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] A few weeks ago, I was in a Sunday school class and the teacher began by asking all of us to take notes. Now, listen, I may or may not have rolled my eyes. Here's something fun to know about me. I'm not really a note taker. Like I like to hear something and jot it down if it strikes me, but I'm not like a journal in hand with my scriptures and a pen in every meeting I go to.

So I was a little bit surly. I'm fully admitting that. Because then the teacher said this, I want you to be aware of thoughts that come to your mind Because any thought that is for good is the Holy Ghost. So like I said, take note. And I was like, oh wait He said that singular. Oh, and then I thought okay.

Now that's something I can get behind In fact, Doctrine and Covenants section 11 verse 12 teaches this exact point that anything good comes from the spirit. So for today's discussion, I invite you to take note and I've actually asked my guests to do this as they have studied Doctrine and Covenants sections 10 and 11, which are sections that were actually given to someone else, but they are here for us.

I am so excited to find out what note or notes my guests will share. 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, please follow the link in our description, and it's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance. Your come follow me study, just like our long time listener, Lyra Hossford from San Antonio, Texas. Hi Lyra. And by the way, she's a Leah Smith Boyd sister.

So shout out to Aaliyah who we've had before. Now, another awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined by two of my friends. So sometimes it's a little bit different and today is different and kind of the same because we have my very dearest friend, Holly Howarth. Hello, Holly. Hello.

Thanks for being here. Oh, glad to be here. I know Holly never seeks this out. And so when I ask her to be on it, she's like, Oh, but she always does such a good job. Every time, but Holly, the reason I asked Holly to be on this specific episode with me is because the guests that is with us about a year ago, Holly sent me a piece of artwork by her and said, you are going to love her story.

And I read it and I started following her and Holly and I are huge fans of this woman. Her name is Genity page. Hi, Genity. Hello. Thank you for having me. Oh, now listen, everyone's so excited to be here. Whatever you're doing, just stop right now and go to Instagram and just type in what's your, is it Genity page?

Yeah. Just J E N E D Y P A I G E. You will love her artwork and you actually have probably seen it in temples because her art is in the temples. It is, I just love it. My favorite piece you've ever done is the sparrow. And it has held significant value to me this year, the story of the sparrow. So I love, love, love it.

But Jennedy, thanks for being with us. Oh, thank you for having me. I'm I literally love the scripture so much. So anytime I get a chance to be on a, come follow me podcast. I'm like, let's go. I'm in a Jenny, tell our listeners a little bit more about you besides the fact that you're an artist. What else do you want them to know?

I'm a mom and I also do a crazy sport called American Ninja Warrior. So, um, I've been on, I've competed on five seasons of American Ninja Warrior. Um, if you don't know that, look that up too, because it's unbelievable. Yes. Talk later today on how that actually came to be, but we'll see. And so I also coach at a ninja gym.

Um, I coach kids. I coach teens. I coach. Moms just, just started mom class. And I think one of the things I love so much about this sport is it constantly expands what I think is possible for myself and for others. So, yeah. So between having my own studio and running an art business and doing ninja and being a mommy, that keeps me pretty busy.

Very busy. Holy moly. She's amazing. Yes. I just was able to meet her. I'm so excited. It's a huge honor and privilege, but I, like Tam said, followed her and I'm inspired by the things you say, um, about your paintings and the research and about your life. It's just phenomenal. You're, you're a gift to me and.

hundreds and thousands of other people, I'm sure. So thank you, Genedy. It's A pleasure. I will aim in what Holly said. I completely agree. It is true. So this is gonna be fun and it's only two chapters. So I know. And, but there's so much in them. Oh, they're so filled. Oh, [00:05:00] okay. So if you want to know more about my guests and you want to read their bios and see their pictures, you can find those in our show notes, which are at ldsliving.

com slash Sunday on Monday. So grab your scriptures and something to mark your scriptures with. We're going to mark them up today and let's dig into doctrine and covenants sections 10 and 11. Okay. My first question to all my guests is, as you guys were reading these two sections, what did the Holy ghost teach you or remind you of as you were studying them?

Well, interestingly enough, I, uh, read it over as soon as Tam told me what it was on. I read it and reread it. You know, you read it several times over. But then, um, I decided I was going to listen to it just on the app. And you know, first comes that woman's voice and it's very, you know, whatever. I'm like, Oh, and then the man's voice starts and it just hit me for the first time that it was the savior talking, I guess, cause it was his voice that was so profound to me.

It hit me really strongly. You know, this wasn't written 2000 years ago, 3000 years ago. It, it was. You know, 200 years ago and that Christ was talking and I just, when I listened to it, it was as if the Savior was talking directly to me. So it was really powerful to me this time. So I kind of recommend that because it was really powerful.

But what stuck out to me is in verse two, when he says, you have lost your gift at the same time and your mind became darkened. So I started thinking, did God take that gift away from him or did Joseph do it to himself because of how he felt? And I asked my husband about that and he said, well, I know that I take myself out of a lot of things because I get dark and my mind becomes darkened.

And it's not that God is punishing me or doing it to me that I have stepped away because I feel guilty or I feel bad or I feel like I'm not good enough. So I've thought a lot about that. Am I sabotaging myself perhaps by different things that are going on in my life because my mind has become darkened.

So that was my first thought. And then in verse five, pray always that you may come off conqueror. Yea, that you may conquer Satan and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work. And it, and it applies to all of us all the time. And Tam knows this, but this is my year of praying that I'm researching prayer.

Because I have an odd relationship with prayer, so I'm trying to figure out prayer and I, and I'm reading conference talks back from 1973 on prayer. I'm reading every conference talk that was written about prayer and some really, really interesting things. But right there, to me, pray always that you may come off conqueror, and I love that so.

That, that's going to be bold in my research on prayer because I want to come off as a conqueror. Mm hmm. And one of the things that I researched, um, it was just in the Bible dictionary under prayer says that when you pray, it allows God to give you, um, things he already wanted to give you, but you needed to ask.

So that kind of answers my question, parts of my question that we just needed to ask. And so that's why prayer is so important. So those were my first few things. I mean, there's so much, well, I love Holly. I love so much how you interpreted verse two, I'd never consider them as different things when he says you also lost your, lost your gift.

and your mind became darkened. But then in verse three, it says, nevertheless, it is now restored unto you again, meaning the gift was restored. But then I love this idea that verses three, four, and five are the antidote for having his mind become light. Like, you're right. I think sometimes we do darken ourselves or we pull ourselves, we remove ourselves thing.

I'm not good enough. I can't do it. Um, I think that's awesome. I am so appreciative of how the Holy Ghost taught you that verse. That's cool. And it says to say, stay faithful. Yeah. Right. Everything in there. Stay faithful [00:10:00] and keep the commandments. Everything's about staying faithful. And interestingly enough.

And I know some of your listeners, if they've been listening a long time, but before my boys go on missions, I always make them give me a blessing before they go. And um, so my youngest, Oh, here we go. My youngest just left in, um, October, right? Yeah. He left home in October. The day before we were getting ready to go to the MTC, I said, okay, boo, here it is.

And he's like, no, no, no. He's so nervous. They're so nervous. And I said, yes, you, you have to give me a blessing now. What a great way to start off. And he was so nervous. None of my other boys were as nervous as he was. And um, that is what he told me in his blessing to stay faithful, to continue doing what I'm doing.

And so if that tells you a little bit about me and I'm sure we'll get into it, um, but I just need to stay faithful and keep the commandments. Which is what I got from chapter, uh, 11 chapter 11, it says four times in 30 verses, keep my commandments. That's so cool. Holly, if I can, I think it, I think it was really interesting how you pointed out in verse 2 that his mind became darkened because, uh, a theme that I really saw in chapter 10 is that Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

Uh, I've, I've got one, two, three, four references, um, from D& C 10, they, like D& C 10 58, I am the light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not. And so that's interesting because you were asking this question, you know, like was he punished and then he was darkened or did he remove himself and that's why he was darkened and was it his own choices and I, I think 100 percent that like God and his son are always there, like his hands are stretched out still and his light goeth forth from his presence and it fills the immensity of space, right?

