I'm going to write these qualities down. What comes to your mind when you think of qualities of a committed person? Unwarried diligence.
Oh, I love that.
Right?
I love that. That's good. I think a committed person is someone who can look past the obstacle and find a solution.
They don't let the obstacle stand in their way.
That's
good.
I also think of [00:15:00] Jeremiah. Remember, Jeremiah's like had it. And he's like, I'm not going to teach the people anymore. Yeah. So in Jeremiah 23, 29, he talks about the word of God being like a fire in his bones. And anyway, that reference. Fantastic. I would go there, highlight it, but he, he has to go again and teach the people.
He cannot be restrained. And I think, you know, we personally can give out because of our falling condition and just lose it with, with people and have enough. But if we can allow the Lord to help us tap into that person we were premortally, because we were. More capable there when we weren't veiled of having this, this exuberance.
Okay. And the Lord sometimes has to wake that up for us through his atoning sacrifice that's possible. And we can keep going even when we've hit the wall over and over and over again.
Like you said,
he has to wake that up for us. That we do. We have to be reminded all the time of our spirit needs to be reminded all the time of what we are capable of.
And that was another thing with. Being a committed person, as I thought about committed people in my life, they know why they're doing what they're doing and that why is so embedded in their soul that nothing stops them. Nothing gets in their way. They can look past the obstacle. They know why they're doing it.
And so they get prepared and they exercise the faith and they push through that storm. They push through it. And I love, that was the thing I got the most when we're looking at. Ether, chapter 6. I have loved when they're crossing the ocean and verse three in chapter six, it says, and that's the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness to give light unto men, women, and children that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.
And I love that verse because How many times are we, as a committed person, able to see the light in the darkness? Yeah. There's so many times, right, that we go through life and we just think, well, it's just going to happen. It's just going to happen. And I think of people who are committed and determined and disciplined and have that grit to just get up and keep going.
They know why they're doing it. And they're able to figure it out. The brother of Jared was like, Meh, I need some light. Okay, well, It can't stop us from moving forward, So what are we going to do? Oh, I think I'll pick up some rocks. Right? But he prepared himself, And he put forth the faith, And now all of a sudden Because a miraculous God says, this is a righteous thing.
Here you go. I'll light the stones. And so they were able to have that light in the darkness. And I thought, you know, a committed person is someone who can see the light in the darkness. And they push forward and they keep going and they persevere no matter what the obstacles are. And I love that.
Oh, gosh.
Okay. So your words, your descriptions of a committed person have perfectly set us up for Ether chapter six. And let's go in there and read verse four. I'm going to read verse four, and I want you to tell me what word in this verse It says, And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them.
And it came to pass that when they had done all these things, they got aboard of their vessels or barges and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord, their God. Amen. Amen. What, what word should we mark that sounds like committed? Oh, easy. Commending. Yeah. Commending. Okay. Highlight that and everybody highlight in your scriptures.
I looked up the word commending in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary. It defined it as, and I thought this was interesting, to represent as worthy of notice. And then to regard or to have kindness. But what I asked you guys to do was to look through verses five through 11. And I want to know from your experience as you've reading these verses is what would you say is the result of these people who commended themselves unto the Lord?
Because that word commending, everything you guys described was so perfect. They knew their why. They were absolutely. Absolutely. There. Unwary diligence. I mean, can you imagine how much unwary diligence it would take to not only put food for you on your ships, but also for your flocks and your herds?
That's a lot of food. I think everything you guys just defined is beautiful, but this word commending, I wanted [00:20:00] to know what you found. What was the result of the fact that they commended themselves to the Lord?
For me, I can't see commending without seeing consecration. I can't. To me, they're the same. It is a consecrated life that's willing to get on that vessel and be, I mean, we'll probably talk about this later, but this is not an easy trip.
This is a really
scary trip. Tell me about it.
If you look at it, I mean, they're buried in the depths in the six. And, uh, I skipped five, so let's go back to five. There's a furious wind tossed upon the waves. Six, they're buried in the depths. And they talk about sea monsters. This is not, this is not for the faint of heart.
Okay. And I think it's the same in living the gospel now. This is not for the faint of heart. You will have people disagree with you, be even violent towards you because of what you believe. And I think it's really important that we remember our temple covenants give us power. Angels. Amen. There's no way they're going through this experience without some miracles that aren't written down.
Yeah.
Ooh, that's really good stuff.
Thank you for sharing that with those verses.
I love that. I think commending as well is The gratitude in the way that you go about your adversity, because like Andrea said, this is an exciting adventure. Not one that we probably, that the brother of Jared and his family probably anticipated that commending for me was.
How am I responding to life? And I love personal development. And I love, like, I've really focused on that in the last few years because I felt like I was always getting into this victim mentality of why is this happening to me? How come it's happening again? And I am just the victim of my circumstance.
I have no control. And I love, they didn't have control of the wind, but I also loved Elder Araldo B. Cavalcante's conference talk this past October, and he talked about And gave such a different perspective of the wind. We think of the wind as a bad thing. He talks about the wind being Heavenly Father, pushing us.
And so if you look at it in that context, yes, we're going to be scared. Yes, we have to recognize that life is not going to be easy. But as we commend ourselves to the Lord and we prove faithful and we put our trust and our faith in him, that's exactly what they did, prayed, they cried unto the Lord. But then also in verse nine, they did sing praises unto the Lord and they were doing both as we are grateful for our circumstances in any circumstance.
Yeah.
And as we show forth our faith. And as we get out of that victim mentality and say, the Lord's my wind, where is he pushing me and why is he pushing me in that direction? What can I learn from this? And we incorporate that into our lives. Our lives become very, very different. And I also love that Brother Cavalcante also talked about the wind being us.
And us being the wind helping and helping others through their adverse times when they're bogged down under and the waves are coming up over the top.
Yeah.
The direct quote is from him is each of us can be part of this wind, the same wind that blessed the Jaredites in their journey and the same wind that with our help will bless the unrecognized and forgotten to reach their own promised lands.
And I thought that was beautiful in talking about this adventure. Because it is an adventure, and if we can look at our life as an adventure, things become a little more exciting, and I think part of that is commending ourselves to the Lord as well. What are we doing to serve? Because commending is showing the Lord.
