Relief Society Lesson May 14, 2023 (Mother’s Day)
Discussion on: Trusting in the Doctrine of Christ by Elder Evan A Schmutz of the 70
General Conference, Saturday Afternoon, April 2023
Elder Schmutz invites us “With all my heart, I invite you to trust the doctrine of Christ and build your lives upon the rock of the Redeemer. He will never fail you.”
He quotes President Nelson: “More than anything else, we want our missionaries … to have the doctrine of Christ engraved in their hearts—rooted … in the marrow of their bones.”
How are we going to get the doctrine of Christ rooted in the marrow of our bones?
Let me say it another way: Our personal principles govern our behavior. This is true whether they are good principles or bad ones. You can tell what a person’s principles are by how they act in situations. Charlotte Mason (an educator I greatly admire) said:
“…a few broad essential principles cover the whole field, and these, once fully laid hold of, it is as easy and natural to act upon them as it is to act upon our knowledge that fire burns and water flows.” (Home Education, page 10)
Speaking on this, Karen Glass says: “We know that water flows. If we want to put fresh flowers in a container, we pour water into something nonporous, such as glass or plastic, and not into a crocheted vase, however pretty it might be. We might put a quantity of potato chips into a too-small bowl, confidently heaping them above the edge, but we know it would be a mistake to try that with water.” (In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass, chapter 1)
So what we are getting after here is that in order for the Doctrine of Christ to guide your daily actions at an intuitive level, you must comprehend it as well as you comprehend the principle that water flows. I think this is what President Nelson means when he says it must be engraved in our hearts and rooted in the marrow of our bones.
Elder Schmutz specifically references 2 Nephi 31-32 wherein Nephi describes the doctrine of Christ. “Nephi was in the process of finishing his last engraving on the record. He wrote, “And now, my beloved brethren, I make an end of my sayings.”1 But soon after, the Spirit urged Nephi to return to his record and write a concluding message. Under the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost, that great prophet took his stylus again in hand and wrote, “Wherefore, the things … I have written sufficeth me, save it be a few words … I must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ.”2 How eternally grateful we are for those “few words”3 and for the Spirit compelling Nephi to write them. Nephi’s treatise on the doctrine of Christ is a treasure to those who feast upon it.”
We decided to feast upon it:
We read 2Nephi 31:4-7, 9-11 as a class and learned about Baptism. How Jesus Christ, though he was holy, was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He showed humility and obedience to God, and if we want to follow Christ, we must do as He did. We have 2 new Relief Society sisters who were baptized in the last 2 weeks, so this was really a treat to reflect upon.
We read 2Nephi 31: 3, 8, 12-13 and 2Nephi 32: 5 and talked of the Holy Ghost. How He will speak to us in ways we can understand and make us able to rejoice in Christ. That He will show us all things what we should do.
We read 2 Nephi 31: 16-20 and talked of enduring to the end, pressing forward with steadfastness in Christ and a having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. And 2Nephi 32:3, 8-9 teach us that we will be given strength if we feast upon the words of Christ and if we will pray always and not faint.
We read 2Nephi 31:21 We talked about the promise of the Sacrament that we can always have his Spirit to be with us (because this covenant is hard!) and discussed that because the Holy Ghost is part of the Godhead, when we have the Holy Ghost with us, we have God with us. All throughout the scriptures, God promises, “I will be with you.” He really means it.
Sister Tammy asked if there is anyone in heaven who understands us, because women are so different from men, how can an all male Godhead understand us? So, we talked a little of our Mother in Heaven, in whose image we were created, and who loves us so deeply. Sister Anne shared some special feelings about Mother in Heaven. I looked up and read this quote by Elder Melvin J Ballard: “No matter to what heights God has attained or may attain, he does not stand alone; for side by side with him, in all her glory, a glory like unto his, stands a companion, the Mother of his children. For as we have a Father in heaven, so also we have a Mother there, a glorified, exalted, ennobled Mother.” We discussed that we have been asked not pray to Mother in Heaven, but just like we do not pray to Jesus Christ, yet we are encouraged to seek Him and develop a relationship with him, we can seek and develop a relationship with our Heavenly Mother.
We turned to Mosiah Chapter 18 and read verses 20-23 and 30
As women of the gospel, when we teach repentance and faith on the Lord in our homes, when we teach that there should be no contention one with another, but that our family will have our hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another, that is how we become the children of God. And how beautiful our homes will be. It will not matter if our home is a place in need of much repair. It will not matter that there is dirty laundry around. How beautiful our home will be “in the eyes of them who there came to a knowledge of their Redeemer.”
In my family history, this tribute was written of my great-great grandmother, Lucy Ann Bingham: “…these are the words of our Savior, but they came to us from our Mother’s lips.”
I invited sisters to share something from the Doctrine of Christ that they had been taught by their mother.
Sister Anne shared that after her mother died when she was very young, that a sister in her ward told her, “If we were called again to cross the plains, I believe I could have gotten us there physically, but your mother, she would have gotten us there spiritually.” Anne shared that she hoped she could be like her mother in this way.
Sister Tammy shared that her mother had taught her that if she kept Jesus Christ and His teachings in her heart, that she would not go wrong in life.
Sister Patricia shared that her mother had taught her respect and to not take the Lord’s name in vain.
Sister Pat shared that her mother taught her to remember Jesus Christ every day.
I shared one last story:
On Mother’s Day, when we are focusing on ideals, it can be very easy to start focusing on where we feel we have failed and on where we think our spouse, our children, even our own mother may have failed. I want to share with you an experience.
Eight years ago, I went to a school music concert in December. I saw there a friend of Benji’s (age 15 at the time) who I had not seen in awhile. I looked into his face, and I felt as if I were looking into the face of a starving, lost puppy. I thought to myself, “This boy is in danger.” I asked Benji what was going on with his friend. Basically, his friend was homeless, and living by “couch surfing” spending night after night at random kid’s houses rather than go home to an abusive situation. So we offered to him to come and live with us, which he did for the rest of that school year. I never felt like I did very much for him- I mean, I fed him food. I had 9 children living at home, but he single-handedly doubled our peanut butter consumption. We gave him a place to sleep.
Now, years later, he calls me when good things happen in his life, and sometimes when he needs to be reassured about a decision he has made. He called me to tell me when he became Manager at the Springfield Discovery Center. He called to tell me how NASA contacted him to work with one of their teams because they were so impressed by an exhibit he created that made complex concepts accessible to kids. He called me when he earned a large grant that enabled the Discovery Center to start an alternative school for kids who were kicked out of public schools due to behavioral problems and to provide $350,000 in scholarships for those kids. I tell him that he makes all this good happen because of his enthusiasm and willingness to learn about so many things and because he works so hard.
And then he tells me that when he came to our home, he felt safe for the first time. He ate home-cooked meals for the first time. That when he built a “fort” in our back yard with Benji (it was a tee-pee of sticks) sparks of joy awoke in his heart. He climbed a tree and scraped up his leg, and apparently I washed him up and put band aides on his knees, which no one had done for him since he was very small. He tells me that it is because of me that he was able to overcome the trauma of his childhood and do all these awesome things.
I don’t remember doctoring him up. I hadn’t thought that we had done that much for him, and I had worried that we hadn’t done enough. He made me realize that even though I always feel like I fall short and don’t do a good enough job as a mother as I could or should—I wasn’t appreciating enough the value to a child of just providing a home that is safe, where dinner can be counted on, and concern is shown when knees are scraped.
Sisters, the basic things you do every day mean more to your kids than you or they recognize. You are doing better than you think.
Marvelous Pigs in Satin 