Living by Faith, Not Fear (Elder Cook--Oct. 2007)

Jan. 28, 2008

Purpose: For the Ann Arbor RS Sisters to increase their knowledge of the atonement and know what they needed to do personally to be filled with more faith and choose faith over fear.

Choosing to be filled with faith instead of fear is something I struggle with on a daily basis. Think about it. The common negative feelings that women generally feel (inadequacy, depression, despair . . .) stem from indulging in fearful thoughts we've created of that have been put there by Satan. Choosing to listen to those thoughts instead of one of faith create thoughts, words, and actions that aren't completely in line with how Heavenly Father would have me live.

So, I asked the Sisters "What do YOU fear?" I asked them to just shout these answers out as I wrote them all across the board:

not being good enough (wife, daughter of God, mother . . . )
violence
money
retirement
death
illness
death of loved one
children
school

There were many other answers. So, I asked, "Do we have reason to fear?" YES! With everything that is constantly bombarding us today, we do. BUT we know we've been given all that we need to rely upon faith. We know that faith needs to be founded upon Jesus Christ in order to produce salvation (not faith in other--ourselves, parents, friends, husbands . . . )

So, What produces or strengthens your faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ? For me it is hearing, reading, remembering testimonies of Him.

I told the sisters that for the next 18 min. they would be listening to testimonies of the prophets and apostles of our Savior. Before I played the CD I let them know that they would feel the Spirit. That they would feel it strongly and that they would leave RS today with a greater understanding of the atonement. I also told them that the spirit would tell them what they needed to do or change in order to be more filled with faith.

As we listened to the CD (which is filled with witnesses of Christ: Hinckley, Hunter, Faust, Monson, Erying, McConkie, Packer, . . . . and others), I placed the pictures of these men on the board covering up our fears.

When the CD was over, I asked the sisters, "What do YOU need to do so that their words and the words in the scriptures ring SO loudly in your mind that any fearful thought will just be a quiet whisper--that any fearful thoughts won't even be felt?"

We took a few minutes to listen to the sister's answers.

In closing, I said that I knew it was possible to live our lives filled with faith ALL the time, by the things we choose to participate in and the thoughts we choose to fill our minds. I closed by reading in Alma 13:5 that living "in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son". By living in and through the atonement of Christ we can always choose faith.

Side Note: I can make copies of the CD if anyone is interested. I received this CD from my nephew on a mission. Since then, I've listened to it a couple times a day. It is amazing to see and feel how the spirit fills our home when I play it and how I am able to focus on their words of Christ, instead of any fearful ones I may be having. Contact me if you are interested in a copy: rackley_michelle@yahoo.com.

I also appreciated Anne following up on this lesson in her lesson the following week. As a teacher, I often wish I could do a follow up the next week and ask sisters what they may have done differently as a result to the things we discussed and the things we felt we needed to change. Follow-ups are great teaching tools that can help us all work a little harder and be a little better at implementing the things we learn on Sunday.