Priesthood Quorums

PRIESTHOOD QUORUMS All Melchizedek Priesthood material is prepared under the direction of the Council of the Twelve; and all Aaronic Priesthood material is prepared under the direction of the Presiding Bishopric. Suggestions for Guidance rT~,HIS is a continuation of the ■*• suggestions which began in the October number of the Era, for the guidance of Priesthood quorums, or groups. Week of January 5, 1930. 1. Prayer. 2. Roll Call. (Each member should receive credit for attendance at meet- ings and for service rendered during the past week.) 3. Reports of Committees. a. Special. (Call for specific reports from (1) committee ap- pointed at a previous meet- ing to visit quorum mem- bers, (2) committee on so- cial, (3) committee on in- dividuals assigned to ward teaching, etc., etc. b. Standing. (Receive report from one of the four standing commit- tees; viz., Personal Welfare, Class Instruction, Church Service, Miscellaneous. Re- port should be in writing and signed by members of committee. 4. Assignments. 5. Consideration of Principles of Conduct. Topic: The Present. "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." — Proverbs. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the Voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in misery." — Shakespeare. "Now is the time to act, Now is the time to fight, Now is the time to make myself a better man. If today you are not ready, Will you be tomorrow?" — -Thomas A. Kempis in "The Imita- tion of Christ." 1. Thrift of time. a. More important than thrift of money. "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." — Psalms, 90:12. "Make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days." — Psalms, 39:4. "Enjoy the blessings of this day if God send them, and the evils, of it bear patiently and sweetly; for this day is only ours; we are dead to yesterday, and we are not born to the morrow. He, there- fore, that enjoys the present, if it be good, enjoys as much as is possible, and if only that day's trouble leans upon him, it is singular and infinite." — Jeremy Taylor. 2. Relation of today to eternity. What we shall do tomorrow will be largely determined by what we think and do today. Our position in the next world will be determined by what we do in this. It is everyone's duty to fit himself for the purest, holiest spheres. a. How this may be done. (Specify.) Week of January 1 2 1 . Prayer. 2. Roll Call. (Each member should receive credit for attendance at meet- ings and for service rendered during the past week.) 3. Reports of committees. a. Special. (Call for specific reports from (1) committee ap- pointed at a previous meet- ing to visit quorum mem- bers, (2) committee on so- cial, (3) committee or in- dividuals assigned to ward teaching, etc., etc. b. Standing. (Receive report from one of the four standing commit- tees; viz., Personal Welfare, Class Instruction, Church Service, Miscellaneous. Re- port should be in writing and signed by members of committee. 4. Assignments. 5. Consideration of Principles of Conduct. Topic: Practical Christianity. 1. True Christianity. a. Love in action. b. Manifestation of unselfish love for one's fellowman. 2. The Church a means of service. a. Church has helped you. (Specify.) b. You help Church. 1. By being a worthy rep- resentative. 2. By participating in or- ganized service. 3. By responding to ap- pointments. 4. By paying tithes and of- ferings. The following story is told of Stonewall Jackson: "A decisive battle had been fought. The telegraph lines were down and the news was slow in reaching some of those most interested. At length a letter from one of the generals came to his home town. His handwriting was recognized, and there was a general impatience to have the letter opened. The general's pastor, to whom it was addressed, broke the seal, and read the following message: 'I remember that this is the day for the collection for foreign missions. Please find enclosed my check.' Then came the signature of the hero of the battle and that was all." "Emerson was liberal in religious thought and opinion, but he believed in the necessity of organized Christianity. This was shown when a young woman working in his household, in answer to his inquiry whether she had been to the church, said brusquely, 'No, she didn't trouble the church much.' He said quietly, 'Then you have somewhere a little chapel of your own,' a courteous assumption which perhaps set her thinking." 3. Your church, Christ's church, a. He then, is your ideal. The perfect man — the noblest character — the finest type of manhood. Let your own heart answer this

The Improvement Era for December, 1929 139 vital question propounded by Hall Caine: "Is Jesus only a legendary figure in history, a saint to be painted in the stained-glass of church windows, a sort of sacred fairy not to be approached and hardly to be mentioned by name? Or is he still what he was when he was in the flesh, a reality, a man of like passions with ourselves, an elder brother, a guide, a counselor, a comforter, a great voice calling to us out of the past to live nobly, to die bravely, and keep up our courage to the last?" "Behold the Man." "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" And behold there comes forth the author of all good things, and the one who makes all things work to- gether for good. He walks like a man. He talks like a God. His words are oracles. His acts, miracles. The crown of divinity rests upon his brow. The scepter of universal dominion clings to his hand. Two eternities flash in his eyes. Eternal rectitude is written upon his face. The great tides and under- currents of divine sympathy are heard in the soul — cadences of his voice. The smile of Jehovah transfigures his counte- nance. He is the express image of the Father. Children cluster at his knee. Womanhood instinctively places the