Sunday School Lesson 34: Faith in Every Footstep

D&C 136:4 And this shall be our covenant--that we will walk in all the ordinances of the Lord. That's a very interesting company slogan. You have a group of people who have already made that covenant deciding to re-make it as a group. What is the added value to collective covenanting? Another thing that is interesting is that the company size is essentially capped at 100 people. In the book, Freakonomics, one of the things the author discussed was group size and its relative social pressure. Groups have a much greater social pressure when they are under 150 people, and if I remember correctly, groups under 100 were not broadly based enough for every member to find close support.

136:24 Cease drunkenness. Often I am really glad that we have adopted as command the instruction given as words of wisdom to abstain from all alcoholic beverages.

136:28 If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing and with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. What do you suppose it takes to convince a congregation to open their mouths and let the singing pour out? We have much better singing from the brethren in Priesthood opening exercises than we get from them in Sacrament meeting, but you would think they'd be the same. It's probably the group size.

136:34 Thy brethren have rejected you and our testimony, even the nation that has driven you out. This sounds a little anti-american but when the saints had their first pioneer day celebration, they celebrated with American flags, Patriotic songs, parades where they wore their American military uniforms, etc. and Brigham Young said something about how it was no great secret that despite some Americans who didn't understand the principles of freedom on which America was founded, it was still the greatest nation on the face of the earth.