March 5

Principle: Humility, be teachable, have life long learning.

Spend time doing each of these five inspirements:

1 hour for Apprentice,

1 1/2 hour for Journeyman,

and 2 hours or more for Master level 

1. Read or watch "To Walk Humbly with Thy God" by Marlin K. Jensen. Think about what it means to be humble and write your thoughts/inspirations in your Truth Book.

2. Read chapter 7 from Gordon B. Hinckley's book "Way to Be!" called "Be Humble". If you don't have the book you can read the chapter here. After reading this chapter, write your thoughts/inspirations in your Truth Book, as well as doing the next two items:

A. If you were given the advice to "Forget yourself and go to work" what would that apply to in your life? In what ways would you be blessed if you forgot yourself and went to work?

B. Find these sentences in this chapter and write it in your Truth Book, filling in the spaces: "Being humble does not mean being _______. It means being _______________. It does not require us to be ________________ on. It means _________________ where our _________ and _____________ come from."

 

3. Watch these short videos:

Jesus Teaches that We Must Become as Little Children

Humility and Love

 

4. Write this scripture in your Truth Book and memorize it: 

Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers. D&C 112:10

5. Go to the Topical Guide and look up "Humility." Choose verses to read and study, and write down some of your favorites in your Truth Book. Be prepared to share one of your favorites in class.

 

 

February 26

Principle: Charity, inspire vs. expire, Genshai and Namaste

Spend time doing each of these four inspirements:
1 hour for Apprentice,  
1 1/2 hour for Journeyman,  
and 2 hours or more for Master level 

It was wonderful to hear from our guest speaker, Craig LaMont! He did a wonderful job helping us to see how to practice and 'grow' our charity muscles by deciding and committing to each day for the rest of our lives, to lift others and do something each day that blesses their lives.  He also invited everyone to memorize a poem - that poem is at the end of this post.

Here are the inspirements for the week:

We have been talking about the importance of having Charity, and how Christ, the Greatest Leader, was the best example of charity. 

Another way of describing charity, or genshai, is to "INSPIRE not expire". 

1. Do a word study on Inspire and Expire

1. Look up the words up in Webster 1828 dictionary. Select the definition for your focus. Write the definition in your Truth Book.

2. Underline key words in your definition that stand out to you and define them.

3. Look at how the original word is used in Scripture/ Conference addresses (not in general quotes or other articles, at least for this purpose). Write any new insights or definitions.

4. Rewrite the definition in your own words and how you are going to apply it.

2. Write in your truth book about the following questions:

• In the way we interact with other people, what does it look like to "inspire" others? What does it look like when we "expire"others? Write about this in your Truth Book.
• Write about a time in your life when you felt "inspired" by someone else.
• Write about a time in your life when you felt "expired" by someone else.
• Write about a time when you may have "inspired" someone else.
• Write about a time when you may have "expired" someone else.
• Which FEELS better....

3. Watch the following inspirational videos and write any thoughts/inspiration you have in your Truth Book:

• Cheering Each Other On
• Dayton's Legs
• Strengthen Thy Brethren

4. Write this poem in your Truth Book and consider memorizing it:

WHICH ARE YOU?
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
 
There are two kinds of people on earth to-day,
Just two kinds of people; no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood,
The good are half bad, and the bad are half good. 

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man. 

Not the happy and sad, for the swift-flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No ; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift and the people who lean. 

Wherever you go, you will find the earth's masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes,
And, oddly enough, you will find, too, I ween,
There is only one lifter to twenty who lean. 

In which class are you? Are you easing the load,
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others bear
Your portion of labor and worry and care?

February 19

Principle: Charity, inspire vs. expire, Genshai and Namaste

Spend time doing each of these five inspirements:
1 hour for Apprentice,
1 1/2 hour for Journeyman,
and 2 hours or more for Master level 

We had a great experience in class listening to Elder Bednar teach us about the Character of Christ. His prayer is, "May we reach outward when the natural tendency for us is to turn inward."

