The Worth of a Soul

Hello sisters,
Even though this is a Relief Society blog, I want to begin with a quote from our stake president, Pres. Gibson, who spoke in Sacrament meeting. It kind of reminds me of a line from the Disney version of Bambi when Thumper says, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  Pres. Gibson admonished us to think before speaking (always a good idea) and ask ourselves:
1. Is it true?
2. Is it kind?
3. Is it helpful?
Can you imagine how peaceful this world would be if we all acted upon these guidelines?
Our joint meeting with the priesthood for ward conference was taught my Pres. Kurtz. He began his comments with a scripture from DC 18:10-1 1"10 Remember the ^aworth of ^bsouls is great in the sight of God;

 11 For, behold, the Lord your ^aRedeemer suffered ^bdeath in the flesh; wherefore he ^csuffered the ^dpain of all men, that all men might repent and ^ecome unto him."

Consider the worth of our souls! In Primary we are taught we are children of a heavenly Father, a child of God. He loves us as we love our children and desires the best for us.  Christ said that this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the eternal life of man(kind). This comment should give you and idea how important our souls are. He died for us, individually. He lived a life apart from the norm and then went about His father's work. He was not one of THE  popular folks in the village. He suffered for us in the garden of Gethsemane, experiencing all that pain of all our sins. That is something I don't think we can even begin to imagine. He asked the Father to remove the cup but deferred to the Father's will. What an amazing example that act is!

When we enter that waters of baptism, we make commitments to our Father and brother Jesus Christ. In Moroni 6: 4-6 we read about the things we promise to do upon entering His church. "4 And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and ^acleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the ^bchurch of Christ; and their ^cnames were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually ^dwatchful unto prayer, ^erelying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

 5 And the ^achurch did meet together ^boft, to ^cfast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.

 6 And they did ^ameet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in ^bremembrance of the Lord Jesus." There is a list here of things we should be doing: number among His, nourish others and self, be watchful in prayer, that we have become cleansed and that we can take the Sacrament to remember Him. Is this action list our responsibility? If we say yes and enter the waters of baptism, this is what we say we will work on.

In Mosiah 18:8-10 " And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are ^adesirous to come into the ^bfold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

 9 Yea, and are ^awilling to mourn with those that ^bmourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as ^cwitnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the ^dfirst resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

 10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being ^abaptized in the ^bname of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a ^ccovenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?"  The Book of Mormon version tells us again and adds a bit more to our list of things we can do to become more Christ-like. Some things will feel natural and easy, but I am fairly certain that there will be something in the list we can choose for improving. If we are willing, we will be blessed.

When we take the Sacrament, we listen to the prayer and hear the phrase about having his spirit to be with us. IF we will adhere to the promises we make upon baptism, as listed above, we WILL have his spirit.

Our prophet Pres. Monson gave a talk to the priesthood brethren and told a story about a shepherd and a sheep herder. There was a definite difference. The shepherd lead his fold and knew them and protected them. He helped them in need and had joy in service.

When we strive to pattern our lives after the Savior's and take upon us His name, we are immediately hit with opposition. "I think I will- -  - -- -  oh, she wouldn't want to hear from me/I don't have time etc. "
 2Nephi 2:11 " 11 For it must needs be, that there is an ^aopposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility."
There is a purpose in opposition as stated here. We grow!
The Lord loves all 90+9 lambs of his fold and does rejoice in the one lost that is now found. You might not think He waits for you, but He does. Being lost doesn't have a particular amount of time to qualify; if we turn away even for a bit, He rejoices when we turn back to Him.
What is the worth of a soul? If you are still not certain, I challenge you to study and discover for yourself how great your worth. You are unique; there is not another identical.
Your friendly bloggess,
Janice