← Don't Miss This Study
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- [00:00]
A
Hi, everyone. I'm Dave Butler.
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I'm Grace Freeman.
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Welcome to. Don't miss this, our weekly Come follow.
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Me scripture study class.
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Grace wanted a whole lot of extra words in the beginning because she has that new fancy microphone. Yeah.
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B
Just feeling like I needed to practice.
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In front of you. So any more words?
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B
I'll start with that.
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A
Okay.
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B
Thank you.
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A
All right, y', all, we hope that whatever we talk about today, we're going to point out, actually, we have this new idea for today. It's kind of. Kind of exciting if you're in our world. Grace and I both picked our three best spots from today's reading. They could be lines. They could be full verses. They could be a couple verses linked together. Because one of mine is. I don't know if that was part of the rules, but I have one of those. Okay, good, good, good, good. Right.
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B
So that's okay.
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A
And so we don't know what they are yet. We're going to go back and forth and point out. We just want to inspire and activate like that. Whoa. Those were, like, really great words to use. We want just inspire with the scripture stories, but then also, like, think about ways that we can talk about these with friends and family and. And how do we live out what the scriptures are actually teaching? So we're. We're super excited that you're here with us. We have two fun things to tell you before we start. These do not count as my three things. Sorry, five today. Number one, I don't know when you'll watch this, but on September 17th, good news. Brand Co is doing a outdoor concert. We're like, the tagline for it is one last night of summer. Because, you know, it ends and you're like, wait, school starts. You're. I. I want one more night under the stars. So it's going to be this concert. Uplifting Faith concert. Picnic blankets, camp chairs, food trucks out on the grass. Go to good newsbrandco.com get your tickets. We are super excited. Little mini messages. Grace is going to speak. I'm going to speak. We have some of the best singers in Utah. We're. We're super excited. A live band. I wish I was in the live band and not the speaker.
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B
Maybe if we're really lucky, David will do.
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I might do a little bit. A little bit on this. On the stage, everybody. So that is super exciting. Second, I don't even know if I'm allowed to show this. I don't know why I wouldn't be allowed. Because you're the boss. The boss. This. You guys, yesterday just got Next Year's. Don't miss this journal. Have you seen it? Yeah, I think yesterday from the printer.
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B
It's unreal.
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I. This is my best journal we've done this year. We did digital, and too many people were like, we can't do digital. We need the paper. And so we're. We're back. And I, like, I'm watch. I'm smarter about the Old Testament already. Like, that just happened.
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B
Like, seriously didn't read one word.
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Didn't need to.
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I just looked at it.
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I'm not going to show you all the details in this today. We got them in time for Swiss Day, so I think Swiss Day's already ended. We were recording this before it, so. But now they're available. Available. The official launch hasn't started, but they're available. And. Oh, my gosh, David can't even finish.
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B
Recording the episode because he's going to look through that book for the next 15 minutes.
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It's just reminding me how much I love the Old Testament.
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B
Oh, we can't wait.
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I. The doctrine confidence is great. Because it's great.
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My favorite. In September. Like, we have a lot of months left.
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I don't. Listen, listen. I don't know if I can wait. We might. Next week might be Genesis 1.
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We do duo start early.
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I'm so excited for the Old Testament. We. If you feel intimidated by the Old Testament, don't you worry. We're going to do it together. It's one of surprisingly, I think, the most inspiring books. It teaches you, man, so much about the character and the heart of God. It's. It's fantastic. We're so excited. So this just came. More on that in future days. Okay.
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B
Get excited.
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A
Yeah. You ready?
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Yeah.
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I feel like back to the Doctrine Covenants.
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B
I feel like you should go first.
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I just talked for a really.
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I know, but I just remembered that my first one's not, like, early on, so I feel like you should. All right, I think you should lead off, because I bet your first one's earlier than mine.
