8: “Blessed Are Ye” (Matthew 5, Luke 6)

Tammy 0:00

How happy are you? Like right now, today? How happy are you? How happy have you been? And what makes you happy? What if I told you that today's lesson contains the recipe for lasting happiness? Matthew chapter 5 and Luke Chapter 6 is where you're going to find it. And I promise, I promise. You do not need to be a professional chef to understand and follow this recipe. Anyone can do it.

Tammy 0:27

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 our scriptures together. I'm your host, Tammy Uzelac Hall. If you're new to our study group, we just want to make sure you know how to use this podcast, so follow the link that's 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 cute friend Eliza Roman from Corner Canyon Seminary Morningside I met her at. Hello, Eliza. She listens and I love her. Now another awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined by two of my friends, so it's always a little bit different. And today we have a return guest and a surprise fun guest. I've been looking so forward to these two guests. So we have Miya Moto Wilson Jensen. Hi, Miya.

Miya 1:13

Hello. Hi, Tammy.

Tammy 1:15

Oh my gosh. Okay. And Miya, let's introduce our next guest. Who do we have?

Miya 1:19

Yes, everybody. We have my dad. It's Joe Wilson. Hi, dad,

Joe Wilson 1:23

Hey, Miya, Tammy. How's good, and aloha.

Tammy 1:30

Joe is joining us from Hawaii. And thank you, Joe. I mean, it's a four-hour time difference. So That's craziness over there. You're still in the middle of the day, enjoying your afternoon. I'm ready for bed.

Joe 1:40

Hey, you cut into my surf session, but that's okay. I'm sure this wave is gonna be a nice wave to ride today.

Tammy 1:46

There you go. I love that. I love it. Okay, this is a fun thing. I have to tell you guys, in preparation for this episode, I sent Miya and Joe a little package in the mail with something that we're going to use today. So I I had it shipped all over to Hawaii and then to Miya here close to home. I just have to have Joe tell us real quick cuz I talked to Joe earlier this week. And he told me this story and I can't get enough of it. Joe, tell the audience what you thought when you got the package in the mail.

Joe 2:12

Well, it was interesting because my son, he always posts into all my mail and you know, and he has a box. He's holding this box and he goes, Hey, dad, you got a package. And I go really? cuz I don't remember buying anything from Amazon or anything like that. So I walk up to the box and I go, What is this thing? It says Tammy Hall on it. And I said "I don't even know no Tammy Hall. This must be a mistake or something, you know. What's going on here, you know, and then all my old senses old school detective thing starts kicking in. And I was thinking to myself, "Liam", that's my son's name, "Go get the knife. I'm gonna cut this thing open really careful." So I did; I didn't even open it up like it was Christmas, you know, because I was really curious, you know?

Joe 2:59

So I opened it up, I cut the edge, you know, pulled it up, opened really nice and slow. And then I go, This is so light. I don't understand it. Who would send something like this? And I was thinking somebody's playing a prank on me and they want me to just laugh at this whole thing, right? So I'm looking around for video cameras or whatever. So I opened the box. Slowly. I peeked in it. And I was like, there better not be a dead rat or something. There's some bubble wrap, I opened the bubble wrap and I go, What the heck? And I'm just like, No, this, this cannot be. I don't even know what's going on. So that's how it happened.

Miya 3:40

Dad, how did you figure out that it was from Tammy, our Tammy that we're speaking with tonight? What made you connect the dots?

Joe 3:47

What connected the dots is when I went back to try to look for the lesson. And it reminded me, Oh, that's her name, Tammy. So I went to, I went to the email and it said Tammy Hall. And I said, I'm better check to see what this lady looks like because she's, you know, doing something weird to me right now. So I went on Facebook and looked up her background and everything and I was like, Okay, she looks safe. There's gotta be more to this. (laughter)

Tammy 4:14

If that's not the best story of all time. Joe. Yeah, I just haven't stopped telling people that story. And for everyone listening you're like, What was in the package? Oh, you'll have to wait. We'll get there and it's gonna be so fun. I'm just glad it finally arrived. I thought I sent you a picture because I knew that was a possibility. I'm like they're gonna get this package and not know who it was from, but apparently the picture didn't come through. So I'm very sorry for any cause for concern or heart palpitations I may have given you. So.

Tammy 4:42

Okay, so those are my guests, you guys. How much fun are we going to have today with Miya and Joe. Now if you want to know more about them, you can find their bios which are going to be in our show notes that are at LDS living.com/sunday On Monday. And I recommend going and checking it out so you can see what Joe looks like and see if he's legit.

Miya 4:59

Yes, please.

Tammy 5:00

Okay, so grab your scriptures, something to mark them with and your scripture journals. And you guys, let's dig in. Okay the Come, Follow Me lesson manual states, right at the beginning for this lesson today it says, "Everyone seeks and finds happiness in different ways." And that struck me because I thought I want to ask my guests that question. I want you two to tell me, how do you seek or find happiness? Like what makes you happy?

Miya 5:25

Oh, that's a good question. I mean, this is gonna tell you a lot about who I am. But the first thing I thought of was like, Oh, I love to eat. So that makes me, that makes me happy. It's true. Like I love what food does. It not only helps you feel full but in nourishment, it also is like this gathering. Being, right, it brings us together and I love everything that surrounds food. So food is my, one of my top answers. I also love family and friends. Just people, community makes me so happy and just knowing that I'm in close proximity to people that I know and love, and that knowing loves me is just, gives me so much ,much joy. And I mean, and then of course I got the light-hearted things. I love watching funny videos, usually cat videos or sending memes to my sisters. We're always laughing about something. And, you know, playing with my six-year old, listening to good music, and money. Oh, my gosh, I love money. And money makes me happy. So that's my comprehensive list of happiness right there. So,

Miya 5:56

Miya, do you send your sisters secret memes that are kind of funny, make fun of your parents? Or is that just me?

Miya 6:41

Yeah, sorry, dad. We do, we have a sister chat.

Tammy 6:44

They're funny kid or inside sister jokes, sure, sure, sure. I get it. I get it. Yeah. Joe, what makes you happy?

Joe 6:51

Well, before I got married, I loved hanging out with my friends and growing up in a community that, you know, diverse, and playing a lot of sports, you know, and just being around good, good people, learning different cultures and their families and so forth. And then, you know what made me really happy was when I served a mission, and coming back home and looking at my perspective in life, Mission President: "Hey, gotta get married in one year if you want to get more blessings." And I was like, I was kind of stressed out. So I got married within that year, made it a goal. And now my wife makes me happy. I, I, you know, when she looks at me and I look at her, we just rekindle our love for each other all the time. And, and I just love the fact that we have five beautiful children: three girls, two boys. And we have a text, group text now and I could get smashed on it once in a while. But I really enjoy being around my family. That's what really makes me happy. And you know, knowing that we could be together forever, it's just the icing on the cake.

Tammy 6:51

Wow, great answers you both. I'm just wondering. I'm curious, Joe. Where did you grow up?

Joe 7:09

I grew up in Carson, California. But I was born in American Samoa in Alao. And then I moved here 30 years ago and attended BYU Hawaii, and had all my children here. And we are still here and we are not going anywhere.

Miya 8:26

Yep.

Tammy 8:27

All right. Well, your answers both of you gave fantastic answers about what makes you happy. And I want us to be thinking about this as we turn to Matthew chapter 5. Let's go there. Matthew chapter 5, and we're going to find a word that relates to happiness. Okay, so let's go to Matthew chapter 5. Grab something to mark your Scriptures with, and what I want us to do is just scan your eyes down verses 3-11 and tell me what is the word that's repeated? verses 3-11.

Miya 9:02

So the word that I see is 'blessed' or blessed.

Tammy 9:06

Yes. So I highlight, circle, underline whatever you want to do every time you see the word 'blessed in each one of those verses, because we're going to do something. Let's go to Matthew 5:3, there's our first blessed. And I want us to look at the footnote for that. So right down below we have Matthew 5:3, the word blessed has a little a by it. Let's go down to 3a and highlight that. And Joe, can you read for us what the footnote says?

Joe 9:37

"The Latin beatus is the basis of English 'beatitude', meaning 'to be fortunate,' 'to be happy', or 'to be blessed'."

Tammy 9:48

Thank you. So Miya, do something for us. Will you just choose any one of those verses, 3-11? Pick any one, it doesn't even matter and I just want you to replace the word blessed with 'I'm happy', and read the verse for us.

Miya 10:03

Sure. I'm going to read verse 4. So, "Happy are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."

