Welcome to October!
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October, Week 1
Day 1
Primary
1. Read Isaiah 51.
2. The Lord used phrases like “awake,” “stand up,” and “put on thy strength” to inspire His people to live up to their divine potential. He wanted His people to “Lift up your eyes,” “Awake,” and “Stand up.”
3. What does it mean to “hearken unto” the Lord? Why is it sometimes hard to listen to and obey the Lord? How can we show the Lord that we “hearken unto” Him?
4. Listen to the song “I Feel My Savior’s Love.”
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 40.
2. Isaiah comforted the people of Judah by prophesying of the coming of Christ. What do verses 3–5 teach about the coming of Jesus Christ?
3. Isaiah 40:3–5 speaks of “the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness.” These verses have multiple applications. John the Baptist applied this passage to himself while acting as a forerunner of the Lord’s mortal ministry. John also fulfilled this prophecy when he appeared to Joseph Smith to restore the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood in preparation for the Lord’s Second Coming.
President Joseph Fielding Smith further taught:
“The Lord declared … that before his second coming a messenger should be sent to prepare the way and make it straight. You may apply this to John, and it is true. …
“But I go farther and maintain that Joseph Smith was the messenger whom the Lord sent to prepare the way before him. He came, and under the direction of holy messengers laid the foundation for the kingdom of God … that the world might be prepared for the coming of the Lord” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:194–95).
Additionally, missionaries and Church leaders in this dispensation are sent as messengers crying, “Repent, repent, and prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight” (D&C 33:10).
Day 2
Primary
1. Read Isaiah 52.
2. Anciently during times of war, people would anxiously await news from the battlefield. This news would have been brought by runners traveling on foot. (Here is an illustration for you.) How do you think these messengers were received when they brought news that the battle had been won and peace had been established? Why? Isaiah compared these battlefield messengers with Jesus Christ and the message of salvation that He gave and would give. The description of messengers given by Isaiah also includes those who would share the gospel message of peace and salvation and spread the joyful news that Jesus Christ has won the battle against sin and evil.
5. Isaiah 52:7-8 are not doctrinal mastery verses, but you can memorize them if you like.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 43.
2. Isaiah’s message to them and to us is simple: “Fear not” (Isaiah 43:1). All is not lost. The Lord has not forgotten you, and He has power over situations that seem out of your control. Isn’t the Lord “he that created the heavens, and … he that spread forth the earth, and … he that giveth breath unto the people upon it”? (Isaiah 42:5). Isn’t He more powerful than Babylon, than sin, than whatever is holding you captive? “Return unto me,” He pleads, “for I have redeemed thee” (Isaiah 44:22). He can heal, restore, strengthen, forgive, and comfort—whatever is needed for you, in your case, to be redeemed.
3. What did the Savior say he would do for Israel? (Isaiah 43:1-5)
4. The Lord told the Israelites that they were witnesses of Him because of the great things He had done for them, and He emphasized that there is no Savior other than Him.
Day 3
Primary
1. Read Isaiah 53.
2. Listen to the song “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission.”
3. There is a doctrinal mastery scripture in this chapter. It is Isaiah 53:3-5.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
4. There is a song for these verses!
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 44 and Isaiah 45.
2. In Isaiah 45:5, 6, 18 it says “I am the Lord, and there is none else.” This means that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer, the only one who can save us. Why do you think the Lord would repeatedly emphasize that He is the only God who can save us? In Isaiah’s day, many in Israel had turned to two false gods, Bel and Nebo, for help from their problems. These false gods did nothing to help the Israelites. In modern days we might look to different idols (wealth, possessions, physical strength, appearance, popularity, or intellect) instead of trusting in the Savior. If we trust in the Savior, He will carry and deliver us.
3. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told what it means to trust in Jesus Christ.
This life is an experience in profound trust — trust in Jesus Christ, trust in his teachings, trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existence. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5–7). To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience. (“Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 17).
4. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles helped us understand what the title Redeemer means:
Among the most significant of Jesus Christ’s descriptive titles is Redeemer. … The word redeem means to pay off an obligation or a debt. Redeem can also mean to rescue or set free as by paying a ransom. If someone commits a mistake and then corrects it or makes amends, we say he has redeemed himself. Each of these meanings suggests different facets of the great Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ through His Atonement, which includes, in the words of the dictionary, ‘to deliver from sin and its penalties, as by a sacrifice made for the sinner’ [Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1988), ‘redeem’]. (“Redemption,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 109)
Day 4
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 49.