Like the light always shine, but it's us. That turn either towards it or from it. And, um, and I like how he says that like the darkness doesn't comprehend it. And, and, and another huge theme of this whole chapter is like. God's works cannot be frustrated by Satan. Like it's kind of comical because he reminds me of like Wile E.

Coyote a little bit. Like he always thinks he's going to get the road runner, but like he never does. Right. And, and it's funny because I think, I mean, Satan must think that he's actually going to do this. Yeah. Like, so you're saying there's a chance, but it's because the darkness does not comprehend the light.

It cannot comprehend the light. And, um, and I love that this whole idea too in chapter 10 of God bringing more light to the world. And he's doing it through Joseph Smith, um, through the book of Mormon and, um, DNC 1061, I will bring to light their marvelous works, which they did in my name. 62, I will bring to light my gospel, which was ministered unto them.

And then he even closes out the whole chapter. Verse 70, And now remember the words of him who is the life and the light of the world, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Amen. And um, I just love knowing that like, as we partner with Jesus Christ, this kind of ties into what you're saying, like we can conquer Satan.

That as we partner with the light, the darkness is not going to comprehend that, but that's okay. And we can have power through him to be light bearers in the world. And um, as, as I read, you know, pray always you may come off conquered. This was my favorite seminary scripture in ninth grade. The Doctrine and Covenants was my very first seminary experience and I remember reading that and being like what?

You can conquer Satan like isn't that like the goal like isn't that the end game is that we can conquer him and It also reminds me my babe. My very favorite verse is Helaman 512 And now my sons, remember, remember that is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation, that when the devil, that when the devil shall send forth his mighty wind to eat his shafts in the world, when yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you.

It shall have what no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless woe because of the rock upon which you are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation where [00:15:00] on if men build, they cannot fall. And I think that is like such a powerful idea. And even like in, in my temple experience, I feel like God expounds upon this and offers us.

As we make covenants with him, he offers us more and more power so that we can come off conqueror. Oh my gosh. You too. That was, I felt the spirit as you were talking about those things, because I went back to Joseph Smith and this was a dark time for him. It was. Dark because of what happened. And I, I so appreciate the way you framed this and the way you thought about this and how the spirit taught you.

And I love the connection to light. This is so great. Thank you both of you for coming. So prepared to answer that question because these sections, as we know, doctrine and covenants, every section is specifically for people. But I felt like section 10 was dealing with Joseph Smith's own personal issue that he was having, where it was just instruction, like the Lord saying, okay, Joseph, now here's what we were going to do.

And it had me wondering like, but what does it have to do with us? I didn't lose 116 pages. I didn't ask three times and let some men like this wasn't my problem. And I think it's, and I've said this before that if I was Joseph and I'm, and I'm not, but as the human being in me, there's a couple of sections I probably would have left out.

Like, we really don't need section 10 in there, and I don't know, we need to go through three. Can we, let's just, you know, skip those and put in some other ones about other people. And I love that Joseph left these in. But that, like, I am grateful that Joseph was not perfect. Because when I read this, and I read like, he's like, shoot.

Like, dude, I royally, I royally messed up. But, but how beautiful, like the omniscience of God, like the foresight of God, that he knew this was going to happen and he prepared a way. And if this isn't like the theme of the plan of salvation, I don't know what, he knew we are going to come here. We're going to mess up, but he has prepared a savior for us.

And that is. So, I mean, that is, that is amazing grace, right? But one thing I talk about, in fact, I was just, I had a student here at the studio early this morning and I was talking to her about this because sometimes in art, people get afraid to make a mark because they're afraid it's going to be wrong.

It's going to be in the wrong place or it's going to like mess up what they already did. And one thing that I tell students, as I say. You are going to mess up. It's going to happen, but it's okay because you literally will learn through your errors. Like you, you put down the wrong color. I do this all the time because really painting is a whole bunch of hypothesis.

Like you have a reference, right? And you're like, okay, I need to get this color value. And then you have a palette and you're mixing it. And you're like, I think this is the best I could do. I think this is it. You put it on your panel and then you go, that wasn't it. That was wrong color. Well, that's okay.

Cause you, by your mistake, you say, okay, well it was the wrong color, but what does it need to be? Does it need to be lighter? Does it need to be darker, bluer, redder, yellow? And you, and so from that error, you literally then go back to the drawing board, you remix, and that error guides you in finding the correct color, right?

Yeah. And, and I grew up with a little bit of perfectionist tendencies. And so I'm so thankful that God put me in this art field because it has taught me so much about errors and how they, we literally have to mess up in order to learn, to grow, to move forward. And we don't have to be. So hard on ourselves all the time.

Like I'm a terrible person. Like my, I'll have students say, I'm such a bad artist. I'm like, no, you're a learning artist. You're learning right now. And that's okay. This is how we learn. And so. Anyways, I, I know Joseph gets a lot of flack because this wasn't the only error that he made, you know, like he was human, but how beautiful is it that not only did he plan for a savior for us that we can repent, but even we can't royally mess it up because God's in charge.

Well, and how interesting I go back to Sister Kristen Yee's talk, where she talked about the piece of art that she had messed up on. Yeah. And when she showed the picture, I was like, where's the mistake? I couldn't even see it at all. It looked so perfect to me that here's the quote from Sister Yee about her piece of art.

Genedy, read that for us. Sure. Just as the depth of my gratitude for the Savior grew as He mercifully helped me to repair the unrepairable pain, so has my personal love and gratitude for my Savior intensified as I've sought to work with Him on my weaknesses and to be forgiven of my mistakes. [00:20:00] I will forever be grateful to my Savior that I can change and be cleansed.

He has my heart and I hope to do whatever he would have me do and become, boy, I feel like we could just add that at the end of doctrine and covenant section 10. Wow. It sounds like something Joseph would say in light of the scenario that we're in. So that is awesome. Thank you. Thank you. So let's just do this.

Let's apply everything we've just talked about now covenants section 10. Because like I said, It was given for Joseph who lost 116 pages. I didn't lose any pages. So what does this chapter have to do for me? So I asked my guests to come prepared to tell me what note or what notes did they take? We'll do that next.

Segment 2

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So we are in doctrine and covenants section 10. And I asked Holly and Genity to tell me what in the world could we possibly learn from this chapter in 2025. And especially when it's not specifically for us, what did you guys come up with? So I guess something that I just. Really thought about was the reality of the opposition that we, we go about our lives and our work every day.

And there is such a thing as opposition. In fact, I actually just did a painting called pull up. It's of a woman doing a pull up and, and God asked me to paint it. And at first I was like, why are we paying this? Um, and then he told me, Genity, I sent my kids to a world acted on by gravity, and a downward physical force is acting on my kids at all times.

And that is just a symbol of the unseen. Spiritual downward forces acting on my kids at all times. And Genity, I need you to pull up. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I never saw so much in a pull up, but also so inspiring. And he, and he said, Genity, what happens when you resist the downward pull? You get stronger.

And when you get stronger, you can help lift other people. And I was just like, Oh, that's so cool. But like this. You know, in, in weight training, you do not get stronger unless there is resistance. Right? And in God's plan, there is lots of built in resistance. Um, but if we, if we pull up, despite all that downward force, we get strong and we become the people God wants us to be.

Another little side note that came to mind as I was thinking about this theme was when I was, um, a senior in high school, we moved from Utah to Johnstown, Colorado. It's a very small town at the time. We had one stoplight and dirt roads. And when I went to sign up for classes, I couldn't even take AP or honors anything because they just didn't offer it.

Another thing was that the school had a lot of immigrant kids because it was a very agricultural community. And so learning English was still very much a part of the curriculum. And so at the end of every school day, we had required reading time. And having come from a giant school in Utah, and then I'm in this tiny school in a rural community in Colorado, I was like, what, we have a reading time as a senior in high school?