Tammy 10:11

Thank you. So we are going to study the Beatitudes today. And I think it's just really cool how we have the 'blesseds', but we can replace it with Happy. Happy are they that do all of these things. And I want you to kind of think about that as we go through these verses today because the beatitudes in the New Testament contain nine ways that can guarantee lasting happiness, happiness. So in the next segment, we're going to find out what they are.

Segment 2 10:38

.....

Tammy 10:44

Here's a fun question since you're father/daughter: when you were growing up, who did the cooking?

Tammy 10:50

Mom did a lot of the cooking but I learned a lot from my mom how to cook too. And I'm the oldest child of my parents and so I did, yeah, I was happy to learn how to cook and do all the cooking.

Tammy 11:02

Oh, Joe, would you, how would you rate their cooking?

Joe 11:05

Um, you know, one out of 10? Definitely a ten.

Miya 11:11

Thank you, dad.

Joe 11:12

Yeah, yeah.

Tammy 11:12

Oh, well said Definitely a ten. Miya, does your mom use a recipe?

Miya 11:18

Yes, she does, for a lot of things.

Tammy 11:21

What about you? Do you wing it or recipe it?

Miya 11:24

I think if I'm making something for the first time, I usually use a recipe and then I'm like my husband who is actually a chef and so I, we make something based off of someone else's experience and the recipe and then we conform it or personalize it to what we like. So, yeah.

Tammy 11:44

Oh, that's neat. I didn't know he was a chef. That's really cool.

Miya 11:47

Yes. He makes good food. It's the best.

Tammy 11:50

Okay, I just have to ask this, is there something he makes that you just love that's your favorite?

Miya 11:54

Oh, that's a hard question. Well, for my birthday he made me Budae Jjgae which is Korean army stew. And oh my gosh, it was amazing. So I, anything, I feel like anything that he makes and touches is just gold. So you know, I said food makes me happy? My husband makes me happy. So, yeah.

Tammy 12:16

Indeed! Boy, God knew you well, you married the right person. That is so great. Okay, I want us to kind of have this idea of a recipe in our mind as we read this quote. So I have a really cool quote that sheds some light on the Beatitudes and how they are a recipe. This is a quote from Elder Spencer J Conde, Quorum of the 70. And he's quoting President Harold B. Lee in a talk that he gave in conference. And here's what he has to say about the Sermon on the Mount. So Joe, will you read this quote for us, please?

Joe 12:45

Sure. "The Savior's sermon on the mount has been described by President Harold B. Lee as the Lord's constitution for a perfect life. and that the Beatitudes represent the recipe for righteousness with incremental steps, beginning with the poor in spirit who come unto Christ."

Tammy 13:11

Excellent. So we have this recipe for righteousness with incremental steps. So we're gonna talk about this recipe. So with your highlighter, let's go back into Matthew chapter 5. We're going to look at verses 3-11 and we're just going to look over all of the things we're going to highlight. The 'Happy are', what we're happy if we become. So in verse 3 we have "Happy are the - highlight - poor in spirit." Let's go to verse 4: "Happy are they that mourn." Verse 5, Miya, what is it there? "Happy are the....

Miya 13:46

"Happy are the meek."

Tammy 13:48

Excellent. Verse 6, Joe

Joe 13:50

"Happy are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

Tammy 13:57

Good. Seven is "Happy and blessed are the merciful." Miya, go ahead and do 8.

Miya 14:04

"Happy and Blessed are the pure in heart."

Joe 14:06

"Happy are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Miya 14:13

Happy are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake." And verse 11. Happy are they when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely.

Tammy 14:27

Okay, thank you. Now, before we start to just be overwhelmed and think there's no way I could ever be all of those, one of the things we have to go back to is this idea that they're incremental, which means one builds upon the next. But in your scriptures turn back one page to Matthew 4:17. I said this a couple of weeks ago, and I forgot to give the cross reference for it. I taught everybody that the main message of John the Baptist's mission was repentance. And then I said, "It was also the first thing the Savior taught to all the people." And in Matthew 4:17 is where it says that. When the Savior began His ministry, it says, "From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." That was his main message was to repent, repent, repent.

Tammy 15:18

So let's go back to the Beatitudes because something that's really cool about the Beatitudes is rather than be worried that you have to be every single one of these things, they are the incremental steps of repentance. And you start with one, and as you go through the repentance process you gradually become every single one of these things. Now look at this. I think now when you see it, it just becomes so much more doable, doesn't it? Miya, you're shaking your head. Tell me why.

Miya 15:45

Yeah, well, first of all, I don't think I've ever heard the Beatitudes be described, like this sequential order, or being like a recipe. Because there are steps you have to take first in order to get to the next one. And so it just, it just makes so much sense to me that in order to become all these other things, or to build up to becoming like the Savior, it takes just, it takes the first step. And then like it says here in the Scripture, it lays out what that first step is. And then not to say that after we develop a characteristic that we leave that behind. It's like, it's almost, I don't know, in my head I'm having this visual of like I take a step, but I'm also picking up with me and carrying what that step gave me and then building up upon it and not just grab it-let it go-and move on. It's no, and letting this become me and let that carry me and change me. So that's just so beautiful. I love it.

Tammy 16:47

Well, and in my mind I'm like, it's the Korean barbecue your husband made because you're not just going to do it one time, you're going to repent your whole life. And every time we begin the repentance process, of course, the first thing we are is poor in spirit, right? Joe, describe for me, what this poor in spirit feels like to someone who's trying to repent or wants to begin the repentance process. I wouldn't say poor in spirit first.

Joe 17:10

It sounds as if a person needs to dig deep in their soul, and to find a place that no one else could ever reach. Besides your definition of being at the bottom of anything you've ever been to, or a place that that's been really difficult. And for you to be, I guess you're humbled now to, to receive some type of help through that repentance. Kind of, kind of reminds me of when I needed to repent before going on a mission. And being poor in spirit was I had to dig deep in my soul and ask for repentance in places that I thought that were okay, that I was doing okay, when I really wasn't. And then it drew me closer to Christ even more prior to the repentance process. Poor in spirit. That's what I think it is.

Tammy 18:18

I just wrote all of that down. I've never considered poor in spirit the way you described it: to dig deep to a place where no one else has been, like your own. It's your own stuff you're taking care of here. Wow, Joe, I appreciate your definition of that. Well, Joe, you brought this up, and you said it reminds you of your repentance process before your mission. Look back at all the words we highlighted in verses 3-11 and let's just kind of walk through this really quickly. Because you, first thing you're poor in spirit, you dig deep. Then the second thing is "blessed are they that mourn." That fits, doesn't it?

Joe 18:54

It sure does. You talk about mourning. Man, I cried as if I've never cried before in my life, knowing that it could be forgiven. It's an amazing feeling. You know, He actually touches you in a way where everything is almost pure. It just penetrates your soul in a way that you'll never, ever forget. Repentance.

Tammy 19:34

Wow. Well, as you said that, Joe, I believe you. What a beautiful testimony of that. In fact, if we go into the next, or in, look at verse 5, then. "Blessed are the meek." I love the footnote for the word 'meek' down below. Miya, will you tell us what the footnote says for the word 'meek' in this context?

Miya 19:53

Sure. Meekness is defined as "gentle, forgiving, or benevolent." And it also says in here it "characterizes as the humble those who have suffered."

Tammy 20:06

Wow. I can absolutely testify that the repentance process requires suffering. I have felt that, and I have come out of the repentance process a lot more gentle and forgiving of other people and letting stuff go that's been done to me. Like that kind of was my experience to going through the repentance process of coming out more meek. But then how cool in 6! Now you're hungry and you're thirsting after righteousness, right? I don't know about you, but have any of you had that experience where you were forgiven and you walked out of the bishop's office thinking, "I'm never sinning again!" Until you're sent home, right, or said a swear word. But like, you're like, "I am, I'm never sinning again!" You just hungered and thirsted after righteousness, right? Agh.

Miya 20:56

Yes. Yes. I love that, I love the imagery, because that's so relatable. Yes,

Tammy 21:04

Definitely is. So take some time and kind of just look at these and go through the steps. We have, then you're merciful, then you're pure in heart, then you become a peacemaker. But you think, Oh, the next one, the last two are going to be even better, but they're hard. Then 10 and 11. And Miya, you read those for us. Tell me why they're hard. What could those two mean to someone who's repentant? Agh,

Miya 21:28

I think, well, one of the first things that comes to mind is that, well, you get tested for the things that you repented for, as well. It's not always that these things that you've repented of go away around you, especially if they're external things, and or maybe influenced you previously to do those wrong things. And so, as we develop these characteristics and adapt these Beatitudes into our lives through repentance, I believe in, in this, this idea, too, that we get tested to become stronger. Doesn't mean I like it, I just want to put that out there. I don't always like being tested. I'm always like, really? Why? But I understand too, that this is also I feel like an answer to me that I have changed when I can stick with, with what I changed, you know. And so it's, like I said, it's not always fun and easy. But it also I feel like it's a good benchmark, or like a reflection of how much I've progressed and changed in my life and I how hard I've worked to where I am with the Lord, where I am now.

