Welcome back everybody.

This is week 30 of Creative.

Come follow me for the New Testament and this week we're still in the book of Acts.

We're gonna go from chapter 16 all the way up through 21.

This is essentially the second and the third mission of Paul to the Gentiles.

So even though he served in lots of other places before he started

preaching to the Gentiles, these three missions that we're focusing on, these

are when he's taking the message out.

And I really love that it's Luke that captures them cuz we know that

Luke is the author of the Book of Acts and he himself is a Gentile.

So he's someone who will care passionately about this message and how it got out.

In fact, this week you see him in inserted into the narrative.

He starts to use himself in a first person, or at least talk about how

we went to a certain city, meaning that he joined Paul on his missionary

efforts and has these memories.

In fact, one of the things I liked and disliked about this week's study

is there's a lot of detail and.

It's hard cuz you don't know what's important.

You know, I don't know if I'm, when I'm reading all these city names, if I

actually need to figure out where each one of them is and if there's some like

other meaning behind the order of things.

I feel the same way when he talks about people's names.

I, I find myself thinking like, is this an important character in the New Testament?

Should I remember who this person is?

Or is this somebody I'm just gonna read and pass by?

And one of the things that comforted me as I was studying and dealing

with that struggle is I was thinking about what it's like to talk

to anybody about their mission.

Now, if I talk to Jason about his mission memories or let him

go through his big blue box of mission memories, he has memories

associated with each and every little.

Thing.

You know, every picture, every journal, every, there are these yellow cards

that he's been trying to capture that talked about what he did day to day.

All these little things have memories for him, and they associate with

the feelings He got there as a spectator to that kind of testimony.

My job is to let him tell me his stories and then to sift out what is needful for

me, what I get the most when I listen to Jason tell stories about being in the

Canary Islands is who he was and the what he felt, and how he knew what to do and

when, and that's what you're gonna get.

At least for me.

That's where I found the most richness in Paul's narrative, is that he's

gonna tell you a lot of details that you don't necessarily need to know or

memorize, but the feeling that you get and how he chooses to do what he does

and how he connects with the people he connects with, that's what matters most.

And honestly, I'll tell you guys, it will change you to study this week.

I, uh, I found myself the more I studied Paul and what he does this week I found

myself itching to help the missionaries.

You could ask the missionaries in my ward, like I just sent them a text.

You be like, Hey, if you guys need me to come on a meeting, if you

want to bring somebody to my house.

Cuz sometimes it's better to be in a house like that all came from me studying Paul.

It, it just sort of naturally wells up at you.

As you hear his missionary spirit catch fire in the hearts of all

these people he is gonna teach.

That fire will catch.

And you as well, if you give it a time it deserves, you'll feel

a pull to be a better missionary.

And as a daughter of conference, I just, I found myself repenting a little bit

and being like, Maria, this is the work.

Let's go.

And so prepare your hearts.

You guys.

Things are gonna shift this week as you study the missions of Paul.

So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

It's time to get started.

One of my favorite chapters this week is Acts 16.

I didn't know I would love this chapter until I studied it, but I think it's

got some really powerful stories of deliverance all woven together.

That's what I like about all this week's study is I felt like, do you remember

when we talked about the parable of the sower and I told you that I feel like

the parable of the sower is not so much about aim, like aiming for good ground

all the time and avoiding the stony soil, but sowing like constantly putting out

seeds and seeing what the Lord will do.

There are certain soils that have been prepared for the word, and that's what

Paul's trusting in, so he's gonna cast out seeds in all kinds of locations,

places I would've seen as stony soil.

He will say, oh, who knows?

Maybe something can grow.

So he casts out seeds.

Where you begin in chapter 16 is you see him bringing in.

A new recruit.

So Timothy is gonna become a convert to the church and he will become an

important companion to Paul down the road.

But this is just the beginning of his story.

So you find out that his mother's a Jewish and his father's a Greek

and he hasn't been circumcised and he wants to join Paul.

Paul's gonna spend so much time with Timothy that he'll call him a son in the

faith or something kind of like that.

It's like he, he embraces them almost like a son because they spend so much time

together and they have such common hearts.

But Timothy is not circumcised, which means he will not be

welcomed in Jewish communities.

And it's really interesting that in 16 where you begin Paul's circumstances,

Timothy, which is odd, since last week we just talked about that.

You know, that official declaration that came out that said basically

Gentiles don't need to circumcise.

But I think this is not the critical distinction, I think, is that what

the declaration stated is that you don't need circumcision or

the laws of Moses in order to be.

Sal, in order to gain salvation, they don't need to.

As a gentile who joins the church, they don't need to abide by those laws

in order to have access to salvation.

That doesn't mean the traditions of the Jews won't help them

be better missionaries.

These are things that Paul and Timothy choose to do in order to

maintain relations in a small way.

I feel like it's a lot like what our missionaries do right now.

I mean, every missionary I've talked to that comes home from any place,

even if it's a United States location, comes home with crazy stories about

what they ate at a member's house.

You know, because they, they eat those things in order to keep

peace and keep communication lines open and to show gratitude.

And I wonder sometimes if that's what's happening with Timothy, if

he's choosing to be circumcised, even in his adulthood or his older

teen years in order to be trusted.

Cuz they're gonna teach a lot of Jews and a lot of synagogues and it's, it's

a bridge that helps him get access.

So you see that happening at the beginning.

Non defiance of Peter's edict, but as a.

As a way to show kindness.

When you go a little further into 16, you're gonna see that they have some

goals about where they're gonna go.

Paul wants to go to Benia.

That's his game plan.

He thinks he knows where the Lord wants him to serve.

But Paul, as a great missionary, is always receptive to the spirit and

he will go where he's asked to go.

So what I like about this is I think it shows really well.

Remember that talk we read?

I think it was last year from NAR where he talked about those who were

struggling in Covid, cuz they often got reassigned missionaries would have

a call to a certain place and then for nine months or 12 months or even

their full missions were reassigned.

And he talked about, you're called to the work, you're not called to a

certain location, you're called to just be a missionary for the Lord

and teach wherever he plants you.

And I feel like that's what Paul demonstrates in this chapter because

even though he has a plan for where he thinks he should go, he gets revelation

that tells him he needs to go elsewhere.

And so he goes like he pivots on a dime and goes, so if you look at nine,

it says, at a vision appeared to Paul in the night and there stood a man

of Macedonia and prayed him saying, come over into Macedonia and help us.

And this is what we have to love about Paul and the rest of his companions in 10.

And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go

into Macedonia assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for

to preach the gospel unto them.

That's.

Peace of mind, right?

It's saying, I'm called to the work.

I'll go wherever the Lord needs me.

Even if I think I know where I'm supposed to go and I get

rerouted, I'll preach there.

And so they immediately go, this is a whole different area.

Macedonia is kinda the very lower corner of Europe.

So this is gonna open, open up to a lot of teaching down the road, but

they're just setting the beginning.

