Sis. Couch gave the lesson today from Chapter 10 (pg 103) The Scriptures, the most valuable library in the world.
President Smith is quoted in the lesson as saying, "Once, while traveling by
train, he started a conversation with a man who was raised in a
Latter-day Saint family but was no longer participating in the Church. “As we visited,” he later said, “I talked to him about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
… And he said as we discussed the principles of the gospel, ‘These
things interest me.’ We visited quite a long time, and when we finished,
that good man, I believe he was a good man, said to me, ‘I would give
all that I possess to have the assurance that you have. …’
“I
said, ‘My brother, you don’t have to give all that you possess to have
that assurance. All you have to do is to search the scriptures
prayerfully. Go where they may be explained to you. Seek the truth, and
the beauty of the truth will appeal to you, and … you can know as I know
that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the Living God."
Sis Couch asked, "Can anyone think of a time when a verse of scripture has inspired you?....How did you come to know the scriptures were true?"
She recounted an experience in her own life when she was 15 years old in a Sunday School class. The teacher, a return missionary said to her class, "Each one of us know the scriptures are true. We just may not know that we know it."
The manual says, "The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price, do not contain the wisdom of men alone, but of God...f we have failed to read the scriptures we have missed the better part of this world’s literature.
I sometimes feel that we do not appreciate the Holy Bible, and what it
contains, and these other scriptures, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine
and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price that have been referred to …
as letters from our Heavenly Father. They may be so received, at least
they are his advice and his counsel to all the children of men given to
them that they may know how to take advantage of their opportunities,
that their lives may not be spent in vain."
Sis Couch then asked everyone, "Consider what place the scriptures have in your personal library among other things you read and watch. What can you do to make them more of a priority?"
She offered a few suggestions like
- Set a time and place to study them
- Have a marking pencil - add notes, cross reference, etc. Make them yours by marking them.
She wrapped up her lesson with this last quote from the manual, "Brethren
and sisters, I desire to emphasize again the teaching of the Master:
“search the scriptures;” read them prayerfully and faithfully, teach
them in your homes; call your families around you and inspire in them a
faith in the living God, by reading those things that have been
revealed. They are the most precious of all the libraries in all the
world.
Keep
this library where you can find it, and where your children will find
it, and then have enough interest in the eternal salvation of those boys
and girls that are in your home that you will find ways and means to
interest them in what these books contain, that they may know how
precious they are in the sight of their Heavenly Father"
Thank you Sis. Couch for bringing such a wonderful spirit that testified of the truthfullness of the scriptures and for the many comments, stories and testimonies shared. It was a wonderful meeting.
- Sis. Pyrah