2. Isaiah warned the Israelites that because of their wickedness, they would be scattered. Read Isaiah 49:14. How would the Israelites (referred to in this verse as “Zion”) feel in their scattered condition?
3. Isaiah 49 records the words the Lord spoke to reassure the Israelites of His love for them. Read Isaiah 49:15–16. According to verse 16, why will the Savior not forget any of Heavenly Father’s children? (Because the Savior has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.”) To engrave is to cut or carve something into an object so the imprint remains there permanently. In what way have we been graven upon the palms of the Savior’s hands?
4. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained a purpose of the Savior’s wounds:
Even though the power of the Resurrection could have—and undoubtedly one day will have—completely restored and made new the wounds from the crucifixion, nevertheless Christ chose to retain those wounds for a purpose, including for his appearance in the last days when he will show those marks and reveal that he was wounded ‘in the house of [his] friends’ [Zechariah 13:6; see also D&C 45:52].
“The wounds in his hands, feet, and side are signs that in mortality painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect, signs that tribulation is not evidence that God does not love us. It is a significant and hopeful fact that it is the wounded Christ who comes to our rescue. He who bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love, the emblems of humility and forgiveness is the Captain of our Soul. That evidence of pain in mortality is undoubtedly intended to give courage to others who are also hurt and wounded by life, perhaps even in the house of their friends. (Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon [1997], 258–59)
5. Isaiah prophesied that in the latter days, the descendants of Israel will be gathered in great numbers. Isaiah 49:22–23 specifically refers to how the Gentiles, or non-Israelite people, will assist in this process. The Lord testified that the time will come when all people will know that He is the Savior and Redeemer of mankind.
Week 2
Day 1
Primary
1. Read Isaiah 58.
2. This chapter talks about fasting and keeping the Sabbath day holy. In the Church today, one Sabbath day each month is set aside for the purpose of fasting. During this time, Church members go without food and water for a period of time. They then contribute to the Church the money that they would have spent on food for those meals. This money is called a fast offering. The Church uses the fast offerings to assist the poor and needy.
3. There are two doctrinal mastery scriptures in this chapter. The first one is Isaiah 58:6-7.
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
4. The second one is Isaiah 58:13-14.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 50 and Isaiah 51.
2. Read Isaiah 50:1. What do you think the Lord meant when He said, “For your iniquities have ye sold yourselves”? (The Lord had not sold or forsaken His chosen people; they had sold themselves into the captivity of sin.) What are some examples of how we might sell ourselves into captivity through sin?
3. Read Isaiah 50:2. What do you think the Savior meant when He asked, “Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?” (The Savior has the power to redeem us because of His Atonement.) While the Savior performed the Atonement and therefore has the power to redeem us from the captivity of sin, each of us must choose to repent of our sins in order to be redeemed.
4. As we remember our covenants and keep them, the Lord will bless us and comfort us. In Isaiah 51, the Lord taught Israel that they can have comfort in Him when they are faithful to their covenants because His redemptive power and righteousness are eternal.
5. Who were the two sons who fainted in Isaiah 51?
“For centuries the covenant people of the Lord have ‘drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury,’ or in other words, they reaped the results of their refusal to heed His word and this ‘wrung them out’ (Isaiah 51:17). And the days of judgments for Israel are not finished yet. In the battle of Armageddon, the Jewish nation will once again undergo great oppression and judgment. …
“The text of 2 Nephi 8:19–20 taken from the brass plates suggests that the two sons may be the two witnesses of Revelation 11:1–6 who will keep the armies from defeating the Jews (see also D&C 77:15). …
“By means of these two servants of God and the miracles they work, God will remove from Israel’s hand ‘the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury.’ The promise is ‘thou shalt no more drink it again’ (Isaiah 51:22). Instead, the cup of fury shall be given to those who have trampled on and walked over the covenant people of the Lord. It will then be their turn to know suffering. (See v. 23.)” (Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi, 3rd ed. [Church Educational System manual, 2003], 195).
Day 2
Primary
1. Read Isaiah 60.
2. Isaiah prophesied that in the last days, the Lord’s people would be like a light for those who are in darkness. How can we “arise” and “shine?” Jesus Christ and His gospel are like a light that helps us see our way back to Heavenly Father.
