Student Choice Activity 1: Section 3

Section 3 of the Doctrine and Covenants holds a lot of great things that our loving Heavenly Father wanted Joseph Smith to learn from his mistake of losing the 116 pages that can also apply to each of us in our daily lives. Previous to him writing this chapter Joseph Smith had given the 116 pages to his friend and supporter Martin Harris who in return broke the promise he made to both the Lord and Joseph Smith and so the 116 pages were stolen. While reading this chapter over again I really tried to put myself in Joseph's shoes and then be able to apply the lessons to my own life.

#1 "if he boars in his own strength, and sets naught the counsels of of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall" (verse 4) This really hit home to me in that we each must be willing to give up our free will and give that to the Lord and do as he asks. Often times I have found that it is tempting to be selfish and do what we think is best instead of what we have been counseled by the Lord to do. I know though that great blessings come as we give our will over to the Lord and do as he asks us to do in both the big and the little things.

#2 How vital it is to repent of our sins. Our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us so much that he sent his son to this earth to atone for all the sins that we commit in this life. The only way that we can use this great power though is through the repentance process. Something that I really applied to my own life from this is the great importance of daily repentance. 

#3 "you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; he would have been with you in every time of trouble." (verse 8) Faith is something huge to me that I have been working on a lot lately and finding the peace in knowing that the Lord will support us in all the things we do, we just have to have faith in him and the plan that he has for each of us. Recently I was in a large ATV with my 18 year old brother and I fractured 4 bones in my face and my brother broke his femur. Since this occured 4 weeks ago today there have been many trials that my family has faced including: 6 surgeries between my brother and I, reinfection of my brothers leg twice, having to take my brother out of his first year of college and my brother being in the hospital for over 2 weeks now, to just name a few. The faith of my family through this trial never ceases to amaze me in that each of us know that the Lord is never far away and is blessing each of our lives through this trial. Faith is vital to each of our lives to know that we must trust in the Lord no matter what happens in our lives, even when it seems hard and unbearable.


#4 How important it is is to serve the Lord in all that we do. It could be in something small like smiling at someone in passing, or something big like following a prompting from the Lord to do something specific that he asks. No matter what it is that we feel inspired to do, it is vital that we find ways to serve the Lord in whatever capacity we can. "When you are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." Make an effort every day to find some way to serve someone else every day. It does not have to be a big thing but it could really make the difference in both your life and the person whom you are serving.


#5 Heavenly Father is a merciful and loving God. No matter what we have done in our lives he loves us enough to help us to fix what we have done so that we can become better people. He wants to give us every chance possible to follow his commandments and return and live with him again.


I really loved this lesson and being able to share it on the internet for others to see and look at. I know that this church is true with all my heart and I cannot wait to continue to learn more about the early church through this class and the study of the Doctrine and Covenants! :)