Hey everybody, welcome back.

This is week 45 of Creative Come Follow Me for the New Testament.

We're in our second week in the Epistle to the Hebrews, to finish it out this week.

We'll go from chapter 7 all the way through chapter 13, and it

is this resounding message of...

Hold tight to the ground you've already won, in fact, advance your

faith so that you don't slip back.

The warnings tend to focus on not slipping back into the old ways, to the Law of

Moses, to those traditions, to those ideas about where salvation comes from.

Hold tight to this new covenant brought forth from Jesus Christ.

That's the overarching message.

But I feel like a lot of it is...

How to regroup.

When your faith is shaken, or you struggle with doubt or fear,

how do you regroup and come back?

And that's kind of what you're going to feel in every chapter.

The visual that helped me as like an overarching theme is I started to

think in my mind about Lot's wife.

You remember when we studied this together in the Old Testament and she struggled

even though she by like miraculous means her family is rescued from the

city before it burns and she's on her way out of the city she looks back.

In fact, Elder Holland said she wants to go back.

It implies this sort of longing for that home.

And I started to think of that story compared to what you see

with Saria in the Book of Mormon.

Someone who also had to leave her home abruptly without a full

understanding of why or what was going to happen in the future.

I don't even know if all of her family gets to go.

You know, we don't know anything about the generation.

Above Lehi and Sariah, like why aren't their parents there?

I don't know their story, but I found myself comparing these two women.

And I think that's what you're going to see in this week's study.

You're going to see this invitation to focus forward, to seek assurance that

comes through looking in the past, but focus your eyes Focus forward

on what is right in front of you.

I feel like that's what Soraya could do, that Lot's wife struggled with.

She was able to focus forward and find assurance from the

faith that she had so far.

It's just kind of an interesting...

perspective because some of the things you're going to see are Guidance to

like see promises that are afar off and trust in the high priest of good

things to come Those are things that you have to be able to do if you're going

to keep your focus Forward and I feel like the epistles especially these last

few chapters help us understand how?

They help us understand why it's worth it, how to do it,

and how to teach it to others.

And I think you're going to love it.

I loved this section of chapters even more than I loved last

week's sections of chapters.

So I think you're in for a treat.

So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

It's time to get started.

Before you jump into chapter seven might help you to recap a little bit what

we were just leaning on in six We were learning about how his advice to them when

their faith was shaken was to go back to the fundamentals You know that milk before

meat idea, but with this understanding that they indeed will progress He wants

them to get to the meat and a key way that they can get to the meatier parts

of the doctrine Is to have access to the Melchizedek priesthood what they have What

they had in the past, this access through the Levitical priesthood is limited and it

can't give them the meat they hoped for.

So he needs them to understand the value of the Melchizedek priesthood.

So that's what you're going to see in chapter seven.

He tries to teach about the superiority of it when it compares it to things like

the Levitical or the Aaronic priesthood.

And I think it's a really interesting approach.

First off, I really love that this priesthood is kind of

nicknamed for Melchizedek.

We know that its real name is named after Jesus Christ himself, but in its shortened

version, it's named after Melchizedek.

The reason I like that so much is I think Jesus Christ is...

The bigger version of what Melchizedek was.

If you don't know his backstory, like he has an incredible story.

We have bits and pieces I'm sure there's gonna be much more that's revealed

someday about his life But he is someone who turned things around in a city He,

the visual that kept coming to mind as I was studying about Melchizedek was

I don't know if you've seen, I mean, of course you've seen, everybody's

seen those movies where like a teacher or a principal or a coach comes in to

kind of a ragtag group of kids or a school and they turn things around.

The one that kept coming to my mind was, I watched it when I was a little

kid, it's got Morgan Freeman and he's a principal in a school, I think it's...

Lean on me.

I think it's what it's called.

Anyway, it's I remember watching it with my family I can remember thinking

like wow, that's a terrifying school and then you see Morgan Freeman come in

and he starts to Set boundaries and he starts to swap teachers Like if people

aren't on board with the new plan, they they can have the option to leave

and he brings in people who Who see, I think that's the fundamental difference

in a Morgan Freeman type character versus everybody who came before him.

He sees this group of kids and he sees potential.

That's what Melchizedek saw.

Because he's someone who took a sinful, wicked city and saw

potential and said, If I can.

come in and use the tools and the talents that God has given me and

the priesthood power I have at my fingertips, I can make changes.

We can turn this around.

And just like every one of those great movies, that's what Melchizedek does.

And the reason I like it is because it's such a great type

for what the Savior offers.

He is someone who does the exact same thing, but on a huge level.

He always sees potential in us.

He always sees hope.

And he is always saying, I will give myself the same way Morgan Freeman

in that movie, like gives his whole heart to making that transformation.

The Savior does the same, but to an eternal level, he gives his whole self

so that transformation can happen.

And honestly, the, the changes are similar, right?

The, the laws change, the environment changes, what they're used to.

changes so that he can get them to grab hold of their real potential.

I think what you see in Melchizedek, what you see in the Savior, and what

you see in all those movies that we love is that they are someone who

hopes, they hope to give dignity to those people that they are serving.

And that's the priesthood.

The priesthood power of God is designed to give dignity and opportunity

for salvation and eternal life.

That's what it's all about.

So that's what you'll see in seven.

He tries to compare the two.

So he teaches you about Melchizedek at first, and then he reminds you

that this is a priesthood that doesn't come from bloodlines like the

Aaronic or Levitical priesthood does.

You can see that in three, that it's without father and

without mother, without descent.

I think that's really powerful because remember, Melchizedek is the one who

gives this priesthood to Abraham.

I think his name is Abraham at the time, but he comes from

a line that's It's a mess.

You know, his family is a mess.

His dad tried to sacrifice him on an altar.

So he doesn't have that noble line that, that would guarantee him

to have access to the priesthood.

This is a different kind of priesthood.

It's not about bloodlines.

It's not about, at least it's not about physical bloodlines.

It's about being adopted in and having an opportunity if you live worthy

to grab hold of this new covenant.

Then he reminds us a little later in the chapter that the Levitical

priesthood can't be superior to this simply because of timing of things.

So it makes a lot of logical sense when you look at it.

If you look around 9 and 10 he's basically saying when this priesthood was on the

earth, when the Melchizedek priesthood was available, Levi wasn't even born yet,

you know, because we have Abraham and then three generations later is Levi.