Okay, cool. I'd be like, can I just leave early? Almost everybody wished they could, but the teachers wouldn't let you. So I was the early morning seminary student because I'm no longer in Utah. And so I had my scriptures with me. And so I would just pull out my scriptures to read. Well, I'm in an art class.

And instead of like individual desks, it's like a table and they face each other. And these other girls at my table started to notice that I had my scriptures. And they would start to bring their Bibles. And then in their, uh, Protestant church that they went to, they had been taught a lot of false things about our particular faith.

And so they would start to pull up all these questions for me and try to kind of like contend with me a little bit with the scriptures. Just take some deep breaths. Um, one day this girl looked at me and she said, Genedy, if there really was like, you know, a one true church, um, why would there be so much bad said about yours?

I mean, she's like, I feel like, you know, I, I don't hear anything really bad about, you know, Buddhism or, or, or these other religions, but for some reason, your church is so targeted. And if it was the one true church, wouldn't God want to do everything he could to protect it? And then in that moment, just this flash idea came to my mind and I looked at her and I said, if there was one true church on earth, wouldn't Satan do everything within his power to stop it?

And [00:25:00] she just looked at me and she was like, Oh my gosh, I, I never thought of it that way. That, and you know what? She never. Um, but that, but it's true, like, yeah, I had a friend joined the church over that. We said that exact same thing to her and it made sense to her. Yes. Because she was constantly searching for church and she had joined other churches, but she couldn't understand why there was so much negativity surrounding ours.

And interestingly enough, our group of friends, I grew up in California, our group of friends had no problem with me being trans. It was never an issue. But when she wanted to join, all of a sudden it was a big issue. And even my friends talked negatively about it. Really hurt me. You know? I don't get my feelings hurt very easy, but I, I didn't understand why it was good enough for me.

Maybe cause that's all they ever knew me as, but they just couldn't let Missy. Join, which she did, but, but that was why, well, we just have to do this in doctrine and covenant section 10 bracket off versus 20 through 28. And I did this in my scriptures, Jenny, as you were talking 20 through 28, we're going to label those the reality of Satan.

These are his tactics. And if you look through all of them, it says Satan has a great hold on their hearts. He stirreth them up to iniquity against that which is good. There you are. Both of you. First 20 is your story. And then he goes through all of these things. The reality of Satan. He stirreth their hearts to anger against this work.

That's verse 24 verse 26. He flattereth them and lead them along until he dragged their souls down to hell. So I just wrote the reality of Satan. But then next to that, I just put. In quotation marks, Genity, I need you to pull up. I will never forget that because that is exactly the message is that Jesus Christ is warning Joseph Smith about the reality of Satan and what he will do.

What a great message. And by the way, you guys in the world, you're in pull up by so cool. I love that. Well, and it's so beautiful because as you're learning pull ups. There's all these ways that you can assist yourself, right? Like, a lot of people are like, Oh, I can't do a pull up and it seems so impossible because I just hang here from the bar and I energetically think about lifting my body, but I cannot, right?

And what's so beautiful is that in our spiritual pulling up, we have Jesus Christ who has really strong hands and he's, he's there to assist us as we're growing in our strength. Oh, I think that's great. Cause pull ups are hard. I'm going to need a lot of assistance. Yeah. I can just picture Christ under my legs.

I'm like, I can't all that. I love the visual of that. That is such a cool thing. And you know what? I couldn't do a pull up like seven years ago. Wow. I didn't, I didn't grow up like an athlete. I actually started this whole ninja thing, like in my mid thirties. And I actually just started like a pull up challenge on, on Instagram this week, uh, for the next nine months, because.

It's, it's so amazing because it's the small and simple things like if you just diligently hang for a little bit every day, like eventually you grow to be able to do the impossible, which is a pull up, right? Wow. I love that. It reminds me of DNC 10 4. Where he says, do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate, but be diligent unto the end.

And that's the, the truth. That's how you pull up, isn't it? God doesn't expect us to like, kill ourselves off. It's to be diligent. Yeah. And I think about how, um, Elder Bednar, he's talked a lot about this in a relationship to the tree of life. Um, he says that. He talks about those that were like clinging to the rod, but he doesn't want us to be clinging, but continually holding fast.

He says, the key phrase in this verse is continually holding fast the rod of iron. Perhaps this third group of people consistently read and studied and searched the words of Christ. This is the group you and I should strive to join versus like, you know, I'm going to have like a scripture marathon this weekend and then we're not going to read the scriptures again for two weeks, but then we'll cut, you know, he's like just a little bit every day.

That's, that's how you, that's how you succeed. Love it. Holly, what do you got? Oh, well, many years ago, about 25 or so, a good friend, maybe named Tim, taught me [00:30:00] what, um, Satan is like. And I think of it all the time. She said, Satan is like your annoying little brother or sister or older sibling in my case would have been where you're on a road trip, you're in a car, you're by a gas station.

And they put their finger right next to your head or right on your arm or right on your leg. And you say, don't touch me. I'm not touching you. Don't touch me. I'm not touching you. Mom. Scott's touching me. No, I'm not. I'm not touching her. Yeah, they're just super duper close They're just super duper close and you said he knows he is also our brother He knows exactly all of our weaknesses.

He knows exactly how to get us down and He tempts all of us so differently but in our own perfect way, he's there. I'm not touching you. I'm not touching you So, for me, always starts whenever I go through something really hard or something really bad happens, my first reaction always is, Oh, why do I do this?

None of my other friends are any happier than me. Tam knows that. She always just rolls her eyes and laughs. Like, I'm like, none of my friends who remember who aren't members, they're They're, I'm not any happier than them. I might even be more stressed out than they are because I have all these things to worry about.

So I start going down that rabbit hole. Oh, sure. And then, you know, he doesn't tempt me to rob a bank or buy a six pack of beer. You know what I mean? That's not my temptation. It might be others. He tempts me that I'm better than somebody. Or his favorite is. You're not as good as somebody, right? Like, Oh, you're going to be on the podcast with Genity.

Well, that's a shame because Genity is really talented and really smart and she can do all of these things and you can't do anything. And you can't do anything. What are you going to do? What do you have to offer? That's how he gets me. It's by those little simple things. I might not be good enough. And then I'm kind of like, Oh, you're right.

And then he's probably, well, you probably don't need to go to church today. Cause it's kind of dumb and, and you don't need to keep the Sabbath day holy. Because the, the core really quick for people listening, the core for Holly was I've done everything I was supposed to and it didn't turn out right. It didn't save my children.

It didn't protect my kids from choices. Like I'm doing everything. I'm trying to be so vital. I'm reading my scriptures. I'm doing my ministering I'm doing. And then all these things happen and then Satan moves right in there. So why would it matter if I go to the store, go to a restaurant on Sunday? It doesn't matter because you didn't and look what happened.

So just go to, you don't need to go to your meetings today. So I didn't go to Sunday school for two and a half years because, um, I didn't want to. Right? Because I don't want somebody to say something dumb that might bug me. And again, I don't even really get my feelings hurt or offended really that easily, but I just didn't want to deal with it.

I just didn't want to have to roll my eyes, you know? And I, I look at it and I'm like, oh, Satan has such a hold of my heart. No wonder why my son's giving me a prayer like that, a blessing like that. And when I got to Doctrine and Covenants chapter 10, verse. Um, 65, for behold, I will gather them as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings if they will not harden their hearts.

And that visual, you know, we love that visual of Christ gathering us and I want him to gather me so badly. I want to be safe and sound under his wings. And I have chickens, you know, and I, but I've hardened my heart. Satan has done such a great job of manipulating, manipulating me little by little, where, you know, small and simple things, like you just talked about, Genity to get us to our Savior, the polar opposite is the same way with Satan.