1. Do a word study on the word "character" and write it in your truth book. As you do this you will be amazed at the things you'll discover. You can see an example of how to do a word study here.

1. Select a key word to focus on.
2. Look it up in the Webster 1828 dictionary. Select the definition for your focus (sometimes there is more than one definition.)
3. Underline key words that stand out to you and define them.
4. Look at how it is used in Scripture/Conference addresses. (Not in general quotes or other articles, at least for this purpose...) Write any new insights or definitions.
5. Rewrite the definition in your own words and how you are going to apply it.

 

2. Read this excerpt from a talk given by Pres. Monson in the Oct. 2012 General Conference. See if you can identify how one of the soldiers in the story exhibited character in the way that Elder Bednar talked about in his talk.

3. In Elder Bednars' talk he said that the adversary repeatedly attempted "to attack Jesus' understanding of who He was and of His relationship with His Father." (referencing Matthew 4:1-9) Think about and write about the following questions in your Truth Book:

A. Do you think the adversary uses that same strategy to try to cause us to discount who we are? How so?

B. How would remembering who you are help you to combat this strategy?

C. How would remembering who others are help you to treat them with Genshai/Charity?

4. Read the following scriptures and choose one or more that mean a lot to you, write it in your Truth Book and memorize it.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love castesh out fear

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

5. Watch the following inspirational videos and write any thoughts/inspiration you have in your Truth Book:

The Character of Christ 

The Coat: A Story of Charity

Charity Never Faileth

The following two items for your enjoyment if you're interested:

Here is the link to listen to Elder Bednar's talk on "The Character of Christ" again if you'd like to. You can also print it out at this link. You'll need to scroll down a ways to find it. There is no video of this talk. It was given at BYU-Idaho back when he was the president there.

Watch this TED talk by Kevin Hall on Genshai. He is the one who wrote the book "Aspire" and that is the book I used to teach you about Genshai.  I think you'll like listening to him tell the story himself. 

February 12

 Principle: Charity, inspire vs. expire, Genshai and Namaste

Spend time doing each of these four inspirements:

1 hour for Apprentice,

1 1/2 hour for Journeyman,

and 2 hours or more for Master level 

1. GENSHAI-  In class you were given a piece of paper that said, "Genshai - Never treat another person in a manner that would make them feel small - including myself."  Tape it to the mirror in your bathroom or someplace where you will see it everyday.  Read it each day and look for times during the day where you can practice Genshai, either in regards to others or to yourself. Be prepared to share your experience in class next week.

2. You were also given a sheet of sticker paper that had a picture of the Savior on it. We discussed what pride is in class.  We learned that whenever we feel ourselves to be above others, or when we put ourselves below others, that we are really focusing on ourselves (therefore withholding our love and our service from others) and are therefore being prideful. (That's a very simplified explanation!)  We discussed how if we are to become more like the Savior, then we are to truly love ourselves and others, and to become the best we can be with the purpose of serving others.  This inspirement invites you to teach what you learned about this to someone else - perhaps to your parents or a sibling, or in Family Home Evening. This will help you to understand it better yourself. If you want to ask me questions to help you better understand it, please feel free to email me. You can use this image to help you teach it.

3. Think about and write about the following questions in your Truth Book:

1. Looking back over the past few years, has anyone treated you with Genshai? What was the situation and how did it make you feel?

2. And on the flip-side of that, has there been a time in the past few years where you treated someone with Genshai? What was the situation and how did it make you feel?

3. What things do you think about, or believe, that make you feel small?

4. What things do you think about, or believe, that make you feel better than someone else?

5. What can you do to feel more love for yourself and others?

4. Go to the Topical Guide and look up "Charity." Choose verses to read and study, and write down some of your favorites in your Truth Book. Be prepared to share one of your favorites in class.

(PS Remember to bring your scriptures next week!)