Yeah.
Right? We're being recognized of Him. When you commend somebody, you're recommending them to do something. How are we, how are we allowing the Lord to recommend us and use us as instruments in His hands so that we can help build the kingdom of God in others lives?
Oh, excellent. Both of you, your comments were so spot on.
I love what both of you had to say. You compared it to life, like [00:25:00] the journey they took when you were talking about that. I had this thought like you just described my life like the wind is blowing furiously. There are so many sea monsters in my life. But when you were talking about it too, I imagined how the ship would go under the water and then come back up.
And there were storms when this happened. And I think sometimes we get caught up in this idea that if I really commend myself to the Lord, there won't be any storms. Isn't that interesting? Like you would have expected that here they did everything the Lord told them to do. They built these barges, they all work together.
Then they filled the barges with everything the Lord told them to fill them with. They're commending themselves to the Lord, so they should just be able to get on the water and float a nice little canoe trip, you know, just rafting down the river with their friends until they get to the promised land.
But no, no, no, no. They're going to be on the water. It says to us in verse 11 for 344 days, and it's going to be brutal and there are going to be storms. And like you said, Andrea, sea monsters. It was a really arduous journey and throughout that whole journey, they didn't stop commending themselves to the Lord.
Kendra, I thank you so much for bringing up verse nine. In fact, will you read all of verse nine for us?
Yeah, and they did sing praises unto the Lord. Yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did think and praise the Lord all the day long. And when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord.
Thank you. I
wrote what you said next to the word gratitude, said exactly what they did. And so one of the things I want us to kind of think about, and maybe you have a quick story, but I want to know what's your earliest memory in your life of commending yourself to the Lord? Because, and I, and I think for me, it's been a process.
I continually do it, but I would think of myself as the barge. Like sometimes I'm under the water and then sometimes I come up top and I can breathe like I'm commended again. And then sometimes I get back under that water. I know for me when I was younger, I can remember I had been looking at inappropriate pictures and I remember closing the magazine and as clear as day, the spirit said to me, you're so much better than this.
I don't know why I was granted that gift, but I just remember going, Oh, you know what? That is so true. Like, I believed that. And at that moment I commended myself to the Lord and I'm like, I'm never doing this again. And I didn't. And I committed to like, I remember I had a seminary teacher that said, if you read your scriptures every day, the Lord will help you.
So I, I made a commitment then to read the scriptures every night before I went to bed. And I was just a little, I was like in junior high, I was stupid. I don't even remember what I read. But I, I read a verse every night and I could, that is a real moment. I remember where I commended myself to the Lord.
Do either one of you have a moment where you remember that was when I did it?
I think you, you've helped me to remember a time that was really important. Actually, I was serving with sister Mac. Okay. Um, when, when this happened, you know, when I went through the temple, I don't think I understood those covenants very well.
Oh, you know, I think,
yeah,
I think I was like, Yeah. Yeah. Oh sure, I'll do whatever you ask, but I didn't know what consecrate meant. I didn't know, like, I didn't even know the doctrine of repentance. So how could I possibly have understood exactly what I was getting into? And I think it's kind of sad how ill prepared, because I was active.
I was really trying, but I wasn't getting the kind of understanding I needed. Unfortunately, I'm that kinesthetic learner. So I feel for all those people like you just don't understand the way other people are understanding and it's really hard to pick up these truths unless you have some connections and experiences like you're talking about.
That's a kinesthetic learner when, when the spirit is in the moment with you, teaching you, connecting that. And, and so, I'm there with Kendra, and I remember just, my health wasn't really great, and I really wanted to finish. And I was like, if I don't get some miraculous intervention here, there's no way I can finish.
My mission, I am sick, like I found out later that I had like acute appendicitis, probably should have gone to the hospital,
but,
but luckily we're covered sometimes even in those ignorant moments, but like I, I was needing some help and I, I just remember if you can just Help me with this. I will serve my whole life.
I give you everything. I didn't know that I had already promised that in the temple. Like, I didn't get that. But my heart was finally ready to give that and to really do it. And I did. I was fine. I was able to complete the mission. I was able to get through it and get the help I needed [00:30:00] when I got home because it wasn't like it was perfect when I came home.
I still had to learn the process of, you know, gaining health and doing all those things that were necessary so I didn't get a get out of jail free card. Okay, but, but I did. Get the strength to finish because I really didn't want to quit and so Even though that may not be my first experience with the Lord It was the first time I got my temple covenant and my heart was like I'm ready to be consecrated I'm ready to do this, but you're gonna have to give me a miracle so it can happen Because I don't have the capacity to do this
on my own.
I'm so glad you reminded, you were reminded of that story. Thank you, Andrea. Do you have one, Kendra?
Yeah, you know, I might, similar to Andrea's as far as, I don't know if I remember anything early on in my life, but my husband is, was military for a while, and he was deployed. I had a brand new baby nine months, well, a brand new baby.
He came home for two weeks. So that he could be born, went back and I remember having to go to church with three kids under the age of three, but well, four down to newborn and dealing just at church, right? Like going to sacrament and being white. Why am I coming? This is, I am wasting my time. I'm not in sacrament meeting.
And I give
you a
primary calling. Right. And this was back
when it was three hours, everyone. This was back when it was three.
Right. Exactly. And it was like, well, but it's your, it's just the time it's, you know, like, why are you going? And I thought, why am I going? Because then a year later, two years later, I had four children and my husband was gone for another four months.
And I was doing the same thing with six and under, going to church by myself every week, 9 a. m., have wrestling with the kids, having a, I had a, I don't remember. I didn't have, I was always in a calling of some sort. And most of the time when the, my kids were young, it was a primary calling. I was playing the piano for primary or something.
And I thought I literally am getting nothing out of Sundays. It would be easier to stay home. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it was one of those moments where I had to really ask myself, Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? Why is this important to me? And if anything, I, obedience, that was how I knew I needed to commend myself to the Lord was it was going to be hard, but I knew where I needed to be.
And I knew that even, even the act of being there, even if my spiritual bucket wasn't necessarily getting full, the Lord would compensate what I needed because I was where I needed to be. And I feel like there's been so many times in my life where the Lord has consecrated my efforts, even though I may have felt like I got nothing out of them.