crown of purity upon his white brow. The enthusiasm of youth forsakes all and follows him. Culture whispers in well- chosen words: 'We know that thou art a teacher come from God.' Empire flings the scepter of its prerogative at his feet and exclaims, 'Speak the word only.' Winds obey. Seething seas passionately fling their dripping arms about him, and hearing his voice saying, 'Peace be still,' im- petuously dash a wealth in liquid dia- monds into his lap. and, sinking to rest, serenely sleep. One glance from his eye and crystal waters blush to amber wine. The dead forget themselves and live. The lame leap for joy. Ears that never heard thirst for the sound of his voice. Sight- less eyes deny their past, and open their drooping lids to the beauty of his pres- ence. Pain palsied at his touch vanishes. Disease, dreading the dictates of eternal health, speedily departs. The human soul, touched, thrilled, and swayed, exclaims, 'Never man spake like this man'." "When Mr. Landon (Eli Perkins) was preparing bis volume on 'Kings of the Platform and Pulpit,' he wrote to Col. Robert G. Ingersoll for a copy of his most famous lecture. In the letter which accompanied the manuscript Mr. Ingersoll said, 'Whatever you do, don't put any- thing into the book against Christ. I may have said silly things about him when a boy in Peoria, 111., but I now re- gard him as the one perfect man.' Jesus is the one universal man. Moses was a Hebrew, Socrates an Athenian, Buddha a Hindu, Mohammed an Arab, Gladstone an Englishman, Luther a German and Lin- coln an American, but Jesus belongs to us all. He is the universal man — the one perfect character." Week of January 19. 1 . Prayer. 2. Roll Call. (Each member should receive credit for attendance at meet- ings and for service rendered during the past week.) 3. Reports of committees. a. Special. (Call for specific reports from (1) committee ap- pointed at a previous meet- ing to visit quorum mem- bers, (2) committee on so- cial, (3) committee or in- dividuals assigned to ward teaching, etc., etc. b. Standing. (Receive report from one of the four standing commit- tees; viz., Personal Welfare, Class Instruction, Church Service, Miscellaneous. Re- port should be in writing and signed by members of committee. 4. Assignments. 5. Consideration of Principles of Conduct. Topic: Doing Things Well. Significance of "How Do You Do?" 1. An often repeated salutation. a. Common significance — "I bid you good morning" — "Good day" — "Good even- ing"— and so on, or more specifically: "How are you?" b. A deeper significance. 1. How do you do what you do? 2. Responsibility of doing some- thing. a. Idlers displeasing to God. — Doc. and Cov. 68:30. b. Idlers no place in Church — Doc. and Cov. 76:29. "Labor Men and Lazy Men." "Nothing will 'take place' for the man who is not willing to take pains. He who trusts always to luck trusts only to lose. Hard work is the only cure for hard times. For everything that moves there must be something which moves not. Every stir needs a stay. The throb- bing dynamo must rest on a foundation which can not be made to throb. No lightning express unless there be a tight- ening of the rails which afford a narrow pathway. Every liberty has of a necessity a limitation. For everything seen there must be an adequate unseen; for every fruit a deep fixed root. The thing which you are afraid to do will do the most for you if you move forward and to it. The young man who is looking for a soft spot will find it at that point where his brains ought to be. The street called Aimless leads to the town of Brainless. The street called Vagueness leads to the city of Vacuity. You may yearn for success, but you can't yawn yourself into success. The man who proposes to live by his wits usually lives by his wicked- ness. Find the man who goes about with his hands in his pockets and by and by you will find those hands in somebody else's pockets. A bracing atmosphere pro- duces vigorous men. The weak and sickly seek the sunny slope. Those born in the lap of luxury may need the rap of poverty before they do anything which will honor ancestry or enrich posterity." "Get something done. Make a begin- ning. Blow the whistle, start your train. Move things! Are you ever going to read that book — begin now.- Do you propose to take a course in bookkeeping? Send in your application tonight. Do you expect to master a period in English his- tory— up and at it. Make a beginning. Don't be forever dreaming. Turn your night-dreams into day-dreams and your day-dreams into facts and events. Reflect and act. 'My friends, get something done!' Phillips Brooks would say, 'Get something done! Do not go on forever in idle skirmishing with the same foe. Realize, as you sit here, who your chief enemy is, what vice of mind or body, what false or foul habit. Cry out to God for strength. Set your face resolutely to a new life in which that vice shall have no part.' " 3. Value of doing your best. "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well." "Blessed is the man who has found his work; let him ask no other blessed- ness. Know thy work and do it; and work at it like Hercules. One monster there is in the world, the idle man." — Carlyle. "Labor is life: from the inmost heart of the worker rises his God-given force, the sacred celestial life — essence breathed into him by Almighty God!" — Ibid. Application : How can each improve his quorum work? How can ward teaching be made more effective? To what specific labor in the Church has each been assigned? Let self-examina- tion determine whether the labor is done whole-heartedly and well, or slothfully and slovenly. Week of January 26 Open. Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let vir- tue garnish thy thoughts unceas- ingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant com- panion.— Doctrine and Covenants 121:45, 46.