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A
Okay, here's. Here's my first one. Okay. Here's the little bit of background to this. The context of this is something called Zion's Camp. Maybe you've heard of this, maybe you haven't before, but remember in past weeks, we've been talking about how the saints that are living in Missouri have now been kicked out of their city, like, brutally. Like, it was like last time we read some of the things. It was on the tippins. Just what it Was like to be kicked out of that land. And now the question is from everybody who's living in Kirtland. Remember, we've got kind of two headquarters or whatever, two main places where people are living at this time. Kurtland, Ohio, and Independence, Missouri. The Missouri Saints have been kicked out. And now over in Ohio, they're asking that question that people ask when something tragic happens. And the. The question is, what should we do? Right. What should we do about this? We had this phrase in one of my old wards that I lived in. It was called the SFDS is what we called these people. It. It meant the same five dudes. Because, like, anytime something like there was a problem in the neighborhood, needed help, moving something or whatever, legit, like, someone would say, who came to help? And you're like, sfds, right? You're like the same five dudes like always. Yeah, they always come to every. To like, every single thing. It's these same people. And that's great. Maybe everyone was just always busy on. Every time, like you throwing shade, right? I'm saying. I'm saying literally, I'm trying to give grace here to say maybe they actually were busy. But it is interesting. Like, there. There seems to be kind of two personalities of people. One who asks the question, man, I'm so. Or they're so sad, like, oh, what should we do? And then people who actually jump in and do something about it. And here my first verses are those people who did. Who jumped in and said, we want to do something about it. And that's what Zion's camp ends up being, is this group of people who come together and say, we need to do something to help out. So I have some prep verses for my verses that are. That I really want to do. Okay, so remember when I said I was breaking the middle this way?
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We'll see if you take my.
- [06:20]
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Okay, Starting in verse one, it says, verily I say unto you, my friends. I already love that. Behold, I will give unto you revelation and a commandment that you may know how to act concerning the salvation and redemption of your brethren. That is really cool to me because I have asked that question before and so have you. What do. What should we do? And I love that the Lord is ready, willing, happy, anxious to answer that question. I know how to help. So let me guide you in what you should do. I'm just remembering. I just had a conversation just yesterday where Jenny was saying, I just don't know how to help. And was it my aunt? Oh, I can't remember who said it but they're like, you'll know. You'll know. And I think that's the idea of this verse one. He says in verse two, because they're being driven and smitten by the hands of mine enemies. And ain't that a description of what life can be, right, where people sometimes just are driven and smitten by their enemies, whatever they may be. Financial enemy, medical enemy, spiritual enemy, whatever. Whatever it is. I just went into my mind. Do you know that song? We raise up our glasses against evil forces the whole time reading Zion's Camp? That is the theme song inside my head because I feel like that's what they were like. That's the line, they have a song. They have a song that, that they saying. But in my mind it's that one. Sorry. Verse two reminded me of that. Okay, okay. So those were the lead ups to this verse, which is so good. K. I wonder if this is yours, Grace.
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I know, I'm really nervous. This is actually not that fun of a game for me anymore because I'm getting nervous that you're still.
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Verse 22.
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I'm safe.
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Okay. Therefore let my servant Joseph say, unto the strength of my house, gather yourselves together and let all the churches send up people with their monies. I. And I love that that is the phrase that God uses for the people willing to help. You are the strength of my house. I want to be considered the strength of his house. And I think maybe the difference between people who respond and react to situations who become the sfds are those who understand I'm not just a helper, but I'm the strength of God's house. I actually. They see themselves as someone who actually is the answer to prayer, the manifestation of the power of God in somebody else's life. Like, I think that if someone saw themselves as, as that and, and, and that's worth asking yourself, do I see myself as the strength of his house? As someone he can call upon to be the, the voice, to be the, to be the heart, to be the. The hands of God himself? Like, if you saw yourself like that, I wonder what that would be. And this, and this section on Zion's camp creates such an awesome opportunity for families to talk about. Okay, what should we do? What. What's our family's response going to be? What's this group of friends response going to be when someone is driven and smitten by their enemies? Are we going to be the strength of the house? Is there someone we can think of right now that we can be the strength of the house for. I actually saw this just last week where my daughter's best friend's house burned down in the middle of the middle of the night. And at. My mind has just been. Immediately, immediately it's like, what should we do? And my two girls rallied together their cheer team, and they said, well, if she lost everything, she needs lip gloss, and she's going to need tanning drops. These are.
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Those are really important.
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She's going to need. Her stuffed animals are gone. Her. And they rallied together the cheer team, and they all gathered together to bring over the things that she would need that very next day. And I was like, I just witnessed the strength of God's house when his people feel it in their hearts and then do something about it. And it was beautiful. It was so great. It actually was awesome because we'd been talking with our kids about tithing and fast offerings, and one of our kids was like, just got a job. And they were like, I don't really want to pay tithing, you know? And I was, like, insane.
