From last week: when you have a mint or something minty, what are you supposed to remember?
How to Always Remember Christ
Activity on trying to memorize something
- Simon
- Memory matching game
When we are baptized and take the sacrament, we promise to "always remember" Christ. It's easier said than done.
Read Helaman 12:1-5
- in summary, we get lazy and forget
How do you go about trying to remember something?
- for a test
- a person's name
- what you need to buy at the store
- any list
Why do we forget?
What is it like dealing with a person who forgets things?
What must it be like for God when we forget him and his son?
How can we improve at always remembering Christ?
Here are 8 strategies for improving your ability to remember:
1. Become interested in what you're learning
i. How can we become more interested in Christ? (write answers)
2. Find a way to leverage your visual memory
i. One trick for quickly memorizing new peoples' names is to associate their name with something visual. For example, you meet someone at a party named Mike and he has large ears. Mike -> microphone -> he cleans his ears with the microphone … weird but it works.
ii. Maybe you can find a way to remember Christ in various parts of your day. Create a visual
3. Chunking; to memorize 467890, it's easier to remember 467 & 890, rather than six numbers.
i. How could this apply to remembering Christ?
4. Associate what you're trying to remember with something you already know
i. You can use mnemonics to remember something about Christ that will help you
5. Write out things, over and over again
i. Journaling, or sharing experiences (i.e. telling stories) will reinforce lessons
6. Summarize as you learn and as you try to remember
i. Leverage writing to simply summarize what you're trying to remember. Have you had a powerful spiritual experience and you want to remember it to help you remember Christ? Then summarize it and write it down.
Opening Activity
What were you thinking about 15 minutes ago? Review
As discussed a couple of weeks ago, the purpose of ordinances is to see God and live - to enter His presence and remain there. Furthermore, ordinances are symbolic and tied to duties. When we participate in those symbolic rituals, we ought to think of what they stand for as well as what our duties are in connection to that ordinance.
- What do you think of this re-enactment of the Last Supper?
- How does it differ from your experience in Sacrament Meeting?
The Last Supper was intimate and personal. It seems to have been more like a quiet dinner party than a formal, solemn ordinance.
What do you think the disciples were thinking when Jesus began to wash their feet and feed them?
I think it would have been a bit awkward to have Jesus or anyone wash my feet. But to have him break bread and share his wine with me, not so much.
A Service to Others, Who Desire to Serve Others (or Reciprocity)
Jesus served his disciples, by washing their feet and feeding them. It was a an intimate act of service. He would later bleed from every pore of his body, be beaten and whipped by soldiers, be forced to carry this cross he would be crucified on and he would later suffer and die. He carried out the greatest act of service for his friends and for us.
In return, he asked that we love one another as he has loved us.
In July 2017, I was admitted to the hospital for an important heart procedure. After the procedure was completed, my dear wife was there to greet me and then remained with me in the hospital while I recovered. She helped me with a lot of things I could not do on my own. This was just a minor example of how she did something uniquely special to me. For this act of love, along with many other acts of love and kindness from her, I have this strong urge to return the favors and to serve her.
This desire to serve in return is backed by science. In the world of persuasion science, this is called reciprocity.
An example (source):
Three groups of waiters were given different instructions.
The first group studied had waiters giving mints along with the check, making no mention of the mints themselves. This increased tips by around 3% against the control group.
The second group had waiters bring out two mints by hand, and they mentioned them to the table ("Would anyone like some mints before they leave?"). Tips increased by 14% against the control group.
The last group had waiters bring out the check first along with a few mints. A short time afterward, the waiter came back with another set of mints, and let customers know that they had brought out more mints, in case they wanted another.
This last test was where waiters saw a 21% increase in tips versus the control group.
At first glance, the last two groups seem very similar: two mints per-person were brought out, and the waiter mentioned them.
So, what was different?
The difference was personalization - making the service intimate or unique.
How does this apply to the Atonement and the Sacrament? Since Jesus is not here to actually serve us, we are left to our own devices to make the Sacrament meaningful for us. Often, to make the Sacrament personal, meditation and contemplation are required. We cannot thoughtlessly approach the Sacrament and expect to get anything out of it. Rather, we need to make an effort to be there in the same room as Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper; we need to visit the Garden of Gethsemane; we need to see Christ hang on the cross and bleed for us.
As we make it personal, we begin to have a desire to love Jesus and in turn, have greater love for others.
Ideas to Help Make the Sacrament More Personal
- examine thyself! (1 Corinthians 11:28)
how did you do in serving others in the prior week?
how have you improved at living a more virtuous life?
what will you do differently this next week?
consider keeping a journal to mark your progress each week
- think of Jesus' sacrifice during the Sacrament
listen to the hymn, read the words again
meditate and try to place yourself at the feet of Jesus
recite scripture (i.e. Mosiah 14)
- study the meaning of a broken heart and contrite spirit
read this blog post
Closing Activity
We started off the class with "what were you thinking about 15 minutes ago?" and we see your answers here on the board. What will you think about next week when you partake of the Sacrament?
Last week, we talked about whywe need priesthood ordinances. Ordinances are to helps us translate commandments into actions, so that we can be worthy to live and persist in God's presence.
Ordinances are symbolic - which remind us of certain things - which in turn help us to remember to do our duty to God and our neighbors. Again, everything ties back to the two great commandments of loving God and loving others.