Miya 22:48

And so, again, not always fun or easy, but it's I believe, there's, it's more than just you go through hard things just because, or it's more than that. And I think Heavenly Father is just trying to help us to see maybe a little bit better. Because sometimes when we are going through repentance, or when we recognize what we've done wrong, included with the mourning, there's, you know, godly sorrow, but there's also worldly sorrow. And so I think we to know the difference between the two, also can help us to better understand that we are changing, growing beings and that we can progress. And we can handle more of those things that come our way, that we were able to because we've taken these steps.

Tammy 23:43

Absolutely. Miya, will you read those two verses for us again?

Miya 23:47

Sure. Verse 10 "Blessed (or happy) are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Miya 23:57

11 "Happy are they when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."

Tammy 24:06

I want us to cross reference this verse with Third Nephi 12:11-12. And I'm going to read this because here's what it says. 12 ".....ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you".

Tammy 24:27

So great joy in heaven, and you will be glad for being persecuted. So I asked you guys a question way ahead of time before we ever met and I wanted you to think about this. And I'm just curious to know if Miya or Joe, have you been persecuted for righteousness' sake? Or do you know someone who has? Could you share a story about that? What does that look like in real time?

Miya 24:50

For me, as you when you asked us that question ahead of time, Tammy, one of the first things that came to mind was my podcast show. So I like I came on here with you Tammy before with my co-host Michelle, we just launched our podcast show "Love Your Lineage" through LDS Living and Deseret Book.

Tammy 25:10

So good, I highly recommend.

Miya 25:12

Thank you just had to put a plug in for that. But I can't talk about the show without remembering or being reminded of what it took to get this show together and figure it out, because it took a lot. And I mean, even before Michelle and I hit the record button for the first time with our producers Erica and Katie, we were met with so much opposition. Like sickness, even in the year we were successfully recording, me also I experienced death in my life and my family. And I mean, we had, there was financial issues, we were still in the middle of the pandemic. Like, there was so much going on. And I think because we were trying to do a good thing, not trying, we were doing a good thing and still are doing good things. We were met with so much opposition because of that.

Miya 26:08

And I remember, too, being self-conscious, or even feeling like I wasn't good enough to do this. And I was given so much strength and encouragement, though, as I not only turned to the Lord, but relied on those sources of true happiness of the spirit, of my personal revelation, as well as with the things that I've done in my life and being close to my community and family. And so that's, that's just one example I can really think of that is so prevalent right now. That even in making the show, we still have some obstacles we're trying to overcome in our personal lives as well as for the show. So yeah,

Tammy 26:58

Excellent example.

Joe 26:59

You know, thanks Miya for sharing. I, I'm fascinated by the prophets, and all the missionaries throughout the world who brought this gospel to where it is today. When I go to Salt Lake City I just, I don't know, I always want to go to the museum and look at all the history of all those who have persecuted and brought us here to a place that we are free to believe in our own religion, and freedom of speech, and just the freedom to worship, you know? And to have these multiple temples being brought out because of the persecutions, because of the sacrifice. And I look at my own culture and my own family, being in Hawaii and looking at the growth of the church because of the sacrifice of all of our ancestors have done. Miya has taught me well in that area of genealogy, how important it is. But that doesn't come without a price. And the price is that recipe. And I love the fact that the recipe in the end, make us become like Christ. So I, I, as I keep reading, what really makes us happy is having those attributes engraded in our soul where we become just like Him and appreciate the struggles and these times of unknowing of where we're going and what's happening in life. But in the end, we are rewarded, because we are blessed because of that eternal perspective.

Tammy 28:51

Gosh. As both of you were talking, all I kept thinking was, if anyone listening is in that persecution phase right now, you keep on keepin' on because you're doing something right. And Joe just testified of that, all the good that came from persecution, and it just, it's true. It is a gospel truth that good will come from it. Absolutely. So thank you to both of you. You're examples of the good that has come from persecution from this recipe. And again, Joe, how you said it helps us become more like Christ. That's the goal of this whole thing. So, fantastic discussion. Well, okay, so we have these Beatitudes here and if the Beatitudes are a recipe for righteousness, then in the next segment, we're going to discuss what might be the single most important part of any recipe in order for it to taste good and be complete. We'll do that next.

Segment 3 29:41

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Tammy 29:59

Okay, you guys, here we go for this segment. Grab the package that I had delivered to your home. Here we go. Open 'er up. There's no white powder, Joe.

Joe 30:10

Oh, thank goodness. (laughter)

Tammy 30:13

Okay, open up the package now. Okay, and then you're going to describe to everybody what it is that I sent you. So wait till Joe opens his.

Tammy 30:25

All right. Okay,

Joe 30:27

Bubble wrap off.

Tammy 30:29

Get the bubble wrap off

Joe 30:30

It is Kettle brand potato chips, unsalted.

Tammy 30:32

Yes, okay.

Miya 30:33

Unsalted

Joe 30:33

Yes. Okay,

Miya 30:35

Unsalted.

Tammy 30:36

Kettle Brand potato chips. Taste it, go ahead and taste one.

Tammy 30:39

Okay,

Tammy 30:40

so it is a potato chip

Miya 30:41

It's okay if I eat it with the microphone on?

Tammy 30:44

Please do, it's even better.

Miya 30:45

ASMR everybody? Yep, Okay.

Tammy 30:49

All right. Tell me. Tell me your experience with these potato chips. Good, bad? Is there something that would make it better?

Joe 30:59

Well, I, I love potato chips.

Tammy 31:04

LOVE potato chips.

Joe 31:05

So witha diet soda, you can't go wrong, you know? So, I liked the taste, the texture. The oils good. Everything's pretty good. Not too bad. I mean, I can't compare it to anything else because this is all I have in my hand right now.

Tammy 31:26

All right. Is it missing an ingredient? Is there anything that would make it better?

Miya 31:30

Yes.

Tammy 31:31

What?

Miya 31:33

Well, I, okay, everything my dad said I agree as well. I also love potato chips though I'd switch out a diet for maybe like a root beer or kombucha. But um, I, when I ate the chip, I was waiting for the saltiness that I usually like to feel and experience and taste in my mouth. And it wasn't there. So it was kind of like, I mean, I just want to tell everybody I'm really grateful Tammy you sent this to me. That was so nice because like my dad, I love chips. But you're asking, if you want my honest opinion I, yeah, I wish there was salt. I missed the salt?

Tammy 32:15

Ohhh, absolutely. Listen, I bought one for a bag for my family. And they all tried and they're like blah. Where's the salt? We threw them away. We didn't even finish the package cuz they were like, We need the salt. Joe, do you need the salt? Do you miss it? Yes or no?

Joe 32:30

Well, it said unsalted so I knew there was no salt, right. So I expected it to taste a certain way.

Tammy 32:36

Yep.

Joe 32:36

But, well, yeah. I would love to have a lot of salt even on my fries, you know? So yeah, bring the salt.

Tammy 32:44

Bring the salt. Okay. This is so perfect. If I was teaching this as a seminary class, I would have poured those in a big ole bowl and I would have let each kid come up and try one, and just just relished in their reactions, to see their faces. They'd be like, like my daughter, my 13 year old ate it. She was like, Agh, where's the salt? And I was like, that is the perfect reaction I wanted. I heard one time that salt, I heard a chef say that salt makes things taste like they were intended to taste, like that's why we need salt. It brings out the richness of the flavor. So let's turn to Matthew chapter 5. We're going to read verse 13. And we're going to see a metaphor the Savior uses that involves salt. He's the most brilliant when it comes to metaphors. Jesus just gets it. I bet he'd like chips with salt.

Miya 33:30

I love that.

Tammy 33:31

So good.

Miya 33:33

Bet He would too and we'd eat chips together; it'd be great.

Tammy 33:36

Chips and root beer, Miya. Now I know what to send you for your birthday. Joe, will you please read Matthew 5:13.