So he clearly, his, the priesthood that began with Levi essentially and the law of

Moses and all that Tradition couldn't have been the superior one because Melchizedek

comes first, Abraham comes first, and honestly it goes all the way back to Adam.

So you can go in the notes and learn a little bit more about that.

But I think there's power in understanding that this Melchizedek

priesthood is eternal in its nature.

As opposed to the schoolmaster kind of priesthood that we see

in the Levitical priesthood.

This Melchizedek priesthood is something so much greater because

it's so much closer to the source.

So that's what you'll see in the next few verses.

It kind of helps me to get the...

that movie frame of reference when I read the next verses because he talks about

how there's going to need to be a change.

If you're going to have, if you're going to change the people's hearts,

if they are going to gain dignity and strength and power, things

are going to have to be different.

You know, when that When Morgan Freeman comes into town, things, things change.

And that's kind of what you see in 7.

So you'll see him talk about things like the laws change.

It's no longer about these small steps.

It's much more about what's written on the heart.

It's, it's not about carnal commandments anymore.

It's something bigger.

So you can see that from like 14 to 16.

He also talks about a better hope.

I really like the way it's phrased.

If you look in 19, For the law made nothing perfect, but the

bringing in of a better hope did.

by the which we draw nigh unto God.

That's the promise that the Melchizedek Priesthood offers that you can't

get from the Levitical Priesthood.

It cannot perfect you.

The ordinances of the gospel that are available through the

Melchizedek Priesthood have the ability to help you access the

gift of the Savior in its fullness.

They gain access to salvation and exaltation.

Those come from that priesthood power, and it can't be gained through Smaller,

you know, Aaronic or Levitical priesthood.

You need access to the fullness.

So that's what he's trying to help them understand It also comes with an oath.

There's the same way in those school type settings in the movies They

make promises and they commit to hard You know, hard, high expectations.

I was thinking about, what's the one, do you remember the one that has a high

school class that like, they're really struggling and so the teacher comes in

and he teaches them advanced calculus?

I can't remember what it's called.

Um, but he, he, that's his solution to get them to behave.

He says, you're setting the bar too low for these kids.

Remember, and then they end up getting tested and people doubt that they

could have possibly Scored that high.

I just think that's kind of his understanding.

He's saying, we are changing the bar.

Things are different than they were before.

In fact, we're restoring what was intended from the beginning.

Now it's, there's a fullness here because I, I want you to reach up.

I want you to find the dignity that is in.

you know, living up to your privileges.

So that's what you'll see in 21.

That this priesthood will come with an oath and a covenant.

It's different than what they found in the Levitical priesthood.

When you flip the page, you see some other guidance.

A lot of this you can get reinforcement from in the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon is a great tool to use to teach yourself more about what

the Melchizedek Priesthood offers.

That, you know, these promises of exaltation come much more clearly when

you look at them in the Book of Mormon.

So go on the notes and you can learn a little bit more about that.

But I love the way it's phrased in 22.

By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

Jesus Christ, because of his gift, his offering of himself, he ensures

the promises of this covenant.

Testament and covenant can be, you know, flipped and interchanged

throughout all these chapters.

You'll see the Joseph Smith translation do that over and over again.

So he's saying.

Jesus Christ himself backs these promises.

There, there can be no doubt that they will be fulfilled.

You, you have a deeper, more, more tangible promise with

the Melchizedek priesthood.

And then he teaches about where that comes from.

It's in 25.

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come

unto God by him, seeing he liveth to make intercession for them.

What I like about that verse is it implies agency is absolutely critical.

He will provide all the tools if you will just grab it.

Just like in every one of those movies, the teacher or the principal comes in

and they don't force anyone to stay.

In fact, sometimes at the beginning of the movie, the harder kids like leave and then

slowly work their way back and ask if they can come back to class, you know, cause

they see the changes in their friends and their peers and they want that.

I think the same thing happens with priesthood.

When we see people whose lives are changed or who seem Empowered and

dignified because of Knowing who they are, we come back, we want that for

ourselves, and so it, he offers it to us.

I just think it's powerful that you have to choose it.

He won't force you there, he will just make it available to you

and then you have to choose it.

Just like we learned about with...

It was Sister Freeman that talked about it in conference when she was

saying, basically, you get to pick the relationship you have with God.

You decide what that relationship looks like.

I think you get that feel in chapter 7.

And he tells you how, in 27, that this offering was made himself.

That he is the one who guarantees these promises, this hope, because of the

offering he made himself, of himself.

And you'll get more of that in chapter 8.

I think chapter eight is the author's attempt to remind them

that this new covenant isn't new.

I mean, it is new to them, but it's been prophesied for hundreds of years.

In fact, if you go back into Jeremiah in the Old Testament, you can read verses

that talk about this new covenant that will come forth, that he's going to make

a new relationship with the children of Israel down the road, since they're...

you know, ancestors set it aside.

He promises to come back with a new covenant and it will be a covenant

that's written on their inward hearts.

You know, it's something deeper and different.

So they knew that this was coming.

What the author is trying to do is say, remember, we've revered those prophecies.

They're here.

I just think it's, you know, similar to those movies where the friend goes

back to the friend who ditched class and they say, You don't understand.

Come back to class.

Like this is different and it's better and stronger.

Come back.

We have, we have tools at our disposal.

You should come back to class because that's what they say in eight.

Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum.

We have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the

majesty in heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle,

which the Lord pitched and not man.

I think these Israelites have seen the tabernacle.

You know, get pillaged in the past, like they haven't had the Ark of

the Covenant for hundreds of years because in the Babylonian captivity,

things got taken away from them.

They've seen the temple go through various iterations of being

torn down and getting rebuilt.

In fact, just Soon after this, they're going to see it completely destroyed.

And so, all of those traditions that are focused in around the tabernacle

and the temple, they can't last.

They don't occur today among the Jews because there is no temple for

them to, to perform those things in.

That's what I think the author is trying to say is, this offering,

the ordinances that come with the Melchizedek priesthood, this fullness

that the Savior is offering, this is something that is eternal and it lasts.

And the only reason that can happen is because he is the mediator.

That's what you see in six.

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the

mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

To me, this is the same thing that happens in those key movies.

What really makes the difference, in fact, I feel like in every

one of those turnaround kind of movies, there's this point where the

teacher or the principal goes out of the school and into their home.

You know, like maybe they see potential in one of their students, so they go to

that student's home and they try to tell the parents how great their kid is and

ask them to make sure they get to class.