Even if I have to go through the motions for a time, looking back, I see the increased faith.
Wow. When you said going through the motions for a time, like I felt that. So many of us felt that, and it goes back to one of your descriptions is from that experience. You know, your why and your why is embedded on your soul, and I think it continues to do that throughout our lives.
So thank you to both of you for sharing that. Okay, so we have this journey. They're singing and praising the Lord. They have in verse 10. I like how it says they did have light continually. I think it's twofold right there. They had light continually, and in the next segment, we're going to find out what happened to them next.
Okay, ladies. So get in. I want everyone listening, including my guests to get in vacation mode or road trip mode. And I just want to know when you finally arrived to your destination, what's some of the first things you do when you finally get there?
I would just probably kiss the ground. In fact, I remember, so I went to Russia, I lived in Russia for about four months.
I taught English through the ILP program. And I remember getting off the plane from Russia. Coming back into New York and just literally falling to my knees because I was 18 is the first time I had been out of the country. I had never experienced anything like that growing up in Utah before. I loved the experience, but coming back, it was like, Oh, so much!
I'm so glad to
be home! I think I would have done the same thing, [00:35:00] like, done a dance, jumping, like, thank you, I'm on land. First of all, I'm on land. Yeah. I'm not on the water
anymore. That's a great answer. I love that. Kiss the ground. Perfect description. What about you, Andrea? That
probably just collapsed. I mean, I, I really resonated with Ammon, you know, where he just is passing out all the time in the scriptures.
I probably, I would probably just collapse and be like, I can finally breathe on the inside. You know, I'm, I'm really good at, like, going through a crisis and managing chaos, but they have no idea what's going on on the inside. Oh, yeah. And there is a collapsing point, you know, like my husband's like, what you're doing fine.
I'm like, no, I broke four weeks ago. Like you just see like enabling power, making it so that I don't die. Like,
that's awesome. I think of me when I finally get to a destination. It's been a road trip with my kids. Like when we drove up to Seattle, Kendra in our car and then we went into Canada in the car and then we decided to drive home back to Utah in one drive.
We didn't break it up. We were in the car together for 16 hours, a 16 hour road trip. When we got home. I was like, I haven't had it. Get out of the car, everybody. If I have to see your faces again, like, I was so done. Can you imagine being in a barge for 344 days? I mean, when that boat lands, I just want anybody to say that, like, get me out of here.
Somebody had to have given birth. You know that's happening. I mean, And you have all the animals. Oh, We're forgetting the No, I would be at my breaking point. Talk about Andrea and your breaking point. My breaking point would have happened the day we got on the ship, if I'm being totally honest. I would have commended myself to the Lord and asked for a lot of help.
I can, in fact, I would have had a mission moment like Andrea. If you want me to finish this, yeah, you're going to have to help. So let's go into the scriptures because I want us to read what it was like when the boats landed. Turn with me to either chapter six, verse 12, and we're going to read about what some of the first things were the Jaredite people did when they arrived, when those boats docked or landed or however you want to say it.
And Andrea, can you please read that for us? Either chapter six, verse 12.
And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shore of the promised land, they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land and did humble themselves before the Lord and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because the multitude of his tender mercies over them.
Thank you. Highlight all of that. I mean that. Now, I'm going to rethink the way I react when I finally arrive at my destinations. Kendra, you're not far off. You did bow yourself down upon the face of the land, and I love that they humbled themselves before the Lord, shed tears of joy before the Lord because of the multitude, and here it is, of his tender mercies upon them.
Now, we purposefully skipped the last part of this video, The talk or discussion about tender mercies clear back in first Nephi. You can cross reference tender mercies to first Nephi chapter one, verse 20. It's also in the Bible, by the way, but I wanted to save that discussion for now. And I will, I'm really, I could not be more grateful that it's the two of you who are joining me for this because in 2005, so 19 years ago, Elder Badnar gave his landmark talk called the tender mercies of the Lord.
And how interesting is this? It actually was his very first talk as an apostle. Like, granted six months earlier, he was called and sustained and set apart, and he gave sort of a short talk slash testimony of like, Hey, I'm new. But Tender Mercies of the Lord is like his first, here we go, 20 minute conference talk.
So I asked my guests to read and we included in our show notes the link to the talk Tender Mercies. I, I just implore all of you to copy it off, read it, and we're going to highlight and talk about some of the parts of this talk that stood out to you because it's that phrase Tender Mercies of the Lord.
I want us to really understand. What they're talking about here, the multitude of his tender mercies over them. So what did you guys find? Tell me some of the parts of the talk that you loved.
I really loved when Elder Bednar said the Lord's tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving kindnesses, consolation, support and spiritual gifts, which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Moroni is explaining the multitude of tender mercies, I think we think of, at least I have thought of, Oh, did something good happen today? Like what was the tender mercy that maybe happened, right? I'm not thinking of the multitude of tender mercies that I'm receiving through the day. I mean, that's, that's a huge list.
Individualized blessing, [00:40:00] strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving kindnesses, consolation, support, spiritual gifts. That's a multitude. And how often is that happening for us through the day?
And there's so many, you'll need to read the talk, but I just wrote blessing. What struck me as blessing, strength, loving kindness, spiritual gifts.
Oh my gosh. So many good gifts. Wow. Thank you. Kendra. Andrew, what do you got?
Well, I want to say, you know, Kendra is fantastic. We actually had highlighted the same thing without talking, you know, and, and so she, she, she shared this, but, but I want to. Talk about the prior paragraph to that, as well as another follow up paragraph that kind of sandwiched in for me what this tender mercies was talking about.
But hers is really the meat of of the statement. That's the middle of the sandwich. I'm just going to give some bread and hopefully we'll walk away. So it just the paragraph before. He is talking about this experience he has of hearing Redeemer of Israel, and it's his favorite hymn. And he's nervous. And that was the best hymn for him.
And he talks about this, uh, This tender mercy that he experienced, saying, I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often the Lord's timing of his tender mercies helps us to be, or helps us to both discern and acknowledge them.
Now, I'm gonna share something that I actually didn't know. Okay, like, I forgot that this is 2005, but that's when I met you. Oh, that's right. At that lunch. Yes, so I was working on a research article for the Women in Seminary and Institute, for the history of Seminary and Institute, and I was trying to contact all the women in Seminary and Institute, and I had arranged this luncheon.