Joe 33:44

Sure 13 "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

Tammy 34:05

Thank you. Boy, right there. Throw those chips away according to that verse. No good, right? No good. Okay. Now here's something cool we're going to talk about with salt. We had last year Professor Ross Baron from BYU-Idaho. He taught us four things that salt does, and I have added a fifth. So there are five things that salt absolutely does. He said, salt preserves, it enhances, it cleanses, it heals. And then I added a new one from my own personal experience: it's buoyant, or offers buoyancy. (I wasn't quite sure how to write that.) We're gonna go through each one of these cuz I want us to think about this. This verse is talking about us - we are the salt of the earth. And if we are the salt of the earth, then we have the ability to preserve, enhance, cleanse, heal, and be buoyant.

Tammy 34:53

Now, I want to explain the buoyancy one for you really quickly. So I had the opportunity to go over to the Holy Land to Israel, and we went to the Dead Sea. And we floated in the Dead Sea. And it was unlike anything I had ever experienced, I was not prepared for what happened, I walked it. I mean, I knew it'd be salty. But I remember walking in and I just kept walking, I could not sink, Like I stood up straight and floated. And we were laughing because my brother-in-law, he, he fell on his back and he couldn't get up. He was like a turtle. We had to help him get up. It is, the mineral capacity is so dense that you cannot drown at all. With all that salt around you, you will be completely stabilized and you're not going to drown. So I want you to kind of think that in your mind, because I want us to go through these five aspects of salt and discuss them. I want you to tell me, if we are the salt of the earth, then, how do we preserve? What are we talking about there? What can we do as people?

Joe 35:53

I think preserving who we are, and what we represent is how the salt can relate to that perspective. Like the salt could be our Gospel, right, we preserve that. We enhance that. and you know, to a place where we protect it and own it. And, and it's, it's, it's we're definitely gonna preserve it. And what I liked about what Miya does, it's passed on to generations of time.

Tammy 36:32

Yes, I thought of that with Miya, too. We preserve our lineage.

Miya 36:35

Yes, thanks. Thank you, Tammy and dad. Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of was lineage and family, and the things that are most dear to us. I can't help but think of how I am a living result of what has been preserved. So my, my literal ancestors, those that have my DNA that lived and survived, and made it to where I am today so that I could be here. So their literal preservation is why I'm alive today, as well as the knowledge that we have from the scriptures, from science, technology, from everything around us. We are the beneficiaries of somebody taking the time to preserve those things. And so if that is what I get to read and experience and be blessed of or happy for and happy of, like I, it inspires me to want to be that preservation for future generations as well.

Miya 37:45

So, of course I'm huge on, as being you know, a genealogists and a nerd. I love writing things down about myself and my life and documenting it in any way that I can through my phone and camera videos, sound, pictures. I mean, you name it - writing things down through art, whatever. I love taking that time to do that, because I know with this indigenous thought - we talk about this a bit in my podcast, too, that - we understand indigenously that we have every choice, and every action we make affects seven generations back and seven generations forward. So because I understand this, what am I going to do now to be that goodness and that blessing, or that preservation for seven generations before me and seven generations after me? And one of the answers for me, personally, is to preserve myself and my happiness, as well as my life the best way I can so that the preservation stays good, that it can or it can be enhanced even more throughout time and bless those that are coming after me, like my little boy, and

Tammy 39:02

yeah

Miya 39:02

our, you know, future generations. And so, and, and tying it back to the Savior. He was the ultimate, He was the ultimate when it comes to preservation because His very own life, His mortal life, as well as His eternal life and ministry is the definition of what it means to not only preserve Himself, but preserve all of us. And all it takes is us following Him. And I just think that's the most, that's the best example, right? So

Tammy 39:38

yep

Miya 39:38

I love it.

Tammy 39:40

Oh, I just thought of that with Christ. When I think of preserves, I think of like bottling and I thought, Oh, He keeps us. He keeps us, He keeps us safe, puts us in this little glass bottle. We're still good. There's no bacteria in us, like He, it's perfect. I love that. So with this list of five things that salt does, tell me what one strikes you? How can, if you are the salt of the earth, how can you do one of these? We just talked about 'preserve' in a most beautiful way, is there another one that stands out to you?

Joe 40:15

I like the 'heals' because as a Polynesian, I, I've grown up loving the saltwater. And I surf in it and I live in it; all my children surf. We love the ocean. And it's a cleansing therapeutic place to be and it heals us. Whenever we get a sore you know, we always tell the kids and go the ocean, jump in the water and, and let the salt heal those wounds. And I, we still do it today. I was just at the beach the other day and I grabbed some saltwater and a little bit of sand and started washing my skin off and purified it. And I told my wife, See, we don't have to go buy all that expensive stuff that women use to clean their face. I'm doing it right here for free. You're crazy, get out of the water. I just, but heal, it heals. It really, really does. And that pierces your soul all the way through, through and through you know. And I love being around the salty water.

Tammy 41:23

Beautiful example. And the idea of us being able to do that for each other is powerful to be each other's saltwater, to heal each other. So. Oh, I like that. What about you, Miya. What one stands out?

Miya 41:35

Well, I was gonna say heals as well, dad. And I just want to add to that real quick before I say the other aspect of salt, that I want to highlight. So fun fact: me and my sisters were baptized at the beach at Hukilau Beach in Laie. And just as dad was talking, I was reminded that not only did I experience physical healing as a child, like dad said, being told you get a cut or you have a rash, whatever, literally anything - go swim in the ocean and go sit on the sand or get the sand and rub it on you and go swim and let the ocean heal you. But I literally had the healing, that water, that water. Like healing through being baptized in the ocean, and to have that be the first covenant I made. And in a body of salt water that reminds us as especially as we're talking right now, of the salt, THE salt, the Savior. I can't think of a better example of how powerful Christ is enough to heal each of us. And so, and like you said, not just to heal us, but we can also be that salt for each other. And that's just so beautiful.

Miya 42:52

But the the thing that I wanted to highlight was also cleansing.

Miya 42:59

Tell us about that.

Miya 42:59

Cleanse you, yeah. So, I'm not, I'm no scientist and stuff, I just remember being told that salt has that property. And so I, I just know that salt has that ability and it's worked for other people in different ways. And so I trust that, that it'll do that for me. And thinking of that in terms of again in family history, we learn, especially as we are the new ancestors, we are the people that will be ancestors one day, so how are we going to be good as sisters? And that starts with what we choose to do today. And part of that choice and those choosing and cleansing is asking yourself, what are things that no longer serve you or your family that you can let go of, that you can cleanse yourself of? And let me tell you, I've thought a lot about that, especially through therapy - shout out to my therapist, and every everybody else going to therapy - because it's the best and they help you to recognize those things in your life that not only need healing, but also need to be cleansed of you.

Miya 43:22

And so doing that good work is helping to change and transform who I am so that I can be not only cleaner in the way I treat other people or how I treat myself, but cleaner, even spiritually and how I commune with the Lord, and in repentance, in that transformation and letting the Atonement of Jesus Christ change you. And choosing to do that and to let the salt do that for you, again, is one of the best and most powerful things that I think anybody could ever experience. Because when you, when you make a mistake, no matter how grievious or deep it is, you can - at least in my experience - you just feel so filthy and dirty and you feel sometimes that you are beyond, you are beyond repair or beyond clean. Just there's no way coming back from this. Like I accidentally bleached my dress. How can I ever come back from this, you know, devastated. But more than just a dress, it's, we are, we are children of our Heavenly Parents who have given us this power to be cleansed through our Savior Jesus Christ. And I just wanted to testify that I know that that's real. And it's available for anybody and everybody who wants to and is ready to partake in that.

Tammy 45:37

I will second that, Miya. Thank you.

Miya 45:41

So, again, being married to my husband, he, he likes to describe how there's different kinds of salt. There's kosher salt, there's table salt, there's pink Himalayan salt, and sea salt. My favorite - Hawaiian sea salt, right? But I'm curious to know, I guess as I was reading these scriptures I was thinking, Do you think God had one particular salt in mind? Or do you think He acknowledges every kind of salt?

Tammy 46:11

Wow, that is such a good question. What do you think, Joe?

Joe 46:16

I think that, because we come from different cultures, there has to be different ingredients that adds a connection to the flavor that you could connect to. And I think, you know, God created this different salts based on different times in our lives, different moments, different cultures, different everything. But what's important is that salt, regardless of where it came from, how different tastes, the reactions that it provides, to preserve and all those other, those five things we talked about, are all going to be there for the individual to, to be blessed by, right? They'll be, they'll be able to preserve themselves, enhance, clean themselves ,and heal. But what a beautiful creation of different salts

Tammy 47:18

Yes,

Joe 47:19

that we could enjoy and still get the same outcome.

