9 Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their inheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever.
23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.
28 And now my son, Laman, and also Lemuel and Sam, and also my sons who are the sons of Ishmael, behold, if ye will hearken unto the voice of Nephi ye shall not perish. And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a blessing, yea, even my first blessing.
The priesthood in our lives is a wonderful thing. Some are lucky enough to have it in their homes, others are not. But we each have a bishop of our ward.
My bishop growing up was Bishop Christensen. He was also my "church dad", such as accompanying me to the "Daddy/Daughter" activities in Primary. He was always at girl's camp, and I grew up thinking you had one bishop forever. He moved up from California to Utah sometime after I moved, and I even asked him to speak at my missionary farewell. He also came to my temple wedding and was one of the witnesses.
This Sunday was the 5th Sunday, where our bishop speaks to all of the adults during the last hour of church. The YW/YM take care of the Primary. He gave a lesson about each of us having Faith....to Repent....to Immerse(Baptism)......to have the Spirit....and to Endure. And if we find ourselves not Enduring in the Gospel, we need to go backwards and gain the Spirit back again.....and if we can't we need to Immerse ourselves in the Sacrament....and if that isn't enough to Repent....and if that's not working than work on having more Faith. We can work on having more Faith by both physical and spiritual experiences. He then closed by doing something that the 72 year old woman behind me (my mother) whispered to the woman next to her that she'd never experienced before; he gave us a Bishop's Blessing for the Ward.
If you'd like to know what his blessing was, just reread this chapter and read it as your bishop speaking to your ward. Replace the word "land" with "ward". Whether vocally or quietly on their knees in closets, I'm sure that each bishop has given this blessing for their ward many times.
1 comments:
I remember when my Dad was bishop growing up. They carry such a heavy burden. They have so much to do, so many people to worry about. Yet, through all of that, they continually show love and concern for each one of us. I love and appreciate and respect our bishop. I also love and appreciate and respect his wife for all that she does behind the scenes to support him and keep him going!
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