Or sometimes it's, you know, like going to make sure that their family

gets the food they need or the help they need, or in some way that, you

know, helping figure that teacher or that coach or that principal finds a

way to go out and to mediate, to be in the middle so that he can create

some tool for them to come back.

I feel like that's what's alluded to in these scriptures.

I think the Savior is our mediator.

He reaches towards us.

He finds ways to come towards us and smooth the path so that we can come back

to the presence of our Heavenly Father.

He is He is the promise, and if that's available, why would you turn it down?

I just feel like that's the message of chapter eight.

So then he says an eight for fall Finding fault with them.

He sayeth speaking about the ancient Israelites.

Behold the days come sayeth the Lord when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel and not, and with the house of Judah.

not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day.

This is quoting Jeremiah, basically.

Um, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because

they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, saith the Lord.

I will put my law into their mind.

I will write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and

they shall be to me a people.

His promise is that we will know him intimately, that you won't work

through a priest or a high priest who carries your burdens and your sin

and whatever into the temple for you.

He will be that great high priest.

He will have this Intimate connection, a relationship, as President Nelson

says, and that's what we see in 11.

And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother,

saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

Every person, no matter what your bloodlines are, no matter what your

history is, has the opportunity to come to know him, individually and deeply.

That's the promise that is available through the Melchizedek Priesthood.

Those ordinances allow you to come one at a time and come close to him.

In 12, you get kind of the capstone.

He says, For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and

their iniquities will I remember no more.

I think it must have been incredibly hard to be so You know, to, to carry

the children of Israel as the premortal Jehovah, to help them all throughout

that time in the Old Testament, and then to guide them in the New Testament

as the mortal Jesus Christ, and to teach them and, you know, provide

miracles and healings and to have them.

Turn against him that he in, in this promise says, I will set

all that down when you're ready and the covenant is available.

I want you to come back to me.

I will set all that history down and you will be my people again.

Come back home.

I just think it's a message that we should hear in our own ears, no matter

how far we've wandered, no matter how long we've been gone, we can come back

home and he will wrap his arms around you.

That's the promise.

I just think it's something that would, that should comfort us.

I think my many years of clue writing experience when it comes to our

Halloween parties actually helped me understand chapter nine better.

Because essentially what the author is trying to do is he's

saying there have been signs all along the way in the children of

Israel's history to help direct your eyes towards this new covenant.

This is not a new covenant.

New this is a fulfillment of prophecy.

It's not new and so he's trying to help them See he walks basically through what

you what happens at the tabernacle or at the temple this Process and the things

the items that you see and how all of them are supposed to direct your eyes

Towards the Messiah that would come the same way when you go to the temple today

and perform an endowment ceremony You hear that same theme let let me teach

you things that direct your eye towards Jesus Christ So that you can see him

in all the things that you're doing.

I just think that's his goal.

He's saying like, let me teach you.

I felt like that all the time with those Halloween parties.

Cause people will come to me after the party and say like,

we just couldn't get this clue where, what did you write in here?

That was supposed to give us an understanding.

And then I can pinpoint things and say, Oh, see how this word is reversed.

It's because.

When you actually hold this up, you're supposed to do it in a mirror

and see how you're like, I can kind of connect the dots and that's

what's happening in chapter nine.

He's connecting the dots of what happened in the tabernacle to this new

covenant that the savior brought to pass.

And then he directs them to think of the savior as the high

priest of good things to come.

That's what you see in verse 11, but Christ being come and high priest of

good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands.

That is to say not of this building.

He is.

Greater.

He is stronger.

His promises are lasting, everlasting, and that's what the author's trying

to help us see, that he is You need to have your eyes focused forward.

What I like about that is, I just think it implies, like, Be Soraya, not Lot's wife.

You're in, it's hard.

These newcomers are going to face persecutions and struggle and people in

the Old Faiths trying to pull them back.

Like, they're going to face all kinds of obstacles.

And he's saying, keep your eyes forward.

Not only is the Savior offering good things, but there are good things to come.

And in order to access those good things, you need to grab hold of this covenant.

So that's what he invites them to, and then he tells them how.

So you can find some of that in 12.

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he

entered in once the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

As opposed to, you know, that offering on the Day of Atonement

that has been happening now for 1, 500 years with the Law of Moses.

One time, this great and last sacrifice had to occur once that you're going

to see that word over and over again in this chapter, this great and

lasting sacrifice happened one time.

And now that it's done, it's effects are.

Everlasting.

In fact, I think that's why we call it an infinite atonement.

If you go in the notes, you can read a beautiful talk from Elder Callister all

about this, but that it's infinite in nature because it can reach everybody,

and it has no beginning and no end.

That's the scope of the offering that he offered, and that is so much

greater than what the high priest in, you know, under the Mosaic laws.

Offer.

They, they have no perfecting power.

They're good.

It was a good beginning.

It just wasn't a fullness.

So you'll see some of that.

You also see in like 15 and 16, 17, they talk about Christ being a

mediator and Christ needing to die.

I wonder sometimes if those who are converts struggled a little bit with his.

The way Christ died, you know, that especially because in Jewish

tradition to be crucified was particularly repugnant and there's

some Old Testament references to that.

But this idea of being nailed to a tree that doesn't fit with what

they thought the Messiah would.

Look like and that he died at the hands of Romans who are oppressive and it probably

didn't feel right to them And so I think the author of Hebrews is trying to help us

understand why that had to happen And this is maybe a little more detailed than I

can offer in a video But in the notes, you can see more about why this had to happen.

The verse that is key about it is around 16 For where a testament there

is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

For a testament is of force after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength

at all while the testator liveth.

In order for him to pass on this great inheritance, this promise,

he has to offer his whole self.

What I like about this understanding is, I think it's rounded out so

much better in the Book of Mormon.

Like, you can read, go in the notes, you can see some of the connecting points, but

um, Amulek teaches about this beautifully in the Book of Alma, and he talks about

this great and last sacrifice, and that it is not a sacrifice of animal,

that it's not even a human sacrifice, it's an offering of God, it's a, only

he could do what he could, did not, no other sacrifice could have been enough.

And that's what he's trying to help us understand.

So if in 23 and 24, he talks about patterns and figures and everything

else you've seen, all those branches laden with fruit, they

all link back to this pure vine.

Look at the vine and grab hold.

And then in 26, he talks about how this happens just once.

This is something that is pivotal in all human history.

It just happened once, and now it's eternal in significance.

