2 Jan 2021, Saturday

 2 Jan 2021, Saturday

Prioritized Daily Task 

This mornining while reading scriptures in D& C this morning Debbie and I read Section 117 this morning and looked up the meaning of Nicolaitane band in verse 11 in lds.org, (marked through or edited out in https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/d4yo7c/what_was_the_nicolaitane_band/)

“Whitney was being chastised for not selling his Kirtland property so he could go live in Zion. The second greatest sin in Mormonism (second only to not obeying your priesthood leaders "who speak the words of the Lord") is withholding money from the church.”

Newsletter from Bishop Yates in Lehi 7th Ward

_{Prayer is also a form of repentance. The primary focus of our prayers should be for us}

_{to align our will with that of our Father. This usually requires that we allow our hearts to}

_{be changed. There are so many things that happen in our lives that our mortal minds}

_{are not able to comprehend. We want things to make sense to us, so we ask for our}

_{circumstances to be different. There is nothing wrong with expressing our own}

_{personal desires with Him. Nor should we feel that we can’t express frustration and}

_{disappointment when we are faced with difficult trials. The key to dealing with hard}

_{things is to be able to apply the atonement and exercise faith. The Lord's way is}

_{always the way that will bring us closer to Him. I love the story in the New Testament}

_{of the father who approached the Savior with his ailing child and pleaded for help. The}

_{Savior said: “...all things are possible to him that believeth.” This desperate father’s}

_{response should echo in our ears and be repeated by our mouths frequently. “Lord, I}

_{believe; help thou mine unbelief.”}

_{Prayer is most effective when coupled together with scripture study and meditation. It}

_{is easy to feel like the Lord has forgotten us when we are pleading for answers, but}

_{none come. We learn an important lesson from the words that He gave to Oliver}

_{Cowdery in the 9th section of The Doctrine and Covenants. Oliver had asked for the}

_{ability to translate the Book of Mormon. He was acting as the scribe for Joseph and}

_{became fixated on obtaining the gift that had been given to the prophet. The Lord}

_{corrected him in verse 7; “you have supposed that I would give it unto you when you}

_{took no thought save it was to ask me.” Answers to prayers can come to us in many}

_{ways. Sometimes it is a simple prompting of the Spirit that brings peace to your}

_{mind. Other times, key people come along in our life to help guide us through. The}

_{key to receiving answers however is to not stop asking. “You must study it out in your}

_{mind.” He expects us to put in the work if we truly have a desire to know.}

_{May you all have a happy and healthy 2021!!}

_Love,

_{Bishop Yates}