Now that we understand the why of ordinances, we shift to how do we commit to these commandments, and how do we help others commit to these commandments.
We call these commitments covenants.
Covenants are simply commitments to keep the commandments.
Why Do Covenants "Work"?
Before we get into examples of covenants, let's think about the process of making covenants for a minute. We have these two great commandments and in a lot of ways, commandments are sacrifices of the ego. There are a lot of things that we don't want to do. We may want to party and have a good time and we want everything to go our way. So how do we get people to commit to love God and others?
This is were persuasion and compliance come into play.
There are roughly six persuasion techniques that work on a lot of people. In brief they are:
1. Reciprocity
2. Scarcity
3. Authority
4. Consistency
5. Liking
6. Consensus
All of these techniques factor into religion and marketing and politics. For today's lesson about covenants, we are going to focus on the fourth in the list above: consistency.
Below is a video that briefly explains all of them, but now, we are only going to focus on consistency.
A lot of times in my life as a member of the church, teachers have often used the phrase "milk before meat." This alludes to the fact that you cannot give a baby meat, because they don't have teeth and they could choke on the food and die. Instead, you give the baby milk, then solid food and then eventually the child or young person can eat meat.
Covenants are very similar in the church. Leaders don't ask, nor will they allow, new members to go to the temple right away after joining the church. If they did, they would be weirded out or think it very strange. Other religions are similar, such as Scientology, where they don't let members 'advance quickly' or do things right away. Rather, they get members to commit to smaller things before committing to bigger things.
In the example from the video, the researchers wanted commitment from the neighborhood to post a large sign on the street. By asking them "cold-turkey" most refused and would not commit. But if the researchers were able to get them to commit to a smaller promise and then follow up with the bigger commitment, more people were willing to comply and commit.
This is why we make multiple covenants through our life; such as baptism, priesthood ordination, and temple ordinances. This is also why, in primary, young women's and young men's programs, we ask people to commit to smaller things - such as offering a prayer, giving a talk, going to a service project, helping clean the church and other things. In hundreds of little ways, we are always asking each other to commit to keeping the commandments. Then when it is time to make a bigger commitment (covenant), people are more willing.
The other part of the video describes how people commit to do something. When someone seemingly makes a voluntary and public commitment, they are much more likely to keep that commitment. In the video, he talked about patients committing to an appointment at the doctor. From a doctor's perspective, patients missing their appointments is not a good thing. He wants them to keep their appointments. So, in order to increase the level of commitment among patients, the doctor will have the patient write down the date and time of the appointments rather than the secretary. When they publicly committed to writing the date and time, they were much more likely to keep the appointments.
Similarly in the church, all covenants are done publicly. This is why we invite friends and family to baptisms, ordinations, missionary farewells, temple ordinances and weddings. Even though the temple is not open for the entire public, many families will attend when someone goes to the temple for the first time.
What Covenants Do We Make?
Let's spend some time talking about the covenants we make. What are they?
Marriage Covenant
- the church calls this "the new and everlasting covenant"
- sometimes called (and is related to) the Abrahamic covenant
- when it was first revealed, it really meant members we asked to enter into a polygamous and/or polyandrous marriage
- see D&C 132, particularly verse 32 "do the works of Abraham" and then later vs. 58-66
- the church no longer practices "live" polygamous marriages, but does approve "serial" polygamous marriages
- note: President Nelson and President Oaks are sealed (married for eternity) to two wives, even though they had the option to marry their 2nd wife for "time only"
- see "Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo"
- see "Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah"
- see "The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage"
Quickly review the events in the Garden of Eden. God created Adam and Eve, who were perfect in body and innocent in mind. They were place in the garden, commanded to have children and commanded not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan came, and tempted them to eat the fruit; they ate and were cast out of the garden and more importantly, they left God's presence. Ever since then, humans have been trying to get back to God to live with him.
Read Moses 1:1-24
Pay particular attention to verses, 5, 10-11
D&C 84:19-22
19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
20 Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
22 For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.
The whole point of ordinances is to help us prepare to meet God and live in his presence. Ordinances are symbolic and teach and remind us of our duties to God and others. Each ordinance is tied to a duty - always a duty to God or a duty to others. As we fulfill these duties, we prepare ourselves to meet and live with God again.
Other Ordinances
- Sacrament (memorial ordinance)
- Washing feet (for apostles; see this link)
- Naming and blessing of children
- Oil consecration
- Blessing sick
Symbols
What is a symbol?
Think of song The Star Spangled Banner and how our flag should remind us of the sacrifices our fore-fathers made and when we see the stars, stripes, red, while and blue, we ought to think about them and be grateful for what we enjoy.
My ring is a symbol of my love and commitment to Jill.
Just this week, an author I enjoy reading, produced a little coin called a memento mori which is supposed to remind the person who carries it around, that they will die soon and they ought to treat each day as a gift.
Symbols represent something or an idea. And when we see the symbol, we ought to remember whatever it is we are supposed to remember or we ought to do whatever it is we ought to do.
How we learn from ordinances
Divide class in half. One half will focus on baptism and the other half on sacrament.
They will search and then share:
1. What does the ordinance symbolize
2. What does the ordinance teach
- what should we remember - how should we act and live / fulfill our duties
They should be prepared to share a quote from the scriptures or from a talk. They can use the chalkboard or anything else to help demonstrate the symbol and what it is we are supposed to remember or do when we see that symbol.