And when we were just reading about all the things he does, that's what he does to me. He does those small and simple things that have always been easy for me. I've never questioned. I've never questioned, I've never said, well, I'm not going to go, but Satan tries. And the other thing to be quite honest, Gennady, is when you don't have kids at home anymore, like I'm not trying to be an example [00:35:00] anymore.

I don't need to be. Yeah. And I've never not had that. My oldest is 36 and, uh, you know, my youngest, he's 18 years younger. So he leaves or, you know, he's doing his own thing. I don't feel like I need to do that anymore. And so it's. What are you doing when nobody's watching? Yeah. And, and that was strong with me.

Like what am I doing? And my husband's in the high council, so now he doesn't even go to my work. I'm all by myself. Right? Like, I'm like, Oh, I could just not go to church today. He wouldn't even know, you know, I'll just go here. I can go to the car wash, then I can get my Coke. And then I, you know. I think like that.

Wow. Thanks to Satan. But he knows, he knows how to get me so perfectly. But you can pray and you can come off conqueror. Yes. You can escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do all his work. Amen. That's exactly right. And that's why this chapter is so profound for us. It really is. Because Satan does it to all of us and he makes our minds dark no matter what it is.

And we all struggle with our own things, our own insecurities, our own heartache, and they're all very different, but all so real to us. And, um, and I want to be gathered, I want to be gathered by my savior and be warm and safe and cozy under his wings, you know, but I can't harden my heart. Oh, I think that's awesome.

Holly and Janity. Thank you. Okay. So let's do this in the next segment. We are going to dive into more of these verses and I have a feeling given my guests, they're going to have much to say. This is so awesome. We'll do that next. Um,

Segment 3

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we are going to start in section 10. We're still here, but we're going to look at verse four and Genity brought this up. And I thought this was so profound given the fact that Genity was a guest on this episode. I didn't even know that by the way, I forgot verse four was in here. And then I invited her to be on and I read four and laughed, do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate, but be diligent until the end.

I love that. Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength. Listen, you don't have to tell me twice. Because I'm not about to do that like Gene. I'm not a runner. I'll tell you right now, I tried to be a runner. After I was married, I said to my husband and we had kids, I'm like, I gotta, like, I've gotta do something with my life.

Because I had quit my job. I married a man with two children. His wife had passed away, so I was Insta mom, but I just felt kind of lost and I thought, oh, I know I'll run a marathon. So I, I. Saved all my money and I bought a treadmill and I trained and I joke, like I trained for 13, maybe 14 minutes. I'm like, Oh, I hate running.

What am I doing? I like a nice brisk walk. So this verse though is really important. So let's highlight it because he says for every one of us listening, when it comes to the spirit and gospel of Jesus Christ, do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means. So highlight that. And we're going to cross reference it now.

We're still in section 10 verses 65 through 69, and we're going to read these verses. We'll each take a turn. We'll start with Holly. Then we'll go. Genity and me, we've already kind of touched on them, but now we really are going to dive into them. So go ahead, hit it. Holly. Or behold, I will gather them as a hen gather of her chickens under her wings.

If they will not harden their hearts. Yay. If they will come, they may and partake of the waters of life freely. Behold, this is my doctrine. Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me. Therefore, he is not of my church.

And now behold, whosoever is of my church and endureth of my church to the end, him will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them. Thank you. Okay. I want you to just have this idea. I love Holly that you brought up. He will gather us as a hen gathereth her chickens and this idea of being warm and taking care of.

And we are living in a time of chaos. And we've, we've talked about that so beautifully and life is crazy right now. And Genity, I love how you just talked about how to pull up in the darkness that we're living in. And so we get to come and be under these wings and just be provided for and taken care of.

And while we're there, I love how the Lord's like, just rest, just rest under my wings. And you don't have to do any more or less than what you're doing right now. Which I think it's just this beautiful place of rest. And it took me to the conference talk by Bishop Budge. His talk was seek him with all your heart.

And you [00:40:00] might remember this back in October of 2024. His talk was the one where he put the Japanese symbol. Do you remember that? And he asked the woman to paint that for us. I want to know Jenny right there when you heard that talk and she said she couldn't paint it. Like what were your thoughts as a painter?

Oh, I loved that. I loved, in fact, I just listened to this talk recently while I was painting. Um, I loved that she put so much thought and emotion into the stroke that for her, it wasn't just a word that she was literally like creating almost like a small painting that just happened to be a word and that she needed to be in that frame of mind.

And I definitely, as I create here in my studio, I have to create an environment that is conducive to the spirit. Because I consider myself like a co creator with, with God, because I started out with no talent whatsoever. Like, I was drawing stick figures as a senior in high school. And, and so this whole journey of becoming an artist has been in partnership with him because he told me I could do it.

And so I, I come here early in the morning and I, I read scripture and I, I listen to inspirational music and I pray and I invite him to be here because That is the space in which we can create in that will actually matter, you know, and so as I listened to that talk, I was like, oh yeah, I totally get that.

She just needed to get herself prepared. To create with him so that she could put the spirit into this word that she really wanted. Wow. Thank you for saying that. Let's read this quote that he had to say about the world we live in and this idea of the hand gathering us and not doing more or less than what we've been asked to and not running faster than we have strength.

So here's the quote, the Lord knew in this fast paced world, full of distractions and in commotion that making quality time for him would be one of the major challenges of our day. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, he provided these words of counsel and caution, which can be likened unto the tumultuous days in which we live quote in returning and rest.

You shall be saved. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength, and ye would not. But ye say, No, for we will flee upon horses. Therefore shall ye flee, and we will ride upon the swift. Therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. Unquote. In other words, even though our salvation depends on returning to him often, And resting from the cares of the world.

We do not. And even though our confidence will come from a strength developed in quiet times, sitting with the Lord in meditation and reflection, we do not. Now the scripture that he quoted was from Isaiah to the outside of versus 65 through 69. I want you to put that reference. So you have it. It's Isaiah chapter 30 verses 15 through 16.

And it's so perfect in returning and rest, you will be saved in quietness and in confidence. Shall you have strength, this idea of returning and rest, quiet and confidence. If we just remember not to run faster than we need to. The word in Japanese was Mui, M U I. I put that to the side of this verse also, which means to be still or do nothing.

Is what he told us. And so I was just kind of thinking about this idea of, of coming to him and coming to him being taken care of as a hand gatherer, her chickens under her wings and how I just want to be protected. And that is where we can find rest. I want to know from either one of you, where do you find that rest?

Is there a place you can go where you can feel like you're being gathered? By that hen and just resting. And again, going to, I love these words, a place where you can return and rest in quietness and confidence. Well, one thing that came to mind when I read that is that a lot of people think that they build strength in the gym.

They think that when they're in there lifting heavy weights, they're building strength. They're actually not, they're tearing their muscles and they're, they're deconstructing their muscles. They're overloading their muscles, and then their muscles essentially break or tear. Where you build strength is actually when you sleep.

When you sleep, when you rest, those muscle fibers come back together, and they come back together stronger than they were before because our bodies are amazing, and they adapt to what we put them through. And so I, I think it's so beautiful that I see physically what Isaiah was talking about spiritually that.

You, if you just, if you just lift and lift and work out and run and do this and never rest, you literally won't get stronger, you'll just tear yourself apart. And so rest is like a huge part of building strength. And I'd recently painted an Olympic rock climber and I [00:45:00] asked her about her training schedule and she goes, I trained three days on and then I rest and then I trained two days and then I rest.

And so in a period of seven days, she took two days off and I was like, Whoa. And you're like an Olympian. Wow. And that was really inspiring to me, but for sure this applies spiritually, like we need to find rest. Like our lives are so busy and so full. And I loved this talk by Bishop Budge because it is in the quiet that we really do build our spiritual strength.

And for me, like one of my most favorite places of rest is the temple. And one thing that I love is that, and maybe some people don't think about this, but you don't need a recommend to walk into the temple. You can sit in the foyer of anybody who walk into the temple and sit in the foyer and find a place of quiet.