Okay, so that we could get together, at least the ones that were local, there were quite a few of us in the Salt Lake area that could come. Salt Lake, Provo, you know, that, that little place. And, um, you shared something there that was a tender mercy to me. And I think I've talked to you about it, but I don't know that I've shared it, um, like, definitely not shared it in this platform.
But when you were talking, you were just exiting seminary and institute because you were engaged to a widower. And you were telling the story, and you were generous. You shared personal tender. Like the things he's talking about right here like really personal things and I was Riveted I was riveted. I I can go back to where I was sitting the position you were wearing a kind of aqua sweater like I can see everything and and you're sharing this and It's tender cuz you're leaving And I'm like, I so wish I was her, you know, I was ready for my exit at any moment, but like I would have to go another five years and I, I remember just feeling the spirit of what you were saying and that marrying a widower, you mentioned that it was like a bigger thing than you could have ever anticipated.
It wasn't negative, bigger. And and I was like, wow, wow, that's really impressive. I didn't know that five years later, I would have the almost identical experience and tender mercies that would give me the confidence. It was bigger, but it didn't necessarily have to be something that was bad. It was bigger.
Because we don't adopt the things of the world. We cannot accept worldly patterns and understand celestial things. And so, you helped me on that. And I really, really, truly appreciate it. I, I really, I, I'm like here, I was like, No way. We're going to be talking about Tender Mercies on the podcast. Are you kidding me?
I was like, she doesn't know. Maybe she doesn't remember. I didn't even know that. No. And so, I was like, this is, this is not an accident. You know, this is the Lord aligns things in our lives and he [00:45:00] goes on to say this is just what I want to close with When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy We feel when it's simply futile to attempt to explain That which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and the inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord, and made mighty.
Even to the power of deliverance. And I got to be delivered from full time seminary.
Delivered from being single.
Well, really, that's really what I, I love teaching. Don't get me wrong. Um, but, but that was not an easy experience. So.
I'm going to have to write that in my journal. I don't even remember saying that, but it is something bigger.
Boy, bigger than we could have ever imagined, huh?
Yeah, there's been some more sea monsters since that moment, but like
sea monsters putting it mildly when you marry a widower. Let's not kid ourselves. Blended families. That's a monster in and of itself. Oh my gosh. Andrea and Kendra, thank you for sharing those points.
I want to share with you the one that stood out to me and then I have a question for you. And I didn't even consider this a tender mercy. He says, the very conference in which we are participating this weekend is yet another example of the Lord's tender mercies. And I was like, conference. I mean, that is crazy to think of general conference.
So I took the challenge. We had general conference back in October and I actually asked my guests, okay, Tell me, was there a talk that was a tender mercy? I think
every talk was a tender mercy for me. I am, I have really been struggling with some goals that I've been trying to accomplish and getting out of my comfort zone and it's, It's funny because you look at the process of things.
A couple of years ago, I received a prompting that something big was going to happen and I called Andrea. I'm like, I'm going to die. I just got a prompting that something big is going to happen and I'm going to die. I know that's what it is. And Andrea, in her wisdom is like, how do you know it's not something positive?
I said, that doesn't happen to me. That doesn't happen to me. Those things don't happen. I'm sure it's because I'm going to die. Okay. Anyway, in that couple year process, I've done a lot of learning and searching and experimenting. And I'm to a point now where I'm like, okay, I received another prompting about six months ago that I needed to take action on something.
And I have been deflecting for six months because it is hard. I don't know how to do it. I don't know where to begin. Like I have done everything else. And this is why Andrea is my. Friend, because she has given me wisdom for 27 years, however long it's been since we served together. Um, she said, you just need to do it, Kendra, you need to be obedient.
And I'm like, I'm going to pray about it and go to conference. Okay. Every single talk was stop trying to do it on your own. Do what the Lord needs you to do. And I came away from conference feeling courageous. And feeling more confident in my ability, um, to. Every talk, it seemed, was bringing it back to why are you trying to do it on your own?
Why are you trying to do what the think the world wants you to do when really the blessings and the power and the strength comes from what the Lord wants you to do? And for me, that was such a tender mercy of just having the confidence to know it's not going to be perfect. I'm going to deal with messy and I can be messy through the process, but I need to follow the spirit because when I follow the spirit, I will be right.
A hundred percent of the time.
Amen. Oh, I think that's awesome. You will be right 100 percent of the time. Thank you, Kendra. What about you, Andrea? Elder
Bednar, again, for me, he does this a lot for me. And I think it's because of the way he thinks he just helps me to see things better. But he says, um, okay, my thought before conference was this power and money as a sign of God's favor can get become the direct opposite.
That was just the thought that had popped into my mind, and then he says it like so much better. Okay, so, so like the same thought, only with apostolic theory and [00:50:00] better. Here we go. Like, this is just so awesome. Ancient voices from the dust plead with us today to learn this everlasting lesson. Cross.
Verity, possessions and ease constitute a potent mixture that can lead even the righteous to drink the spiritual poison of pride. So so he took my thoughts that was like rattling around in my brain and he gave it a name substance. You know, he gave me, he gave it a name. It gave it something that I was like, that is totally what I needed.
And, you know, he's done it for me before because. In the, this is back in October 2022, because I was like, pondering about the chosen principle, right? There are many called, but few are chosen. And then he says, In this, put on thy strength, O Zion. To be or become chosen is not an exclusive status conferred upon us.
Rather, you and I, ultimately, can choose to be chosen through the righteous exercise of a moral agency. So, tying that all together, it has nothing to do with prosperity the way that the pattern of the world is. It's this. It's using our moral agency to follow the Lord, get on the covenant path and stay there and seek and expect miracles, like all the things, that's what it is.
And he's revealing the proper pattern.
Wow. I'm so glad that you shared that with us because it goes back to the quote that a tender mercy is guidance. And that is exactly what you were given. It sounds like both of you are being given. So that is awesome. Thank you for sharing that. For me in this last general conference, I think Elder Holland is always a tender mercy for me no matter what he says.
But when he said this, it just hit me because I think like this. He says, we stay the course of the true church of Christ. Why? Because as the Redeemer, we signed on for the whole term, not ending with the first short introductory quiz, but through to the final exam. And I thought about these people on the barges who commended themselves to the Lord, and I had this, like, I imagine, like, they didn't cut class.