They're planting those beginning seeds at the bottom of Macedonia, and so

you see them change their trajectory.

They don't know who this man is, and it's never explained

who this man in the dream is.

But I have some theories.

Stick with me.

Okay?

So in the middle you're gonna see that they get to this city

and they go to a riverside.

So generally what I learned from scholars this week is that if this situation

where they go to a riverside usually means there's no synagogue in the town.

So Jews, if they don't have a place to worship, would often choose a

quiet riverside in order to worship on the Sabbath in order to, or in that.

Preliminary phase right before the Sabbath in order to be clean and washed.

And so you get the feeling that even though he's going to a riverside, he's

going hoping to find pockets of Jews.

Because remember, Paul's always gonna teach the Jews first and then

let it carry over into the Gentiles.

So that's where he begins.

And when he goes to the riverside, he meets this group of women and you

find a certain woman, I love that phrase from Linda Burton's talk, but

she's another one that stands out as unique in this in Paul's world.

So she's a seller of purple.

Her name's Lydia.

That means she makes purple dyes for purple fabrics.

It's really expensive.

She seems to have her own business of some sort, and she welcomes him in.

And the reason she welcomes him in is nested in the middle of verse 14, says,

and a certain woman named Lydia, a cellar of purple of the city of Isha, which

worshiped God, hurt us, whose heart the Lord had opened, that she attended to

the things which were spoken of by Paul.

I love that message.

The Lord opens hearts.

In fact, when I picture Lydia, I almost picture a seed, you know, like it.

She is someone who has put herself in the path of Christ, light enough,

or just the light of God enough that he has that outer shell of the seed

has cracked open in her, and she's ready for a whole phase of new growth.

And that's what you're gonna see in her and others around her, that when

Paul comes to find these open, cracked open seeds, he can cast more light in

and then they grow at this rapid rate.

So she invites Paul and his companions to come and stay at her house and

takes care of him in the town.

And then in the meantime, so after you, after you read this lovely

story about Lydia, by this gentle riverside with among other women

and learning the gospel, you see a.

Stark contrast in the woman we read about next.

In fact, it sounds like she's pretty young.

So if you look in the verses, it says that there is a woman who is a soothsayer.

In fact, they call her a damsel, which makes you think she might be pretty young.

Sometimes I wonder if she's in her teens, um, because she's

essentially owned by someone else.

She's someone who's possessed with a spirit and has these powers of divination

or what appear to be powers of divination.

And then there are men who are monopolizing her,

her confinement of sorts.

She is somebody who is possessed by an evil spirit, which means she has limited

capability to control what's happening.

And there are people who see it and take advantage of it, in

fact, to the point where they gain from her being in this state.

And maybe cuz I just watched a show all about trafficking.

I just found myself.

Hurting for her.

Uh, she is in a form of bondage and there are people who want to keep her in

that bondage cuz they can gain from it.

And when Paul encounters it, he grieves.

And I just think it tells you something about the heart of Paul.

She also follows after them a little bit in this possessed state of some kind.

She follows after them and claims them or hails them to be like messengers of God.

So she says, these men are the servants of the most high God, which

show unto us the way of salvation.

And she did this many days.

Sometimes people say it like Paul helps her because he's

annoyed that she's following after them, or she's really loud.

I wonder if he sees the bondage she's in and the wicked men who are profiting

from the state of her soul and.

He, he grieves for her.

So I think he delivers, uh, when he, he cast the spirit

out of her and she is free.

The wicked men don't want her anymore.

They leave her aside because she doesn't have the powers that she had to bring

money in, and so they push her aside.

I think it's to see those two stories, Lydia, who is an assertive, strong

business woman who has her own household and is worshiping by the

Riverside and this damsel who has been.

Held captive essentially by an evil spirit and the men who

are taking advantage of it.

To see that the doctrine of Christ frees both of them.

The gifts that especially that Paul has been given, allow both of them

to find a piece of freedom, and I just, I think there's beauty in

seeing their stories side by side.

So he casts out the spirit and then they move on.

What's interesting is they're angry, right?

They've lost their chance at income, and so they're angry at him and they

go immediately to the magistrates.

I sort of started to wonder if maybe the magistrates are in on this scheme, you

know, on taking advantage of this woman and the money that she can make them,

because they break rules in order to.

Please the men who are coming up to them.

So the wicked men who used to make money come to the magistrates and

say, you gotta get rid of this guy.

He's causing all kinds of trouble now.

We can't make money.

And the magistrates throw him in prison, which is unlawful in Roman law

because he has to have a trial first.

So this is an unlawful imprisonment that's happening.

And they cast Paul and Silas into prison.

And this is where you get another story of deliverance in chapter 16.

Because basically what happens is they beat them.

They whip them cuz they talk about having stripes.

So this is the same kind of similar lashing that the savior received

where their backs will be all cut up and they put them in stocks in

the inner court of the prison and then they put a guard over them.

I think the guard story is fascinating for me, and this is just my own theory.

I wonder if the guard is the one Paul saw, you know, when he has that vision of a man

from Macedonia saying, come and help us.

Sometimes I wonder if it's the guard, because Paul will help him in a couple

different ways in this position of complete vulnerability, similar to

like Joseph in Egypt, in prison, he will find a way to help this guard.

So this is how it plays out.

Basically, when Paul and Silas are in this prison, in this inner center of

the prison, they pray, in fact, I should read the verse cause it's beautiful.

It's in 25, it says, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto

God and the prisoners heard them, and then suddenly there was a great earthquake so

that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were

opened and everyone's bands were loose.

It makes sense that an earthquake would maybe break open some

of the doors of the prison.

It doesn't make sense that an earthquake would break the bands off men's hands.

The power of God is at play.

You know, the power of God makes that earthquake happen

and makes those bands fall.

What's fascinating to me is no one leaves you guys.

They all stay.

It makes you wonder if they, like the other prisoners gravitated

towards Paul's cell, where Paul and Silas are singing and praying.

They must have felt something and they all go in.

So when the guard comes in, he knows that he will be executed

most likely for losing prisoners.

And so he plans to commit suicide in the prison and Paul stops it.

So he says in 28, do thyself, no harm for we are all here.

I wonder sometimes if, if this is the man that Paul saw in that vision, if

he recognizes the guard and wants.

To help if he convinces the other prisoners to stay so that

that guard won't get executed.

I, I don't know, this is all supposition on my part, but I do love what

plays out with this brother because basically Paul, in this moment where

that guard thinks all hope is lost, he says to him, we are all here.

And I feel like where we've heard so many sweet messages from general

authorities lately about cherishing life and running to the aid of anyone who is

at risk of giving up that gift of life.

I think there's some really lovely parallels in this story.

If you go on the notes, you can find some quotes, especially from Elder Hollands

talk from just a couple conferences ago.

But I just think there's, to see how Paul handles it and how Paul

ministers to this man is powerful.

And then this man ministers back.

So basically the man's request is interesting.

He says, what can I do to be saved?

He, he recognizes the power of Paul and Silas.