What a beautiful thing, right? I was just leaving the temple the other day and I saw this girl in there and she had her scriptures in her journal and she was literally just having a moment of rest in the foyer of the temple. And, and, and also the ground, right? That anybody in the world, like this is a sacred dedicated space from the entrance, the parking lot, all the way through the whole grounds, right?

That God invites everybody to come and find rest in him. And when we're ready to make greater covenants. Then we get a recommend and we, and we take the next steps, right? But that the idea that, that this place of refuge is available to anyone in the world is truly remarkable. Oh, Chanty. Thank you.

Especially that idea about muscles and taking a rest. That is so powerful. What about you, Holly? Oh, well, mine is also the same, the temple for sure. And even during all this time where I didn't go to Sunday school, um, I always went to the temple. So, um, yeah. Um, every week actually, because I could my schedule allowed and, um, it was always safe there for me.

The temple is always the same and it's safe and I take those promises. Serious. And, um, and those covenants and I, um, I just gain a lot of comfort and peace. That's my kind sitting in the celestial room. Um, but initiatories is my favorite and, um, seeing those women. You know, I just, I just love it. I love those promises.

I love that the women are giving it to me and administering them to me. And yeah, I just love the temple. That is definitely my place of rest. Great answers. I'll tell you mine a couple of weeks ago, um, one of our guests challenged us or taught about how the space of the sacrament, the space from when we turn the time over to taking the sacrament until the sacraments over, where do our thoughts go and what do we do?

And that was her favorite time of church was just that space and to just really absorb it. And I've been trying to do that lately, just to look forward to that. Brief couple of five minute, 10 minutes space, depending how big your ward is. And I've loved so much the sacrament time just to like, I don't know, be there with my family, my ward member family, everybody in this safe environment, taking the emblems of the sacrament, renewing my covenants.

Um, I have felt like his wings were gathered over me. So for me, it's the sacrament right now. So thank you. That was cool. Love that. Okay. So here's what we're going to do. Then in the next segment, we're still going to talk about these verses. We're probably still in chapter 10. I don't know. We'll find out because we're going to hear Genity's story.

We're going to turn the entire segment over to Genity and I cannot wait to hear what she's going to tell us. It's going to be really good.

Segment 4

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Okay. Here we go. Everybody. This is Jenny's story. Jenny hit it. I cannot wait. The reason why I gave Jenny a whole segment is because she just kept sending me so many cool notes in a text like, yes, share that. Oh, share that. Share that. So here we go. Jenny, just share away. All right. Well, you just finished in verse 69 that says that, um, who soarers of my church and endureth of my church, the end Him will I establish upon my rock.

And the gates of hell should not prevail against them. And I, I like that because I told you my favorite scripture has to do with building our foundation on a rock, right? But also that the gates of hell will not prevail against you. And um, it made me think about, and this idea of like gathering under his wing.

So I had the opportunity to teach a primary class on a chapter in the Bible, John 10. And in this [00:50:00] chapter, Jesus is talking to his disciples and he calls himself, He says, I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill and destroy.

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. And I was thinking, that is so cool that Jesus Christ calls himself the door, and he's talking about pasture, because in biblical time, the sheepfolds did not have a gate or a door. Um, there was just like a, like a open little hole in the fence, a little opening and a little opening in, in this rock barrier that would hold the sheep and the shepherd would sleep there.

And he was like a built in security system. So when he says any thief or predator would have to go through him before getting to the sheep. And when I, when I learned this teaching my primary class, I was like, Such a cool idea of Jesus Christ, because he is the gate, he is the way, like, he is, he is our, our way to get back home, right, but the idea of him being our protector, and that, like, any predator or thief is gonna have to go through him before he gets to us if we are in his fold, and I was also thinking how beautiful that as we enter into his gate, then the gates of hell can have no power over us, right, like, I love that from, from verse 69, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you when you choose Jesus Christ as your gate.

When he is your door, when he is your protector, as you are safe in his fold under the wings of his care. Okay. Um, so I did a painting of it because I was as an artist, I was like, where is the, where's a picture of this? Like I need Jesus as the gate, as the door. And so, um, yeah, a good friend of mine modeled and we.

We painted Jesus Christ sitting there at the gate, and he carries a very big stick. And, um, Tammy asked me if I would share a time when Jesus Christ, or when I felt protected by him, or by my father. And, um, I immediately came to mind a story. And it actually invited 18 year old Genity to the conversation.

Oh, her journal! So, I, I am a, the biggest journal advocate there is. I've kept a journal since I was 10. And one thing that I love about journal writing is its ability to, to time travel. Um, as I thought of this idea of the story I wanted to share. You think you know what it is in your mind, but then when you go back to your journal and you read the actual words, you realize it was not as clear.

Because 22 years has passed, you know, things get a little foggy, but how cool that if you keep a journal, you can literally like, like my son, um, my son is 12 and he had like his first like little sixth grade dance at school. And I was like, Oh my gosh, do you want to read? Do you want to read about my first dance experience at 12 years old in sixth grade?

And he's like, Oh my gosh, mom, no way. So I pulled that out and he could read from the lips of myself at his age. Oh, weird. Cool. Okay. So, so amazing. So, so 18 year old Genity is going to share a time and actually I'm going to read it just because, you know, you get the voice of me at 18 and uh, an incredible time in which I felt totally protected by the Lord.

All right, here we go. Sunday, May 11th, 2003 had trouble yesterday morning. I had a really neat experience. Mom and dad had to go to the airport at 3am because they had a flight to Cancun at six. So dad woke me up at 2. 30 to get ready to go. Mom couldn't find her purse. It was snowing outside. Yes, in May. My brother had gone to a party last night and didn't come home.

We figured he had probably just spent the night with his friend, but he was supposed to drive with us to the airport. So I wouldn't have someone to drive home with. I would be all alone. Well, we left out on the road at 3 a. m. And mom was so stressed and angry about my brother and the anger only intensified her stress.

The roads were terrible, the worst I'd ever seen. The snow was coming down in big, wet chunks, creating a really thick slush that covered the ground. Dad's a good driver, and he was still sliding all over. I could hear the slush scrape against the underside of the car as we drove, and it sprayed up against the side.

Dad could only drive about 10 or 15 miles per hour. I sat in the backseat with my eyes closed, just wondering how we would ever make it all the way to Denver. So, this is the time I'm living in this small town in Colorado. And, um, that's going to come in that small town is going to be important in the future.

So [00:55:00] I folded my arms and began to pray. I must have said, Heavenly father, please help us get there safely. And in time, so that my parents can still go to Cancun. But if it's not that well that they go, can we just get here safe? Heavenly father, keep us safe, keep us safe, keep us safe. A million times over, I prayed so hard just pleading with Father as we split over the slush.

Mom began to count the number of accidents she saw along the side of the road. 12, 13, there's another! Dad was certain they wouldn't make their flight. Good thing there's so much optimism in the car this morning, I said. And I continued to just close my eyes and pray. How I needed him to hear me. Then in the midst of my intensive prayer, struggling for an answer, I heard ever so softly, Oh my daughter, I've heard your pleas.

I will be with you. The spirit comforted my distressed soul. We made it to the airport and my parents still had an hour and 20 minutes before their flight was to leave. I told my mom not to worry. I was going to be fine. Giving her a sense of confidence in order to ease her stress. However, inside I was scared to drive home, though I knew Heavenly Father was with me.

So I hugged my parents goodbye, hiding my sheer terror and got behind the wheel as they walked to the terminal. I put in the Josh Groban CD. This is before smartphones, kids. Number 13, the prayer. Fastened my seatbelt and put my foot ever so gently on the gas pedal. Never before had I ever sung the prayer so literally.

I pray you'll be our eyes and watch us where we go and help us to be wise in times when we don't know. I had driven home from the airport before but wasn't quite sure which exits to take. Also before GPS, kids. I figured I'd just follow the exit that led to Fort Collins. The only problem was the road signs were caked with snow and ice and the words were very obscure.

