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| Inside our awesome co-housing unit (european style village living). We have radiant heat (in the floors) and we love it. |
A) Most of us feel some guilt over it.
B) This theme is repeated so often, it tends to lose impact when taught.
So take heart with this particular missionary lesson! I love this version because President Hunter focuses on aspects of the gospel which in turn, make missionary work more natural and easier to consider.
Truth about being a member missionary: Most of the time we don't know what to say or are afraid of saying the wrong thing or we fear messing up our relationships with awkwardness. And when we feel all uncomfortable and awkward, you can expect the other party will too.
So the general message of this lesson is:
Be yourself.
...and thanks to President Hunter, here are some qualities the gospel encourages us to infuse into our personalities. And they are easy things to want for ourselves anyway.
First stellar Howard W. Hunter quote:
"The purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to bring about love, unity, and brotherhood of the highest order."
I live in Salt Lake City's only european-style co-housing community. (No, it is not any kind of commune.) It was started 18 years ago by some rather liberal University of Utah professors, etc. First, let me tell you, my husband and I love it here. The pros of living in an intentional, intertwined community like this one far outweigh any inconveniences. It is Utopia and the best place I have ever lived in my whole entire life.
We live in close proximity to 25 other little town homes along a quaint S-curved path. I have the best neighbors ~ truly wonderful and they are mostly of other faiths and lifestyles, A couple of my neighbors can get on my nerves...at times. It's easy to find oneself in a position of wanting to define boundaries with people and noticing the inconveniences they cause.
When I read President Hunter's sweet, short message ~ it resonated hugely just how I need to be when difficult or challenging situations arise. Promoting and fostering unity and brotherhood trumps the need for respect and boundaries. Hopefully it's possible to have both respect and unity, but fostering brotherhood (and sisterhood) is the priority.
I realized I could do better with brotherhood and unity as my underlying theme.
Howard W. Hunter's message applies to work, school, and just about any group of people you find yourself connected with.
Love ~ Unity ~ Brotherhood
Let's start with love!
Love is intentional. It is a conscious choice to create love, and give away love. Sometimes we have those wonderful experiences where love comes on its own and it is easy to love someone or treat them with the best we have. But with all relationships ~ eventually love has to be cultivated, gifted and purposed to endure.
Sometimes we're not too lovable ourselves and yet...God loves us so fully. Picture the most loving, pleasant, magnetic person you know. How does it feel to be in their company? Heavenly Father has an extraordinary personality, one whose presence is captivating without any guile or superficial gloss. Love and light and specific regard for you extend from Heavenly Father in constant, brilliant waves and the impact and consciousness of this is un-describable. He draws you in simply because of who He has become, and one of the most joyful experiences is finding out someone magnificent, cherishes you completely. If there were ever a manifestation I could wish for each one of us, Heavenly Father's essence, specific love for you, and character is it. Maybe because it eclipses and even explains all the short changes and injustices we endure while on earth. Heavenly Father is a wonderful (as in "full of wonder") Being whose every move and thought is on behalf of one of us or all of us.
Although it is short and sweet, there is a universe of wisdom in this verse:
"We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
Christ is our oldest brother who emulates Heavenly Father in these qualities. He too is filled with vibrant, extraordinary energy and doing and advocates your success, as in you uniquely.
They are proactive and near.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
How then is life so disappointing and lonely and frustrating? How is it we don't feel them so much? How can we find ourselves so alone and without connection?
Although life is perilous, we chose it. We chose these conditions when we had the bigger picture in view, we knew then being born into a treacherous, challenging world was a means to an extraordinary end. While in mortality, we lose this perspective and may feel somewhat separated from God, but we don't lose the benefit in the end. And they don't lose one smidgen of their attachment to us.
Brightness of hope and trust are the highest forms of worship we can give Christ and Heavenly Father. When they say "leap of faith," they meant it was a literal leap and not logical nor easy to have faith. But is a faithful attitude ever worth it! Real faith brings peace, strength, confidence and well-being. Like love, it is cultivated.
Back to love...
President Hunter quotes Joseph Smith (and it's stellar):
“Love is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons [daughters] of God."
What does love look like? Joseph Smith describes the evidence of a love like God's:
"A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race...”
Possible Class Question: How is love related to missionary work? Why would love need to be a part of it? Would love make missionary moments easier?
Love makes us natural, effortless missionaries.
Unity & Brotherhood
"We live in the shelter of each other." ~ Celtic saying
Meaningful, deep and faithful connections with people are one of life's greatest treasures. Yet our world sabotages what the heart needs most ~ people we can confide in and reliably trust and count on. There are too many of us now who are sad and lonely. Consider some of these observations from a doctor of therapy, Dr. Sue Johnson:
"...we are increasingly living in social isolation. Writers like Robert Putnam in his book Bowling Alone point out that we suffer from a dangerous loss of "social capital." (social capital = continuous help, sympathy, and fellowship that neighbors offered each other) Most of us no longer live in supportive communities with our birth families or childhood friends close at hand. We work longer and longer hours, commuter farther and farther distances, an thus have fewer and fewer opportunities to develop close relationships."
"Most often, the couples I see in my practice live in a community of two. The majority of folks in a 2006 National Science Foundation survey reported that the number of people in their circle of confidants was dropping and a growing number stated that they had no one at all to confide in. As the Irish poet John O'Donahue puts it, "there is a huge and leaden loneliness settling like a frozen winter on so many humans."
Inevitably, we now ask our [spouses] for the emotional connection and sense of belonging that my grandmother could get from a whole village." [Explains some of the modern difficulty and stress on marriages.]
Friendship, approval, camaraderie, inclusion, service, positive attitude and thoughtfulness are some of the greatest gifts we could give others. Anything we can do to increase the sense of belonging both within the Church and outside of the Church is a huge service to the world and the Master ~ and once again, makes us missionaries without uncomfortable effort.
"Latter-day Saints have a positive and inclusive approach toward others who are not of our faith. We believe they are literally our brothers and sisters, that we are sons and daughters of the same Heavenly Father. We have a common genealogy leading back to God."Howard W. Hunter
True sometimes our smiles fall on stony ground or our efforts are re-buffed. Don't let such episodes throw you. Some people take time, or sometimes other people are waiting for just what you can gift.
President Hunter quote Joseph Smith ~ perhaps this quote embodies all three of love, unity and brotherhood ~ but it is pivotal to our gospel.
"Love is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons of God. A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world anxious to bless the whole human race."
Possible Question:"Consider the "walls" that stop you from receiving the blessings of missionary work. Discuss ways to overcome those obstacles." (From the lesson manual ~ awesome discussion topic.)
Sorry this is so late! On to lesson 9! Best of luck to you.