Like, they were committed and they were there for all of it. And so in the next segment, we're going to go to this analogy of they didn't cut class. They stayed through for the final exam. And I'm going to tell you the math equation that I found in these chapters. We'll do that next.
So everyone grab a piece of paper and I want to see if I'm explaining this correctly. I want to see if you can write what I'm describing. Okay, here we go. You got your piece of paper and a pen ready? Let's pretend we're doing a math equation. I know, I can't believe I just said those words. But here we go.
Let's say we're in math. And I'm going to give you an equation to write out. So, here we go. The sum total of the equation is So that's the sum total, so write tender mercies. Commend would be our first term or number, if you want to call it. Commend comes first, followed by an addition sign. So commend plus something equals tender mercies.
Did it make sense? Let me see your equation. Did I? Let me see if I explained it. Oh, that's good. Yes, that's perfect. Okay. Is that what you got Andrea? Yeah, totally. Oh, okay. This is, I did it right. I'm kind of feeling good about myself. I explained math, right? You guys, let's talk about what is going to be the other number that we're missing.
Let's turn to ether chapter six and we're going to read verses 17 and 30 because these two verses have a common term or number quote unquote, that he could easily add to the word commend that will then equal tender mercies. Okay. So ether chapter six, Kendra, will you please read verse 17 and then Andrea, will you please read verse 30?
Okay.
And they were taught to walk humbly before the Lord, and they were also taught from on high.
And it came to pass that Uriah did walk humbly before the Lord, and did remember how great things the Lord had done for his father, and also taught his people how great things the Lord had done for their
fathers.
Thank you. What were the people taught to do and what did they end up doing? What's the word we could add to commend? Humility. Let's put that in the equation. So commend plus humility equals tender mercies. I was struck by this, that the people were taught, isn't that interesting? to walk humbly before the Lord, and they were also taught from on high.
And then we get into the storyline where they, they want a king. And so the man who agrees to be king is a Raiha. He's anointed to be king over the people, and [00:55:00] he's a good king in verse 30. He did walk humbly before the Lord. He's a good king. We like him, but not all the kings were good. And I just asked you this question, like, what's the deal with humility?
Why is it so hard in your own experience? Why is it so hard?
I'm going to take this one up first, because I've made Kendra go first every, no, I've made Kendra go first every time, which makes me be able to collect my thoughts longer, you know, and that's not very nice. You don't need
thoughts on this, because you're, this is, this is prime for you.
You, you're, you're kind of a stubborn person, I'll be honest.
Okay, well, here's the thing. My ancestry, Swedish, we're known for our firmness, okay? That is, that
is what we do. And, um, Okay, first of all, I love that Andrea didn't get offended. I love you so much, Andrea, that you go, Okay, but here's the thing. Like you, can we all just handle it when people call us out for stuff because I love that you're like, yeah, okay, so here's the thing, I am, I love it, you're right, it is your people, keep talking.
But we all are, so it's okay. Yeah, I have
no problem, I have no problem probably saying things I should keep inside, okay? True. Yeah. That, that, you know, there's, there should be a stronger filter there. I think that what's so interesting and something that really helped me in my spiritual progression was understanding the doctrine of the fall.
And in understanding the doctrine of the fall, we can then start to welcome in the atoning sacrifice of the Savior. Like, He makes it possible for us to stand before Him, but we have to be the ones acknowledging fault. And so the quicker I got at recognizing the need for change, The easier life became.
And so I can say with the prophet, discover the joy of daily repentance and say, yeah, it really is like, and especially if you're working with addictions, one of the things that I was doing for a year was teaching about, you know, emotional mental health and the gospel and was going around from stake to stake in the area and helping people to understand, like when you're dealing with addiction, You're dealing with something else.
You, yes, there's medical things. Yes, there's counseling things, but if you're not involving the savior in this, you're, you're missing the whole point. He's the end of the addiction. He's the end and the beginning of our new life in Christ.
Okay. Well, you, when you just said this about addiction, I thought of these chapters because throughout ether six through 11, it almost seems like the people are addicted to secret combinations and wickedness and not being humble.
I mean, it is a storyline of heartache and I wanted my guy, I asked you guys to read these chapters and just tell me what effect could humility have had on the people. Like, did you ever see a glimmer of hope or off? They had just been humble right here. I'd love to know your thoughts on this.
You know, I, I think it's, Obviously, there's going to be an overall effect of humility, had they had it on the people.
Right? Because the Lord is trying to bless us. He wants to bless us. But I think nobody likes being told what to do. We have our agency. We want to do what we want to do. And I think. Elder Bednar said this beautifully in his last talk, and Andrea quoted from it in our last segment. He says, as we pridefully focus upon ourselves, we also are afflicted with spiritual blindness and miss much, most, or perhaps all that is occurring within and around us.
We cannot look to and focus upon Jesus Christ as the mark if we only see ourselves. But had they not done that, had they been open and receiving to correction, to putting their mark towards Jesus Christ and following Him? That pride, that humility, the pride wouldn't have happened and the humility would have had a greater effect upon the people, but we are too human.
We just get stuck in this. I need it now. I need it now. And I look at my kids. It's like this instant gratification. I want it right now. I want the desire right now. I want the result right now. And humility takes patience. And humility takes openness and understanding. It's not, humility is not an instant gratification.
It comes as we are patient and loving and kind and, and wait on the Lord, right? We don't have time for that sometimes. I don't have time for that. I want it right [01:00:00] now because that's what I want.
Absolutely. Thank you, Kendra. It's fascinating to me that in Ether Chapter 9, one of the results of this pride and the inability to be humble is that is a, there was a major dearth, a major drought in the land.
In either chapter nine, verse 30, it says, it came to pass that there began to be a great dearth upon the land and the inhabitants began to be destroyed exceedingly fast because of the dearth. And there was no rain upon the face of the earth. I mean, people are dying because there's no rain. And isn't that an interesting result of a lack of humility.
Because then you go down on the page in verse 34 that when they all saw that they were starting to perish in verse 34, it says that they, that when the people saw they must perish, they began to repent of their iniquities and cry unto the Lord. So now they're like, okay, let's humble ourselves. You can either choose to be humble or be humbled.