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Yeah. Every time I get my paycheck, I need the same.
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Yeah, right? And it was an awesome opportunity to show them. We're, like, driving in the car with the basket of things and to say, you guys, what you're doing right now is the whole principle of tithing and fast offerings. It was an organized effort, like Zion's camp, to, like, help other people when they've been driven and smitten by their enemies. What can we do to help? The only difference is, like, we don't get to watch. Like, we don't actually get to be the ones to go to Target and Brandy.
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B
Melville.
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Melville. Yeah, I was gonna say Melville. Really close wedgie. You know, we don't. We don't see where it goes, but it was just cool to help them see, like, oh, my goodness, this is. The church has gotten so big that you don't sometimes get to see that, but you. You do have a chance to live it out. Anyways, I took a lot of time and a lot of verses, and don't.
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B
Worry, you're safe, because you didn't take mine. But it's interesting because I think, as you hear David talk about the strength of the house, even when I was just listening to those stories, something happened in my heart that I was like, wait, I want to be a part of that. I want to be a part of a group like that. How can I join? And what does it really mean to be a part of a group that does that? How do I. How Do I step into that? What does it look like? How do I become someone that lives like that? And when I was growing up, my mom was obsessed with, like, vinyl lettering in our house. So every single wall. You know that as good as the next person, every wall in our house was covered in a vinyl quote somewhere.
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A
We had a vinyl letter business. Do you know that?
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So you are.
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A
So some of your vinyl letters.
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B
It's David's fault that my house was covered in vinyl lettering anytime she, like, found a quote. We didn't even need Pinterest to, like, find good quotes. We just needed our walls because you would have printed them out on vinyl and put them everywhere. And we got a new addition one day. I remember it, it was above our door, and it said, be true to who you are and the family name you bear. And when she put that one up, it was a really big deal. And she made us all have, like, a family home evening about it. So she sat everyone down and said, okay, we're going to talk for a second about that new quote above the door. And she's like, what do you think it means? And we all talked for a second. And then my dad paused and he says, listen, you guys are Freemans. Let me tell you what it means to be a Freeman. And he started saying, like, being a Freeman means that you don't do any halfway jobs. Like, if you're going to start doing a job, you're going to finish the job. Being a Freeman means.
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A
Did he use those words? Halfway job.
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That's a Freeman phrase. That is like a vital Freeman phrase. Halfway job. It means that you work hard. It means that you're not above the law. That's also a Freeman phrase. You're not above the law.
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I have been a recipient of that Freeman phrase.
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It's a common one. And he went through and he listed all these things, and, like, some of them were, like, funny little things. Like, at the Freeman house, there's no rhyme or reason to the dishwasher. You can put anything however you want. As long as it fits, that counts. He's like, that's what the Freemans do. You don't need to, like, get worried about it. Just make it fit in the dishwasher. And, like, went through and said all of these things. Then he started, and he's like, but also what it means to be a Freeman is that, like, you know that when you walk in this house, you're loved. You know that we'll take care of you. You know that if you ever need someone who's gonna have your back. You have like six other people to call, and everyone will show up for you. And we had this big lesson on what it meant to be a Freeman. And then at the end he said, listen, when you leave that door, we want you to remember that you're representing the Freemans. And anyone who meets you, we want them to know that you are a Freeman. And we want them to know because of the way you behave and the things that you do. And section 103 begins. And verse number four, it almost sounds like that quote to me. And it says, and that those who call themselves after my name. And all of a sudden I just, like, had flashbacks to, like, my. The family name you bear, family home evening. And I started realizing that this almost felt like an introduction to him saying, this is what it means to be God's kid. If you're willing to write Jesus name on your heart, let me tell you what that really means. Let me tell you how you should act and what it looks like to be a part of the strength of the house. This is who you are. If you're willing to claim his name, then this is what it means to claim that name. And you go through this entire section, and all I could find were different things. And, like, what it really meant to be as kid. Even in verse number four, it kind of starts out like a little bit sad. Like you're like, oh, I don't know. And it says, like, that means that you're gonna get chastised and sometimes