Tammy 47:24

Absolutely, Joe, I completely agree with you. In fact, here's a really cool cross reference we can put next to that verse "salt of the earth". I would put Leviticus 2:13. And you can also write Numbers 18:19. So again, that's Leviticus 2:13, or Numbers 18:19. And here's why you want this cross reference, because salt is - now listen to this - because I love the question you asked Miya. So get ready for this, all the different kinds of salt, are you ready for this?

Tammy 48:00

I'm ready

Tammy 48:00

Salt is also a token of the covenant. It was a part of every sacrificial ritual. So we don't care what kind of salt; we just need salt at every sacrificial ritual, because it was a symbol or part of the covenant. So you bet, all salt is welcomed. Everybody can partake of this ritual. Everybody can then make covenants with the Lord. So I think that is the coolest analogy, all the different kinds of salt. Everybody's welcome! He wants everybody at the sacrifice bringing their salt. Oh, that's so good. Wow.

Joe 48:39

And the beauty of it too, is in the end? No one drowns, we all float.

Tammy 48:46

Amen! We just might have to end the podcast right there. So good! You guys, see what happens when people ask questions? That's what I love. Boyd K Packer taught the moment a student asks a question, the Spirit enters the room. That's all you need. Ask questions. That was beautiful, you two.

Miya 49:03

Thank you.

Tammy 49:03

Thank you for asking that question, for having that discussion. Okay, so how cool was this metaphor, then! We just have this awesome metaphor about salt. So guess what we're going to do? Another metaphor. So in the next segment, we're going to talk about another metaphor and we're going to see if it's something that we all can relate to.

Segment 4 49:19

.....

Tammy 50:18

Okay. For this metaphor, everyone's going to need a yellow highlighter or a yellow marker or a yellow colored pencil or a yellow crayon. Something yellow, you're going to want that for this. Now in your scriptures bracket off and color in Matthew, chapter 5 is where we were, I want you to bracket off and color in verses 14-16. Just color all three of those verses yellow, as yellow as you can get it, so that when you turn to Matthew 5, or you're thumbing through your scriptures, I want it to stand out so bright. Because we have another really great metaphor that has to do with something bright. Okay, we're going to start with Matthew 5:14, and I will read that. It says

Tammy 50:57

5:14 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

Tammy 51:01

Now let's look at the footnote for the word 'light' down below at 1a. Before we can even move on in this metaphor, we have to understand who these verses are talking about. So Miya, tell us down below in the footnote, what does it say? Who is this verse talking about?

Miya 51:17

Yeah, so in verse 14, for the footnote, footnotea, it says the "Mission of early saints."

Tammy 51:26

Now, if you look up in the Topical Guide "mission of early saints", because I read that, and I was like, Oh, so it's just talking about the pioneers, like the people who, you know, before me, it is talking about them. And if you look up "mission of early saints" in the Topical Guide, it says, "House of Israel", for us. So this is speaking to all of us who are listening. So that's who this is about, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid." I can't tell you how many hundreds of times I have taught this verse of scripture to seminary students. And it just seems obvious, you're right, a city set on a hill cannot be hid. But whoa, until I actually was in Jerusalem and saw the makeup of the land. I didn't understand what that, this verse meant. And I will tell you, I got off the plane. On a bus, I was being taken to the hotel we were staying in, and as we drove there, in my mind I thought Jerusalem, or Israel was flat, just flat land. I didn't, I had no concept of what it might have looked like.

Tammy 52:28

And you guys, it is mountain and hill after mountain and hill, continuous, all the way till I got to the hotel. And on every mountain and every hill were cities: city upon city upon city. And all of a sudden, I remember the spirit said in my head, "A city set on a hill cannot be hid." I finally understand this. It took me as I was in my 50s to go, What! Jesus is so smart! And He's speaking to people who understand "city set on a hill." They're like, Yeah, you're right, it's true. You can't hide those, they're all over, they're on the hills, which also makes me realize Jesus was a hiker because He was walking. When, when you have, when you read about all the places He went back and forth, that guy can hike. Anyway. So we have right here a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. We totally get that. Now let's read verses 15 and 16. Miya, I read those for us.

Miya 53:18

Sure. Verse 15. "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."Verse 16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Tammy 53:36

Okay. Here's my question for both of you. I want to know, what do these verses personally mean to you? Because we know what they mean here. We get it on a very broad spectrum, but I want to know what do they personally mean to each of you? Do you guys have anything you can share about that?

Joe 53:52

As you guys were talking it kind of reminded everywhere I drive, like, I could see the temple in different places, you know. Every time I drive different states and everywhere, you could see the temple all the time and and I think He doesn't want it, He doesn't want us as candles to be hidden at all. He wants us to always be out there and sharing, you know, giving and providing light for others who don't even know what a light is, right? Or never seen it before, maybe.

Tammy 54:26

I've never considered, you're right about the temples. There's not a single temple that's hidden. Temples are never built in a quiet little corner where nobody can see them. I've never considered this verse for temples before, Joe. That is awesome. They're always where everyone can see them. Joe, you perfectly set this up and you didn't even know you did it because we're going to do a cross reference to those verses. And we're going to cross reference it to 3 Nephi 18:24. And Joe, I want you to read this for us. And I just think this is so cool, because in 3 Nephi 18:24, the Savior, He gives us more clarity and meaning on what that light actually is. And Joe, can you please read for us verse 24?

Joe 55:06

Sure. 24: "Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light, which you shall hold up ---that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed."

Tammy 55:25

There it is. How does that change the light? Yeah, tell me why you said, Wow.

Joe 55:30

Because it's exactly how I felt. And it defined it right there. He knew that we were going to understand this.

Joe 55:38

Yeah, you set it up beautifully. And so He is the light. Let's read this quote by Elder Henry B Eyring about this light and what it looks like for us in our everyday lives. Miya can you read this quote for us.

Miya 55:49

"Each time you choose to try to live more like the Savior, you will have your testimony strengthened. You will come in time to know for yourself that He is the light of the world. You will come to feel that growing in your life. It will not come without effort, but it will come as your testimony grows, and you choose to nurture it. He is the shear promise. From the Doctrine and Covenants: That which is of God is light. And he that receiveth light and continueth in God receiveth more light, and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. You will be a light to the world as you share your testimony with others. You will reflect to others the light of Christ in your life; the Lord will find ways for that light to touch those you love."

Tammy 56:36

Thank you. Do either of you have an example of someone who has been this light for you?

Miya 56:42

Yeah, I do. And it was, it was so easy to think about who, and she's pictured right here on my wall. And for those who, I mean, you can't see it, those listening you can't see. But it's me and my Grandma Theresa. She was one of those women who you meet her and you can't help but be doused in light. It's, it's just, you can't hide from her light. And it's not like a 'I'm here to expose you' kind of light. It's a 'I'm here to shower you with all my love kind of light.' And like she, as we've been talking about all of these things about the Savior, I'm just like, That's how my grandma was. And that's how she lived her life was she lived these Beatitudes and became them. And then she became this salt that seasoned and added such great flavor and all these other characters is of salt into our lives and into me being her grandchild, to my dad being her son in law and everybody else that she's talked to in the community.

Miya 57:54

You know, we talk about in the scriptures in verses 14, 15 and 16. The Savior starts with the light of the world. So on the grand scale of world and brings it to city and then brings it to candle. And when I think about my grandma, she started out as a candle. But as she grew more in love in her life, that light grew, as well as those who came to her. Like you talked, Tammy, about how people would, when you have light, they are attracted to you, they come to you. She built a city out of our family and about the community and her influence became a world for us and for everybody that has a chance to know her. And I think about that with the Savior. He has grown as a child, when He was born on this earth from that candle, to to that city and to the world and to the eternities.

Miya 58:49

And I just, I can't help but think how, again, with this recipe, that we can become that and it's not to, it's not to be showy or flashy, it's to invite and to be that warmth that light offers as well. And that comfort that safety and security to help you see what's happening around you, to help you know that there's others there with you. It's all of the above. And I just, my grandma was, was and still is a perfect example of that.

Tammy 59:25

Wow. Miya, thank you for sharing that. I want to meet your grandma. Oh, my gosh.

Tammy 59:29

Yeah, you will one day.