140 The Improvement Era for December, 1929 Know Yourself BY the time this issue of the Improvement Era reaches its readers, the holiday sea- son will be upon us bringing with it the spirit of "Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men." What a wonderful thing it is that through custom the whole world can come together at this time with a common thought, breathing the spirit of good will in the joy of this atmosphere! With the past weighing heavily upon us, we should see visions of the future so stimulating as to call forth a de- sire to overcome our faults and to labor diligently for our own and the salvation of others, guided by the spirit of love. And so the New Year is ushered in. For some the road is a difficult one, but goaded on by a soul de- termined and unafraid, with the spirit of our Redeemer as the guid- ing star, success attends them on every hand, while those of less de- termination, those who place their trust in the arm of flesh, find themselves floundering in darkness, the light being shut out by the spirit of selfishness. A T the beginning of a new year, '**■ wise business men take an in- ventory of their stock in trade, for only by so doing may they deter- mine accurately their growth or losses. A careful study of this rec- ord will reveal the strength and weakness of their operations. Based upon this showing, their plans for future operations are made. And so the old year passes out with the spirit of good will, and the new year is ushered in as a time of reck- oning. If such methods are good for business, why not for the in- dividual. Is it not a good thing for me to take stock and carefully and honestly prepare an inventory, so that during this period of good will and reckoning I, also, may profitably ask myself, "What has my Church membership meant to me? What effect has my example had upon others? How have I magnified my Priesthood? What has been my contribution toward the growth and spiritual develop- ment of the community in which I live? How may I improve my spiritual condition? How can I render a greater service to my fel- low-man— by example, through attendance at meetings, by helping to enlarge the usefulness of my quorum organization, bys going out of my way to visit my brother who is discouraged, careless and neglectful of duty, and in the spirit of brotherly love encourage him, that he may have strength to ne- gotiate the difficult road upon which he is traveling, that he too may safely come upon the road of light and truth and happiness? TS it not a fitting time for us to A give of our time, especially to encouraging young men, for they need encouragement, not only by example, but through personal contact in the spirit of love and helpfulness? Their quorum work for the coming year should not only prove interesting but exceed- ingly profitable as well. Help them to enter upon the work of the new year, which is the centen- nial year, with one hundred per- cent active. Blessed are the Pure in Heart By MRS. ROSANNAH C. IRVINE WHEN the historian of the fu- ture records the story of civilization, he will probably desig- nate this century as the Golden Age of Scientific Discovery. The inventions of the last twenty-five years are all startling. The radio is amazing. By turning a dial one is able to take out of the air a voice from London, a symphony from Berlin, a song from New York. One is brought to a forci- ble realization of the possibilities of future research. To the spiritually minded it conveys a most awe-in- spiring and miraculous solace. They seem suddenly to have been brought into direct contact with their Creator. Resounding through the ages are the words of our blessed Redeem- er. Although we cannot yet hear them with our ears, in the hearts of the righteous they ring as true as when he sat upon the Mount: "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Scientists, who are working to perfect their knowledge of this marvelous dis- covery, have gone so far as to express the belief that sound never dies. If this be true, it is quite pos- sible that' many of us who are living today may hear the utter- ances of our Master, may be able to listen in fervent exaltation to the tones of his voice, and hear the very words as they fell from his lips. If sound never dies, this is un- doubtedly true of thought. We know that Jesus understood far better than we, that every deed, good or bad, has its origin in thought. It is said, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Actions and words have a wonder- ful effect on the lives of others. How much more potent for good or evil are the possibilities of thought transmission? Purity of heart means right thinking, and consequently right acting. It means cleanness. It means righteousness. The pure in heart are indeed blessed. They are blessed by the very condition itself, but above and beyond all is the enthralling promise, "for they shall see God!" They shall see him because they shall be like him. Only those who are pure are like him, and only those who are like him can come into his presence. Besides the self-benefit of purity of • heart is the universal benefit to mankind. One cannot be good without radiating goodness. We have accepted the knowl- edge that the air is filled with mil- lions of vocal messages. We may in time be able to discriminate and choose that which we prefer with- out the aid of a station. If there are thoughts vibrating in the air, good and evil, wise and foolish, influencing us to a greater or less degree according to our different temperaments, is it not possible that in time we may receive them as we now receive sound? If we accept this idea, and who shall doubt it? we are forced to accept the amazing conception of the pos- sible effect of our thoughts on the untold millions of souls who have passed on, who are in existence to- day, and who are yet to come into the world. Sensing this, we must realize the importance of accept- ing this heavenly exhortation and its beneficent promise, the great- est promise that was ever made to mankind, "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."