So always choose because being humbled is the worst. But I love verse 35 when it came to pass that when they had humbled themselves sufficiently before the Lord, he did send rain upon the face of the earth and the people began to revive again. And there began to be fruit in the North countries and all the countries around about.
And the Lord did show forth his power unto them in preserving them from famine. And this idea that humility can even bring life. Isn't that crazy that we just think humility affects only us? And it really affects us, but everything around us is affected by a lack of humility. Um, Andrew, what did you think about this idea?
How are they protected? Or sorry, I want to know what you thought about this idea when it comes to humility in these chapters.
Well, we do see him repent sometimes. I mean, at the end of chapter seven, they did repent their iniquities and idolatries. This is in verse 26. The Lord did spare them. So, I mean, they are changing, and something that a little commentary, we've got a little commentary from Moroni, you know how I was joking in the beginning of the show of like, why'd they let that on the ship?
You know, like, heavens, let's edit that for them, but there's no whitewashing life. And, and he says right here in Ether 826, wherefore I Moroni. And commanded to write these things that even may be done away and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved.
We never have to run out of power. We never are. We have an. An inexhaustible power source with the Savior and His atoning sacrifice. Why else would the prophet be like, study this for the rest of your life? Yeah. Because if you do, you never run out. And there are people that if they do remember, in Ether 10, and it says, and it came to pass that Shez, Shez, okay, in verse 2 of Ether 10, did remember the destruction of his father's and he did build up a righteous kingdom.
So sometimes remembering negative isn't negative. If we turn it to the Lord and we go, okay, but I'm not that person anymore. I am this person and God has made me this and I know that you guys can do this. Like, I know that you can. And it is, it is not necessarily a negative to remember the negative. I mean, we have to recognize the wrong.
There is no repentance without that initial step of recognizing that what we have done has offended our Heavenly Father and has taken away the Spirit from us.
I like how you took it up to that notch because sometimes we recognize what we have done has offended a person. But when you get to the point where you realize it's offended our Heavenly Father, nothing else matters.
Like let's, let's, let's write this wrong. Let's fix this. Let's correct this. So thank you to both of you for your comments and thoughts about this idea of humility. So we have this equation commend plus humility equals tender mercies. And as I was thinking about this, I wrote, like it just seems pretty easy, but not everybody gets it.
Not everybody can do the math. So in the next segment, we'll We're going to find out what happens when we rewrite the equation, or as my daughters like to tell me, Mom, the math is not mathin And they couldn't have been more right. I'll share with you math not mathin in the next segment.
Now I want to know, have you guys ever had a tutor, or have your kids ever needed a tutor? Oh yeah, yeah. What did you need a tutor for, for your kids? No, I
did.
What
did you need a tutor for? Okay, so I am [01:05:00] pretty sure that I have some kind of learning disability that was never tested. Okay, because learning to read was almost impossible for me.
So it was terrible. And my dad, loved me, but his patience and love weren't equal. Okay. And so he, he found somebody that had that equal patience love thing. And got a lady in my ward, um, to teach me how to read because he was, He was just, I can't get this girl, but I had the kinesthetic learning on top of some kind of disability, never had it tested.
You know, when I graduated with my master's, my sister's like, you know, you probably should get that tested. You probably should find out. And I'm like, I have a master's degree. I don't need to prove anything anymore. Done. Yeah. Yeah. God said he'd make me smarter and he did.
That is fantastic. Oh, I love her.
Like they didn't test for it back then. You're right. They didn't test for a lot back in our day. Oh, that is so funny. Okay. What about you, Kendra? Did you ever need one? I never needed
one. And my kids have probably needed one, but they've refused the help. So I have never had to get a tutor of any sort because, you I'm like, I even asked my daughter actually a week ago, she's like, math is really hard.
I'm like, yeah, I can't help you there. That's not happening. And I said, do you need a tutor? No, I'm fine. I'll figure it out. Okay. So yeah, they like doing things on their own and just figuring it out, even if it's the hard way. And, okay, I guess that's how they like to learn. I don't know.
Kendra, that's perfect because as I'm thinking about this idea and the story in Ether, these people refuse to tutor.
Let's go to Ether chapter 7 and we're going to read verse 20 and then verse 23. Here we go. Ether chapter 7 verse 20. Here's kind of the theme for the rest of the book of Ether from here on out until we finish the book of Ether. The theme is in Ether chapter 7 verse 20. And Kendra, will you read that
for us?
And the country was divided and there were two kingdoms, the kingdom of Shul and the kingdom of Qohor, the son of Noah.
Okay. So we've got this division of kingdoms and that's how it's going to play out until the very last chapter when you get that awesome war and some guys get heads chopped off and that's all I'm going to say.
But you're not going to want to miss that episode. It's going to be so fun anyway. That's the setup. But let's go to Ether chapter seven, verse 23, because the Lord gives these people a tutor. Here we go. Andrea, will you please read verse 23?
Sure. And also in the reign of Shul, there came prophets among the people who were sent from the Lord prophesying that the wickedness and idolatry of the people was bringing a curse upon the land, and they should be destroyed if they did not repent.
You know what? Read verse 24 to us too, because this is Kendra's kids. Not really Kendra, but you know, the idea.
Oh, it is. It can be 100%. Yeah. Yeah.
And it came to pass that the people did revile against the prophets and did mock them. And it came to pass that that King Shul did execute judgments against all those who did revile against the prophets.
Okay, turn with me now to Ether chapter 9. We're going to read it again in verse 28 and 29. And Kendra, will you read those for us?
And there came prophets in the land again, crying repentance unto them, that they must prepare the way of the Lord, or there should come a curse upon the face of the land. Yea, even there should be a great famine, in which they should be destroyed if they did not repent.
But the people believed not the words of the prophets, but they cast them out. And some of them they cast into pits and left them to perish. And it came to pass that they did all these things according to the commandment of the king. Ha.
Thank you. All right. Now, going back to President Holland's talk in the October general conference, and I read the beginning of it about staying the course and to not give up with the first introductory quiz.
And then he said this, the joy in this. Is that the headmaster gave us all open book answers before the course began. Furthermore, we have a host of tutors who remind us these answers at regular stops along the way By, of course, none of this works if we keep cutting class. I just love that he said We have a host of tutors reminding us these answers at regular stops along the way.