Joe 59:32

You know, I want to, I want to add on to this you know. And I have to because I love my mother-in-law. I love her like I love the Savior, cuz Miya, she hit it on the spot, man, it's like the Beatitude, the salt, everything we're talking about today is come. Reminds me of how she she walked it, she loved the Lord. And I married into this family because I gravitated to that. When I first met her before I married my wife, I knew I was in trouble. Because I ran away from the light most of the time. But I, I gravitated to this light and I knew that my wife-to-be was, if I was going to marry her, that I'm marrying the most incredible family because they love the Savior. Her sister, her brothers, all the cousins, they love the light. And you could taste the salt before we meet because you want more of it. The Beatitudes, you grow more when you're with/ around these people. And it's because they love the Savior and my children gravitate to it and they want to become like the Savior because we yearn for, we, we want to be around it all the time.

Joe 1:01:12

So I, I, I do lift my grandmother, my mother-in-law up to that highest standard. One that, you know, even though she left us last year, she's with us every day. And I have to testify, she still visits me because she loves me like the Savior does. And so I'm grateful to call her my mother-in-law, her favorite son-in-law. I have my other my other other brother-in-law's, but they, they're second and third place. Sorry, sorry, I have to mention that publicly, but that's just the way it is.

Tammy 1:01:52

You got to be honest, you just have to tell the truth. What a beautiful testament. And just the way you talk about her. Wow. And I'm so sorry for your loss. That is so hard. Okay, so we're just gonna move on then in the next segment. One of the things that Elder Eyring said in that quote was a testimony of the light of the world will not come without effort. And I think both of my guests know exactly what this means. And in the next segment, we're going to see an example of what that effort looks like.

Segment 5 1:02:27

....

Tammy 1:02:32

All right, let's jump back into Matthew chapter five. We're going to be in verse 17. And here's what I want us to do. In verse 17 it says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."

Tammy 1:02:47

Put a square around 'the law'. The law. Put a square around that, because Jesus is explaining something very important that has to do with effort. So "the law", in that verse is the law of Moses. So go ahead and just write that in a little space below that verse. He's talking about the law of Moses. He says, Think not that I am come to destroy the Law of Moses, or the law that you all have been living for so long. He says, I'm not coming to destroy that, or the prophets of old. "I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." So He's saying, I am here to now add to what you had, and make it even better. But they don't like that. So He's going to tell 'em a little bit more, and this next verse in 18, He says,

Tammy 1:03:30

18 "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, [not] one - and I added 'not' but it doesn't, it just says "one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Now, verse 18, is one of my all time favorite verses because when I learned what this meant in Hebrew, it was one of those "Are you kidding me?" moments. Like, what? So this is a fun verse. Verse 18, says again, for verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot"; K.,circle the word jot. Now this is kind of cool, because in Hebrew the word jot is IOTA. You guys ever used that, iota, or heard the word iota?

Tammy 1:03:30

Yeah, I've heard the word before.

Tammy 1:03:31

I've heard people say "one iota". If you'd like, they, like they're serious. Like, I'm not like, not one iota I'm going to miss or anything like that. Maybe? I don't know. I thought I've heard that before. But the word jot means iota. Like the small, and this is what it is. It's the smallest Greek letter. That's what a jot is, the smallest Greek letter. Now if the Savior is saying this, remember, He's not speaking Greek. He would have been referring to a Hebrew letter. And the smallest Hebrew letter is a YOD. I'm going to show you what this is. For those of you listening, go to our show notes so you can see the Hebrew alphabet. And you can see what we're talking about with this word, jot. But then there's another word, tittle, in that verse, the word tittle. So this is an English word that represents the Greek meaning, KERAIA. Yeah. And that means the horn or a projection or a small stroke used to distinguish one letter from another. Now in Hebrew, though, this is so cool.

Tammy 1:05:07

Okay, so you guys can see this right here. That's what a YOD looks like. It's the smallest little letter. There's the Hebrew alphabet, and it reads right to left. So on the very top line, if you go all the way over to the last letter on the top, on your left, that's a YOD. See how tiny that is. So He's saying not one YOD. Not even, I'm going to include the smallest letter. But then a tittle is what makes letters look different, because some of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet look the same except for a tittle, a little tiny thing that flips up on the edge of the, at the top of the letter, do you see those? So it's like a serif font, like it just kind of is a brush stroke up, or a brush stroke out, that makes the letters look different. And if you don't know those and you can't differentiate, you would think that all the letters kind of look the same. But a trained eye, somebody who knows the Hebrew alphabet, I can look at letters and go, Oh, that is a HE, or that is a HIT. Different things.

Tammy 1:06:07

So it's kind of cool when you read verse 18. He's saying not one jot or one tittle shall, in no wise pass the law. He's like, I'm not going to forget any aspect of the Law of Moses when I fulfill it. Like, I'm going to make sure we cover everything and include it. So last year when we studied the Old Testament, we learned about the law of Moses, and it was all in anticipation of Christ coming. Now Christ is here. The purpose of the law of Moses was to lead people to Christ. Now He's here, and He's saying, 'Okay, I'm going to take the opportunity now to teach you. Yes, you've been living the law of Moses. But now let's live a higher law, Let me fulfill that. And I'm going to remember everything, don't worry, it's going to all be covered. But just listen to what I have to say.' Now, I want you to predict for me, as He starts to explain fulfilling the law, how do you think the Jews would have reacted?

Miya 1:07:05

Well, I think about traditions, and when you keep a tradition for so long, it's just ingrained,. It's almost like natural, it becomes you. And then to have something come along and challenge or ask that tradition to change. The natural reaction is like, how could you ask me to do that? Like, do you even know what you're asking of us? Like, how dare you kind of thing. And so it's, it's a real challenge to ask something that has been around for generations to change. And then to have this guy, Jesus come in telling these guys who uphold tradition, you know. In the scriptures, we hear all the time, Who are you? Like, who is God? Who, What are you asking of us? And so that's, that's what I think their reaction is, and what, and if I was them? I would react that way.

Tammy 1:08:01

You are totally right. And so we're going to jump in to just three of the laws that He's going to mention. Now there's a lot more. And so when we're done, if either one of you had one that stood out to you, I'd love for you to say, Well, this was one that struck me, okay. So we're going to cover three and if you feel like there're more. Go with me to Matthew chapter 5. One of the things, He will start by saying,every time He presents an old law, He will say, look at Verse 21 and underline that. It says, "Ye have heard that". That's how He'll start that out. You'll see that again in verse 27. Turn the page, verse 33, "Ye have heard that"; verse 38, "Ye have heard that"; and verse 43, "Ye have heard that". So He's saying, "Ye have heard that", and then He'll explain the law, then He's going to give the new definition of how they should live it. So one of the first ones we're going to do is verse 21 and 22. Miya, can you please read that for us?

Miya 1:08:57

Sure. 21 "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.

Miya 1:09:07

22 "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire."

Tammy 1:09:24

Okay, let's mark the word 'Raka'. R A C A. And here's what this word means. RAKA is Aramaic, and it means empty or worthless. So when you're saying raka to someone, you're saying to them, you are worthless. It's labeling someone as a fool or any other criticism like that. And it's forbidden by the Lord in this verse. So He's saying, 'Yeah, I know you're not supposed to kill. But what I'm saying to you, don't even be angry. Don't even call anybody something that just lessens their worth.' Isn't that like, Ahhh..That just hits you at the heart, doesn't it? Even, that includes driving, people.

Miya 1:10:03

That was the first thing I thought of. I was like, oh, road rage, right?

Tammy 1:10:06

I know, right? Guilty. Okay, so there we go, there's the higher law. Let's do another one: verses 27 and 28. Joe, will you read those two verses for us?

Joe 1:10:16

27 "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

Joe 1:10:24

28 "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

Tammy 1:10:34

Okay. Obvious higher law. Yes. Joe, go ahead, you look like you have a comment.

Joe 1:10:40

Um, it seems like the Lord knew that premeditation, before the action, is already, you're, that's gonna take you there. You know, it's like running the red light, right? You're gonna say, Hey, I'm gonna beat this light. But when it turns red, and you still cross it, you still got to pay the price, you know. And so it's kind of like the pre-meditation before the light, he's like I better stop. Because if I hit, if I cross it, either I'm gonna hurt myself, hurt some other people, or whatever. So the Lord is telling us to stop right there. Don't move further than that thought, because that action is definitely going to take you in the wrong places.

Tammy 1:11:27

Wow. I just wrote that right next to that verse, Joe. "I'm gonna beat the red light." And then I put STOP in capital letters. You're totally right. I'm gonna beat that red light. No, you won't. Eventually you'll get caught. Eventually. You might be one. But oh, that's a good one, Joe.

Miya 1:11:48

That is a good one, Dad.