With the help of the spirit, I took the 270 West exit, the right one. Then as soon as I entered the 270 West highway, I got behind a semi truck labeled McLean Food Service Distribution. I couldn't see the road very well, but I could see the four red lights on the back of the truck. I figured that if I could just follow those lights, I would be okay.

So I clutched the steering wheel and kept a prayer in my heart. As I watched the truck in front of me, I could see it clear my path as it splashed the slush out of the way and I realized Heavenly Father had sent me my own personal escort. I recognized the McLean truck. The company was close to our townhouse in Longmont.

I could follow it all the way to Longmont. Little side note, we lived in Longmont and then bought a house in Johnstown. So I did. When the truck changed lanes, so did I. When it sped up, so did I. When it slowed down, so did I. I immediately knew if I stayed, if I strayed at all from the tracks of the truck, I would slide and fishtail in the slush.

I tried not to look at anything but the four lights in front of me so that I couldn't be distracted. There were times when people would pass me and splash slush all over my windshield, but as long as I could see the lights, I was fine. The truck emerged from 270 west onto I 25 and north towards Longmont.

When I saw the Longmont exit after an hour or so of driving, I was relieved to find I had gotten that far safely. Then fully expecting the truck to leave, I figured I could make it from Longmont to Johnstown on my own. However, the Longmont exit came and went, but the truck stayed with me. Phew! I couldn't, I wouldn't be alone and I still had my lights to follow.

Then as we approached Johnstown, tears streamed down my face as I saw the right light on the back of the truck begin to flash. It was going to Johnstown. So the light stayed with me clear up until a mile to my house. When I pulled in the driveway, I loosened my death grip on the steering wheel and cried tears of gratitude.

What kind of semi truck from Denver goes to Johnstown at 5 in the morning? Then I smiled at the message I had memorized written on a sticker on the back of the truck. Lights on for safety. Half my father had truly answered my prayers and so lovingly sent me my own personal escort home. Moral of the story, follow the lights in front of you.

Wow. I know! I just couldn't believe it. Like, I totally expected the truck to leave and then stayed with me, like, all the way to my house. That's incredible. I know. Yeah. He was your door. Oh, yeah. That is so good to Genity Paige. I know. And at 18, you got that experience at 18. You got that as part of your foundation, which you're going to use forever, forever in everything you go through.

Oh, Genity. Tell me why it makes you so emotional. [01:00:00] I think because I feel like God answers our prayers and then some, you know, like I was just anticipating that the truck would take me to Longmont and then I would just have a couple miles or so to go to my town. But knowing that like the truck stayed with me all the way, I mean, isn't that the goodness of God?

Like he's not just going to take us partway, like he's in this for the long haul. And I also feel that like so many of my prayers have been answered and then some, you know, like I'll go back and I'll read some of my journal entries where I'm this young aspiring artist wondering if the good that I'm, you know, wondering if getting up four in the morning while my kids are two years old is even going to matter.

Wondering if I can make it through this college class and I can actually learn how to draw a human. I go back and I read those stories and then I look at where I am and how God has answered my prayers and it's always, He answered my prayer and then some. And I think that my love for Him and His love for me, like, I feel because He answers my prayers and then some.

I, it's like these love notes from heaven. He's just like, I got you, Genity. And then my love for Him just expands and pours out my face. Thank you. Thank you. I so appreciate you coming prepared with that story. I wrote in my scriptures at the end of verse 70, cause you had me highlight the word light. And I remember the words of him who is the life and light of your world, my world, the world, your Redeemer, your Lord, and your God.

Amen. And then I put, and then some. Genity page. Yeah. And if we just follow his light, if we just follow the lights that he's put in front of us, he will take us all the way home. All the way home, Kennedy. Thank you. That was brilliant. Oh my gosh. I'm feeling the spirit. That is so cool. Okay. That was good. So we haven't even touched section 11 yet, so we better get into that.

So in the next segment, we are going to read the instruction that the Lord has for Hiram Smith. We'll do that next.

Segment 5

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Okay. This is kind of a fun fact. I want you guys to look at the date today. It's kind of fun. If you want to put this on your calendars, February 9th, happy birthday, Hiram. It's Hiram Smith's birthday. The timing is perfect. I know. So right. So section 11 is for Hiram Smith. And this was a revelation given.

In May of 1829, and he will be baptized in June of 1829. And the thing about this section, here's the little history you want to know about it. So in May of 1829, Hiram traveled from Manchester to harmony to visit Joseph and Joseph and Oliver. They were just immersed in translating the book of Mormon. And so Hiram, he just became so deeply interested in their work.

And almost immediately he desired now. That is an important word because in section 11, you're going to see the word desire a lot. And I've loved this word. We've focused on it in other sections, but grab your highlighter and I want you to highlight the word desire. Go to verse eight. You're going to see it twice.

Desire. Verily I say unto you, even as you desire of me, so shall it be done unto you. And if you desire, there it is. Go to verse 14 in the middle, you're going to see the word desire for 17. You're going to see it again. And then behold, according to your desires. And then you're going to see it in verse 27, behold, I speak unto all who have good desires.

So this section might be for us who have desires of the Lord Hiram desired. To help bring forth the work. But even more importantly, is he desired to make copies of what had already been translated so far. And he wanted to begin preaching and teaching it from the surrounding area. So he's like, Joseph, let me just take copies.

Let me start teaching. Let's get the word out. And so Joseph inquired of the Lord concerning what part Hiram's going to play in the restoration. And he received doctrine and covenant section 11. So ladies tell me what note or notes did you take from this section? And what does it have to do with us? Well, I think I already told you it must be what God wants me to work on, but keep the commandments that everything is predicated on that.

You know, he tells them four times in here, keep my commandments. Behold, this is your work to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength. So and that's when he goes on to say, before you declare my word, uh, my word. But first seek to obtain my word. So obviously it's important for us to keep the commandments before we try to convince anyone else or teach anyone else about the gospel.

And I, I think it's an ongoing thing, you know, keeping the [01:05:00] commandments. I'd never noticed it said that many times in this section. I know. I really, I find all like the almost kind of. You know, things for me that darkness, keep the commandments, Satan has a hold of your heart.

Oh, I love it.

Not today, Satan, not today. Not today, but I'm free on Friday. Just kidding. No, I think that's really a good reminder. I was going to say, I actually highlighted the same thing, Holly. So, Oh, Hey, I'm telling I want to talk about keeping the commandments to tell me about it. Go. Um, how he says like, this is your work, right?

Like we've talked a lot about the Lord's work. And he's going to bring about this marvelous work and a wonder, and what is our part in it? Keep the commandments. Well, what does that actually mean? Yeah. It means the big 10. Of course, I'm not supposed to kill anybody. Don't lie. You know, um, but there's more to it.

And actually Elder Bednar has given a couple talks on it. And um, actually I was at BYU Idaho and President Bednar gave a talk called heartfelt and willing obedience. Where he talks about commandments, not a few, and he talks about how we are given personal commandments and that by keeping the basic 10, or, you know, that's like the baseline, we qualify for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

And when we have the gift of the Holy Ghost, then he can add commandments, not a few. It's actually, I'm trying to remember what section this is in the Doctrine and Covenants, but it says one of the blessings of obedience, one of the blessings of keeping the commandments is, he's going to give you more commandments.

And you might think, like, wait, one of the blessings of keeping the commandments is I get more stuff to do? And it kind of sounds like, well, I'm not sure I want more stuff to do. But the truth is, is that no, like literally there's power in this principle. And I'm, and I'm going to take you to another one of my favorite scriptures, which is Second Nephi 32.

3. Oh, yes. And, and this was actually back in the day in seminary, we had to memorize scriptures. And this was a scripture, mastery scripture. So I've, I memorized it in high school, but, and I'm going to tell you how I'm going to, I'm going to read it. Then I'm going to read it to you. How I understood it as like a 16 year old, okay.