He kneels and he.

Pleads with them to help him understand what he needs to do.

And so Paul and Silas teach, they say, and they said in thir in 31,

believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved and thy house.

And they spanned him, the word of the Lord.

And to all that were in his house.

So he secrets them away from the prison to his house where he can teach the people.

And then he teach his people, his family, and then he cares for 'em.

So if you look in 33, that same guard, that same hour of the

night, washed their stripes and was baptized and all his straight away.

And when he had brought them into his house, he sent me before them and rejoiced

believing in God with all his house.

No, he just loved that piece.

He didn't, I don't think this scar caused the stripes to happen.

It sounds like other men did that in the verses.

But he is one who does everything he can to heal the wounds and

to do what he can for these men.

He feeds them and fills them and then they.

Feed and fill him spiritually.

And it's just this lovely back and forth.

And then he takes them back to prison.

There's this, at the end you see that the magistrates realize they've been

breaking the law and they come to Paul and Silas or come to the guard and

say, you need to just let them go.

We're gonna get in trouble.

And Paul stands up for his civil rights and he says, no, they're not gonna

be able to get rid of us secretly.

And you know, they, they have an understanding and

eventually they leave town.

There's just so much in 16 that teaches me to sew, like teach the gospel in any

location everywhere you are, whether it be in a prison cell, in chains, or

on the riverside or in the markets.

Teach the gospel wherever you can, and the Lord will find

ways to make a bounty AST crop.

You see that all over chapter 16.

Talk to any missionary and you'll hear about their areas, right?

Some areas just thrive and are delightful, and some areas are a slog to get through.

In chapter 17, you see.

All of the range, right?

When here where he begins, he's gonna have persecutions that rain down on him

and then he's gonna go to a lovely little haven where there's people ready to teach.

And then he shifts to a whole place where people judge him and condescend

and he faces ambit of everything that a missionary faces today.

So when you go into the verses in 17, you're gonna see he begins at Thessalonica

and he teaches at the synagogue.

So just like he always does, Paul tries to teach the Jews first.

I think he always have that, has that intent to keep that Abrahamic covenant

in motion to take the gospel to the Jews.

And then ideally the Jews themselves take the gospel to others.

And so he kind of, he tries to set that up in every place he goes.

So he reasons with them in the scriptures, if you, if you

look into it, says it that way.

And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them and their three Sabbath days reasoned

with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have

suffered and risen again from the dead.

And that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.

What's interesting is their reaction to this message because remember, just

like we've studied before in the this, the way Peter taught, the way Stephen

taught, the way Paul has taught, they often come in teaching Old Testament

scriptures from the scrolls, and then they just add in this new piece of, let

me show you how all this is fulfilled.

And it's fascinating to see how some people love it and

lean in and some people.

Hate it.

And what it reminds me of is if you've ever been to a live concert of a band

you really love, especially a band that's been around a long time, you'll

find people, when the band plays new music, there are some people who resist

harshly and all they wanna hear is the old music and what they're familiar

with, and they know all the words to.

And there are some people who love hearing something new come from the same voice

that's seeing something else that I love.

You know, there's something intriguing about it, but a

good band cushions that, right?

They'll sing a classic and then they'll add a new piece and then

they'll add another classic.

They sandwich that uncomfortable newness in this, you know, Cushion

of what is familiar, and I think Paul is doing that as well.

Everywhere he teaches, he's trying to ease people in, but some

people just will not hear the new music and they get angry at it.

That's what happens in 17.

They basically call together a band of lewd fellows, that's phrase, so

we think of five, it says, but the Jews, which believed not moved with

envy, took them certain lewd fellows of a baser sort and gathered a company

and set all the city in an uproar and assaulted the house of Jason and

sought to bring them out to the people.

Jason is one of those people who's created a safe harbor, a place

where the missionaries can stay for a season while they preach.

And so this mob essentially attacks Jason's house.

What's beautiful to me.

Jason's gonna become like a bishop of sorts in this area down the road.

He's another one of those seeds that.

It has been planted and it's, it's growing despite all this adversity around it,

despite his house being attacked and despite all the danger that he's in, he

basically posts bond for the missionaries.

Missionaries are cuted off to jail and Jason post Bond, and

then they're able to leave.

I just think.

When you've already been through so much to offer, that last little piece

says a big testimony to others about what you believe and why you believe it.

So I can, I can't wait to read more about Jason.

Okay.

When you flip the page, you'll see in Acts 17 that they go to the next town.

This is Berea, and they're gonna go there to a group of people who are just ready.

This is every missionary's dream, right?

Or even every teacher's dream to walk into a room full of students who are

eager to learn and have been prepared.

I think one of the things that's beautiful about that, it's not so much that the

teaching just goes really well, it's also cuz you get to see how the Lord has

been working with hearts before you ever got there, that you are just a peace in

this long chain of divine intervention.

And there's something electrifying about that to me.

When you feel that.

Being a part of that great work is exhilarating.

So you can see in 10, and the brethren immediately sent away sas, Paul and Silas

by night, and to Beria who coming through there went into the synagogue of the Jews.

And these were men more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they

received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures

daily, whether those things were, so, these are people who are already in

their scriptures and they're already searching for clues about Jesus

Christ and the Messiah that will come.

They're primed and ready.

And so when the missionaries come, they can sing that new song.

And these fans listen, you know, they are ear to hear it because they, something's

been missing and they could feel it.

And so now they get that understanding and, and Paul and Silas get

to be there to create that.

What I think is amazing is they don't stay there.

You know, for me, maybe this is why you have transfers all

the time, it's a missionary.

I didn't serve a Prosing mission, so I haven't experienced this myself, but.

I think there are places you just wanna linger and stay, and the

Lord is constantly in motion.

He wants you always on the move so they don't get to stay there among

those honorable men and women.

But they do get to enjoy it for a little season.

Isn't that divine intervention as well, right?

There's phases in your life where things are hard and they're gonna be hard again.

And then he just gives you these little moments of Berea, you know

these little towns that you get to stay in for a few weeks or a few days

and just catch your breath and be like, yes, people do love this song.

There's something beautiful about Berea to me.

So when you go a little further, you're gonna see that he is sent

away there on their way to another location, and Paul ends up in Athens.

This is where you're gonna hear the famous Norman on Mars Hill that happens in 17.

Basically what you need to know about Athens is it is a place of the mind.

It's a place where people, it's like a university town, okay?

So there's a lot of people who are great thinkers and they spend a lot of their

day thinking and disgusting amongst themselves, and they love hearing.

New things, not so much cuz they want to absorb those new things, but

they like batting around new ideas.

And that's sort of what happens with Paul.

So he's teaching in the synagogues, he's teaching on the streets and

wherever anyone will hear him and the kind of higher up intellectual thinkers

hear about him and invite him to Mars Hill Mar Hill's, just this big mound

where they would meet as a council to hear religious happenings of the day.