you're gonna do things wrong. And I'm not just gonna let you live in doing the wrong things. Like I'm gonna correct you and make you live better. By number six, you're gonna see that he says, wait there'. It means that you're going to begin to prevail against your like, against your enemies, that you'll begin to conquer. You'll be a winner. If you have Jesus's name on your heart, that means you're a winner. If you see number seven, that they shall never cease to prevail until the kingdoms of the world are subdued under his feet. That you will keep going and you will endure, and you'll know that a win is on its way. You will be a light unto the world in verse number nine. And to be the saviors of men, you will be heroes, you will be rescuers. You'll see that in number 11, you will build up the waste places of Zion. You'll be cheerleaders, you'll go out of your way to, like, help the people that need it. And you'll hear about the house burning down and you'll start finding things that, you know, a high school girl would want. You're going to see that you're going to be redempted. Redeemed. Whoa. Me making up a word in verse 13 and restored, and you will no longer be thrown down. And what I love the most is that being God's kid does mean that there are higher expectations for you, but it also means there's higher love. And when you decide to write Jesus name on your heart, yeah. You're deciding that there's gonna be some things that you sign up for that may seem hard. Like maybe you're gonna go through things and trials and hard moments, but also you are signing up for blessings greater than you could ever imagine. And verse number 20, I feel like embodies that. Behold, I say unto you, my angels shall go up before you and also my presence. And the truth about it is that the reason we had that family home evening was because all of us were like, either in high school or junior high. And they, like, said, you're going to go out there and people are going to try to tell you who you are, and there's going to be people that are going to try to say, this is what you should do and this is how you should act and this is how you should behave. But you know who you really are. You're a freeman and you know what it means to be a freeman. And the truth about being God's kid is that there's going to be moments when you walk out the door and you're in mortality, living a regular human life, and people are going to tell you who you are and how to act and how to behave. And in those moments, I feel like heaven is just whispering, remember who you are and the family name you bear. Remember that Jesus's name is written on your heart and this is how you live that. And once you do, you become the strength of the house.
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A
Yeah. That's so awesome. And you sunk my battleship, kind of.
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B
It was the same.
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A
Oh, well, my second one. Oh, my second one. You're hitting all around it.
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B
Sorry.
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A
No, I feel so happy that it means it's good if we both loved it. So we're going back for my second one to that verse 5 where he just talks about this. I've decreed a decree which my people shall realize. And let me just say right off the bat, I really appreciate God decreeing decrees. And he's about to make A guarantee, you know, because we are just looking for another car right now. I hate buying and selling used cars. I. I hate selling them more than I hate buying them, actually. Because if it breaks down tomorrow, I'm like, oh, well, I'm not well. But I was like, oh, shoot. But if I sell it to someone, I'm so nervous it's gonna break down tomorrow. You know, like they're like, anything wrong with it? And I'm like, it's so good, it's great. And tomorrow the whole transmission falls out and they think, yeah, or something. And I'm just like. And it's such a gamble. Like everyone's like, you shouldn't gamble. You do every time you buy a used car, just so you know, like, that's the same as blackjack, so. And whenever you buy one, what you want is a guarantee. You love. A warranty. You love. You love like security in something. And God gives a guarantee here. That's so good. There's two of them. It's a two for one. And he says this in as much as they hearken from this very hour unto the counsel which I give them. We found out last time that it actually was their fault, partially in Missouri, the problems that they experienced. And I think a lot of us deal with that crippling feeling sometimes of being too far gone or it's going to take too long to give back, or too many amends. But we believe in a. From this very hour, God. The moment someone decides to believe. The second someone decides to change, God says, from this very hour you will begin to prevail. And then the guarantee promise that you said in verse seven. And you will never cease prevailing as long as you keep turning back to me. There is a guarantee in there. I love both the long lastingness of it, but also the immediacy of it. Where he says, from the very hour you decide to change or believe or whatever it is, you're going to begin to prevail. That's such a great promise in here. It wins.
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B
It does win. Well, that's actually the whole thing, is that it does win, so. Oh, no. So you got the best promise. What happens in section 104 is it's the beginning of the united firm and the whole goal of the united.
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A
You chose something from 104. Because I did it. And I was feeling sad for it.
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B
What? I loved it.