I really, there's a quote from Elder Callister, where he talks about

this idea of an infinite atonement.

Being something that is, uh, eternal in its scope, meaning it can reach

throughout time to all people, and it has no beginning, and no end, and

no limit on what it's capable of.

offering.

That's the infinite atonement that the Savior offers.

And there is just simply no comparison between that and what you get by offering

animals in a tabernacle or in a temple.

It's just not the same.

And that's what the author is trying to get us to understand.

Oh, you guys.

Chapter 10 has some of my very favorite verses.

It's going to be hard to pick them out here, but where he begins in Chapter

10, he talks about the law being a shadow, again, this understanding

that this is a pattern, it's directing your eyes to Jesus Christ.

And then he talks about the sacrifices that existed before.

And then he has this interesting phrase in 6, it says, I thought this was really...

interesting because i wonder sometimes if the jews of this day especially the

converted jews who are now christians wonder if maybe they should continue with

the law of moses on top of what they're doing with this new covenant if they need

to kind of keep things up in order to get almost like extra credit and i feel like

what the author is trying to teach them is We are setting all those sacrifices down.

All of that is fulfilled.

And the reason it doesn't give you extra credit is because you need

a different kind of sacrifice.

I almost think that the sacrifices of animals are a big distraction

to their mind, and it keeps them from thinking they need to offer

the sacrifice that he asked for.

If you go in the Book of Mormon, you can see this really

clearly when the Savior comes.

He talks about the law of Moses being fulfilled, and then he talks about

what he wants them to offer instead.

That the offering he requires now is a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

What I love in the Book of Mormon, and you can go in the notes and

follow this scripture path, but I love that what he says is why.

Why do they need to offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit?

And the reason is so that he can grant them that fire of the Holy Ghost.

Because the Holy Ghost will help them progress further.

The offerings that they used to give on altars with animals and blood

sacrifices can't grant them that fire of the Holy Ghost that they

can grab with this new covenant.

And that's what will help them progress.

Because he doesn't just want to give them a little bit at a time or keep

them where their ancestors were.

He wants them to go somewhere higher.

So he's inviting them to grab hold.

So if you look in 15, he kind of re emphasizes that message.

Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us, for after that he has said before.

In 16, this is the covenant that I will make with them after

those days, saith the Lord.

I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds, and in their minds

will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

The way I think we get the law inscribed on our hearts, like Jeremiah

taught, is through the Holy Ghost.

Yeah, that's when you see the benefits of obedience.

That's when you see your stretches of faith rewarded with an increase

of power and understanding.

The Holy Ghost is your access point to all those things.

So in order for us to progress, we need that peace.

And you can't get that through the old method.

He needs you to step up to this new covenant.

And I love the way it's described.

If you look in 18, 19, and 20.

We're just going to read through it and then I'll chat.

He says, Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the

holiest by the blood of Jesus.

And in 20, By a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the

veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of

God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our

hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Here's what I love about this, you guys.

This is a very clear indicator what the symbol of the veil represents.

And we saw it alluded to throughout the Old Testament.

The Savior himself references it a few times.

This, when that veil is torn at his death, it's this clear indication of

access to God is available through him.

What I like is thinking about the veil from both sides, from both perspectives.

I got some help on this from last week.

I was listening to It might have been an older episode, but there's

a podcast called Talking Scripture.

And they spoke about this idea of how Heavenly Father sees us through the veil.

And we can have assurance, because if you look through Jesus Christ at

me, I probably look a lot better.

You know, His promise is, if I come with a broken heart and a contrite spirit,

and I make covenants and I diligently try to live them, that I can be Perfected

in Him, I can be forgiven and all those things are remembered no more.

So, the perspective of our Father in Heaven is looking at

us through that side of the veil.

What I also like is, in these verses, it implies that our view is different because

of what we know about Jesus Christ.

When I look through Jesus Christ towards Heavenly Father, I know Him.

In fact, what Jesus Himself taught in the New Testament, in the Gospels, is

that it's the only way to know God.

Remember when they had questions about...

God the father, and he basically said, if you know me, you know, God, the father,

you can go in the notes and follow this path, but he's basically saying the only

way for you to know God is to know me.

So the closer I look at Jesus Christ, the more I actually come to know and see.

What's on the other side of that veil?

I don't think just know them at a cerebral level I mean like have a relationship

with and feel close to so that at some point When I get to cross through

that veil, I am comfortable there.

I feel at home in his presence That's what Jesus Christ offers I just love that

visual especially as I think about things that happened in the tabernacle things

that happened in temples today I just think it's a beautiful assuring promise.

I think that's why we can come boldly.

Remember, similar to what we read before in 19, having therefore

brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

I can come boldly because I know the heavenly father sees me through Jesus

Christ and I know that I can know him because I know Christ and therefore I

can feel comfortable in his presence.

I can come boldly.

I can come with full assurance as it says in 22.

It's just such a beautiful promise.

I think it's also what the Savior reiterated in third Nephi when he

says he will draw all men unto him.

It's this invitation, come close.

The closer you come to me and the tighter our relationship, the more you'll know.

My father, let me, let me draw you in.

I just love those verses.

Go in the notes and you can learn a little bit more.

And then he talks about holding fast to your testimony.

That same idea in 23.

Let us hold fast the profession or testimony of our faith without wavering.

This is like, if you understand this about Jesus Christ and what he's

offering you, if you understand that the veil is open, and there's these

flashes of light coming through.

I give you a quote in the notes that I love.

It's from a BYU devotional from Elder Lund.

I think it's called Flashes of Light.

And he talks about that the Savior is constantly piercing the veil so that

we get these flashes of light from the other side, and we remember who we are.

I just think that's his invitation.

He's saying, if you want those flashes of light to come more clearly, so that

you never forget who you are and how much you can trust God, do these things.

So hold fast to your testimony.

Don't waver.

If you look in 24, consider each other.

Take care of each other and help other people come to know him.

There's something about the act of like teaching others, even

people in our own family, that brings our hearts closer to him.

That will pierce the veil and help us see more clearly those.

Bright flashes of light.

There's a bunch of them at the end of this chapter, but then there's this

invitation to not retreat You're gonna get these flashes of light and these

understandings don't retreat It's in 32 but call to remembrance the former days

in which after you were illuminated He endured a great fight of afflictions.

Okay, guys, here's what I love about this.

