Being a Disciple of Christ

Today we welcomed a new sister, Jenny Fisher. She and her husband just moved to our ward from the Liberty ward. She said she is from South Korea. So be sure and say "hi" to the Fishers! We also had Renae Skidmore visiting who has put an offer on a home in our ward. She and her husband have four children; two remaining in the home. A sophomore boy who plays football for Centennial and a daughter who is 11 turning 12 soon (I believe). 

Sister Robyn Wilson taught our lesson on being a disciple of Christ. 

We identified some spiritual illnesses we may struggle with from time to time. They included: doubts of faith, a struggle with a point of doctrine, a clash with a spiritual leader, feeling offended, or not feeling worthy

She pointed out that the healing power of Christ is still here on the earth.

Acting as a disciple of Christ can help us bring the light of the doctrine of Christ to others.

Love is the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ. (I think that was a quote but I'm not sure who said it)

We talked about the importance of acting on any good impression or thought. Gracie Newbern was a disciple of Christ when she went and visited Courtney Wilson in the hospital and helped cheer her up. Alicia Peterson's friend, Denise, was a disciple of Christ when she called and offered to transport children during a stressful and overwhelming day. Daniel Andersen, Henry Nally, and Lanie Wright were disciples of Christ when they treated a classmate with difficulties with kindness on their field trip. 

It was pointed out by our visitor Renae that one way we can realize how we can serve others is to look up from our own lives. So often we get busy and are so involved in our own activities that we forget to look up. She likened it to hiking and looking down the whole time and not even realizing the beauties of the world around you.

Praying for opportunities to serve, like Brother Bobby Miller of the Sunrise Mountain ward, will also help us to recognize opportunities to serve. 

We identified the doctrine of Christ as: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

Sister Wilson shared a quote she got from Brother Eastman during the teacher development class. It offers a different view of what repentance is for most of us, most of the time:

"Every time we turn more to Christ, we are repenting—we are following Him. When we sincerely pray to the Father, in a very real sense we are repenting. When we read the scriptures and ponder them, we are repenting. As we make changes because of what we are learning about Christ and His gospel, we are repenting. When we do things that make us better, kinder, gentler, more sensitive, more spiritual, more virtuous, and truer, we are repenting. Whenever we choose the better path, we are repenting. Though we all repent of things that are sinful in our lives, most of our repenting comes from hearing His words and doing them—from turning to Him. This builds our foundation, and we want that foundation to be as big and as wide and as deep and as sturdy as possible." by Weatherford T. Clayton of the Seventy

In conclusion Sister Wilson showed a picture of the pioneers pulling their handcarts and asked us to imagine the difficulties they faced and then had this quote by Elder M. Russell Ballard shared:

"The Lord isn't asking us to load up a handcart. He is asking us to fortify our faith. He isn't asking us to walk across a continent. He's asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn't asking us to give all of our worldly possessions to build a temple. He's asking us to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn't asking us to die a martyrs death. He is asking us to live a disciples' life." 

CHALLENGE: What is one thing we can each do this week to be a better disciple of Christ?