3. Listen to the song “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission.”
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 52.
2. Anciently during times of war, people would anxiously await news from the battlefield. This news would have been brought by runners traveling on foot. (Here is an illustration for you.) How do you think these messengers were received when they brought news that the battle had been won and peace had been established? Why?
3. In Isaiah 52:7–8, Isaiah compared these battlefield messengers with Jesus Christ and the message of salvation that He gave and would give. The description of messengers given by Isaiah also includes those who would share the gospel message of peace and salvation and spread the joyful news that Jesus Christ has won the battle against sin and evil. What do you think it means that those who share the message of the gospel with others are considered to have “beautiful feet” by those who receive their message? (This is an expression of gratitude for those who bring them the gospel message, which fills them with joy and peace; see also Mosiah 15:15–18.)
4. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that the true publisher of peace and good tidings is the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom salvation comes:
As the Book of Mormon prophet Abinadi made clear in a slight variation of Isaiah’s exclamation:
“‘O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people’ [Mosiah 15:18; emphasis added].
“Ultimately it is Christ who is beautiful upon the mountain. And it is His merciful promise of ‘peace in this world,’ His good tidings of ‘eternal life in the world to come’ [D&C 59:23] that make us fall at His feet and call His name blessed and give thanks for the restoration of His true and living Church. (“Peaceable Things of the Kingdom,” Ensign, Nov. 1996, 82)
5. Isaiah 52:7-8 are not doctrinal mastery verses, but you can memorize them if you like.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
Day 3
Primary
1. Read Isaiah 61.
2. Jesus Christ was sent to help us. What does Isaiah 61:1-3 teach us about the Savior?
3. Listen to the song “I Feel My Savior’s Love.”
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 53.
2. Isaiah 53 contains a prophecy of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Isaiah taught that the Savior would be despised and rejected, smitten and afflicted; that He would carry our sorrows; and that He would be wounded for our transgressions.
3. There is a doctrinal mastery scripture in this chapter. It is Isaiah 53:3-5.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
4. There is a song for these verses!
Day 4
Primary
1. Read Isaiah 65.
2. Isaiah spoke of a day when Jesus Christ will return to the earth and establish an era of peace and righteousness called the Millennium. Isaiah described this future day using words like “rejoice” and “rejoicing.” Ponder why the Savior’s return will be a day of rejoicing for you. What can you do to prepare for His coming?
3. Listen to the song “Families Can Be Together Forever.”
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 54.
2. People may feel forsaken and alone at times. Because the house of Israel broke the covenant they made with Jehovah, they were scattered. They may have felt that God had forsaken them. However, through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord reminded His covenant people, both then and now, that He would gather them with great mercies and give them peace.
3. Look at this chart of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Isaiah used visualization and imagery to share the Lord’s words. Spend a couple of minutes looking at the image of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and notice where Isaiah fits in.
4. Here’s another image. Read Isaiah 54:1–4. As you do, think about what the parts of the tent might represent. How do you think the Savior’s Church is like a tent? How do stakes support a tent? What can this teach us about the role of the stakes of Zion in the Savior’s restored Church? In what ways do you see the tent enlarging in our day?
Week 3
Day 1
Primary
1. Read Jeremiah 1.
2. Because we lived with God before we came to earth, He knows us, even if we can’t remember Him. Read Jeremiah 1:5. God knew the prophet Jeremiah before he was born. Heavenly Father also knew you personally before you were born, and He sent each of us here for a purpose.
3. Jeremiah 1:4-5 is a Doctrinal Mastery passage.
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
4. Listen to the “Books of the Old Testament” song. Be sure you can sing it through Jeremiah!
Youth
1. Read Isaiah 58.
2. The Lord directed Isaiah to boldly declare to the house of Jacob (or Israel) their sins. These sins included outwardly performing religious practices without sincere intent and thus acting as if they were a righteous nation that had not forsaken the Lord. He taught that rather than seeking to be repentant and draw closer to Him while they fasted, they sought worldly pleasures and engaged in worldly activities. Instead of showing compassion to others, they forced others to work, and they were irritable and contentious. The Lord said that because their intentions and actions were improper while they fasted, He would not acknowledge their prayers.