He's basically encouraging you to Not retreat from what you know,

so far, I recorded a couple of weeks ago, uh, a podcast with

Desiree books, magnify podcast.

And I told the story in this podcast that I told you guys before about,

uh, when I was struggling with knowing whether or not we should take out

Jason's tumor at a really scary time.

And I couldn't get an answer.

And in the podcast, I kind of lay out that story about when I finally

did scripture study with my kids, because that was the prompting I got.

That's when I got the answer.

When we prayed at scripture study, I knew what I was supposed to do.

What I couldn't talk about on the podcast because we didn't have enough

time is what happened after that day.

I wish I could tell you that I knew so clearly what we were supposed to do that

I had no doubts and no fears and I walked into that surgery center with confidence.

That is not what happened.

Like, I...

Feared I felt like I knew it in the moment and then as soon as I went

to go tell Jason what I thought I knew I feared I was like, honey.

I don't know.

I don't want to gamble with this Like I think this is what Heavenly Father was

trying to tell me, but what am I wrong?

I just I struggled and I feared and he was like, did you feel it in the moment?

Did you feel assured?

I'm like, yeah, I think so, but I don't know any so we had to kind

of work through that process of What do you do in those moments?

I think that's what this chapter is all about.

He's saying, that's mortal life.

You're going to have these flashes of light.

Illumination is the word he uses.

And then you're going to walk into the darkness with that light.

The same way, when you think about that scripture, about his word being a lamp

unto our feet, you know, a lamp is small.

It doesn't cast a great big light far into the distance.

It just, is small, you can carry his word with you a few steps into the darkness

and that light will move ahead of you.

Like Elder Scott said, I think that's his understanding.

He's saying, don't, don't cast out your confidence.

If you knew it in the past and you receive a spiritual promptings

about it, it's still true today.

Go forward in faith.

What I think I've learned throughout this process.

Is that even if I had guessed wrong, even if I'd misunderstood the promptings, if

I'm living worthy of my covenants, if I'm diligently trying to understand the will

of God, and I think it's X, like whatever the answer was, I think when I act on

those promptings, Even if I'm, it wasn't, if it wasn't what he intended, I think

he moves mountains to make things happen.

I think he sees your faith and says, okay, Maria, this is where we're going.

I just think it's, you think about the brother of Jared, for example, I think

it doesn't matter that he made stones.

Maybe it does.

I don't know.

But I think he could have brought something else.

He handcrafted and made maybe some cool stick creation.

I don't know.

He could have brought anything to the Lord and the Lord can make anything glow.

What the Lord saw in that moment is that the brother of Jared was

diligently trying to act on the light and knowledge he had so far.

His hope was that if he could bring something to the Lord, the Lord

would touch it and it would light.

That is something I think the Lord responds to.

And he says, Oh, I see what you brought me.

Let me touch it.

He can illuminate.

anything.

And that's what I learned in that episode with that prayer.

And my fear is if I just act in faith on what I know so far to the best of

my ability, I've fasted, I've prayed, I've done what I can, and I move

forward, he can illuminate anything.

So cast not away your confidence.

If you knew it before, you'll know it again, you'll feel assured.

And when you act in faith and you see him move mountains to help you, or light

stones that weren't lit before, then you gain assurance and strength and you

can step forward on this covenant path.

You can advance.

I just think it's powerful.

If you look in 38, you can kind of see the capstone of it.

He says, Now the judge shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my

soul shall have no pleasure in him.

It's when we retreat, when he gives us these packet of light,

inspiration, and we retreat from it, that he can't have pleasure

in us because we're not advancing.

We're staying stagnant.

We're probably receding.

And what he wants is progress.

And I think to do that, we have to take those little leaps of faith

based on the illumination he gives us.

We have to step forward and that's where the promise lies.

If you liked 10 your love 11, because this is all about faith.

It's got Alma 32 vibes.

It's how what is faith?

How do we increase it?

How can I see it in the scriptures more clearly?

What do I do with it?

That's what you're going to find when you get into chapter 11.

I like where he begins.

He says now faith is the substance of things hoped for

the evidence of things, not.

scene.

If you go in the footnotes, you can see this a little more clearly, but I think

he's saying that faith is a foundation.

It's substance is a foundation.

It's a beginning place, that desire to believe that Alma talks

about and planting that seed, just having enough faith to just begin.

And then as you see that seed grow, you get assurance.

You get understanding, Oh, wait, this is working.

And this is a good seed.

And this might actually work.

It's this, you know, ascent that occurs.

What I think is really interesting about this version is that you

see that God himself uses faith.

So if you look in three.

Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,

so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

This almost sounds like a riddle to me.

I'm not, I'm not entirely sure what it means, but I really like

the understanding that God can see things that aren't yet there.

With his timeless eternal vision, he can see an acorn and see its

oak tree or full, you know, forest of oak trees future all at once.

It reminds me of Well, my parents to some degree.

So my kid, my growing up years, I lived in this tiny little town

in Idaho and there was a theater there that my parents restored.

I think I told you guys about this in the old Testament,

but it was called the new art.

And it was a theater that was like built in the twenties or thirties basically.

And then it was converted for several decades into a movie theater, got

sort of trashed and nobody had really taken care of it for a long time.

And my parents, for some reason, Walked into that theater somehow and said,

I think we can make this amazing.

I still am kind of baffled by it because now that I'm the age that my parents

were, I'm like, How did you have time to do that or even think to do that?

She was a teacher.

He's a doctor.

They didn't have all this free time, but they walked into this

building and saw good bones.

And they could, they could see promise afar off, you know, they could

envision the place that would happen there again and the people that would

come and enjoy the music and the acting and they wanted to build it.

And so they started to build, even though they were working with

materials that they couldn't see.

They didn't know how they were going to get funding.

They didn't know how it was going to, how it was going to work.

They just believed that it could.

And then as small little miracles happened along the way, and we put

lots and lots of work in, they saw assurance that, oh, indeed, this.

This actually can happen.

This actually can work.

I think that's what we're learning in 11.

Because what you're going to see throughout this chapter are references

to Old Testament stories that we soaked up last year and loved because all

of these are people who had to step into these moments of Tested faith.

In fact, one of my favorite talks that I came across when I was studying this

chapter was from Elder Bednar And he spoke about that miraculous crossing of Jordan

River with Joshua and the people like they were he references that moment where As

opposed to the Red Sea that seems to part in front of them, the Jordan doesn't part.

They actually have to wade into it, and then it moves, and then

after they cross over, it closes back up again, and there's no...

evidence for others to see.