Tammy 1:11:49

Let's do one more. Here's the last one I have. And this is found in verses 33-37. We are not going to read all the verses, but I just want you to mark them. Starting in verse 33 it says, "......Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths." And then verse 34, "......I say unto you, Swear not at all;". Okay. This one is very interesting, because to forswear, or swearing as it's talking about in these verses, means you're not allowed to take an oath or make a commitment in the Lord's name. Now, this was a very common practice in Old Testament time. Any time you took an oath, it was normal that you in order to authorize the procedure, you would have to have a legal contract, but they wouldn't write anything and sign it like we do today. They would swear in God's name that what they were about to do would be law. It was very, very serious. And if you want to read more about it, we have it in our show notes.

Tammy 1:12:50

But back then, in Old Testament time and up until this point in New Testament, an individual's word could not be trusted. So in order to protect themselves, people came to assume that those with whom they did business were not completely honest or honorable in their dealings. And so they would then swear on God's name, which gives whole new context to the third commandment, which says you're not supposed to take the Lord's name in vain. It's referring to oaths. Do not commit to doing anything in God's name if you're not really going to do it. Now one of the earliest examples we can see of this, it's kind of cool, is in the Book of Mormon when Lehi and his brothers go to get the plates from wicked Laban, and Laban is killed. And Nephi leaves with Zoram, and Zoram follows him thinking it's Laban and realizes it's not. It's so incredible. In fact, we can even go there. Look at 1 Nephi 4:32. Up to this point, Nephi and his brothers went and got the plates from wicked Laban, Laban is killed, and Zoram follows Nephi out of the city. And then Zoram realizes who Nephi is, and Nephi grabs him and holds him back. And then he makes an oath with Zoram, and here's the oath wording in verse 33. To me, we read that for us.

Miya 1:14:07

32 "And it came to pass that I spake with him, that if he would hearken unto my words, as the Lord liveth, and as I live, even so that if he would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life."

Tammy 1:14:18

That wording right there "as the Lord liveth, and as I live,". Hugh Nibley says that is the oath of all oaths. That's what this is talking about: swearing on the Lord's name, that you will absolutely promise something, and you're going to be good for it. So right here, going back to Matthew chapter 5, they are saying you have heard of old time it's been said, Thou shalt not forswear. The footnote down below says you shall not "break your oath or perjure yourself". That's what it means. So don't break your oath, don't perjure yourself.

Tammy 1:14:18

And in verse 34 He's saying, "But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne". Look, don't even make promises in God's name if you can't keep them, because if you can't keep it, Double Trouble. Like, it is not going to be good for you. So that's what that means right there about the swearing and forswearing. I just think that's really awesome because I, and it's kind of crazy, because look at 36. It says,

Tammy 1:15:13

Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black." And you're like, what? Okay, what that means is, you can't have any control about what's going to happen about/with your life if you're going to be alive or dead tomorrow, that's what that means. You don't know what's going to happen. So just don't swear at all because you might die and you wouldn't be able to live a true on the oath that you made. So I think that's, I love learning about this so much. Okay. Well, with all of that change and living the higher law, in the next segment, we're going to learn about the highest and fastest way of all to live and warning, it does have potential for despair. Just going to tell you that right now. We're going to discuss that in the next segment. And hopefully, we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Segment 6 1:15:59

.....

Tammy 1:16:23

All right, let's go to Matthew 5:49. Here is the highest and bestest way the Lord is going to ask us to live. Miya, will you read verse 48 for us.

Miya 1:16:32

Sure. 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

Tammy 1:16:38

Okay, now why would this cause feelings of despair? Why would I have said that?

Miya 1:16:44

Oh, well, I mean, I for myself as one who has suffered for many years as a perfectionist, the word perfect gives you, can give you a lot of anxiety, because it's, it's a standard that maybe you have a righteous desire to obtain. But the way we do it, and how we can sometimes become so fixated on it is not always the healthiest. And so I think that's where a lot of the grievance comes in with misunderstanding, not only what that word means, but what it means to Heavenly Father and what it should mean for all of us.

Tammy 1:17:23

Oh, yeah. Fantastic answer. What about you, Joe?

Joe 1:17:27

I look at that 'perfect' as a skill. The Lord wants us to be very skillful like He was, you know, and approach things with everything you have. So you can become who He wanted you to become. And even in the church, right? In order to go on missions you had, it's good that you learn the scriptures, it's good that you behave, it's good that you service and help those in the community. And so those are all skills, you know, and carpentry, anything that could help you become a better missionary. And then else as you know, in our professions, right? If you become skillful in anything, you'll become a perfectionist in that area. So He wants us to be perfect like Him in that area, is to be Christ-like so we can become like Him and enjoy what we've started in the beginning, is to be eternally happy. Yeah?

Tammy 1:18:24

Yeah. Well, I wrote that next to that verse, to be skilled in that area. That's good, Joe. I thought this was a fun quote from Elder Holland about this specific verse. He said this in a talk callYe Therefor Perfect, Eventually". So this is kind of fun. Miya, can you read this quote from Elder Holland?

Miya 1:18:45

Sure. "Then the final commandment in the chain is sure to finish the job. Be ye therefor perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. With that concluding imperative, we want to go back to bed and pull the covers over our head. Such celestial goals seem beyond our reach. Yet surely the Lord would never give us a commandment He knew we cannot keep. Let's see where this quandary takes us."

Tammy 1:19:10

Okay. So let's go to the word 'perfect'. We're just going to mark it, and here's what we need to know about it. So it's translated from the Greek word TELOS, which means complete. It's the infinitive form of the verb, that is, teleono. And that word means to reach a distant end, to be fully developed, to consummate or to finish. Now, isn't that interesting when you read the word 'perfect' now? Be ye therefore complete, or be ye therefore fully developed. So this is really interesting. And you can cross reference that verse with 3 Nephi 12:48, because what I want us to recognize something that I find very comforting is that the Savior did not include Himself in this verse. He says, "Be ye therefore perfect,even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." But in 3 Nephi 12:48, when he appeared to the Nephites as a resurrected being, then look what He says. Joe, will you read that verse for us.

Joe 1:20:14

3 Ne 12:48 "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."

Tammy 1:20:25

So the implication there that being a celestial or resurrected being has something to do with that level of perfection. So I think this is such a good, for me, it's comforting to know that, like you said, Joe, we're working on it. It's a skill. We're becoming better in all aspects of our life by going through the recipe, becoming salt, becoming light, everything we've described, ultimately, to become like Jesus. But we'll never be complete or fully developed until we're resurrected beings. That is when we become perfect. Can we all just breathe? Ahhhh, good. So I sent you another portion of Elder Holland's talk and I asked you to read this quote before we met, so that you could talk to us a little bit about it cuz I have a really good question. So here's more of his talk that I just wanted us to read. Okay, here we go. Joe, let's just have you read it. You read the first paragraph and Miya read the second paragraph.

Joe 1:21:27

Okay. "Around the church, I hear many who struggle with this issue. 'I am just not good enough. I fall so far short, I will never measure up.' I hear this from teenagers. I hear it from missionaries. I hear it from the new converts. I hear it from the lifelong members. One insightful Latter-day Saint, Sister Darla Isaacson, has observed that Satan has somehow managed to make covenants and commandments seem like curses and condemnations. For some he has turned the ideals and aspirations of the gospel into self-loathing, and misery and making.

Miya 1:22:08

"What I now say in no way denies or diminishes any commandment God has ever given us. I believe in His perfection, and I know we are His spiritual sons and daughters with divine potential to become as He is. I also know that as children of God, we should not demean or vilify ourselves, as if beating up on ourselves is somehow going to make us the person God wants us to become. No. With a willingness to repent and the desire for increased righteousness always in our hearts, I hope we could pursue personal improvement in a way that doesn't include getting ulcers or anorexia, feeling depressed or demolishing our self esteem. That is not what the Lord wants for Primary children, or anyone else who honestly sings "I'm trying to be like Jesus"."

Tammy 1:22:54

Thank you. Okay, you two. So I want to know, what advice would you give to someone who struggles with this idea of being perfect? who maybe beats themselves up?

Miya 1:23:07

Yeah, for me, well, let me just be completely transparent about this, too. I still beat myself up. I still struggle with not feeling good enough at times, or just not feeling like I measure up. That impostor syndrome is very prevalent in my life at times. But I say that because not only do I acknowledge that, but I also have been working on it for years. And so when I say how I've worked on it, it's, and how I've gotten this far, it's because it's taken a long time to develop this skill, this, develop this perspective understanding of who I really am.

