It was my turn to give our lesson for Family Home Evening a couple weeks ago, and up until 5 minutes before I still wasn't sure what I was going to teach, but then all of the sudden it came to me; it wasn't even one of the ideas I'd been thinking about so I knew it was inspiration.
We ended up discussing the difference between being converted to "the church" (i.e., our ward, our building, our experiences) and being converted to "the gospel" (i.e., The Atonement of Jesus Christ, The Plan of Salvation, The Restoration of the Gospel, etc.). The kids were not familiar with this concept at all and had big eyes as we gave them examples of instances that might shake
someone's faith. We explained that if we're not fully converted to the gospel we could lose our faith and fall away, but how if we are fully converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ we can weather the storms that come our way and carry on.
We referred back to
Helaman 5:12 (which we memorized a couple months ago as one of our scripture mastery verses). This scripture has become such a part of me and I feel the Spirit every time I recite it.
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo because of the foundation upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.It made perfect sense to them, even though it was something they had never had to consider before. And as we discussed the example of how some people lose their testimonies and leave the church when one of their leaders makes bad choices, or when a family member dies suddenly, or if they move to a different ward that doesn't quite feel the same, they came to see that none of those things really matter if you're fully converted to the gospel. Because when you're fully converted, you understand that all people are mortal and get to make their own choices, so if a leader decides to have an affair or to be dishonest in their business dealings or leaves the church, that doesn't mean the gospel isn't true, it just means they
exercised their agency and chose for themselves.
We can't say we're converted only when things are going well for us. We have to be converted all the time, then because of that change of heart and strength of belief we can handle (even if it feels like just barely) the trials that come our way.
**Does this make sense to you?
Have you had your faith shaken
How firm is your foundation?**
Comment Window Tidbit: We've got rain and sleet happening outside so it's beginning to feel like winter! Bring on the cozy!