3. There are two doctrinal mastery scriptures in this chapter. The first one is Isaiah 58:6-7.
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
4. The second one is Isaiah 58:13-14.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
***
Day 2
Primary
1. Read Jeremiah 3.
2. The Lord compared the kingdoms of Israel and Judah to two sisters. One sister (Judah) watched the other sister (Israel) refuse to listen to the prophets and saw her ultimately reject the Lord. As a result of this rejection, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians in the century before Jeremiah was born, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah had witnessed it. What did the Lord promise those who repent and come unto Him? If we repent and come unto the Lord with our whole hearts, He will heal our waywardness.
3. Watch the video “Jeremiah the Prophet.”
4. Listen to the song “I Feel My Savior’s Love.”
Youth
1. Read Jeremiah 3.
2. The Lord taught that the people’s wickedness would bring them great sorrow and that the false gods they had chosen would not save or help them. He compared the kingdoms of Israel and Judah to two sisters. One sister (Judah) watched the other sister (Israel) refuse to listen to the prophets and saw her ultimately reject the Lord. As a result of this rejection, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians in the century before Jeremiah was born, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah had witnessed it. Read Jeremiah 3:10 . How did the Lord describe what Judah did after the destruction of Israel?
3. Read Jeremiah 3:12-13, 22. What did the Lord invite His people to do? What did the Lord promise those who repent and come unto Him? If we repent and come unto the Lord with our whole hearts, He will heal our waywardness.
4. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles confirmed that the Lord wants us to turn to Him, even when we have been disobedient to His commandments:
Everything in the gospel teaches us that we can change if we need to, that we can be helped if we truly want it, that we can be made whole, whatever the problems of the past. (“He Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things,” Ensign, Nov. 1997, 66)
Day 3
Primary
1. Read Jeremiah 16.
2. Because of their wickedness, Israel was scattered. (Jeremiah 16:13.) However, the Lord promised that just as he had brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, he would someday gather Israel and return them to the land of their fathers.
3. President Russell M. Nelson said:
Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel.
4. Listen to the song “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission.”
Youth
1. Read Jeremiah 16.
2. When Jeremiah prophesied of the gathering of scattered Israel, he said it would be even more monumental than the Exodus from Egypt (see Jeremiah 16:14–15). In a similar spirit, President Russell M. Nelson said:
You were sent to earth at this precise time … to help gather Israel. There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that [gathering]. … This gathering should mean everything to you. (Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel” [worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018], supplement to the New Era and Ensign, Aug. 2018, 12, ChurchofJesusChrist.org)
3. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told about an experience he had during a visit to West Africa and how it relates to the mission we all share to spread the gospel:
We traveled to Ghana in West Africa. There the Church is growing rapidly and is on very solid footing. …
As the sun was setting, we saw a large crowd of villagers. Young, old, and middle-aged all were pulling on a huge net and drawing it out of the water. We stopped and inquired about what they were doing. They were pulling in the fish caught that day. In the net were large and small fish of many kinds. Each villager put his hands to the net to help bring in the catch. The thought ran through my mind of the gathering of Israel in the last days as referred to in Jeremiah. The Lord said, ‘I will send for many fishers … and they shall fish them’ (Jeremiah 16:16).
That, brethren and sisters, is the mission of all of us as members of the Church: to put our hands on the net and pull in thousands of fine men and women who are searching for the truth. (“Pulling in the Gospel Net,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 61)
Day 4
Primary
1. Read Jeremiah 18.
2. Sometime during the first part of Jeremiah’s more than 40-year ministry at Jerusalem, the Lord instructed him to visit a potter’s house. Jeremiah observed the potter at work, spinning a lower wheel with his foot while working with his hands a pile of wet clay on an upper wheel. Pottery making is one of the oldest crafts of civilized man. Jeremiah watched as the potter discovered a flaw in the vessel he was making. It interested Jeremiah that the potter collapsed the clay formation in his hands and began again to shape a whole new pot. The Lord then asked Jeremiah a rhetorical question, “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?”
3. Jeremiah was a prophet who saw some of the darkest days of Israel’s wickedness, yet through it all he recognized the skilled hands of the Master Potter, molding his character into a beautiful work of art. The events of his life remind us of the necessity to submit our whole lives, no matter how difficult it may be, into the Lord’s loving hands.