Our prophets and apostles are the tutors. So how fun was this? I want us to just have a fun discussion. Why is a prophet the best tutor ever?
First of all, he's one hundred hundred years old. I mean, what was it? I remember hearing John, by the way, said, I don't know if it was John, by the way, but he says, wise people learn from experience.
Super wise people learn [01:10:00] from others experiences. If you want to be super wise, you learn from people like President Nelson, who have a century of experience under their belt to give you the guidance and the direction.
And I think President Nelson would, would agree with this. We can ask him, but I think he would agree in saying it isn't his wisdom that we're following.
Thank you When you have the mantle of the prophet, you have some guarantees. There are some spiritual guarantees. In the scriptures, it's been said that the prophet can't lead us astray. Like it is not in the program of the Lord. Wilfrid Woodruff said that in the, what do you call that explanatory thing of the, the Doctrine and covenants.
It's like right in there
in the
beginning. And, and if you look at that and, and say, okay, it's not in the program of the Lord for the prophet to lead us astray. He has to be the mouthpiece. Amos 3 7. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealed his secrets unto the servants, his servants, the prophets.
That is so important. important to understand. It's not just some wise old man that's up there.
Yeah.
Okay. And he said, he's not as old as Adam. Okay. I remember that. Remember that when he was talking and he's like, yeah, I'm not as old as Adam. Back then they lived a long time. And as long as we're walking in the right direction, doesn't matter the speed.
I still remember. I loved Elder Werthelin. Okay. Elder Werthelin, his nickname was Swifty. And when you saw him at the end of his life, he could barely get up there, and you saw President Nelson hold him up at one point,
while
he's giving that talk. And if you want to To see humility, you go to that talk and you watch that because he just thinks at the end, here he is this strong man reduced to the aged body, and he just can't not give his all.
Talk, you know, like I've got to do this and that is just awesome to me. He's more than a hundred year old man. That's super smart and can do all of these things. He is a prophet and not just for us, but the whole world.
Now people will say, well, he's, but because he's so old, he's not with it. And we just need to start making changes in the church because they're old and they think old.
I've, I found this quote and it just blew my mind. It's from the improvement era.
It should be remembered that Lucifer has a very cunning way of convincing unsuspecting souls that the general authorities of the church are as likely to be wrong as they are to be right. This sort of game is Satan's favorite pastime, and he has practiced it on believing souls since Adam. He wins a great victory when he can get members of the church to speak against their leaders and to do their own thinking.
He specializes in suggesting that our leaders are in error while he plays the blinding rays of apostasy in the eyes of those whom he thus beguiles. What? Cunning. And to think that some of our members are deceived by this trickery,
I think it's interesting. Satan's favorite pastime is getting us to believe that about them, that they are and that we should just not worry.
And like, I'm blown away by that. Okay. I'm so excited. Then let's continue this discussion because in the next segment, we're going to talk a little bit more about this idea of profits. And I just want to like talk about how he is the best tutor ever and how a prophet has been the best tutor ever in your own life.
Life. And we'll do that next.
I'm going to just share a couple of verses that are the positive effects that people experienced when they were willing to take the help of a tutor or listen to the tutor. So let's go to ether. Chapter seven. Can we go back a little bit and we're going to look at versus 25 through 27. We already know in verse 24 that they reviled against the prophets.
They even mocked them. We read that verse. And so here we go. 25 through 27. Kendra, can you read that for us?
Yeah, and he had to execute a law throughout all the land which gave power unto the prophets that they should go whithersoever they would. And by this cause the people were brought unto repentance.
And because the people did repent of their iniquities and idolatries, the Lord did spare them, and they began to prosper again in the land. And it came to pass that Shul begat sons and daughters in his old age, and there were no more wars in the days of Shul. And he remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them across the great deep into the promised land.
Wherefore, he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days.
There's that word remembered, but I love how they prospered. There were no more wars in the [01:15:00] land because people were willing to listen to their tutor. Let's go to another one. Cross reference. Ether chapter 10. 19 through 28. We're not going to read them all, but let's just go there.
Ether chapter 10 verses 19 through 28 bracket those off. And let's just look at verse 28 because they were willing to listen to their tutor, Andrea, we read verse 28 and
never could be a people more blessed than they and more prospered by the hand of the Lord. And they were in a land that was choice above all lands for the Lord had spoken it.
Thank you. Blessed, prospered, choice land. And so I just want to know from the two of you, when we talk about this idea, If you haven't had a tutor or needed a tutor, I love Elder Holland's words. We need this tutor in our lives today. And have you had a great, I just want to know, do either of you have a story where you have been blessed because you were willing to listen to the tutor, our prophet?
So when I was thinking about this, I, Again, I'm a pretty obedient person, so it hasn't been hard to follow the prophet, but I will say that during COVID, it was extremely hard. I really had a hard time because I, my belief of the vaccine was contrary to what I was being told to do. And it took a lot of inflection and like internal thinking of like, what am I going to do?
And. And yes, it was being recommended. Yes, it was like to get the vaccine. And I'm like, yeah, I, I don't, I don't want it. I don't, I'm not, I'm not sure about it. And then the statement came out from the first presidency that they urged us to do whatever we could in getting the vaccine. And I thought I had to ask myself, do I believe that President Nelson is a prophet of God?
And if I believe that President Nelson is a prophet of God, then I need to get the vaccine because he is urging me to do so. And I did. I went and got the vaccine. And I did it out of obedience because I thought, Whatever happens, I can have peace knowing that I followed the prophet. The prophet wasn't saying you have to do that.
Then the prophet will never tell us we have to do anything. Everything that the prophet gives us is an invitation and we are able to use our agency. But that was the, probably the hardest time I have ever had in really following the prophet. And it didn't, it didn't make a huge difference for me other than that.
I had peace knowing I was following what the prophet asked me to do. When he said urge, it was like, this is more than a recommendation at this point. If someone is urging me to do something and that someone that's urging me is a prophet of God, I need to put aside my questions. I need to put aside my doubts and I just need to act because no matter what happens, I will be okay.