And so he's invited up and I found myself wondering, like if I was invited to

that kind of space where, you know they aren't gonna agree with you for the most

part and you know that they are great thinkers, would you be like intimidated?

I mean, I know Paul's a very learned man, but it's gotta be

an intimidating opportunity.

Um, and you have to think.

I would spend a lot of time thinking, okay, what am I gonna teach?

I wanna impress them.

They're men who love to think and reason.

What am I gonna say?

What you have to love about Paul is, even though I'm sure he went through that

process of debating what to say, where he focused was on the nature of God is

the exact same thing Joseph Smith talked about when he said that first principle

of the gospel is understanding the character of God, knowing his attributes,

knowing who he is and what he is like.

If you can understand that, you can understand yourself.

And I feel like that's where Paul goes, cuz when he's over there, he's

notices their grandiose idol worship.

They are people who have so many statues and so many temples in their town

to worship all these different gods.

And he finds an altar to an unknown God.

And sometimes people will say this like, uh, well it's just

this blanket God that's meant to.

Cover all the bases that they may not be worshiping to and and like,

though, I guess that's accurate.

I think it also implies that the people in this town and the others around it

recognize that something isn't right.

Despite all their, many gods they're worshiping and all

the offerings they're giving.

It doesn't feel complete.

Nothing feels full.

And I think that's what you experience when you go out and you teach the gospel

to others, that even though they have a religion that they love or they have a

faith tradition that they passionately, passionately believe in, there's always

some space for something doesn't feel quite right, or when they hear the

gospel message, it settles into a nook that they didn't know was hollow.

Does that make sense?

I just think that you see that happening with this altar to the

unknown God, cuz Paul takes this as a teaching tool and then speaks about it.

He says, I saw that you have an altar to an unknown God.

Let me tell you who that unknown God is.

And then just like Joseph Smith, he teaches about the character and nature

of God and it's simple and elegant and short and just powerful to read.

So go slow through those verses.

But a few of the things he teaches them, so he talks about in 24, God, earth made

the world and all things therein, seeing that he is a Lord of heaven and earth.

Dwelleth not in temples made with hands.

And then 25, neither is worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything.

Seeing he is, he giveth to all life and breath and all things.

He's trying to teach 'em about the character of God.

He, he doesn't need your adorations of stone.

He doesn't need your idols.

He needs you.

He needs your heart.

He cares about you.

He takes that a little deeper in the next verse in 26, and he has made one

of one blood, all nations of men, four, to dwell on the face of the earth and

has to turn the times before appointed and their bounds of their habitation.

He is someone who cares for the creations he made, especially the men he made.

He cares about the people of this ear earth.

That's important cuz the gods that are worshiped at places like Athens

are often dismissive Gods Gods who are, who need to be placated in

order to get affection from them.

That is not the nature of the character of the true God.

So Paul's trying to help them understand that.

I love 27 that they should seek the Lord if happily they feel

after him and find him, though he'd been out far from every one of us.

For in Him we live and move and have our being as certain, also as your own poets

have said, for we are also his offspring.

Paul's trying to teach them that you belong to God and you can find him.

You don't need to build a giant temple to find him.

You don't need to offer all these offerings to him of belongings You need.

To know him, and what I love is his promise that you can know him.

I think what he's saying is you're worshiping an unknown God.

He can be known.

In fact, I know who he is.

Let me teach you about him.

That's where he tries to go.

So he talks to them about being the offspring of God.

He adds to it in 29.

He says, for as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought

not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone

graven by art and man's device.

This is Paul's way of teaching the plan of salvation.

I think at least the beginning, right?

He, he can't get into the whole plan.

He's just trying to help them understand, look who God is, his nature.

He is connected to you.

You're his offspring, which means you're gonna grow up to be

like him if you live in his way.

These are huge doctrinal concepts taught in a way that these men could

understand, and I'm just fascinated.

I wish I could see.

How they reacted and what they felt as they heard these words.

Then he talks 'em about their obligation.

So in 30, he references that they've had a time of ignorance.

The gospel hasn't come to them before this point in time, and now it's here.

So I think what Paul's trying to help him help them understand is,

although you didn't know about the true God before, now you do, and

now accountability needs to happen.

Anytime we have an increase in light and knowledge, our

accountability also increases.

So that's what he's trying to warn them about.

You need to repent.

There's a change that needs to happen.

And then he talks about assurance.

I love this.

This isn't 31, because he has the point of a day in which he will

judge the world in righteousness.

By that man whom he had ordained, whereof, he had given assurance unto all men

in that heth raised him from the dead.

The assurance that he's referring to is the atonement of Jesus Christ to me.

He's saying, you need to repent.

You need to change.

There is assurance in this plan.

There is abundant grace available to you.

If you turn to this God who is knowable, who loves you, who is your

father, who is, you don't need to worship in these elaborate ways.

It is a simple divine connection and Paul's just hoping that they take it

where it hits a, an impasse isn't 32.

Cuz this is when he starts teaching about the resurrection of the

Savior and they have understandings of their own about whether

resurrection, resurrection is real.

In fact, most of them in this world of, you know, Greek gods and Roman gods don't

believe that the body is important at all.

It's something that you'll cast off at the end of your life in

order to be this great spirit.

And so the idea of keeping the body is a bit off-putting to them.

And so they turn and they mock.

What I really love is what you see at the very end.

That even though he's mocked on this great hill where he knew he probably

would get mocked and he spoke about the character of God, there are a few

who hear, it's basically to me, Alma, in the court of King Noah, right?

IDE doesn't get to see them, but Paul does.

So how be at certain men clave unto him and believed among the witch was

Diana and the Ergo bite and a woman named Damaris and others with them,

these seeds that he was sowing in what looked like very, very stony soil.

A few seeds are sprouting, and I just think that's, that's what motivates

me to be a better missionary.

I think it's worth the effort if, if Seeds can sprout on Mars Hill, you guys, they

can sprout anywhere that I happen to live.

I've only run one marathon in my life.

In fact, I think I'll only run one.

Um, and I remember as I was training for, I was, I was training with my

sisters, but we were all in different states and then we came together

to run this race together and.

Over and over again.

People kept talking about the wall, that at some point in the marathon I was gonna

hit a, a wall, not a physical wall, but a mental wall where I would think my

body can't possibly take one more step.

I can never make it to the finish line.

I should just give up right here.

And so I, I found myself constantly thinking about when's my wall gonna come?

And I feel like that's what happens to every missionary

multiple times in your mission.

You will hit a wall, you'll think I've knocked on every door.

I have given my companion as much forgiveness and grace as I possibly can.

I can't go one more day.

And I think Paul can relate to that cuz you see in chapter 18 that he hits a wall.

He's, he's constantly going from town to town teaching the Jews,

hoping that the Jews will fulfill the Abrahamic covenant and, and step

in and extend this gospel to others.

And they don't.

In fact, it's really interesting to me how it plays out.

So basically he's in Corinth, which is kind of a party town.

This is a place where there are multiple ports and it's got

a really bad reputation for.

