Thoughts on Week 2

This week has been a bit more stressful. But, as usual, anticipation is usually worse than the actual event. I was pretty concerned about the "small group discussion"--mostly the logistics of putting it together, especially when Adobe Connect wasn't very cooperative at first. But, I chose to focus on the week's reading assignments and getting into the doctrine and sure enough, within a day or so, everything was falling into place. It took till Friday for our group to get together, and only two of us actually showed up; but we had a delightful chat and worked out some nice thoughts on the Sacrament, and the absolute importance of partaking worthily.

I enjoy the initial reading of the week's assignment. I'm glad we're expected to pull out doctrinal discoveries. It fascinates me that each of us in the class reads the same passages and then we each seem to come up with different points, or sometimes the same points, but from different perspectives. Then, I learn so much more as I get into the particular subjects found in the Student Choice assignments. Sometimes, at first glance, I'll think that I'm going to choose a particular assignment, then as I read further down the list, another choice jumps out at me. We currently have two adult daughters living at home . That makes for lively discussions of the subjects that I'm supposed to teach others. Both are BYU-I graduates. This time, I brought Frank in on a teaching discussion. That was fun as we often don't slow down for a doctrinal conversation--just the two of us.

I particularly appreciated the time taken to research and then share with my group on Small Group meeting board. It turned out there were only two of us. Thea was the other participant. She is preparing her papers for a mission. We compared notes and found much in common, and some points that we were able to give each other insights on.

The final assignment, which concluded with reading Gal 2:16-21 was really good for me. I presented the thoughts to Bekah this morning--the meaning, first of all of Justification. We agreed that it's one of those concepts that is talked about from time to time, but sometimes its hard to wrap words around the actual meaning. I think it helped to put it into the context of "how valuable is it to me, and what to I plan to do to be justified". That took some arranging and rearranging of my thoughts. One main thought that came to me is that I will trust in the Savior's ability to do what He says He can do, and keep my heart open to the whisperings that come everyday, if I'm receptive and aware. I get a bit independent minded, and I guess I need to calm down and let the Lord show me how to proceed in my calling, as a wife and mother, as a grandmother, and as a teacher of young and teenaged kids.