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A
I did too. But. And just so you know, I was going to try and sneak in that lesson on tithing that I talked about with my girls because it's kind of the same.
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B
It is.
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A
It is the same thing.
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B
It is.
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A
That's what they were doing. Okay, so.
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B
Okay, so anyways, they began the United Firm and it only ends up lasting like two years, I think. Right. Is that true? And.
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A
But, well, I said yes. So confidently. But not very long.
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B
Yeah. Okay. And the whole goal of the United Firm really was to help with temporal needs. And that was the whole purpose is he said, okay, the saints are struggling. They need help. What can we do to help them? Even with just things that are temporal. And there's a lot that you could, like, learn historically about the United Firm, and that's not my business. I'm just going to be 100% honest with you. I am just a kid. I'm just a girl. Okay. So that's not what I'm focusing on at all. But what is interesting to me is in the middle of section 104, there's this, like little mini sermon on who God is. And it starts in verse 14. And it's really interesting to me that this is when he's talking about people who need something. And all of the saints are needing something, even if it's just temporal. They are desperate for help. And this is what he says about who he is. I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens and built the earth, my very handiwork. And all things therein are mine. And it is my purpose to provide, provide for my saints, for all things are mine, and it must be done in mine own way. The poor are going to be exalted, for the earth is full and there is enough to spare. Yea, I prepared all things, and I have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. When his people need something, he wants to remind them that he is capable of giving it to them. When they are worried about scarcity and being poor and not having enough, he says, wait, did you forget who I am? Because I created everything. Everything. It is all mine and there is enough to spare. I have so much, even extra. And I saw this quote on Pinterest the other day that, like, made me love this even more.
- [23:03]
A
And should we print it out on vinyl letters?
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B
Yeah. No. And hang it above the door just.
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A
So you see it.
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B
That'll be really special. Emily will love that. And this is what it said. We don't create abundance. Abundance is always present. We create limitations. And the truth about our lives is, as humans, we are not in charge of abundance. That's not our job. We just read whose job that is. It's the Lord's and He is not scarce. He is not running out of things. He has enough to spare. We believe in a God who is abundant. Our problem is, as humans, we limit a limitless God. We hear about him and his abundance and we start making excuses. Yeah, well, he is not in charge of my paycheck, so why would I believe that he can help my finances or I don't think that God is actually aware of what's going on in my current everyday life. So there's no way he can help or bless me or. God doesn't care about this because it's like so simple. And it's just like, this isn't making my life hard this week. But God doesn't actually care about it. Who's to say that? Who's to say what God is capable of and what he's not? Because he is in charge of everything. It is all his, and he is an abundant God. And what happens in the rest of this chapter is in verse number two, he gives you a promise. And then the rest of the chapter is going through and him making good on his promise. And he's gonna say, listen, this is the promise that as those whom I commanded were faithful, they should be blessed with a multiplicity of blessings. That is not a scarce God. A scarce God will promise a blessing, but he won't promise to multiply them. An abundant God promises to be not just giving you blessings, but multiplying the blessings he gives you. And then you read the rest of section 104 and you are going to see him, BL individuals with a multiplicity of blessings time and time again and it all looks different. Verse 23. I will multiply blessings upon him. Verse number 25. This is for Martin Harris. I will multiply blessings unto him. This is for a different man. Frederick G. Williams and Oliver Cowdery. 31. I will bless and multiply blessings upon them. I, verse number 33, will multiply blessings, even a multiplicity of blessings. He did a repeat, in case you forgot. 35, same thing. I will multiply blessings upon John Johnson. 38. I will multiply a multiplicity of blessings. That's a double multiply. 42. Multiplicity of blessings. 46, multiply blessings. He is not scarce. In fact, he's not just going to multiply it once. He's going to multiply it over and over and over again for every single kid. He's not being like, oh, okay, yeah, no worries, Oliver. I'm going to make sure that you get a multiplicity of blessings. He is naming Every single individually and promising a multiplicity of blessings to every single one. And the truth about the God we believe in is that he is abundant, he is not scarce, and he will multiply Blessings that might look different for individuals. The multiplicity of blessings we receive as individuals might not look like what our next door neighbor is getting and what the person across the street is getting. But that doesn't mean we believe in a scarce God. That just means our multiplicities are looking different than the next person.