All kinds of issues.

It's also a place where there's a lot of refugees who have come in.

So the, the leadership in Rome has kicked all the Jews out of Rome at

this point in time, and a lot of them have settled in Corinth and they're

angry, I think, for being there.

And they're angry at Paul and his message.

What I think is really interesting is he teaches week after week, he's

coming to the synagogues and he's teaching and they are not coming around.

Sometimes I wonder if.

That he's not just met with hostility, but also apathy or people who say,

oh, that's really interesting.

I think I'd like to know more.

And then ghost him on the next time he comes.

You know, I just think he's a, he's a real missionary.

He experiences people who know, show, and he experiences people

who say they wanna get baptized and then don't come to the river.

Like he knows what that feels like, and he gets to a wall around verse six and he

says, your blood be upon your own heads.

I am clean, and from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

He's just like, I'm done.

I'm out.

It reminds me of what happens with Amman.

Remember Amman and his brothers in the Book of Mormon and how they

hit this wall too, where they talk about their hearts being depressed,

I think is the word they use.

It's in the notes, but their hearts are depressed and they're about to

turn back, and then they have an experience that changes them and they

realize whose work this really is.

That's basically what happens to Paul as well.

First off, you learn that a major Jewish leader in this town converts

where Paul thought he was at the end of his rope and nobody listened.

In eight, you learn that Crispus, a chief ruler of the synagogue,

believed on the Lord and with all his house and many of the Corinthians

hearing believed and were baptized.

Right?

When Paul thinks he's at the end of his rope, he starts to see the residual

seeds that he's already planted sprout.

You know, I just think this is one of the tender mercies of God that even though

the people he is currently teaching aren't accepting those, he has taught

in the past, that he thought were done sprout, and there's grace in that.

The next grace comes in the next verse.

So then speak the Lord to Paul.

This is in verse nine in the night by vision.

Be not afraid, but speak and hold, not thy peace for I am with thee and no

man shall set I'll need to hurt thee for I have much people in this city.

I feel like every missionary should have that like in a little frame on their wall.

There are much people in this city no matter where we have been planted, and I

just think his imitation is a sweet one.

He says, hold not back.

Like he says, be not afraid, but speak, hold, not th peace.

What Paul has in his heart is an understanding of where peace

comes from and how to have it, how to hold it through covenants.

And that is something that we cannot keep to ourselves.

He needs to reignite that fire in his bones and go back out and teach.

And Paul, in his humble state does, he doesn't just teach the

Gentiles from this point forward.

He teaches anyone who will hear, but he needed this little moment of comfort

from the Lord in order to have the momentum to get over this wall and to go.

And I, I love that you see both of those strategies play out here.

You're also gonna learn at the end of this chapter that there's other ways

the Lord is helping Paul's efforts, even though he can't do this work for

Paul, cuz he wants Paul to grow and he wants this process to play out.

He sets up a lot of comfort for Paul.

One of them comes in a min or a magistrate of sorts, a ruler in the city.

So a eventually the Jews come to the ruler of the city accusing Paul of

things and wanting to, you know, throw Paul in prisoner, maybe even be killed.

And this leader, his name's Galio, it's in verse 12 that he's, um,

a ruler and he won't have it.

He, as opposed to Pilate who kind of caved to that social pressure, when Jews

came and said, arrest him, crucify him.

Like Gallo doesn't, he says, that's not our law.

And if that's not our law, I won't do it.

I don't think he's a believer in Paul, but he is someone that I

think the spirit is working on so that he stands for what is right.

Even if he can't stand for the right, he knows the law and he

won't let it just get trampled.

So I think that's another way the Lord is.

Prompting people to help.

First he prompts the people where seeds were planted and now they're growing.

Then he prompts Paul himself by giving him this beautiful dream

to help him know, I'm right here.

I'm with you, not going anywhere.

We can do this work together.

And then he prompts even people who aren't interested in the church to

help this missionary work flourish.

And so Paul is bullied up.

That's kinda what happened.

His third mission is gonna begin at the end of this chapter where he's

gonna go on another gigantic mission.

This is kinda the end of his second one, but over the course of his three

missions, he travels like 10,000 miles.

And those are airline miles from what I studied.

Different scholars had different measurements, so I'm not sure

which one is the most accurate, but that's a lot of mileage.

He just continues to go out and to teach cuz that's what Lords asked him to do.

Hold not thy peace.

There's a message to send out.

I need you to keep going.

And so he does.

Now take us into 19.

Our apostles today are called to this same work that Paul is called to,

to take the gospel to all the world.

A big piece of what they do is not just to teach those who've never

heard of the gospel, but also to make sure that the churches that

have already been established are.

A line, you know, to make sure there's no false doctrine being taught or

practices being upheld that are wrong.

And that's kinda what Paul does here.

He basically finds a pocket of saints who have been baptized, not, it's not

clear whether they were baptized by one with authority or not, but they've never

heard of the Holy Ghost, which tells Paul tells Paul that something's not right.

So he approaches them and he says, have you even, have you received

the Holy Ghost since you believed?

And they said unto him, this is verse two, we have not so much as heard

whether there be any Holy Ghost.

And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized.

He knows the same thing.

Joseph Smith taught that a baptism of water is half a baptism and they

need the gift of the Holy Ghost.

I always think of the Holy Ghost as like those guardrails on a bowling lane.

You know, like it's, it's one thing to get a baptism and set yourself

on this covenant path, but you need the Holy Ghost to sort of like

bounce you between the edges and help you stay on that covenant path.

It's not fair to.

Make those huge covenants with God and then not give someone a tool

in order to keep those covenants.

So Paul's saying, you don't have those bumper rails up, let me help you.

So he re baptizes them with authority and gives them the gift of the Holy Ghost.

And then just like we've seen several times, they're able to

speak in tongues and to teach.

And so things are set.

Right?

Right.

He's aligning things back with where they should have been.

As he keeps going, he's gonna teach boldly in the synagogues.

This, at this chapter, you see kinda a shift.

They, they take, um, a school, a Tyrannus, I think is what it's called.

And they make it a place where they just, this new group of saints gathers.

Most scholars I read thought this was like a rented hall of sorts,

but because they are kind of.

In their own space now, not necessarily meeting in the synagogues or

meeting out in the open, then they can flourish a little bit better.

It's what you see in Kirtland, it's what you see in Navu.

Like when they have that initial phase where they have their own space and

they don't have prosecutors and mobs aren't attacking, they can thrive.

And that happens with these saints too.

And miracles are rot.

So in 12 or 11 it says, and God rot special miracles by the hands of Paul.

And then in 12 you find out one of those miracles is that even if Paul

himself can't be there, if he just, if they take a piece of his clothing to

someone who is sick or ill or possessed with an evil spirit, it can heal them.

Which kind of seems like a crazy notion except for it's all over scripture.

I mean, we saw this.

With the savior, even when that woman just touches the ham of his garment.