Angels speak by the power of the Holy ghost. Wherefore they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things which you should do. And when I was 16, I read it like. Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherefore they speak the words in the scriptures.

Wherefore I said unto you, feast upon the scriptures, for the scriptures will tell you all things which you should do. Mm hmm. Which isn't necessarily bad. I mean the scriptures are an incredible source of revelation. That's one way. But I do not think that's all that this is saying, right? And now that I'm older, I have a better perspective and I, as an artist, I see this image.

Angels, in the presence of God, are given power through the Holy Ghost. To be messengers to us and God has something that he wants Tammy to do or Holly to do. And so he's going to take one of his messengers and he's going to be like, Hey, I need you to pass this on. And so by the power of the Holy Ghost, those angels come to us and they give us the words of Christ, the words that came from his mouth that he meant specifically for us through the power of the Holy Ghost, they are given to us.

And those are the things that he needs us to do. And sometimes they might be things like, I need you to go visit your neighbor. I need you to bear your testimony. I don't want to bear my testimony. That's the thing. A lot of the time these commandments, not a few, like these words of Christ that come to us through angels are uncomfortable, take us out of our comfort zone, don't want to do them.

And, um, and so they're difficult. I, I know so many times I was sitting in Sacramento as a kid and felt like, It's practice. No, I don't want to. I was the shyest kid ever. Like, literally, the primary program, worst day of my life, every year. I hated it. Wow. Um, and, and so we resist. No, I don't want to do that.

No. And, and one day it might be something as crazy as, You should apply for American Ninja Warrior. What? I'm a 34 year old mom of four. I can't even do a pull up. What are you talking about? Let's see when that came to me. And it literally did. And you might think I'm crazy, but I'm telling you, I did not choose this path for myself.

Like I was at the gym and I just [01:10:00] started rock climbing like three months into my little baby rock climbing experience when I literally had impressions feeling. And I said, no, that's literally my only qualifications to apply to this show would be that I have seen this show. Okay. But then the cool thing is that, you know, we talk about diligence and persistence.

Well, guess who is the most diligent of us all God. And so he's going to tell you again and again and again. So then you do. And then, I mean, we don't need this to be the, you know, whatever happened to Jen, the American Ninja Warrior story. But all I'm saying is that we will receive commandments that are challenging.

That are beyond the basic 10, but the beautiful thing is that if we move forward, this is your work. Keep the commandments. If you, if you do those things that he asks you to do, you will see miracles and he will change you. I am a different person today than I was when he commanded me to apply to this show.

And he just used this silly little reality TV show as a means to transform me into somebody different. And so, as we think about, keep the commandments, I want you, and, and to take note, the whole thing that you started out with, like, take note, no, notes are important because that's where you're going to hear him, like, that's why you take the notes, it's not so you can remember what somebody said, it's so that you can remember what God asked you to do.

And then you go do the thing and then you, then you watch a miracles happen. That's how God does his work. Well, and how cool is this? Genity? Because you read that verse. I love the Hebrew word for angels. It's Malachim and it means angels or servants. And so oftentimes when you read angels, it means you like you then become the angel, you become the servant.

So now look back at that verse, angels speak by the power of the Holy ghost. Which they do, but then because you became a servant, now it's Genity speaks by the power of the Holy Ghost. And that's just what you did. Both of you in this moment, you, you spoke by the power of the Holy Ghost because of something that touched you.

And then you shared a message. Of love and of the spirit. And so it's so cool. I love the connection. Thank you for bringing up that verse. That was perfect. Both of you. And the idea of keeping the commandments. I mean, isn't that interesting that that's the thing that the Lord wants Hiram to do, keep the commit.

It wasn't go on a mission. It wasn't give all your money to Joseph so he can do this work because he's real poor. It just was keep the commandments. And I would love to know Hiram's journal. That's the journal I want to read. Like what did Hiram think after this? And what was his response to this? And I love him in verse 27.

Behold, I speak unto all who have good desires and have thrust in their sickle to reap. And then it says, behold, I am Jesus Christ, the son of God. I am the life and the light. There it is. Genity of the world. And so every one of us who are desiring the Lord. Keep just keep keeping the commandments because he's going to speak to you and then take note of the things that he says to you.

And at the end of that verse where it says all who have thrust in their sickle to reap, it's interesting that when you desire there's part of a part of the commandment that thrusting in your sickle to reap, yeah, there's work that's going to be required. So in the next segment, I'm going to show you what that means and teach you a that's found in section 11.

Segment 6

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Okay, so Holly already read this and we're going to look at it one more time. It's found in verse 18 and verse 22. It's a phrase that's one of my favorite Hebrew phrases. In verse 18, the Lord tells Hiram, keep my commandments, hold your peace, highlight, hold your peace. And then again in verse 22, but now hold your peace.

Study my word, which have gone forth among the children of men. Highlight hold your peace. Okay. In Hebrew, that phrase is found in the book of Exodus chapter 14, the children of Israel. I want you to picture it. The children of Israel, they are freaking out right now because they're in front of the Red Sea.

And the Egyptian soldiers are coming towards them and they are stuck and they know either way they're going to die. They're either going to drown or be killed by all of the Egyptians. And so they start freaking out and they say to Moses, Oh, I know you brought us here to die, didn't you? There wasn't enough room to bury us in Egypt.

So we're going to, you're going to bury us in the wilderness. Or they said it would have been better if we just stayed in Egypt as slaves rather than have to die out here. And so while they're freaking out, and I love giving this lesson, your amygdala kicks into high gear and your amygdala is the part of your brain that's your fight or flight response system.

And so immediately we have. A thousand, if not, actually we have thousands of amygdalas kicking into high gear and all these people want to run as fast as they can. And immediately Moses says to these people through the Lord, the Lord uses Moses to say, okay, I need everybody to stop, tells them to do the [01:15:00] very opposite of what their body's telling them to do.

Their body's telling him to run. And the Lord's like, no, I need you to stop and fear not. It's not interesting. Don't even be afraid. I know your body's telling you to be afraid, but I'm saying fear not. And then if you continue to read on, the Lord says, hold your peace. So I look this up in Hebrew and it's the Hebrew word.

It's spelled C H A R A S H in English. Um, it's a different, it's a three letter root in Hebrew and we'll put this in our show notes, but Karash. And here's what this means. I love how the NIV translates it. The new international version says, You only need to be still. The NLV says, just stay calm. And the ESV says you have only to be silent.

Okay. That makes sense. Like be silent, stay calm. But then there's another definition for this word to actually that I love. One is be deaf to the voices around you, everything that's going on, this cacophony of. Anti whatever, like people are screaming and I'm sure Satan is saying, God's not going to help you.

There's no way you can't do this. You're going to die out here in the wilderness. And I love how hold your peace means just don't listen to all the negative voices. Like I'm here, I'm going to help you be deaf to the negative around you. And then the other definition, this could be is. Now plow forward just move so hold your peace can mean be silent It can mean be deaf to the voices around you, but it can also mean now I need you to move I want you to think about that for just a minute because here's Hiram.

He's receiving revelation But he's also seeking revelation. What is it that I'm supposed to do? And my question to the two of you is when we're waiting for revelation, how can holding your peace be good advice with the new knowledge we have about it, whether that be plowing forward or not listening to the voices around you, how can holding your peace be helpful when you're seeking for revelation?

Well, I have an example of, um, moving forward. So, you know, I've been praying very specifically for, oh gosh, nine, 10 months for the same thing. And, you know, it's pretty serious and going to the temple every week. Well, after Thanksgiving, we were driving home from Oregon. We went up there to visit our son. We were driving home and the whole way home I kept thinking about this woman in our ward.

And she had had twins the month earlier and I, and anyway, so I was just thinking about her. We got home Sunday night and I thought, Oh, I'm going to bring her dinner. I'm going to make dinner tomorrow and I'm just not even going to tell her. I'm just going to bring it over. Cause she can eat it whenever.