So he builds that care.

Remember that pile of rocks to like say, this is where this miracle occurred.

And then that's kind of what you see throughout 11.

You see other people who've had those, I'm going to step into the water moments.

You know, you see people like Moses who had to leave Pharaoh's beautiful,

comfortable home and step into the wilderness with the children of Israel

and deal with struggle and adversity.

You see people like Sarah who receive a promise about a covenant son and wait,

you know, decades, like eight decades before that actually is fulfilled.

You see all kinds of moments where they have to step into the water

and trust that it's going to part.

The other thing you see is that the water doesn't always part, that there are those

who say, I'm in this no matter what.

It's that same feel we got from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

where they are saying, I know the Lord can part this river, but

if not, I'm, I'm in, I'm all in.

That's what you see at the end of this chapter.

You see references to those who were mocked and scourged and in bonds and

in prison, people that wandered and suffered with isolation because of

their faith and their belief in Jesus Christ and the promise that would come.

And he, I think, inspires you in both these counts.

The thing that meant the most to me as I studied this chapter is, I feel

like all of these stories, maybe this is why I loved the Old Testament

so much last year, they're all this reservoir of faith that I can pull from.

I read this talk from Elder Maxwell where he basically said

that's what the scriptures are.

We all have limited life experience.

We can't reach too far beyond our little...

Life.

But when we go into the scriptures, we can experience red seas parting.

We can experience moments of famine when we only have one meal, one thing

of meal, and one oil, and will I give it to the prophet or will I hold it back?

Like, we get to feel and know what these life experiences are like, and

we get to apply it in our own way.

That's what chapter 11 is all about.

It'll be tempting to go through it fast and just read off those

prophets one by one, but oh, I thought it was so rich to just take

them one at a time and say, what's the river they were trying to cross?

What, what did they have to do to step into that river before it parted?

And what evidence did they come out of the river with?

Even if no one else could see the miracles that happened in their

life, what does Joseph know now?

What does Abraham know now?

What, what does Jacob know now that they didn't know?

Before they stepped into that river and took that leap of faith.

I just loved it.

So go slow through chapter 11.

Chapter 11 was all about people who managed to see promises afar

off and whether they came Late in life or in the next life.

They held tight.

I feel like chapter 12 is our invitation and maybe our how to guide for how to

get there, how to become a person who has that kind of well of faith to draw from.

For me, I laid out 10 steps, maybe it's my article writing history, I just

felt like this is almost a how to guide of 10 steps to increase your faith.

And you can see a bunch of them in verse one.

I'll tell you firsthand that this verse has been an answer to

prayers for me multiple times.

I just think there's so much goodness in it.

So he says, Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a

cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth

easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

The cloud of witnesses, I think he's referring to what

he just talked about in 11.

Like you've got, you know, generations of time of people who

are saying it's worth the wait.

No matter when those promise blessings come, he is steady

and his promises always come.

So trust, you can trust in the cloud.

I actually like seeing that cloud, almost like we talk about a data cloud today.

You know, like if I hear somebody's testimony about service, or I

hear a testimony about the Book of Mormon, that's really powerful

and resonates with my heart.

In my brain, I think I'm going to add that to my cloud.

You know, the same way I add a photo to my cloud, it's just this

like bank of things that I can pull from and search whenever I need it.

So I love the idea of a cloud of witnesses.

I think we should always be trying to thicken our cloud.

From studying scriptures, from listening at conference, from talking

to friends and family, asking them to articulate their faith for us.

When did you struggle?

Why?

How did you get to where you are?

I think when we thicken our cloud, we give ourselves assurance.

The other key thing in one is you have to set down weight.

I think the same way the Savior looked at Peter and said,

essentially, put down all those fish.

I remember when he had those nets full of fish, probably fuller than

he'd ever seen in his whole lifetime.

And the Savior said, I need you to set all that down and come follow me.

I think that's basically what he does for us often is he grants

these incredible blessings in our lives and then says, I need you to

set this down and come follow me.

I need you to focus in on me.

Oftentimes when I feel like the Lord isn't hearing me or helping me the way I It's

because I'm trying to juggle the weights I want to carry and what he wants me to do.

Instead of setting down my fish, I am trying to hold on to my

fish and do this next thing.

And in that juggling process, I start to lose my assurance of him.

I start to doubt and fear.

So you have to set down every weight.

The last step is to run the race.

I do this a lot when sometimes when I go speak to people, I talk about

this experience I had at Ragnar where I found out I was on the wrong road.

I didn't know this because in the middle of the night and we

were running on this like 2 a.

m.

leg of Ragnar and I was used to seeing flashing red lights ahead of me and

water stations and all this stuff and I started to see nothing and for a while I

was really kind of resentful of the race designers, because I was like, how could

you make a race where people are running in the dark with no water stations,

no bathrooms, no safety precautions.

I started to get really bugged.

And then it wasn't until about halfway through that run that I looked over and

realized I could see this string of red lights over here, which meant I was.

On the wrong road.

I could see that they were about a quarter mile this direction.

And I, I remember understanding that in a very clear way.

Like sometimes when I feel like God has abandoned me or I feel

like he's not answering my prayers, it's because I'm not on the road.

He set before me, I'm on one I picked and I sometimes have to.

Reorient.

So I just, there's so much in just that first verse, it continues in two, it

says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finish of our faith, who for the joy that

was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at

the right hand of the throne of God.

This to me is your next step in this process.

You have to look unto Jesus.

He's the only one that has run this race.

He's the only one that's run the leg that I am running in the

dark without the help I need.

Like, he is the only one that knows exactly what that feels like.

So I have to continue to look back.

I also think there's tips in finding the joy that he found.

He found joy in enduring the hard times because he could think

about what it would offer us.

Sometimes my endurance is thinking on what it will offer down the road.

I feel like that sometimes with this course, to be totally honest,

like there are some weeks you guys where it is so hard and I

struggled with the weight of it.

And then I think about my kids or my grandkids or great grandkids.

listening to my testimony or studying the Book of Mormon with me before their

mission or, you know, by watching these videos, I think, no, it's worth it.

It's gotta be worth it.

I'm seeing promises afar off.

That's what I think he's trying to help us see is like, if you're struggling,

look for the joy that is before you.

Look farther down the road.

You can get some more if you go in the notes, you can see all the 10

tips, but he gives you also some understanding about expecting correction

that as a good coach and a good teacher, he's going to correct you.