Remember that woman with the issue of blood and she's healed, not because the

garment itself was so sacred and holy, but because of the person who wears

it and because of his gift of grace.

There's even one from church history.

We studied this in the doctrine covenants together, but remember that Day of

Miracles when there's so many that are down with malaria from all the mosquitoes

in Navu and Joseph, who himself had been sick, goes and heals as many as he can.

And then there's this one, I wanna say it's a guy, I read it

on the church history website.

It's a father I think, who has twins.

And he comes to Joseph as he's about to leave to go to another

city and says, what about my twins?

I don't think he's a member of the church.

And the, and Joseph, when he can't go with the man.

Gives a silk handkerchief to Wilford Woodruff and sends him to go take

care of the twins, and they indeed are healed when he wipes their brow.

You can actually see that same red handkerchief.

It's on display in the church History museum.

I, I kind of found all these things this week cuz I was studying.

It's in the notes if you wanna go look at it, but there's precedent for

these things to happen, and I actually think it's comforting when you see

these things in multiple places, in different parts of your quad.

It helps you understand God's signature.

You know, he has different ways to accomplish his work

and this is just one of them.

Um, then there's this interesting phase where there's an exorcism that happens.

Im, I am not an expert by this, by any stretch, but luckily in this

chapter, basically it doesn't work.

Some false priests come to offer an exorcism and it goes very badly.

In fact, the spirit like attacks them through the body of this

person and they are bruised and battered and other people see it.

What's interesting to me about that application wise is I

think it's really easy to get.

Riled up when we see people combating against the church and there is a, there

is a method in the church to just let things lie and the truth will be brighter.

I think that's what people notice cuz they realize the, that these false

priests can't do what they claim to do.

Almost like we saw with Elijah and in the Old Testament, you know the burning,

the big fire that comes down from heaven, they can see the difference.

So you don't need to get too riled up about it.

And so that's what happens with Paul.

People see what he can do and what these priests couldn't do, and then they turn

to Paul and to his other visionaries and they seek for truth and the church grows.

And so it's saying, it says in 17 that fear fell on all and the name

of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

When you think you have opposing forces that are pulling down the work

you're trying to do, trust that this is God's work and it will roll forth

and people can tell a difference in the light, the right seeds will sprout.

And that's kinda what happens here.

Interestingly, so many seeds sprout in this moment that they do something

that we see in the Book of Mormon.

So do you remember when the people of Amon are so converted?

You know, the Lamanites that used to be blood thirsty and carry weapons

everywhere they went, they're so converted that they bury their weapons

and not just one town, but multiple towns bury their weapons and move forward.

That's kinda why you see in Acts 19, you guys, there are all these

people who believed in sorcery and these, you know, to use a Harry

Potter trip, like the dark arts.

And they take all of their accoutrements of the dark arts and they, they burn them.

And the amount is listed here, the worth of the things that are

burned, which I think is supposed to tell us how many people changed.

It's a huge number.

You guys, scholars debated on what it was worth, but it's

upwards of 10 grand at least.

Uh, that was the lowest of the estimates I saw.

So this is a lot of people offering.

A big sacrifice in order to change, in order to move into

a whole new path of life.

The only problem is when you have a half of a town who converts, and lets go of

all the idolatrous ways of the past, the people who profit from idolatry get angry.

So that's kinda what happens in the second half of the chapter.

Basically, Ephesus is known for its big theater and its big temple.

They have a temple to Diana.

You can read about it in the verses, but there are those who make idols

and shrines for the temple and for the pilgrims who wanna take something

home, who are angry that, that the missionaries are teaching that you

don't need to worship this way anymore.

And I just, they get so heated and so angry that they gather the missionaries

up, they take them into this giant amphitheater and they riot against them.

It's got this mob mentality sort of feel like you can see it in the

verses that they, they sound like people have just sort of gone in with

the flow and they don't even know what they're chanting about, which I

swear is what most riots feel like.

Like people are just kind of along for the ride and then there is a voice of reason.

That comes outta the crowd.

So in 35 you see that there's a town clerk who steps forward.

I don't know that he's a believer in anything that the Christians have

taught, but he is a believer in the law, and so he talks about the law and

he says to them, we have step back.

We need peace.

What I like about that is I've actually seen that, especially lately,

I think it was in Sherry do's talk from Women's conference, she talked

about others of other faiths who are stepping up and honoring President

Nelson as a peacemaker in the world.

I'll put the quote in the notes, but she talked about how they

are standards of truth in their communities and their faith groups.

They're spreading the message that President Nelson and

the faith he represents.

There is goodness here, and that's what the town clerk reminds me of.

He is someone who is like an Alexander Donovan or a Gamal.

He is someone who doesn't necessarily believe wholeheartedly, but recognizes

when there is wickedness and an injustice and steps forward to defend.

And because of that, the missionaries can keep going on their journey.

I remember talking to someone about motherhood once, saying that it was kind

of like building sandcastles when you know the tide is inevitably gonna come

in because no matter what I do to my house, matter how many times I clean it

or teach my kids something, another force works against all the progress I've made.

And I've learned in the process of mothering now for like 25 years-ish,

that what I'm building is not so much the sandcastle as it is my own muscle.

You know, I, in the process of rebuilding over and over again,

I am building up my own stamina.

And I think that happens spiritually as well.

In this chapter, in 20, Paul's gonna go, he's about to leave and

go back to Jerusalem where some hard things are gonna happen and

he'll never see these people again.

So before he leaves, he's gonna gather his elders together, those who are gonna lead

the church in this city, and he tries to.

Lift them up.

I actually think he does the same thing for the disciples at

the beginning of the chapter.

So this is when you see him preaching, it's just kinda

interesting how it plays out.

So he talks so much.

He's there and they're talking through midnight and some, it sounds like

a young boy of some kind, or maybe a teenager curls up in a window.

I'm sure his parents are still listening and he's kind of

curled up on, on a window seat.

And he falls.

He toles down three flights.

To probably a, you know, some sort of paved surface at the

bottom and and dies on impact.

And Paul rushes to revive him.

I actually love the way it's played out cuz he rushes to revive this boy.

It's a miracle that we see in only tiny instances in scripture, right?

We only have a flash of it with Peter and a few ounces with the savior.

This boy is brought back across the veil to live again and then

people stay and listen more.

Sometimes I think people use this scripture story as like a

punchline of like, don't go long on your talks or you're less, I

just, it's not that that's wrong.

I agree.

You should be succinct.

But I also think there is something about this that the people still stay and hear

him preach cuz they can tell he's about to go, you know, he's like King Benjamin,

remember he's about to give up the his.

Crown essentially.

And he gathers everybody together and tries to get out as much of

his message as he possibly can.

And that's why we have those powerful chapters in the Book of Mormon, cuz

it's a man's life at the end of his life trying to like give everything he can.

That's what you see in Acts 20 or Acts 19, is Paul trying to offer everything up

to let them know who he believes in and why and how he came to that understanding

and he's trying to get that all across.

