1 Nephi 11-15 Part 2 • Dr. Joshua Sears • Jan. 22 - Jan. 28 • Come Follow Me 

Funny - our study of our covenant with God is like an endless law class on contracts 😂

That sounded negative. I mean it in an ironic and humorous way 😜

So many thoughts today. I am actually sharing a small portion of them... I frequently have this thought run through my mind. Not as an excuse, but as a source of hope. "There is NOTHING we can break that God can't fix". To build on that, a breaking and a repairing IS covenant.

Yeah, Brothers Sears knows the book of Mormon like the back of his hands. I plan on going back to listen to it slowly and pausing the video whenever I need to. Not being a scripture scholar myself, and definitely not having read the book of Mormon as many time as his brother Sears, I think I'll be pausing quite a bit 😅. But I think he brought out some really amazing points that help me to appreciate God's love and patience for His children! His witness and testimony of the central message of the book of Mormon really uplifted me and gave me a lot of hope! I love how all of these videos are divided into little segments with their own time stamps. It will take some patience on my part, but I look forward to going back and slowly digest and savor each principle that he brought up.😊

It's been my observation that few families in and out of our faith are idyllic. I personally hold to the thought that God loves each family member and knows them far better than we do. Because of that love and understanding, he is not just the God of second chances, He is the God of thousands of chances. Elder David A. Bednar addressed your very concern in "Faithful Parents and Wayward Children" (Ensign Magazine, March 2014). He borrows from President James E. Faust, who provided a very comprehensive explanation. It's long but worth the read. “I believe and accept the comforting statement of Elder Orson F. Whitney: “‘The Prophet Joseph Smith declared-and he never taught more comforting doctrine-that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.’ “A principle in this statement that is often overlooked is that they must fully repent and ‘suffer for their sins’ and ‘pay their debt to justice.’ I recognize that now is the time ‘to prepare to meet God’ [Alma 34:32]. If the repentance of the wayward children does not happen in this life, is it still possible for the cords of the sealing to be strong enough for them yet to work out their repentance? In the Doctrine and Covenants we are told, ‘The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God. “‘And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation’ [D&C 138:58-59]. “We remember that the prodigal son wasted his inheritance, and when it was all gone he came back to his father’s house. There he was welcomed back into the family, but his inheritance was spent. [See Luke 15:11-32.] Mercy will not rob justice, and the sealing power of faithful parents will only claim wayward children upon the condition of their repentance and Christ’s Atonement. Repentant wayward children will enjoy salvation and all the blessings that go with it, but exaltation is much more. It must be fully earned. The question as to who will be exalted must be left to the Lord in His mercy. “There are very few whose rebellion and evil deeds are so great that they have ‘sinned away the power to repent.’ That judgment must also be left up to the Lord. He tells us, ‘I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men’ [D&C 64:10]. “Perhaps in this life we are not given to fully understand how enduring the sealing cords of righteous parents are to their children. It may very well be that there are more helpful sources at work than we know. I believe there is a strong familial pull as the influence of beloved ancestors continues with us from the other side of the veil."

Oh yes, I have children and grandchildren who have left the path in big and dramatic ways. It has been the most painful thing in my life, more painful than the death of my husband, my baby, my parents and 2 siblings. But this episode confirms what I believe and hang on to. God’s love and His plan is bigger than all our messes. If what was said in this episode can’t give you hope, I don’t know what will.

I haven't lost a child (yet), but I have lost my parents. My dad killed my mom and then took his own life. It took me two decades of striving to understand covenant doctrine to take their names to the temple and be sealed to them. What I learned during that time and can testify to you now is that the Lord's plan is eternal and this mortality is only a blip in that eternal time that our spirits have to learn. They have the opportunity to continue to grow and learn after this life, without the influence of the demons that plagued them here. They still get to choose what they will choose. Some spirits just don't want celestial responsibility. They don't feel comfortable in that space. We don't have to think on that because it is not our place to judge where we think they we go. All the kingdoms are greater than we can imagine with our mortal minds. Jesus gets to be the one the stand by their sides, talk through with them what their destiny will be, advocate for them, and love them perfectly. We get to love them the best our mortal heats and minds can, learn how the gospel works, offer them covenants, and have joy when we see them, and we are all in our perfected state.

I also have had a similar experience. I have, after years of tears and pain, now realize each of us will be resurrected to a glory that will bring us maximum happiness. My maximum happiness and joy may be different with a different address than another’s happiness and joy that I love and hold dear.

Hmmmmm read every word of every scripture… THE LORD ISNT THE SAVIOUR UNTIL HE HAS SAVED !!!