It's, he's going to be constantly guiding you and what's powerful about the way it's

written in this chapter is he calls you sons, basically saying like anyone who has

sons will constantly correct them and even chasing them at times because you care

so much that they, are successful, that they progress and that they're worthy of

the inheritance that is waiting for them.

And that's what he's directing us towards.

Like, expect correction from this coach.

I also love what you see in like 7, These are a few more tips for me.

Like, you're supposed to lift others.

That's in 7.

Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and

make straight paths for your feet.

For me, tip number seven is, if you want to increase in faith, help others.

There's something about teaching and testifying and serving that

lifts you and builds your faith.

And then make paths that are straight for your feet.

To me, this is him saying like, do the best you can with

what I've already given you.

Don't wait for me to come and smooth every road or expect

me to solve all the problems.

I've given you tools and talents and friendships that you can pull from.

Use the resources at your disposal and see what you can do on your own first.

And then if you go a little further, you can see he

encourages you to be a peacemaker.

This is around 15.

Looking diligently, or sorry, 14.

Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

And then 15.

Looking diligently, lest any man fail the grace of God.

That last of the 10 tips to me is, don't ever get comfortable

in your, in your discipleship.

Constantly look diligently and say, what do I need to do differently?

Are there things I'm doing that I need to stop doing?

Are there things I'm not doing that I need to start doing?

I'm going to diligently look at my progress and...

do better.

That's why I think he references Esau.

So we go on the next few verses, he talks about the story of Esau, who sold

his birthright for that mess of pottage.

And it's one of those pivotal moments that you just can't get back, right?

He, he can be blessed in other ways.

He can experience the joy of the Lord in other ways, but that particular

blessing, it doesn't come around again.

The same way we think about Oliver Cowdery and that he didn't continue

as he commenced, and he missed that opportunity to translate.

I just think there are certain things You can't get back and so he warns

you to stay focused on these faith building techniques because then you

won't miss those Opportunities to come closer to him and then at the end of

the chapter he gives you the alternative Basically, he talks about the children

of Israel and how they feared and where they stopped and how they struggled

and he invites you to Come to him.

He invites you to don't grab on to the traditions of your ancestors.

Don't make the mistakes they made be a part of this Church of the Firstborn.

It's one of the only places you see it.

Might be the only one in the New Testament.

You can see it in 23.

That this is a church made of just men, made perfect.

I like that both directions.

You know, just meaning justified through Christ, and just meaning like they are

just men that are made perfect in Christ.

That's all of us, right?

We are trying diligently to do our best, and we are just men.

But when you filter us through that veil of Jesus Christ,

we can be something greater.

We can be made perfect.

And then at the end in 28, Wherefore we receive a kingdom which cannot be moved.

Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably,

with reverence and godly fear.

He talks about when you come into his fold, you, you join in with his strength.

You are, you're rooted.

You know, when we talked about covenants being something that tethers

you to the rock, that foundation, that's what he's inviting it to.

Because in 26 and 27, he talks about how there will be a time when the

earth is in commotion, things will shake, and it's only those things that

are tethered to him that can stand.

It's the same thing we learned in third when he talks about the rains

being down and the winds coming.

If you are Bound to him, you can stand.

And the way we do that is by having reverence and godly fear.

I think it's the, the scripture or the descriptive example of that for me

is what you see in president Eyring.

The way he talks about his testimony of the savior, especially his

closeness to the Holy ghost.

I feel like it's this it's reverence and godly fear and this forward focus of.

With God, I can do all things.

So, here we go.

Speaking of President Eyring, I've got this quote written in my margins, near 13.

It says, Faith in Jesus Christ always leads to greater hope and

feelings of charity toward others, which is the true love of Christ.

That's what you see in verse 1.

Because if you've built up your well of faith by following those 10

steps and listening to that cloud of witnesses, the natural outpouring

of that is going to be this increase of love towards your fellow men.

So he says, Let brotherly love continue.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have

entertained angels unawares.

It's this invitation to be a good Samaritan at all times.

I think it's an invitation to minister, you know, in his way, trusting

that ministering is not just about the person you're taking care of.

It's about what happens to you in the process of ministering.

That's how he's going to answer prayers for you is.

by diligently caring for those around you.

And it's got that, you know, poor wayfaring man of grief feel to it that you

just never know the good that you can do.

So do good.

Let your faith just roll out of you in the form of charity.

I also like his invitation to be content.

So he talks about marriage and being honorable, that that's an eternal truth.

And then in five, let your conversation be without covetousness and be

content with such things as you have.

The reason I like this is I think he wants us to be content with the things we have.

The mortal earthly things we currently possess, the talents we have, be content

to some degree with those things.

But I don't think he ever wants us to be content with our spiritual levels.

I think we are always supposed to have a hunger for more.

You know, it's when he talks about hungering and thirsting after

righteousness or feasting on the words of Christ, it implies There's a hunger

there and I, I never can fill, you know, I can never be full in this life.

There's always more to learn and more to understand.

I think be content with your stuff cause you don't need very much and always

hunger for greater light and truth.

And then in eight, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, be not

carried about with diverse and strange doctrines, where it is a good thing that

the heart be established with grace.

This is his reminder, similar to what we heard in conference, that there are

eternal truths, that Jesus Christ's doctrines are everlasting, because

He is everlasting, He is eternal.

And so the things He's taught us last, and we can rest on those.

We don't need to be...

Tossed about it's one of the greatest blessings of increasing your faith

is you're tightly tethered And you're not tossed about by all the winds of

weird doctrines out there So encourages us to tether tighter and then in 12

wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood

Suffered without the gate meaning like he had to go outside of the city and he

suffered on the cross Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp

bearing his reproach For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

I just love these verses.

I just think it's, it sounds like Joseph Smith to me, you know,

it's this hope for Zion, like we're not going to retreat back.

We're not going to be like Lot's wife and look back longingly on the sinful city.

We're going to remember that angels got us out of there and

there's promise in the future.

We're going to have Sariah like vision and say, there's promise.

forward.

I can't pull myself back.

I've got to look forward.

And then he teaches you how, but do good.

This isn't 16, but to do good and to communicate, forget not for with

such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

Obey them that you have the rule over you and submit yourselves

for they watch for your souls.

This to me is the same thing we read in the Book of Mormon with King Benjamin.

It's just this invitation to yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit

and take this steady upwards.

You know, this slow ascent, even if you fall back a little bit, like

work your way up, make an ascent.