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A
Yeah. And I was just thinking as you were reading all those people and you kind of said this, that. That it wasn't like, I'll give a multiplicity of blessings to my people. That would be a really nice thing to say, but to go through and, like, call the role, you know?
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B
Yeah. First and last name.
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A
He says he's calling the role, and he is saying to you. I give this blessing to you. I give this blessing to you. I give this blessing. And again, not just a blessing, but a multiply blessing.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Right. That's. That's God's favorite. The button on the calculator. The X. Right? That's the multiplying one. Yes. Okay.
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B
It's fine that we didn't know that.
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A
And that's a math lesson. That's a bonus math lesson for everybody who's in here right now. All right. My number three. Here's my number three, y'.
- [27:03]
B
All.
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A
I went in order. I didn't say the best for last, but this one, I think, is so awesome. Okay, so Zion's Camp. I told you all about them. You may know about them already. There's a really cheesy church movie about them. You could watch that, too. But they all heed the call. The strength of his house goes. And they're like, we're on. We're. We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces, they say. And they start that journey to Missouri. This is on the tippins for this week. The. The adult tipping is the questions again, right? Where. Here's the question. For every revelation, you're going to slide that in. But you could look at these other ones, or you could write some of this in the margins of your scripture. Just some of the details about that journey that they took, Ohio to Missouri. Doesn't feel that far away in my mind, but I just don't know geography that well. And in case you want to know, that's 900 miles.
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B
That's feeling bigger than I thought.
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A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I. And. And I think you ought to pick you know, pick a place 900 miles from wherever you are, or walk one mile and just realize you have to do that 900 times. And that's probably on a paved. But 230 people sign up for this trip and they walk 900 miles. They sleep on the ground. They walk up to 40 miles a day. What's the month of the year, I wonder. It's June. That makes it 18 times worse. Someone look up the weather in Missouri in June.
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B
I don't even need to. I don't even need to. I was there.
- [28:35]
A
It is not.
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B
I was there this summer.
- [28:37]
A
Oh, you did?
- [28:38]
B
And it is 118 million degrees. I just. That's a fact on everything because of the humidity. That's what it does.
- [28:45]
A
Terrible. It's terrible. Contaminated water, food shortages, blisters. Do you like that? I wrote that on my list. They have a cholera outbreak. 14 people actually die on this rescue trip. You know, first of all, your heart melts for these people who are just like, whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. That's the heart of Jesus in every one of them. Him who on the cross said, whatever it takes to rescue, I'm willing to pay it. And every single one of these 230 people signed up and 14 of them gave everything to say, we will fight until we rescue every single one of our friends. And that is so beautiful. What's crazy in the story is they get there to Missouri. They're. They're camped in on fishing river. There actually is a gigantic storm. And the river, like, raises 30ft, heat up, hail storm starts coming. And the other army, like, leaves. And the next morning, God says to them, okay, go home now. And they were like, what? He says, yeah, go home. You're done. And. And everyone. Wait, wait, wait, wait. We are. We walked 900 miles, like, we're ready to fight. We're ready to take our land back. Those actually. People actually live on our property still. I mean, could you imagine someone's just in your bathroom, like, taking a shower in your bathroom, and they're like, no, no, we got. We want to win it back. Like, that's actually why we came here was for that very reason. And I think it would be so frustrating and. And that same frustration we can experience in so many different times in our life when things don't happen how we thought they were. And one the problem you have happening in section 105 is a group of people who assumed what God's intentions and purposes were, and what happened didn't line up with that assumption. And so A lot of them got really disappointed and. And super bitter. But look at what he says to them in section 105, verse 14. For behold, I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion. For as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfill. I will fight your battles. And the victory that they were looking for is not the victory that they received, but they still came home victorious. And what's so stunning about this story is nine of the original 12 apostles came from Zion's camp. All of the 70s came from there. All church presidents for the next 60 years marched with that failed expedition. Wilford Woodruff said, had I not gone up with Zion's camp, I would not be here today. Brigham Young was asked when he got back, what did you gain from that useless journey? And he replied, all that I went for, I would not exchange the experience I had for all the wealth of. Of the county. And I think there's a really powerful lesson