Miya 1:23:49

So one of the things that's helped me a lot is having community and surrounding myself with people who love me and know me, and I know that they're safe spaces for me. Because if I can understand that, that they are that for me, then I can trust them when they tell me that, 'You actually are doing a really good job', or 'You are a lot better than you think.' And they give, I mean, you know, I'm thinking of my dad, right? And I think about my mom and my siblings and my friends and my husband. They all give great, honest feedback. They tell me, they tell me like it is, you know, just, they tell it like it is and like, 'You're doing a lot better. Don't worry, or, Actually, yeah, you need to fix this because this is not good.' But you know, it, it helps to know when you have people surround you that can be that accurate mirror to you. That has helped me so much. And it's taught me to trust them and trust what they say when I can't trust myself at times.

Miya 1:24:54

And, for example, one of my best friends Michelle, again, my co-host on our show, she I was telling her one time how I was really struggling with seeing the good that I had to offer or just what, just myself. And she said, I really wish you could see what I see. And every time you start beating yourself up, I want you to think about what I see. And then she told me, I see this in you. I see how great you are and I love all these aspects of who you are as an individual. And it inspires me and it gives me so much happiness and joy. You're sunshine, and you know, I in that moment, I was like, Okay, but you know, the spirit has reminded me, No, listen to what your best friend is telling you. And listen to what your family has been telling you. And ultimately, as I've worked on correcting this, this negative belief in myself, I've also heard the spirit a lot more in my life. And ultimately, I want to see how God sees me. I want that because I have tasted that, that perspective. I've tasted His love and boy, does it taste good. It makes, it's like the best kind of, it's one of the best feelings I think anyone can ever have.

Miya 1:26:08

And so having community that lets you to not only see yourself, but gives you the lenses to see how God sees you, I think can help cure this, this, this desire or this pattern that you have in belief to constantly beat yourself up. That has been for me, at least that's been one of the best ways I've found peace in developing and growing to become whole and complete, like God wants me to.

Tammy 1:26:42

Thank you for being transparent. That is exactly what we needed to hear. Thank you. What about you, Joe? What's your advice?

Joe 1:26:50

You know, Satan has a job. And his job is to make us feel miserable, frustrated, making us feel like we just, we're going to fall short like we've talked about earlier. We don't measure up to nothing. He is definitely one who cognitively just after us non-stop. And that's because if you really understand, you know, before we came to this earth, what happened, and what his mission is, and why he wants us to feel this way. We have to believe that we are better than that. We've, Christ has come to remind us that, you know,He has His foot on his face. And his you know, he cannot beat us. He cannot overcome us. He can't talk us down. He can't you know, you, you are not allowed to enter into any fiber of my life because I am a child of God. And to believe that all of these things that Miya's saying, she's been haunted by, by this, you know, for years. But now that she's starting to believe that, hey, you know what, I am strong. I have skills. I believe in the Beatitudes, I have salt. I have a family, you know, that's protected her community. This is all because of the light that we gravitate to more and more and more. And I think the little things that Mia needs to recognize now is that she needs to tell herself this more than the voice that tells her that she isn't. Yeah, and I fight that ever since I was growing up in in, you know, in poverty and places in the city and fighting my way through all of that and you know, a lot of negativity, but it's it's your voice, the voice that the Lord gives you to overcome that other voice, you know, with Satan. So going back to the recipe. We found it tonight. We've recognized it. So thank you.

Tammy 1:29:10

Wow, Joe, thank you for setting all of this up. That is it. That's it. That's exactly what this whole episode is about. So you guys are awesome. We're done. That's the end of it. Wow. Okay, so just take a quick minute, gather your thoughts and share with us, is there anything, a takeaway, anything that stood out to you ?You get to give it to me in one sentence, just something you're going to take away from today's discussion or that struck you and you're like huh. Or that you wrote down or anything like that. When you got it just hit it.

Miya 1:29:46

Okay, I think I have one so hopefully it can go on one. Tammy, at the beginning of the episode you asked some really good questions about happiness: if we are happy? or When was the last time you were happy? And to be honest, before getting on this call, I was just crying my eyes out. I've, I've been struggling a lot with some things in my life. And my dad knows, and we talk about it a lot. But just feeling a lot of depression and anxiety as well as just struggling with understanding or even remembering who I am and all these things. It hasn't been easy, so I just want to acknowledge that. I love talking about happiness, but sometimes in our lives, and if for anybody else listening, sometimes you're just not happy. And even if you're doing everything that God's asking you to do, sometimes you're just not. But I was reminded tonight in our discussion that it's okay if you're going through it. That there really is still, there is still light. If you feel like you can't be a light, there's still light around you or from people that you love and know. And, of course from your Savior. And I think, of course, about my grandma, my ancestors and how they gather around me. I think about many times in my life when I've been surrounded by light, what I felt like my light was turned off.

Miya 1:31:28

But as I've gone through things, I've remembered how I can still, I can still move forward, even when you're not really maybe always feeling the happiness, and that the Savior is there to to offer you His hand to walk you through, to to know that He is there. He understands and He validates as well as He is just like dad said, like He knows every part of who you are. And it's turning to Him that we can experience that wholeness, even when you don't feel like you're whole in your mind or in your heart or in your body. And I just, I just want to testify that as one who's going through it right now that I've been through it before. I've made it out on the other side before, too. And I'm reminded that I can because I've done that before. And because I've seen others in my life experience and be that power and that light. I can, I can get to there again. It's totally possible. It may take a lot more time than I want. But it,it'll come. And I just, I have to hold on to the things that we've talked about tonight, because again, they are true, they are real. And I just wanted to share that for anybody who may be listening, going, or maybe experiencing it and can relate to what I've talked about.

Tammy 1:33:03

Wow, Miya, thank you for testifying of that. And when you said you testified of it, I felt that that was solid. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Joe, any takeaway from you.

Joe 1:33:16

I just want to tell the listeners that, you know, listening to my daughter, and letting her know that, you know, Christ has really gone through what you're going through. And He feels you. And he really loves you. Because you're going through it. He went through it. You're going through exactly what He went through. And even when I hear Tammy's story too, about how she yearned for a companion, and He's gone through that. He totally knows what you're saying and what you're feeling and what you're going through. He just really wants us to be happy. And I just wanted to let everyone know that He does heal because we, we are His salt. And He's our salt.

Tammy 1:34:19

Amen.

Joe 1:34:20

And I thank you.

Tammy 1:34:21

Wow. Thank you, both of you. Wow, I love you both so much. I just, I mean, I have so many notes in here. I have so many things that say Joe, Miya, Joe in my scriptures. I can't wait to come back years from now and read these and go, Oh, I loved it when he said that. I'll back up everything you said. I want to testify that what Miya and Joe have shared today is 100% true. And I am thankful for the testimonies that they bore consistently throughout this episode. And you can feel the spirit, you know it and I feel it because I'm happy. And that's what I love. I believe that because the Scriptures teach it and every time I feel happy, I know it's the Spirit. And so today's lesson on the Beatitudes, we have been happy. So thank you for bringing the Spirit both of you. I love you. You guys are awesome. That's it.

Tammy 1:35:08

Wow, you're awesome.

Miya 1:35:10

Thank you, Tammy.

Miya 1:35:10

Enjoy your day, I love you both.

Joe 1:35:12

Love you, guys. Bye.

Tammy 1:35:17

Okay, well, I'm anxious to hear what your big takeaway is or what you learned from this episode, or maybe answers to the questions we asked. So, here's the deal. If you haven't already joined our discussion group on Facebook or on Instagram, go do it. Go join, because it's such a great place to ask questions as you study. People answer throughout the week, I try to answer. And then at the end of the week, on a Saturday, we post a call asking you a question from this episode. And I can't wait to hear how you're going to answer this week's. So, comment on the post that relates to this lesson and let us know what you've learned.

Tammy 1:35:46

You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode on LDS living.com/sunday on Monday and it's not a bad idea to go there anyway. It's where we're going to have the links to all the references as well as a transcript of this whole discussion and a really great glue-in about jot and tittle that you're going to want in your scriptures.

Tammy 1:36:03

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 are awesome, fantastic, superb study group participants were Miya Moto Wilson Jensen and Joe Wilson. And you can find more information about my friends at LDS living.com/sunday on Monday. Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me; it is edited by Hailey Higham, and recorded and mixed by Mix at Six Studios. And our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom. Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week.

Tammy 1:36:34

And, oh please remember, because it was echoed many times in this lesson: He loves you, because you're his favorite.

Tammy 1:36:43

Oh, I'll make a Happy Meal tomorrow.

Joe 1:36:47

With a Sunday so you could dip your fries, yeah.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai