Sunday School Lesson 35: A Mission of Saving

This lesson starts with the work of saving that is conducted through missionary work and then moves to the include references to actually saving people from physical privation. Are the two even related? I've heard it said that it is hard for people to focus on spiritual growth if they are concerned that their children are starving, but Alma also said that the poor are easier to convert because of their forced humility.

D&C 4:6 Here, the order goes:

Faith
Virtue
Knowledge
Temperance
Patience
Brotherly Kindness
Godliness
Charity
Humility
Diligence

But there is a very similar passage in 2 Peter1:4-8 that goes

Faith
Virtue
Knowledge
Temperance
Patience
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Charity

You'll notice first that the Doctrine and Covenants list is 2 items longer than that in 2 Peter, and then, you might notice that the order is different. Brotherly Kindness and Godliness are switched in the two lists. It's my opinion that the order matters in 2 Peter but not in D&C. Peter was giving a pretty specific step-by-step instruction in how to become fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith was just listing off a bullet list of things to remember as you go forth to serve, and tacked on humility and diligence, which, for some reason, didn't make Peter's list.

D&C 18:12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him on conditions of repentance. This is an interesting thing. We talk about the atonement in two parts: the suffering in the garden and on the cross to atone for our sins and allow us to repent, and the death and resurrection to allow us to be resurrected. In my mind, the goal of the suffering was to allow us to return to God, and the goal of the resurrection was to allow us to live again, but this indicates that the reason He rose from the dead was so that we could return to God. And I suppose that makes sense, in a way. We could certainly not return to God as disembodied spirits, and the fact that we lacked physical bodies in the pre-mortal world was one of the major differences between us and God that would be overcome through the plan and our descent to earth.

D&C 52:40 And remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple. I've been pretty irritated with the growing trend of socializing that the government has been pushing, particularly with health care. The irritation comes from selfishness, I'm willing to admit that. I don't want to pay for someone else to not work. But does that mean I'm not a disciple? I'll be honest, I don't want them to work for their own betterment, I want them to work so I don't have to pay for their freeloading. The problem is, we know there are people who take advantage of the system and are happy to take their government benefits that they only get if they are not working, but there are also people who are literally needy. How do you serve the one while not rewarding laziness in the other?

Our Heritage, pages 77–80 A member of the Martin Handcar company, speaking of his experience said, The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay. What price have we paid to become acquainted with God? The technical requirement is to keep the commandments, repent of your sins, but often it seems that people who are forced to suffer find humility that is difficult to find elsewhere. How can we find that humility and faith without the suffering? Is it wrong to want to, or should we pray for trials that will be nigh unbearable?