So this young man is healed, the elders are gathered and Paul teaches them why

he did what he did and what he has done.

He basic, he makes it pretty clear that his heart has been in the right place.

So he talks about how he served the Lord in humility, that he's had

many tears and many temptations.

Uh, he's struggled with.

Jews and persecution and all kind of hostility, but he has kept nothing back.

I love the way he says in 20 And how I kept nothing back from you

that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you

publicly and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and also to

the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

He is someone who speaks nothing but repentance cuz it doesn't

matter if he's teaching someone who already is well versed in the

doctrine or someone who is brand new.

Repentance is still the right message, right?

Repentance makes bad men good and good men better.

It's, that's the gift of this.

That's why we spend so much time focused on repentance and

that's what Paul did as well.

And then he teaches them about what's coming.

So if you flip the page, he has some warnings and I won't go

through all of them, but he talks about where they might go next.

I love his testimony in 24.

It says he's talking about his afflictions and what he's endured and he says, but

none of these things move me, neither Count I my life dear unto myself, so

that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received

of the Lord Jesus Christ to testify the gospel of the grace of God for me.

This verse is, Paul's testimony.

He's saying, I, I'm not too worried about myself.

I'm not too worried about my safety.

I'm not too worried about my possessions.

I just wanna be able to finish my race with joy.

I read a quote from Elder Holland.

I don't have it in front of me, but he basically talked about

why we should do our duty so that we can claim our inheritance.

He said, there's an inheritance to be claimed.

And I kind of loved that visual of like, we want to be all in

because there's an inheritance that we want to hold unto ourselves.

The Lord has offered it to us and we just have to claim it.

And that's kinda what Paul's doing here.

His verse and his words.

Remind me a little bit about, um, remind me of Joseph Smith.

Do you remember In 1 27, I think it's verse two, Joseph Smith

talks about how deep waters are, what he is want to swim in.

It's one of those verses that have has come to the surface for me in really hard

times, and I, I love the message of it.

I think Joseph Smith didn't seek after persecution.

He didn't hope for adversity.

Neither did Paul.

In fact, I think he references Paul in that verse, but he basically says,

The adversity and the afflictions have given me the muscles I need to stay

afloat to do swim in these deep waters.

And that's where Paul is.

He's been on this mission for years and years, and he's like, I'm okay you guys.

I'm used to these waters.

In fact, I can find joy in these waters.

That's means inspiring.

So he warns about what's coming.

He encourages the elders to feed the sheep the same way the savior taught

the apostles to feed his sheep.

He says the same thing to these elders that are gonna be left

behind in this town and then warns about apostasy that's coming from

without and from within the church, there will be a depletion of truth.

So Paul knows the apostles, he's coming and he's still teaching.

He's just somebody who he'll keep building sandcastles even when

the tide is coming because that's what he is been called to do.

And he trusts that there's a purpose and a work and he's gonna do it.

So he continues to build and to lift wherever he can.

And then if you look in 32, you can see what he promises.

And now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to

build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

That's his promise.

That's why it's worth it to keep building even when the tide is coming

in cuz it's not so much about what you accomplish in this life as the

muscle you build up in the process.

There are deep waters and you want to build the muscle to stay buoyant in them.

And that's what Paul's trying to help them do.

So he teaches them about it to remember the words, to focus on teaching truth.

In fact, he gives us a piece of doctrine from Jesus Christ that we

don't have captured in the gospels.

It's the end of 35.

It says, I have showed you all things how that so laboring you

ought to support the week and to remember the words of Lord Jesus.

How he said it is more blessed to give than to receive.

His parting words to me are really similar to Mormon's words and moron's words.

Fact, if you on the notes, you can see some links.

They take these last few moments to teach about charity and to teach about.

Giving yourselves to Christ, offering up your whole selves to

him, that's, that's their invitation.

All the things that matter in this life, all the things they could talk about.

They focus in on kindness and sacrifice and what it offers in return.

And I just think it's beautiful.

Last two verses and 20 show the people just sorrowing, cuz Paul's going and

they ache not just for him as a person, but because of the words he spoke.

I love that they explained that they're not just converted to the missionary,

they're converted to the gospel.

He taught them.

And so they sorrow.

And you see why when you get into chapter 21, because he's gonna go to

Jerusalem and he's going to suffer some intense persecutions when he's there.

So first they're gonna go through a few different cities and when he

gets to Jerusalem, he's going to.

Struggle against tradition.

Essentially what's happening is the, when he goes and reports his mission

to the people in Jerusalem, um, they have some concerns because those who

are devout Jews know that he's been out preaching to the Gentiles and

they have heard, or maybe rumors have spread that Paul is teaching that you

don't need to keep the laws of Moses.

And remember that wasn't clarified in the official declaration that they sent out.

It just said that Gentiles don't need the law of Moses, but nobody has been

teaching that Jews shouldn't abide by the law of Moses, cuz that wasn't

listed in the official declaration.

That's doctrine that's gonna still come to play.

So he's, he's walking this tightrope and there's some, you know, more traditional

Jews who are concerned and angry at Paul cuz they think he's teaching these things.

So the Jewish or the leaders of the Christian faith say to Paul,

it might be good for you to go and.

Do a demonstration of some kind that you are still a devout

Jew as well as a Christian.

And Paul is, like, he's mentioned several times that he wants to get back

to Jerusalem for the feast that he's, I think he's still abiding by a lot

of those Jewish traditions, but he, in this case I think to some degree

is, you know, casting in Olive branch out saying, I will do these things.

So since he's been among the Gentiles and been living among the Gentiles

and eating with them and everything, he goes through these purification

rituals at the temple and while he is there, encounters hostile opposition.

Basically.

There are people who have followed him around or see what he is doing

or have heard the rumors and they come after him in the temple accusing

him of taking o other people into the temple who don't belong there.

It's not the case.

In fact, he's doing everything according to love Moses standards, but

they're jumping on this opportunity to say he's bringing people into

the temple who are defiling it.

We need to get 'em out.

The short version of what happens is he is carried by a

mob who wanna kill him and they.

They get kind of stopped by the Romans.

It's interesting to see how the Romans play into this story cuz in

this particular case, the Romans stopped Paul from being executed.

Basically this mob mentality that wants to take Paul in this moment gets stopped

by Roman and then there he's put almost for his own safety in the Roman garrison

of some kind like he is set aside.

I just thought it was interesting where Paul has spent so much of his mission

missionary journey taking care and loving the Gentiles to see how in this

moment where he needs his life saved.

It's Gentiles that save him.

Not because they are devout necessarily, but because they have

hearts that want to defend and protect.

Even if it's just to defend and protect the law, they will stand in the way of.

These people attacking Paul.

So you can see in 35 and when he came upon the stairs, the stairs of the garrison.

So it was that he was born of the soldiers for the violence of the people.

They literally carry him away so that he can't be harmed by the Jews who are

so angry that he taught the Gentiles.

I just think there's an interesting, there's an interesting setting of the

stage here cuz what's gonna come next?