4. Listen to the song “Families Can Be Together Forever.”
Youth
1. Read Jeremiah 18.
2. The Lord used the art of making pottery to teach Jeremiah about the house of Israel. Read Jeremiah 18:1–6 and look for what God taught Jeremiah.
3. God said that he could shape Israel into a mighty nation, but there was something they needed to do. (Jeremiah 18:7-8) If we liken ourselves to the Israelites, what can we do to allow God to mold or reshape our lives? (If we choose to repent, the Lord can mold and reshape our lives.)
4. Elder Hugh W. Pinnock of the Seventy spoke about the Savior’s ability to help them change for the better.
The Lord explained to Jeremiah that when we make mistakes, as ancient Israel was making, we can take what we have marred and begin again. The potter did not give up and throw the clay away, just because he had made a mistake. And we are not to feel hopeless and reject ourselves. Yes, our task is to overcome our problems, take what we have and are, and start again.
“Some of you who are listening have sinned in ways that are significant, embarrassing, and destructive. Yet, by following the simple instruction given by the Master, you can talk with your bishop, when necessary, and begin again as a renewed person. (“Beginning Again,” Ensign, May 1982, 12)
5. How can we overcome our mistakes and change for the better?
Week 4
Day 1
Primary
1. Read Jeremiah 31.
2. Read Jeremiah 31:3. What does it mean that the Lord loves us with an “everlasting love?”
3. Read Jeremiah 31:31-34. In these verses the Lord talks about making a new covenant with Israel, one that is written on their hearts. What covenants have you made with the Lord? How can we have them “written on our hearts?”
4. Listen to the song “I Feel My Savior’s Love.”
Youth
1. Read Jeremiah 31.
2. When the Israelites kept their covenants, the Lord blessed them in many ways, including giving them a promised land. However, when they broke their covenants, the Lord took these blessings away, and the people became separated from their promised land, or scattered.
3. Read Jeremiah 31:3, 8, 9, and 13. Look for what the Lord would do that would give the Israelites hope for their future. Do you think gathering to a certain geographical location is all the Jews would need to do to be healed from their spiritual wounds? Why or why not? While Jeremiah referred to a physical gathering in the land of promise after the Jews’ exile in Babylon, there is another, even more important component of the gathering that he taught. Read Jeremiah 31:31-34. What did the Lord say He would make with the house of Israel? The word new in this context means that God’s covenant — the fulness of the gospel — would be revealed anew to the house of Israel. While God had previously established His covenant with their fathers, the patriarchs, over time some of the components of this covenant had been lost, such as the Melchizedek Priesthood, the higher law, and the fulness of temple ordinances.
4. What do you think it means to have God’s law “in [our] inward parts” and written in our hearts (verse 33)? When God’s law is written in our hearts, we desire to live the gospel with all our hearts and are truly converted to it. We obey God because we love Him, rather than for external reasons like wanting others to think we are righteous. According to verse 34, what is a result of living the gospel with all our hearts? If we keep our covenants and live the gospel with all our hearts, we will come to know God.
5. President Russel M. Nelson once said:
When we realize that we are children of the covenant, we know who we are and what God expects of us. His law is written in our hearts. He is our God and we are His people. Committed children of the covenant remain steadfast, even in the midst of adversity. …
“The greatest compliment that can be earned here in this life is to be known as a covenant keeper. The rewards for a covenant keeper will be realized both here and hereafter. (“Covenants,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 88)
Day 2
Primary
1. Read Jeremiah 36.
2. Read Jeremiah 36:1-3. Why did the Lord want Jeremiah to write down His words?
3. Look at verses 36:5-8, 20-25. Who valued the scriptures? Who did not value the scriptures?
4. Listen to the song “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission.”
Youth
1. Read Jeremiah 36.
2. What did the Lord tell Jeremiah to do in verses 1-3? Why did the Lord want Judah to hear His words?
3. Jeremiah instructed his scribe, Baruch, to write down the words of the Lord as Jeremiah dictated them and then to go to the temple and read the words to the people. Baruch did so, and news of the reading reached several princes of Judah at the royal palace. They sent for Baruch and had him read Jeremiah’s prophecies to them. When they heard these prophecies, they became afraid and informed King Jehoiakim about them. The king had the scroll brought and read to him. Read Jeremiah 36:22-23. How did the king react to these prophecies? What might the king have been trying to show by cutting up and burning Jeremiah’s prophecies? What effect would doing this have had on the fulfillment of the prophecies? After the king burned Jeremiah’s prophecies, he ordered that Jeremiah and Baruch be arrested, but the Lord helped them avoid capture.
