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Come Follow Me: Book of Mormon, Teaching Ideas and Free Resources

Ether 1 – 5

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

Each Come Follow Me Lesson asks important and reflective questions. When I first began my individual study these questions threw me off. Simply because many of these questions required so much depth and individual reflection in order to answer honestly. My first approach to come follow me was to get in, get out, get it done, check it off. These questions simply didn’t allow me to do so. In fact, I felt a little sick when I would read a question like, “How does the spirit speak to you?” and I wouldn’t know the answer right away. After a time, and pondering on that specific question I realized IT’S OKAY. In fact, I think these questions were meant to be set aside, thought about, and pondered. When we try and come up with the quick easy, obvious, answer, we are depriving ourselves of an opportunity to reflect, ponder, pray, and RECEIVE REVELATION. Is this not the whole reason for Come Follow Me? Are we not trying to finetune and recognize how we, and how to receive personal revelation.

So each week I will list out some of the questions issued in Come Follow Me. Maybe you pick to ponder about all of them, maybe you pick just one. Whatever you do, ponder on this for the ENTIRE week. Pray about it, discuss it with loved ones, then at the start of the new week, take the time to write down your impressions or thoughts, share them with your family, testify of powerful insights.

• What do you learn from the Lord’s response to each of these prayers?
  • Think about a time when you have experienced the Lord’s compassion as you cried unto Him in prayer.
• As you study Ether 2; 3:1–6; and 4:7–15, what truths do you find that help you understand how to seek personal revelation?
• What impresses you about the way the brother of Jared conversed with the Lord, and what do you learn from this about how to increase the flow of revelation in your life?
• To get to the promised land, the Jaredites faced a major obstacle: crossing the “great deep” (Ether 2:25). The phrase “great deep” can be a fitting way to describe what our trials and challenges sometimes feel like. And sometimes, as was the case for the Jaredites, crossing our own “great deep” is the only way to fulfill God’s will for us. Do you see similarities to your life in Ether 2:16–25?
  • How has the Lord prepared you for your challenges?
    • What might He be asking you to do now to prepare for what He needs you to do in the future?
• What do you learn from Ether 3 about the spiritual and physical nature of God?
• How do these truths help you understand your divine identity and potential?
• Ether 1:34–37What do we learn from these verses about praying for others? What other truths about prayer do these verses illustrate
• Ether 2:16–3:6 What does the brother of Jared’s example teach us about how to find answers to our problems and questions? Maybe family members could share experiences when they sought and received answers from the Lord.

Lesson:

“Sometimes the only thing separating us from the blessings we seek is our own “veil of unbelief,” and if we can “rend that veil” (Ether 4:15), we may be surprised by what the Lord is willing to do for us.”

This excerpt from Come Follow Me this week really struck me. As I thought about what it meant, I realized that too often I had fallen victim to my own disbelief sometimes in the simplest ways and moments. I think in part it’s how my “natural” mind works. I’m quite an anxious person and my mind always puts things in worst-case scenario, that way when best-case or mildly-acceptable case come along I feel prepared and even happy with the outcome. I think it’s a survival mechanism. Whatever it is, it’s the default setting for my brain.

Have you ever lost something, looked EVERYWHERE, all the while telling yourself “You don’t need to pray,” “YOU can find it,” ” We’re not to that point yet…” Only to get to the point of offering a desperate prayer, to find the thing you were searching for moments later, likely in a place you had already looked. This has happened to me more times than I care to admit. From my wedding ring to my only set of car keys. As I reflect on those little miracles or moments of God showing me His hand, I think those moments carry more weight because I left myself to my own devices for so long. I knew when I sheepishly found them after praying that the finding was outside of my own capabilities. Again I think this was an example of my own veil of disbelief.

According to President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973), the Lord’s question was similar to saying the following:

“‘Well, have you any good ideas? What would you suggest that we should do in order to have light?’ …

“Then the Lord went away and left him alone. It was as though the Lord were saying to him, ‘Look, I gave you a mind to think with, and I gave you agency to use it. Now you do all you can to help yourself with this problem; and then, after you’ve done all you can, I’ll step in to help you.’”

An instance that sticks out to me happened about a year ago. A dear friend of our family was going through cancer treatments for a cancer that he had beat once already. Things looked pretty bleak. My family had helped to organize a fundraiser that I was quite involved with. I did everything within my power to make things ok. Notice I did everything within MY power.

My husband and I were headed to the temple to do sealings with some of his old mission companions and mission president. As we drove to the temple I broke down filled with dread and hopelessness as our friend’s battle with cancer seemed to take another drive.

This brought the question… What’s the point? What’s the point in praying, if God already knows the outcome. Because God knows the outcome and it’s ultimately His will why even pray…..

Is this not the veil of my unbelief.

Things felt heavy as we prepared to enter the temple. In hindsight, I will forever be grateful that we had scheduled this temple trip in advance and decided to go despite the snow, despite it falling on the same day as our friend’s surgery.

At the temple, I continued to think about these questions, I hung on to every word Ben’s mission president said in his counsel or teaching, desperately praying that he would be lead to say what I needed to hear. At one point he even asked if anyone had any questions… I sat there paralyzed, unable to make a sound, feeling a little broken on the inside. As our time went on, I don’t remember what was going on, but I do remember the words that came to my mind that weren’t my own.

Don’t you think as a Father, I would do everything within my power to comfort and take care of my children. 

It was simple, and I’m sure what could have been told in beautiful words and language was simplified for my simple mind… but in its simplicity, I was filled with a peace and comfort outside of my own.

I still can’t give you an eloquent answer to the questions I had. However, I know that God is a loving Father, that we are children of Divine Parents. We were created in Their image, set in Their likeness, here in a world to become as They are. Central to that “becoming” is the family and having children.

As I think of my own children and their well-being, there is a desperateness even an instinct to provide for them. A willingness to do whatever I can, whatever is within my power, or my bounds to comfort and take care of them. In those parallels I find peace. To me… That means something and carries more weight than my inability to perfectly articulate an answer to my questions.

So I prayed. I prayed and fasted. Not knowing if my efforts would bring about what I wanted, but knowing that no matter what happened this great man battling cancer, and his sweet family would be provided for and taken care of by their loving Heavenly Father.

Here we are, a year later, and he’s still here with cancer-free screens despite everything.

To stay up to date, and show your support make sure to follow @livingonlemonlane on Instagram!

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Watch or Listen To:

With a 2-year-old and 4-year-old, I understand the STRUGGLE and the attention span you are dealing with. Below are some of my favorite videos or audio recordings|podcasts you can listen to and watch with your children. My favorites right now are the Book of Mormon Story videos.**Different from the newly released B.O.M. videos. These are illustrated and READ stories to your children. THESE are PERFECT for when everyone is strapped in the car seat. My 4-year-old now requests these over the radio. Each segment is only 2-4 minutes long. This allows us to listen, review and discuss together, and listen again throughout the week.  Many of the videos I share can be found on the Saint’s Radio Channel App. (Formerly Mormon Channel App, If you don’t already have this, DOWNLOAD NOW.)

 

I am absolutely LOVING the YouTube Channel, Latter Day Kids. Each week they put out a beautifully illustrated video meant for young children to be used in conjunction with the Come Follow Me Lessons. This week’s video is all about All Things Denoting there is a God! You can even head to their website to download discussion questions to go along with the video and a fun coloring page.