He's gonna interact with the leader of the Roman soldiers who will say like,

I, I thought you were somebody else.

I thought you were this Egyptian that's caused trouble.

And Paul will say, can you, will you let me teach?

Paul is one.

I can relate to Paul in some ways.

I just think he's always eager to speak to as many as he can.

I know that.

It seems self-aggrandizing.

I don't think it is.

I really, I hope that that's not the case for me.

Like I love speaking in large groups.

I was terrified and excited to speak at Timeout for Women cuz there's

something so fun to me about being able to share what I know to be true and

have it touched so many people at once.

I think it's in some ways similar to, what is it Alma, that talks about that

in the Book of Mormon where he says he wants the voice like a Trump so

that he can, you know, that's Paul.

Paul is hoping to teach as many as he can.

So he'll go on Mars Hill and he'll go before King Agrippa and he'll, he'll, he

wants to speak to whoever will listen.

And so he asked for permission to speak to these Jews.

Even the ones who hate him and wanted to attack him, he wants to stand in front

of them and have an opportunity to speak.

And thankfully the guard says yes.

We just don't get to hear any of it cuz that's coming next

week when we get into week 31.

So you're gonna hear all about his message on these stairs of the prison

next week, but this week you get to just enjoy the fact that you can see.

The results of his sowing.

All throughout these chapters you see, saw planting seeds, sowing seeds on

all kinds of soil, and you see growth come in unexpected places, and I

think it should motivate us to trust that that can happen for us as well.

There's power in this week's chapters.

I hope you enjoy them.

Welcome back you guys.

It's time for the creative side of week 30.

Oh, you guys, this is gonna be a good week, okay?

There's a missionary on my mind this week from studying the missionary journeys

of Paul, and I really wanted you to find some way that you could teach your kids

or your classes, what we learn from Paul, that they can apply in everyday life.

So I've got some fun options in store for you.

The first one, lemme just give you a free preview for those who are listening on the

free podcast or maybe watching on YouTube.

I'll just give you a taste of what's possible.

And then those of you who are in the full course, just keep watching after

this and I'll take you through each one individually and give you the notes and

the principals so that you're equipped to go, but there's good stuff in store.

Okay?

The first object lesson, it's give back week on our chart.

So if you scratch off your little circle icon underneath, there's a little gift.

And the idea here is that you incorporate ministering in some way

into your teaching, helping our kids understand what ministering is and what

it's for and the good that it can do.

And since this week we're talking about so many people who ministered to the

apostles, people like Lydia and Jason and the tent makers that he meets.

Like they're all people who.

Care for the missionaries, and I just thought that was kind of lovely and

something we don't focus on very often.

So I wanted to find some way that we could care for our missionaries, and

I don't mean the missionaries you sent from your house out to somewhere else.

I mean the missionaries serving in your area, in your ward, in your steak who,

wherever they are, or maybe just some that you happen to see on the street.

So I created for you a little thank you card.

This is an envelope that inside has a thank you card and a gift that you

can give to any set of missionaries you might happen to stumble across

or potentially one that you know really well to make their lives just

a little more comfortable and easy.

I'll walk you through it in just a second.

Okay, second one.

I wanted to talk about how one of the pieces in missionary

work are is planting seeds.

Sometimes we get discouraged in missionary work cuz we don't

see the fruits of our labors.

But a big piece of what a missionary does is plant seeds so that the next

time they encounter the gospel or the next time something happens to

them, the light of Christ can kinda pick up and they'll understand.

And I think one of the fun ways to teach that is by creating a Jacob's ladder.

So remember that toy, sometimes they make 'em on like pioneer day.

It's a little wooden toy that has ribbons between it that cl cls on its way down.

I didn't want you to have to carve any wood though, so I created

a way to make it out of gum.

So you just wanna get any kind of gum you like.

We use to extra.

You're gonna need six packs of gum for each Jacob's ladder, and then

you're also gonna need ribbon.

I'll teach you how to pull all this off, but what I love about it is Jacob's

Ladder is something that when you start this first tilt, so it'll stretch out

like this, when you start the first tilt, all of a sudden there's residual action.

And that's why I think happens with missionary work.

We find ways to plant seeds and then the spirit takes over and hearts change.

So I'm hoping to teach all of that with a simple pack of gum or six packs of gum.

So grab some packs of gum and then grab.

You can use two different colors of ribbon or just one.

If you have satin ribbon, that works really well.

If you don't, you can just use curling ribbon like from where your wrapping

paper stash and that'll work as well.

Okay, third one.

And probably the most exciting tell you, I don't know if you've seen this trend on

social media lately, but there is a really cool way to make fruit rollups freeze.

And my son-in-law, Jake sent this to me a couple weeks ago and I'm

like, okay, I'm gonna find a way.

I've gotta find a way to use it.

So this is the week you guys, uh, you're gonna need for your supplies.

We're gonna talk about hard hearts and soft hearts.

Because you see both this week, you're gonna see hearts that are

prepared and open like Lydia's, and you're gonna see hearts that are,

hearts that are hard and that crackle in with the same exact message.

So I'm gonna walk you through how to pull this up.

Basically you need fruit rollups, just like this.

Any fruit leather will do what you want it to be nice and thin.

So if you go and buy the organic good stuff, it's probably not gonna work.

You really need the preservative filled garbagey ones, so you need this.

And then some ice cream.

Since these have such a strong sugary flavor, we found really

mild ice cream like vanilla or pina colada or something like that.

Worked pretty well.

So you need some kind of ice cream.

If you want.

You could also compare it to a standard cone so that your kids get

the difference and we'll talk about it.

And in that case, you just need like this kind or go to

McDonald's and buy one from there.

But if you have those on hand and some fruit lips, you'll be good to go.

Thanks so much for being here, you guys.

That's it for week 30.

I hope you enjoy it.

I know it's a lot.

You'll get into the verses and you'll be like, this is a lot.

They cover the map.

You're all over the place.

Different names, different places.

Just remember to focus on the message of the gospel and how it.

Changes hearts everywhere it goes.

Uh, if you need extra help to find those moments that matter

the most, then come find me.

I'm happy to share some more ideas with you on the live so

you can find me at Instagram.

If you just pop on around 10 o'clock around time, I will hop on and I'll

teach some insights that I missed here in the videos or answer questions

if you have any about the doctrine.

Um, I also am gonna chat about the creative.

So if you're somebody who's watching this on YouTube and you're curious about how

to pull these off, you get a little more detail on the Instagram live version, just

cuz it disappears after a little while.

But otherwise, I hope you enjoy your week.

I just wanna say thank you again to those of you who've left reviews or

posted pictures on the discussion boards.

It's just delightful to both read the reviews and see how these

object lessons and teachings are being carried into your homes.

It is one of the most fulfilling things I've ever been a part of.

So I just wanna say thank you to those of you who have messaged me or

let me know how you feel about it.

It means a lot.

All right, you guys enjoy this week of study and I will