In 20 and 21, now the God of peace that brought again

from the dead our Lord Jesus.

That great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you, that

which is well pleasing in his sight.

When we choose to make covenants with Christ and keep them, he

can use us as an instrument.

He can put us to this great work and we find joy in the process and

others find joy in the process.

That's the beauty of it.

I just feel like that's his invitation.

Remember the kind of shepherd we follow.

Remember how he loves his sheep.

It's all over the New Testament, especially in the Gospels,

how he cares for his sheep.

He lays down his life for the sheep.

That's the kind of God we worship.

So we can trust, we can feel assured.

And then in 25, grace be with you all.

Amen.

I just think that's his constant message, whether this is Paul or

some other author, it is what will last beyond his lifetime behind his

guidance is the grace of Christ.

We can We can step on that steady foundation and look

forward with hope and peace.

Hey guys, welcome back.

This is the creative side of week 45.

So just like every week This is where I take some of the principles that

we learned in the book that we're studying and try to find fun Creative

memorable ways to attach those principles to things in your everyday

life and you guys This is a good week.

Sort of a dangerous week, but those always turn out memorable for me.

So I hope you enjoy it.

For those of you who are watching on YouTube or maybe just listening

on the free podcast, I'm just going to give you a preview of some of the

things I have in store just to kind of get the creative sparks going.

And then if you're in the course, you can just keep watching this video and

I'll fill you in on how to do each one and give you the notes and the

printables so that you can pull them off.

But I think this is going to be a memorable week.

Okay.

Let me give you your supplies list first.

First and foremost, we're going to do this red reveal.

So one of the things I love this week is how often...

We learn about the Savior's blood being something that cleanses us.

In fact, it's the only thing that can cleanse us.

The only thing that can offer us access to salvation comes through Jesus Christ.

I think where that gets tricky is, you know, it's kind of a weird phrasing.

I think when you try and teach your kids about the blood of Christ making

us clean or, you know, scarlet things turning to white, it can get a little...

Weird.

And I wanted some very clear visual way to teach that.

So we're going to do a red reveal challenge.

So if you haven't seen these, you've probably seen them in old

games or comic books in the past.

But there are some encrypted messages on the printable.

And then I'm going to teach you a really cool way to reveal them.

And for that one, you just need a casserole dish and

then some red food coloring.

And I'll walk you through the steps.

Okay, second one I love, maybe it's from Elder Holland because he has

that great talk all about casting not, not away your confidence.

But I loved the, that batch of verses because I think so often,

especially as we're helping our kids understand how to hear him better.

It's also important to teach them that even though you feel these

moments of illumination, you will also feel a lot of moments of doubt

and fear and you'll be nervous to act on the promptings you receive.

And I think that batch of verses can help.

And there's a really cool way to talk about Being afraid of

things that are safe, but don't seem safe and that's with fire.

So this is one of those Super risky object lessons that I would encourage

you if you have older teenagers do it with them Obviously if you have

little kids, this is one you'd want to demonstrate and probably not have them

participate in But it it packs a punch.

So for this one, we are actually gonna make fire that you hold in your hand.

And to do that, you need a couple things.

You need to go to the camping section of any big box store, or maybe you

have this in the garage already, and you need to get butane fuel.

It comes in an aerosol can like this.

It will have a little tip.

Usually there's a plastic tip on the top.

We're going to remove that so that we can access the fuel.

And you also need a lighter.

Obviously you're going to use these two things very carefully

together, but you need a lighter.

And then you need a bowl or a glass and some dish soap.

And I will teach you how to make Bubbles that are unlike any bubbles

you've ever experienced before.

So that's coming up soon.

It'll help us cast out away our confidence Last one.

This one is all about seeing promises that are far off.

So much of the writings of Hebrew are about Hebrews are about the Prophets

and their wives who we see in the past who did these remarkable faith promoting

things, you know They took these leaps of trust even some that aren't children

of Israel, you know like you hear about Rahab people that are outside still take

these huge leaps of faith and The author of Hebrews focuses us in on those to

use them as a cloud of witnesses And I wanted to help my kids understand that

idea that they can focus on promises afar off to trust that even if life

is hard today, it can get better.

A cool way that you can tie this all together is by talking about

how we look forward to things.

Right now, you know, your kids probably are already counting down to Christmas,

probably not Thanksgiving, but maybe to Christmas, at least Christmas break,

they're already mentally counting down.

So I wanted some cool way to show that that is similar to what

the scriptures are teaching us.

So I created for you something that never existed before, but I've always

wanted to make, which is a countdown.

It's a countdown that's adjustable.

So as opposed to having like Christmas cubes or Halloween cubes, I'm creating

one that can go on your fridge and that can be has post-it notes on it so you

can make it for any event, whether it be like days till our missionary comes

home or days till, you know, fall break.

Whatever your exciting event is down the road, this will help you count down

to it and also help you talk about the promises that are a far off and how we

use little, you know, moments to help us wait for those promises to be fulfilled.

Okay, so you're going to gather those supplies and then come on back and

I'll show you how to pull them off.

All right you guys, that is it for week 45.

I hope you enjoy it.

I hope no fires break out.

I'm sorry, this is like our last of our guts and glory weeks.

This is the last one of the year, so we had to go big or go home

and we're going big this time, so.

Be careful.

If you need extra tips for this week's study, you're welcome

to come join me on Instagram.

So Monday morning at 10 a.

m.

Mountain Time, I pop on for a live where I'll walk through some of the

insights, answer any questions you have, and then also talk through the object

lessons in a little bit more detail.

So that if you have questions or you have misunderstandings because of my

videos, then you can stop me there and say, Hey, Maria, how does that work?

And I'll try and walk you through it.

If you have questions and you can't be on the live, you can either watch it later

and direct message me or just leave me a question on the YouTube thread or in the

discussion boards on the course and I'll get to those as quick as I can, but I

think it's a really good week, you guys.

The study of this week is so rich and so dense, the temples everywhere in it, so I

hope you just dive in as much as you can.

And the creative is there just to help you.

Bring others with you.

You know, kind of like we heard at conference that you're supposed

to keep eating of that fruit and beckoning your family to come.

I think object lessons are one of the tools that I've

found that helped me beckon.

Like it brings delight to my face.

It helps me pull people in towards the goodness that I find.

And I hope that happens for you as well.

I think that's it you guys.

All right.

Enjoy week 45 and I'll see you next week.