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Hi Third Hour Members My name is Alec, I was baptised in 2021 and it was the single best day of my life. I have recently returned to my home ward after spending several years traveling interstate for work and recently due to health have had to cease working entirely for now. I am in a pretty tough spot to be honest, but have found considerable support and love from the Church which I am so happy and blessed to be a part of. I have spent some time reading through posts and I'm looking forward to being able to contribute now I've signed up. I value you all as members and hope to make some friends on third hour. Alec.

The point of the comparison is, "Look at the lilies. They don't even work, yet they are dressed more beautifully than any man. Don't pursue fine clothing. Let your Father take care of such things for you."

OK, I've thought of another way to phrase my answer. Had this sermon happened in our day, with the world as it is, the Lord might have said: "...they don't punch a timeclock". That is, the lilies don't work for or stress about how they're going to pay for their clothing and food. They only do the work God made them to do. I also don't think we should take this too literally - the Lord was making a point: don't stress out over the need to eat and wear clothing - God will take care of that. Focus on the work I've sent you to do. Pretty sure he wasn't intending to give a botany lesson about what sorts of work lilies do and don't do. The analogy was to convince his audience to trust God.

The way I understand the Book of Mormon version of this teaching, in 3rd Nephi 12: 25 and 28, this counsel was given only to the 12 whom He had chosen. The church today applies this teaching by providing for the physical needs of 12 so that they do not have to toil by the sweat of their brow to earn their daily bread in the same way that others do.

This strikes me as a pretty big guess -- akin to the Jews presuming The Messiah would be a military leader come to free them from Rome.

I tend to get leery about trying to adapt ancient prophecy to modern political circumstances; especially for the purpose of developing and implementing civic policy. That said: 3 Nephi 20:14-17 seems to indicate that at some point during the last days the seed of the Lehites will be in (probable military) conflict with the seed of the “Gentiles” (Europeans?) who colonized the land; and that the seed of the Lehites will prevail at least over that portion of the Gentiles who will have rejected the Gospel. *Even if* we assume that this does indeed foretell some kind of ethnic or race war within the borders of the modern USA—why on earth would we, as Latter-day Saints, take political steps to identify ourselves with the side that a) the prophecy describes as being (more) wicked, and b) the prophecy strongly implies will lose?

2 Ne 2:14 14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon. Lillies and plants cannot move they are rooted. They cannot eat. They have chlorophyll and obtain their sustenance from the sun. Mankind has been given so much more. Hands. Legs. GI tract that was designed to eat cooked food. Huge brains that are capable of solving problems. I agree with @zil2 (toil not = don’t stress out). God isn’t telling us (his disciples) nor the apostles - to act like baby birds and squawk and open our mouths to be fed. Matthew 6: 31-34 Does an excellent job of summarizing Jesus’s intent.

Another idea is that. In one way, this hearkens back to the Lord giving secondary skins, or clothing, to Adam and Eve as they left the Garden of Eden. The dominion they had been given from the foundation of the world (Genesis 1:26-28) already required that they toil as instructed (Genesis 2:15), a unique feature God’s children have over all other forms of life which act only by instinct or physical stimuli. This dominion and toil were to continue in this fallen world, but with an expanded spiritual scope requiring additional clothing provided by God, physically and spiritually. That said, while we toil in many ways, we do not toil in taking His yoke upon us (Matthew 11:28-30), and He clothes us physically and spiritually according to this new assignment at hand. See footnote b in Matthew 6:25.

JST Matthew 6:25-27 adds significant insight to Matthew 6:25-34.

I've sometime wondered whether verse 6 implies the possibility of God having a hand in shaping US immigration policy. But then, as Iaronius has pointed out, the phrase "this land" is a bit vague. I think its highly likely that there is no country in any of the American continents of which it could be said that the only people who migrate there are those who have been brought up by the hand of God.

Those verses look like they could be a chiasmus with "it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity" at the center. As such I don't see a paradox in verses 6&8 but rather one explaining the why and how of the other. Are you equating the "this land" to the USA? I've always wondered about what specifically the Lord had in mind concerning these promises in the latter-day. While all of the Americas may constitute the promised land it's clear that the USA alone has lived up to those promises. So I'm curious what your take on that is. One thing that hasn't changed is the Lord has reserved these lands for his own purposes. Now what those purposes are is a bit murky, especially in relation to our neighbors. But the Lord will do as he pleases. We have no claim on this land beyond what He wills.

I looked it up in the handbook. Chapter 31 (and some links to another chapter). If the bishop is following the handbook, he should not be telling anyone anything about your discussion unless it requires legal action or a membership council. But another adult has to be present (either in the room or outside the room, your choice).

Yeah. I felt the same. No rehearsal needed. It did make sense having Matthew recording the sermon word for word though. Wish we had more of His words.

If I might offer my own thought. Maybe the Lord was telling you and your wife that was all he 'required' of you. That is easy enough to take as 'being done.' But doing more then just what is 'required' is usually a good thing.

Who says you interpreted what He said correctly? Maybe what He said was, "You're done, for now" and in your mortal weakness you just didn't understand the "for now" part.

One of our sons (teenager) has been struggling with health-related issues for the past few months and we still cannot get a proper diagnosis. It has been exhausting for him and our entire family. Honestly, I feel quite shaky emotionally and I'm not that kind of person but it has been so overwhelming and frustrating to see our own child like this and even do we are doing everything we can, we still cannot get proper answers. I'm not sleeping well and I'm not able to do my best at work either. Having said that, I know the power of prayer, I have been fasting and praying constantly. I know the Lord doesn't abandon us when we most need him but can I please ask you to keep my family and our son in your prayers today? I believe when we unite as brothers and sisters in prayer, anything is possible. Thank you all in advance, I truly appreciate it.

A meeting house - is your church building A ward is what we call a unit of the church - the same as Anglicans have a Parish A stake is a group of wards and branchs (branches are smaller versions of a ward) that lead by a priesthood leader - I guess you could say it is our version of a dioceses (sp?) Hope that helps

I bought The Worst Thesaurus Ever yesterday. It's terrible. It's also terrible. So I bought another one, but all the pages were blank. I have no words to describe my anger. So I bought a dictionary to help me out, but someone ripped out pages at the front and back. It went from bad to worse.

My uncle once said that if you read the dictionary, you’ll know the meaning of life.

I'm a bit worried about an orthopaedic surgeon who resorts to chain saws when the power fails at the hospital.

And is that word color?