here that what. Whether God intended that particular outcome, which it seems that he did, or he let agency play out, God had a different victory and purpose in mind for them. And the seasons of your life, that might feel like failures right now. I think it's worth maybe sitting down with people who have other experiences or maybe people who are older and talk about when were the times that we thought things should have gone a certain way and didn't, and what. What victory did we expect and what victory did we actually come home with? I was thinking about this the other day with Jack, my oldest son, who just came home from his mission, and I think there would be a lot of. What do you say, like, measurements that people might want to apply to his mission to find out whether that was a successful experience or not, whether that was a victorious experience or not. A lot of them might have numbers associated with it, might have. Miles walked the. What is shoes, whatever. You know, you. You might have all these different measures. And I. I just think that there's probably people who've. Ben. Jack served his mission in Africa, so he had high numbers. Can't relate, you know, but not once as his dad or Jenny, as his mom, did we ask him about any of those things. Because I can see the victory in the person that he became, and that is the treasure that God is most interested in. He was, like, some people might say, like, he didn't actually redeem Zion, but Brigham Young said, I'm Zion, and he actually did redeem me. He won my heart. I was the victory, who I became, and that was the Victory. And I think we can look at our experiences in that way and see, like, oh, I wonder what God's actually doing with us and what are the victories he's actually winning. That's the story. That's the story for me of Zion's camp. You know, one, the heart of a rescuer, and two, to see that sometimes God's rescue looks a little bit different than we maybe originally anticipated.
- [34:17]
B
Yeah. And it's just so. There's something so beautiful. And thinking about, who am I becoming no matter what the journey takes me to?
- [34:23]
A
Right.
- [34:23]
B
Yeah.
- [34:24]
A
Because what if that's it? What if that's the purpose? What if that's the point? You know, Like, I. When I, like, had that group of boys before Christian left for our little mission prep class, that was the first question I started with. With them and with Jack. If God were to. If we were to sum up. If we would be so bold to sum up the work of God, the intentions of God, the hopes and dreams and wishes of heavenly parents for us, if you were to try and sum it up into one word, what do you think that word would be? And currently I'm landing on the word become. Someone can fight me on that if they want, and I'll fight back, but I. But I think everything that they're doing is for the intention of us becoming something, of molding our. Molding our hearts, expanding the capacity to love, to feel, to experience. Anyways, just. I think that's the measure. That's the measure. And that makes that journey a success. So with that measure in mind, can we relabel some of your failures as an actual victory? I think so, for sure.
- [35:32]
B
Okay. My last one is in two places. I'm doing it half and half. The first part of it is in DNC 103, and it's verse number 31. And it's a really interesting verse to me because I feel like it gives you a glimpse into the heart and the mind of the Lord. And this is what he says. Behold, this is my will. Ask and you shall receive. But men do not always do my will. And that is the craziest verse ever to me, because I always feel like, what's the Lord's will like? His will is that, like, I, like, be really obedient or like, his will is that I just live my life and do my best every single day. And he just so plainly says, my will is that you will ask me for things and that you will receive what I give you. That's my will. And it's Even more interesting to me that he says, but men don't always do that. And I just sat there for a second. I thought about me in my individual life and my relationship with him. And I started thinking like, what holds me back from not asking him for things and not receiving what he has given me. And I think sometimes that looks like I am so afraid that he will disappoint me that I'm scared to ask. And sometimes I think that looks like I'm so afraid of receiving what he's given given me because it's not what I initially wanted. And sometimes I think I'm afraid to ask because I don't want to be greedy. And sometimes I'm afraid to receive what he's given me because I doubt that it's going to be as good as the idea I had in my mind.
- [36:58]
A
Or you or you don't ask. I was thinking one for me is because you, you don't feel like you are in a position to ask.
- [37:05]
B
Yeah.
- [37:05]
A
You're like, you don't deserve it. Yeah. Look at my track record over the last month. Like, give me a minute.
- [37:09]
B
Yeah, no, I'll be better ask you next month together right now.
- [37:13]
A
Right, right, right.
- [37:14]
B
100%. And I think we could see here all day and we could like discover the reasons why we don't ask and why we don't receive what the Lord has given us. But before we even like start processing that, I think there's something really important about pausing and realizing that the will of the Lord is that we ask and receive what he gives us. That is what he wants more than anything. And I think we see that in little glimpses as we go through life. But it almost seems too good to be true. True, there's no way that what he really wants is for us to ask him for things. That seems backwards. But that is just. Sorry, that's what verse 31 says. I can't change it. That is what he said. Like that is his words, not mine. And have I told the story about the heads up pennies on my mission.
