Invite Diligent Learning

General Stake Priesthood Meeting – February 25, 2024

Invite Diligent Learning

We had the opportunity to attend a Leadership conference yesterday. We can seek out the resources of the church in the Gospel Library app. Teaching in the Savior’s way.

Let’s discuss one of the events in Jesus’s life and see what we can learn. This account is taken from Matthew 14:24-33.

24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

The disciples or apostles were experiencing troubled times. In the story, the trouble comes from winds and rough waves. They were also troubled because they did not understand what they were seeing on the water. This trouble and fear caused them to cry out. How many times do we cry out because of our trouble and fear? Jesus answered them and said, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”

This simple declaration of who He was helped the apostles. Because they had spent time with the Savior, they understood who he was. They had accompanied Him on many occasions when he had performed many miracles and taught many great truths. In fact, they had just left from having witnessed Christ feed about five thousand men, beside women and children, with two fishes and five loaves. They had studied His words which is one of the steps of diligent learning by those of us that are His disciples.

Another step to diligent learning is to prepare to learn. The Lord taught us to prepare ourselves to receive the word. In his parable about the sower he says:

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

We need to prepare ourselves to be “good ground”. We need to have spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear what the Lord would have us know. This reminds us of the story of Enos. When he went into the forest to hunt he reflected on all the things he had been taught by his father. He had a deep desire to know the things that his father knew and had prepared his mind and eyes and ears to receive learning from the Lord.

Another step to diligent learning is sharing the truths we have learned. In our story of Christ walking on the water, when he had come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then the apostles worshiped him, saying, of a truth thou art the Son of God. In this setting they shared with each other truths that they had learned. That is one of the wonderful opportunities we have in our quorum and class meetings. We can share with others the truths we have learned. I learn much from what I hear others share in our meetings. And I learn much as I share the truths that I have learned. There have been many occasions when I have started to share my thoughts and other truths have popped into my mind. We do not need to be eloquent to share with others. The prophet Enoch lamented that he was slow of speech. The Lord promised him that if he had faith and opened his mouth, the words would come. This does not necessarily mean that if you are terrified to offer your thoughts in class that the first time you do will be an amazingly eloquent well-spoken message. Mine rarely are! But as we have faith to open our mouths, we will become more comfortable and better able to share our thoughts.

We will also be better able to share the truths we know with others. Have you ever had the opportunity to share gospel truths with a friend or neighbor? How has that enhanced your testimony? Speaking up and sharing gospel truths is something that I need to practice. It can be a very special experience. My wife is much better at this than I am. There was a time when we lived in Las Vegas that she was at work. One of her co-workers had a child that was suffering from leukemia. He was quite sick and very weak, and the child’s mother felt such pain because of his little tormented body. My wife listened carefully as she talked about her pain and then offered whatever reassurance she could. She told the mother that she was so grateful for the resurrection and the fact that some day our bodies would rise from the grave and be healed from all our afflictions. This was something the young mother had never considered or even been taught. She asked my wife more about the resurrection and in the end told my wife she felt very comforted knowing about the resurrection and what would happen to her child. It was a tender moment for both of them and helped strengthen my wife’s own testimony of the resurrection.

Finally, the Savior has invited us to live what he taught. This means to take action based on the things we have learned. It is not enough to just learn if we don’t apply those things to our daily repentance and become someone more. A few of Christ’s invitations include, “Let your light so shine before men.” “Love your enemies.” “Ask, and it shall be given.” And to Peter on the boat, his invitation was simply, “Come”. And Peter took action based on the truths that he understood.

The Lord said, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock”.

This great message is reinforced in one of our beloved Primary songs. I can see you doing the actions when the rains came down and the floods came up!! The house on the rock stood strong. Our house will stand strong if we do the things we have learned.

As you have listened here throughout this meeting, I hope that the Spirit has whispered something to your heart. What did you think that you could do that would be an action based on the truths you have learned? This action will bring you closer to the Savior and help you withstand the winds and the waves of life.

One of the things we were taught yesterday is the power of prayer in helping us to know how to become better people or to become better at the attributes that the Savior wants us to develop. We watched an old ministering training video. Many of you may have seen it but it was a great reminder. The video starts with an elders quorum president asking a brother how ministering to a particular family was going. The brother confessed that he was not doing much. He was busy, traveled a lot and wasn’t very good at reaching out to this family. The elders quorum president asked him if he knew their names. He knew the names of the parents but not the children. The elders quorum president challenged him to just learn the names of all the family members and to begin praying for them by name. The brother agreed to this and after some amount of time he felt the desire and courage to begin interactions. It started with sitting by them at church and blossomed over time. He developed a genuine love for this family. But the point I got out of the training was that the brother did not know where to start to become better and the counsel from his quorum president was to pray about them. Maybe we don’t know where to start. Maybe we aren’t sure what actions can lead to the results we desire. Prayer is the place to start. Don’t try to figure it out on your own. Ask the Lord and he will help you to come to a better place.

Apply these steps to your gospel learning.

Study his word

Prepare to receive his word

Share what you have learned with others

Act upon the things you have learned