So I make this dinner. I make the bowls. I do, you know, do all these things and I make it and then I'm like, well, I better tell her maybe she's out of town for Thanksgiving. They're not back yet. And so I, um, I call her and, or I text her and I said, Hey, I don't know if you're in town or not, but I wanted to bring dinner over tonight.

You've just been on my mind a ton lately, and I just wanted to bring this over to you. And if you don't eat it tonight, that's fine. You know, eat it whenever, but I just wanted to know I was thinking of you and I'm going to bring it over tonight around five or five 30. Does that work? And she texts back and said.

Oh, my goodness. Yes, that'll be so appreciated. I have to go to my cousin's funeral who just lost his baby. And, um, that'll be so appreciated. So I don't have to stop on the way home and try to get food. And I said, great. So I dropped it off. She texts me, you have, we were freezing out at the grave side, so cold.

And then to come home to hot cooked meal was so appreciated. Thank you so much. And um, then it really touched me that she said that, that I'm like, Oh, I was thinking about her for a reason. That was the spirit, you know, cause a lot of times we don't think about that. Then I go to the temple the next day and I'm sitting there praying again, wondering what's wrong with me.

Why can't I feel the spirit? Why don't I know which way to go? How come I don't feel like I'm receiving any help? And it clear as day, the spirit said to me, [01:20:00] you, you know how to listen to the spirit and you did. I'm guiding you. And I was so grateful for that. It absolutely changed the whole outlook in my life.

Knowing that, um, you know, I do listen to the spirit, I can feel the spirit and he is guiding me. And so, um, for me, plowing forward was what I needed to keep doing. And I was so grateful for that experience to remind me that, you know, again, those small and simple things, bringing dinners, no big deal to me.

Right. That's not hard for me to do, but it was, it was also twofold. Did it help her? Did it help her feel loved on a horrible day? Yes. But it also helped me know I can feel the spirit and he is guiding my life. Oh, thank you. That was a perfect answer to that question. Wow. Plowing forward. That's awesome.

Well, what I love is that I have something that goes perfectly with what you just said. And it came to me as soon as you asked, as soon as you asked that question. And that is this idea of waiting while we're waiting. So my mom dabbled a little bit in sign language. She was like a sign language interpreter for some people in our ward.

And one thing she learned about was like the sign language for waiting is very similar to like waiting tables. You're waiting on somebody, but you're also waiting. And my mom loved that because she was like, Jen, isn't this so perfect? Like when we're waiting on the Lord for answers, like waiting, like the best thing that we can do is wait on other people, like go and serve other people.

It kind of takes the focus off yourself. And then if you wait while you're waiting, then you, it like opens you up to receive revelation. And. You know, allows all these blessings to come. Cause you're not just like sitting there, like thinking about yourself. And so my mom introduced this concept of like waiting while we're waiting a long time ago into my life.

And, um, I actually had a son that was in a hospital for like seven weeks. And, um, this idea of like waiting while we're waiting, like really came into play because, um, I was waiting for the Lord to save him. And it involves a lot of standing by his bedside. But I found that as I reached out to others, other parents in ICU, other nurses, asking nurses, how's it, tell me about your life.

Oh, I'm in school and oh, I'm going to get married. And we're helping this mom who's got a newborn across the way. She's got a rosary. I'm praying with her, you know, like as I, as I waited on other people, as I sought for opportunities to serve others, even while I was in like the most dire circumstances.

Because I waited while I was waiting, it allowed an infusion of the Spirit to sustain me even while I waited on the Lord. Oh, wow. This has been so good. Um, and for people who don't know Janity, what happened to your son? He passed away. Oh. Oh. I didn't get what I wanted, but I did, you know, I, I, I didn't get what I thought I wanted.

Yeah. But God has given me, um, so much, so very much. And then some to quote you and then some, I find myself still waiting while I'm waiting because now, you know, I waited seven weeks to hopefully see a miracle and I didn't get it. And now I'm waiting a lifetime. But I am waiting. I am just losing myself in the service of the Lord, like, in any way that I can, and as I wait while I wait, it allows this infusion of, of light and of the atonement to sustain me and strengthen me to wait until I see him again.

I wait. Wow. Thank you to both of you. Oh my gosh. What an episode. It has been so spirit filled. Oh, thank you for both of you for perfectly explaining hold your peace. I hope I never forget this episode or this moment. That was awesome. So thank you. We're done. That's the end of our episode. Okay. So do this, just gather your thoughts really quickly and think about everything we discussed.

I always ask my guests, what was their takeaway today, but we've kind of changed it to more like. What point in this discussion, did you just feel truth taught to you or the spirit where you're like, [01:25:00] Oh yeah, that is true. Um, and you, it's just a quick, like one or two lines. And I usually pick out something that either one of you had said that touched me.

And so just kind of tell us like, what was something that the spirit taught you or we taught you from our discussion today? What eternal truth did you learn? Okay. I'll go. First of all, Trinity, it's all your little saying. I have them all written down all over, um, I mean, that just touched me, but then some, I love prayers are answered and then some.

And for me in my life, sometimes I found. That the then some comes first that God answers my prayers that I wasn't even praying for or asking for like you and your ninja warrior, you know, and, um, I just loved that idea of then some and how he doesn't answer our prayers and then some, and I appreciate that, but waiting while you wait, I'll never forget that it's just such a perfect way to put it and pull up.

Yeah. Wow. Wow. Wow. I am so grateful for today. Me too. I think, um, I'm just going to go back to where we started and that is to take note because a lot of these experiences that I have in my life. I remember them because I wrote them down. And so it's like, you take note so that you can see the hand of God, and as you look back over the years of your life, you will stand in awe and wonder at the love, at the majesty, how great the wisdom and the love.

You can even go through loss. You can even like not get what you want, but if you take note, I promise you, you will look back and you will say, how great the wisdom and the love. And that you will, you'll be able to see like the bigger picture, but also the importance of taking notes so that you take note of the commandments, the things that God is asking you to do, and then take note, go to the scriptures, find confidence as you read about Moses standing at the edge.

We feel like that sometimes, right? Like we're standing at the edge of the water and, and God tells you, you're going to go forward. You know? So. You take notes of the commandments, but then you go back and you, you go to your journal and the scriptures every morning so that you can take note so that God can give you encouragement all along the way.

And as you take those notes, they over time become scripture. Yeah. Uh huh. They do. They become the Lord's. Dealings in your life and they become another testament of him. Thank you. Thank you. Both of you. Uh, mine is Genity. When you taught us about pull up, I can't wait to go look at that picture now. I'm so excited because I remember when you started talking about the picture of a pull up, I was like, where's this going?

Because I couldn't do a pull up to save my life, but it changed me. And I have it in my scriptures everywhere. Um, and then Holly, I. I'm so grateful the way you interpreted Doctrine and Covenants section 10 verse 2 and what I learned that it's two things. He lost the gift and his mind became darkened. The gift was restored, but here's the way our, our minds can become light.

So that was so cool. Thank you. Thank you. I love you both. This was such a good discussion. Oh, wow. So good. Thanks guys. Okay. Well, I want to know what you learned, what truth stood out to you from our discussion today. Go join our group on Facebook or follow us on Instagram and share what you have learned.

And then at the end of the week on a Saturday, we post a question from this specific episode. So comment on the post that relates to this lesson and share your thoughts. You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at LDS living. com slash Sunday on Monday.

And it's not a bad idea to go there. Because we're going to have links to all the references as well as a transcript of this whole discussion. So go check it out. The Sunday on Monday study group is a desert bookshelf plus original brought to you by LDS living. It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall .

And today our brilliant study, your participants, Jenedy Paige and Holly Howarth. And you can find more information about my friends at LDS living. 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 today. Oh, that was such a good episode and we will see you next week. And please remember that you are God's favorite. Hey, thanks Cole.