- [37:55]
A
Before, how that's good luck or something?
- [37:58]
B
Yeah, maybe I have, maybe I haven't.
- [38:00]
A
But I'll just tell it anyway. Yeah, yeah. So what happened is I might just already know that.
- [38:04]
B
Yeah, well, we don't know, but it's fine because everyone knows like heads up pennies are good luck. And there is like at the very beginning of my mission, everyone needs good luck on the beginning of their mission. That's the first thing. And I like started just like Trying to figure out prayer. And I was like, I heard someone say, like, God answers every prayer. And to be honest, like, my initial answer was like, no, he doesn't. Like, that's not true. He doesn't answer every prayer. And so I started like testing it. And I love heads up pennies. I love the word lucky. And so it's like, means a lot to me. Anything lucky is like mine. And so there was one day I was like walking down the street and I prayed for a lucky penny. And then we just like kept going, like went to a lesson, knocked whatever. And it wasn't until the next day that like, I realized, like, oh, see, God didn't give me a lucky penny because I didn't find one yesterday. And I feel like I like caught him. And he's like, you did it. You disappointed me. You didn't do what I asked or whatever. And I was like driving to a lesson and I was thinking about that and then I like parked the car and I got out and I like found a heads up penny right when I got out of the car. And I was like, no, it's too late, God, sorry, you missed your chance. It didn't work like that. Sorry. No, no, no.
- [39:03]
A
You said from this very hour.
- [39:05]
B
Yeah. And then I took another step and there was another one. And then I took another step and there was another one. And there was, I'm not kidding you, a trail of heads up pennies all the way to the front door of the lesson we were going to. And on the front door there was probably like 15 more. And I was like, by like Lucky Penny 4, I was like wondering. I was like, okay, God, like, maybe, maybe. And by the time I got to the door, like, I just had tears coming down my cheeks.
- [39:29]
A
He punched you in the the best way. I mean that as a proper synonym for a blessing, you know?
- [39:38]
B
Exactly. I like, my companion was like, why are you picking that up off the ground? And I was like, you don't know what I'm going through right now. I was like, I like picked up every single one and like glued them into my journal. And I was like, she was like, what's going on? And I was like, God answers every prayer. And she's like, what do you think? Exactly. And I just remember that every single single time I read things like that because all I had to do was ask. And all he did was give me more than I could have ever dreamt of. And you start reading through and section 104 you think is a little bit boring because it's like banking or like, them discussing, like, what to do with the money. And all of a sudden, I've never.
- [40:14]
A
Been bored by money.
- [40:16]
B
True. My bad. It's just the numbers for me. I'm a math girl. And by the time I got to verse 75, he started kind of explaining, like, how this is going to work. And he's like, you're gonna, like, everyone will give, like, a portion, and then you're gonna distribute it. And he's kind of like, describing, like, legit. Whoa. The logistics of it. But by verse 75, I wasn't really reading about the logistics of the United firm anymore, and instead I was reading the logistics of the heart of the God we believe in. And the very last line of verse 75 is so beautiful to me. And he goes through and it says, but so long as he is in full fellowship and is faithful and is wise in this stewardship, this shall be his token unto the treasurer that the treasurer shall not withhold. And that is the God we believe in, is a treasurer who will not withhold. He will not be stingy, and he will not be scarce. We believe in an abundant God. That is what 104 describes to us. But also we believe in a God who says, I want you to ask me for things. I want you to believe that I will give you the very best that I have, because the treasurer will not withhold. That is the God we believe in.
- [41:29]
A
So awesome. All right, y', all go have your discussions. Go talk about these. Go find your best lines, too. I think that's actually a really fun way to study Scripture, by the way, is to. Look, I. I had 18, and you have to narrow it down to three. If you're doing a podcast. But there's so many one liners, go put them in the comments on YouTube. That would be so fun to just see what everybody's favorite, like one liners and lessons and phrases are from this section. Every single one of them, I think, is gonna astound us with the character of God. That's what we keep finding again and again in this book, in all books. So we will see you next week or at the event on September 17th. You choose.