4. Read Jeremiah 36:27-28, 32. Can destroying the words of the Lord stop them from coming to pass?
Day 3
Primary
1. Read Lamentations 1.
2. Because the Israelites had not repented, Jerusalem and the temple there had been destroyed. As the book of Lamentations poetically describes, we often feel sorrowful when we sin. These feelings can inspire us to change and ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness.
3. Listen to the “Books of the Old Testament” song. Be sure you can sing it through Lamentations!
Youth
1. Read Lamentations 1.
2. Jeremiah lamented the destruction of Jerusalem and the affliction of its people. But even in his grief, Jeremiah testified of the Lord’s compassion. Jeremiah compared the lives of the people when they were righteous to their lives when they were wicked. Jeremiah pled with the Lord to forgive the people of Judah and turn them back to Him.
3. Because the people of Judah chose to ignore the warnings of Jeremiah and other prophets and disobey their teachings, choosing wickedness instead, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. Sometime after Jerusalem was destroyed, Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations. The term lamentation refers to words that express deep sorrow or grief.
4. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that we can avoid the grief and sorrow that comes as a consequence of sin if we keep the commandments and rely upon the merits of the Savior.
The prophecies and lamentations of Jeremiah are important to Latter-day Saints. Jeremiah and the Jerusalem of his day are the backdrop to the beginning chapters in the Book of Mormon. Jeremiah was a contemporary of the prophet Lehi [see 1 Nephi 5:13; 7:14]. …
We learn valuable lessons from this tragic period. We should do everything within our power to avoid the sin and rebellion that lead to bondage [see D&C 84:49–50]. …
Bondage, subjugation, addictions, and servitude come in many forms. They can be literal physical enslavement but can also be loss or impairment of moral agency that can impede our progress. Jeremiah is clear that unrighteousness and rebellion were the main reasons for the destruction of Jerusalem and captivity in Babylon. …
Our challenge is to avoid bondage of any kind, help the Lord gather His elect, and sacrifice for the rising generation. We must always remember that we do not save ourselves. We are liberated by the love, grace, and atoning sacrifice of the Savior. … If we are true to His light, follow His commandments, and rely on His merits, we will avoid spiritual, physical, and intellectual bondage as well as the lamentation of wandering in our own wilderness, for He is mighty to save. (“Lamentations of Jeremiah: Beware of Bondage,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 88, 89, 91)
5. Listen to the “Books of the Old Testament” song. Be sure you can sing it through Lamentations!
Week 5
Day 1
Primary
1. Read Ezekiel 3.
2. Ezekiel was like a watchman, warning the Israelites of dangers they could not see. Our prophets today can give us warnings about challenges and dangers that threaten us, too!
3. There is a doctrinal mastery scripture in this chapter! Ezekiel 3:16-17:
16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
4. Listen to the “Books of the Old Testament” song. Be sure you can sing it through Ezekiel!
Youth
1. Read Ezekiel 3.
2. The Lord commanded Ezekiel to speak His words to the people. Though Ezekiel would face opposition, the Lord had strengthened Ezekiel’s resolve to teach the rebellious children of Israel. To help Ezekiel understand his mission and role as a prophet, the Lord compared him to a watchman on a tower. If we heed the warnings of prophets, we can be prepared to face challenges and dangers that threaten us. Consider
3. Watch the video “Watchman on the Tower.”
3. There is a doctrinal mastery scripture in this chapter! Ezekiel 3:16-17:
16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
4. Listen to the “Books of the Old Testament” song. Be sure you can sing it through Ezekiel!
Day 2
Primary
1. Read Ezekiel 33.
2. “If our … sins be upon us,” the captive Israelites wondered, “how should we then live?” (Ezekiel 33:10). In response, the Lord taught them important truths about repentance and forgiveness. The Lord wants to forgive, and Jesus Christ will judge us by the person we have become as the result of our thoughts and actions. Even if we have made mistakes, if we turn to the Savior and try to do better, we can be forgiven.