And I will have the peace knowing that I, that I followed through and, and for me, and I know that's, you know, I hesitated in bringing that example up because I know that's a touchy subject and can still be, but that was my experience and I, it was a really testimonial builder for me.
Andra, thank you. I appreciate the you couch that by saying that was your experience because I think everybody has their own experience when it comes to following the prophet.
Everyone. Some things are so easy for some of us to do in some things aren't, and that's okay. Because the whole goal is like, and I just think it goes back to this idea, what kind of, some people are really good at math, so you don't need a math tutor. I need a math tutor, but I don't need an English tutor.
So whatever kind of tutor you need, I, I just think the Lord caters the teachings to where you need to be strengthened in. Um, so I, I, I appreciate you sharing your story. What about you, Andrea?
Well, I think it's so important that, you know, we do have agency, we do have moral agency, and there are different caveats, but we have to be careful of always wanting to be the exception.
Sometimes there's a legitimate exception. Yeah. And, but I feel like we want to be in that exception category all the time. You know, it's, it's a natural man and woman tendency to want to always feel like we're a little bit above the rules. And when President Nelson started coming in as the prophet, and he starts just, he starts hammering out these invitations, and I collected them, and I, and I can trace back [01:20:00] in my thinking.
When I was super overwhelmed and thinking I was an exception. I was thinking, you know what? I'm working full time. I've got a kid in crisis. I've got this. I've got that. What? One more thing might just break this little camel's back. Okay. Like I, I don't know that I can do this. And, um, he like asked us to read the book Mormon before the end of the year and highlight every time we saw the name of the Lord.
And we, and I was like, yeah, kidding me. Okay. Like I've read this 50, 000 times and this is what you're going to tell me to do. And I, and I took it on because I was like, I am not the exception in this. And I have got to figure out a way to get the time to do this. And it really started me on a path of a different life.
And I had prayed, and I've said this on our podcast before, I had prayed and I was like, Heavenly Father, I don't know what else to cut out of my life. Just send the experiences I need to squeeze out the rest. And He's been squeezing ever since. That is a very effective prayer. So if you don't know what to do, the Lord does, and He will help you.
And I can look at everything that I've tried to follow. And we have a very simple, very simple. Um, premise to our podcast, we're just following the prophet on it. We're just talking about him. We're just talking about his invitations. We try and give doctrinal support, other support that we have found helpful, but we are only talking about him.
And so I, I can look back and just go, thank you for these, for not being afraid to overwhelm.
Thank you. I love that you brought up that experience reading the Book of Mormon. I had completely forgotten about that challenge because we only had three months to do it, right? Wasn't it late? It was super fast.
And I can remember, I'm like, kids, we're doing this. And I remember the last day that we had, it was, it really was New Year's Eve and I gathered everybody. And for that last week, Listen, we may or may not have been listening to the Book of Mormon at double speed for seven days that week, but boy, we finished.
And as soon as we got double speed, we're in Moroni chapter 10 and I'm like, we are finishing this. But I love that because I'm, and I think it just goes back to this idea because I want my kids to know we need a tutor. We all need this tutor, and I'm going to use this imagery with my children as I talk about the prophet because he is the best tutor in the world.
He has all the answers. He can see around corners. He knows the tricks. And throughout this whole story, when they follow the tutor, when they do what the tutor asks, never there could there be a happier or more blessed people than they. They prospered by the hand of the Lord. I can't think of any better reason to follow a prophet than that one.
So thank you for sharing your stories and your examples. And thanks for being here today. That's the end of our episode. We're done. Oh, so good. Okay. So just gather your thoughts and tell me, what is your takeaway from today's discussion? What will you remember or what stays with you?
You know, I think the thing that's staying with me is just the peace and the appreciation that I have in.
Learning from these wonderful stories in the Book of Mormon. Initially, when I first read this, I'm like, again, you've got to be kidding me. How, when am I going to learn from this? But as we've had these discussions and as I've been listening to the, your perspectives, the peace and the testimony in my heart of this is true.
And we can learn from everything that's in the Book of Mormon, that everything is applicable. And we need to figure out how we can apply it to our daily life, so that we can be better, and we can become the person that our Heavenly Father wants us to become.
Thank you, Kendra. Thank you.
It's hard to sum up in one sentence.
Statement everything that I think this podcast has the possibility of giving, but I feel like each one of us can have that special message from the Holy Ghost for us personally, and our own tender mercy, but I feel that. No matter the hardship, no matter the struggle, it's not worth leaving the covenant path for.
Because the tender mercies are on that path, and the tender mercies are to get us back to that path. So, just hang in there. It's gonna be okay. And we are the dispensation that's gonna make it.
I like that. It is going to be okay. Thank you for saying those comforting words, Andrea. My tender mercy. I wrote so many things down on my paper.
I loved Andrea when you were talking about, you know, the, the, the Sabbath and taking the sacrament and talk and talking about the fall every Sunday. But when you said there really is meaning to that song, I need the every hour. When you said that at that moment, I was like, Oh, that's right. [01:25:00] Like I'd sung that song so many times, but I'd never considered it in that context before.
And that, that really hit. So, I loved that. And then, Andrea, I loved when you said, they know their why because it's embedded in their soul. Yeah, that was cool. Those words were powerful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Great discussion today, ladies. Wow. It was good. Thanks for coming so well prepared. I really appreciate that.
I knew you would. You're teachers. Give me a break. Thank you so much. Thank you for joining me. That was fun. It was fun. All right. Well, what was your takeaway? I want you to go join us on Instagram or on Facebook so that you can share what you have learned. You can ask questions. It is such a fun community.
And then at the end of the week on a Saturday, we usually post a question that has to do with this episode. And so I want you to comment on the post that relates to this specific lesson and share your thoughts. In fact, the question I'm probably going to ask is which conference talk was a tender mercy for you.
I would love to know that you can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at LDS living dot com slash Sunday on Monday and go there anyway. It's where we have links to all the references and a transcript of this whole discussion. So go check it out. The Sunday on Monday Study Group is a Deseret Bookshelf Plus original brought to you by LDS Living.
It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall, and today our incredible study group participants were Andrea Erickson Lindsey and Kendra Mack George. And you can find more information about my friends at ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday. Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited 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 the divine headmaster who is giving us the greatest tutors of all, he loves you and you are his favorite.