3. Listen to the song “I Feel My Savior’s Love.”
Youth
1. Read Ezekiel 33.
2. Jesus Christ reiterated that the role of a prophet is similar to the role of a watchman. A watchman is responsible to warn people of unforeseen danger. Ezekiel was called to preach to Israelites who had previously ignored the warnings of prophets and were now suffering the consequences of their sins while living as captives in Babylon.
3. One may erroneously assume from these verses that repentance is easy and that we can indulge in sin and then quickly turn from our sin through repentance and all will be forgotten. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
All of our personal experience confirms the fact that we must endure personal suffering in the process of repentance—and for serious transgressions, that suffering can be severe and prolonged. …
Why is it necessary for us to suffer on the way to repentance for serious transgressions? We tend to think of the results of repentance as simply cleansing us from sin. But that is an incomplete view of the matter. …
When a person has gone through the process that results in what the scriptures call a broken heart and a contrite spirit, the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He also gives him or her new strength. That strengthening is essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing, which is to return to our Heavenly Father. To be admitted to his presence, we must be more than clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a strong person with the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God. (“Sin and Suffering,” Ensign, July 1992, 73).
4. If you have sins you need to repent of, do not be discouraged. The way back is possible. Read the following statement by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.
… There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. …
… To those of you … who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there.
So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. (“The Laborers in the Vineyard,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 33)
Day 3
Primary
1. Read Ezekiel 37.
2. In Ezekiel, “the stick of Joseph” refers to the Book of Mormon, which was written by the descendants of Joseph of Egypt, and “the stick of Judah” refers to the Bible, which was written mostly by the Jews. Why do you think it is good to have both the Book of Mormon and the Bible? In Ezekiel 37:19 we read that they help to gather Israel to the savior. Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon testify of Jesus Christ, and can help us grow closer to Him.
3. There is a doctrinal mastery scripture in this chapter! (And there is a song for this one that you can listen to!) Ezekiel 37:15-17.
15 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
4. Listen to the song “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission.”
Youth
1. Read Ezekiel 37.
2. The gathering of Israel is portrayed in Ezekiel 37 through two symbols. As you read about the first one — dead bones being restored to life (see verses 1–14) — ponder what you learn about gathering Israel on both sides of the veil (see also Ezekiel 36:24–30).
3. The second symbol (see verses 15–28) involves two sticks, which many scholars interpret as wooden writing boards joined by a hinge. The stick of Judah can represent the Bible (since much of the Bible was written by Judah’s descendants), and the stick of Joseph can represent the Book of Mormon (since Lehi’s family were descendants of Joseph of Egypt). With that in mind, what do these verses teach you about the role of the scriptures in the gathering of Israel? What does 2 Nephi 3:11–13 (a prophecy about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon) add to your understanding?
4. The union of the sticks of Judah and Joseph also symbolizes the reuniting of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. The reunited house of Israel will be led by their Shepherd and King, Jehovah. The Lord promised He would renew His covenant with the house of Israel and sanctify them.
5. There is a doctrinal mastery scripture in this chapter! (And there is a song for this one that you can listen to!) Ezekiel 37:15-17.
15 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
Day 4
Primary
1. Read Ezekiel 47.
2. The water flowing from the temple in Ezekiel’s vision brought life to everything it touched. Similarly, the blessings that flow from the temple can heal us spiritually and bring us eternal life.
3. Watch the video “And the River Will Grow.”
4. Listen to the song “Families Can Be Together Forever.”
Youth
1. Read Ezekiel 47.
2. Ezekiel was brought to the door of the temple, where he saw in vision an event that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught would occur before the Savior’s Second Coming. (This vision is also a symbolic representation of the blessings that come to all who live worthy to worship in the temple.)
3. Read Ezekiel 47:9. What would the water do to everything it touched? What can Ezekiel’s vision teach us about the blessings we can experience through temple worship? The blessings of the temple heal and give life to those who keep the sacred covenants they make in the temple.
4. Read Ezekiel 47:12.Look for how Ezekiel described the trees on the banks of the river. How can the description of the trees on the banks of this river be like individuals who experience the blessings of the temple? (Those individuals can have eternal life and help nourish and heal others.) By worshipping Heavenly Father in the temple, we can experience the greatest blessings available to us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, including eternal life. As illustrated in Ezekiel’s vision, we can be healed and changed.
5. Watch the video “And the River Will Grow.”
You’re done with October! Proceed to November.
