I am much to lax with my scripture study, not truly feasting upon them every day, sometimes not even snacking. Again, with diligent Sabbath observance once a week, taking joy in the Sabbath…regarding it as a delight, I am more reminded the rest of the time of what I am missing by not feasting daily upon the word. This would lead me to be more likely to make time for essential spiritual activities such as scripture study, meaningful prayer, temple worship, etc, and not just doing these things as a matter of habit, but with meaningful participation.

I have been thinking a lot about what it means to “do all that [I do] in the name of the Son” and I have concluded that, at least in part, it means that I should seek to live a consecrated life in all aspects of my life. I’m not talking about a silly, debilitating sort of attitude that necessitates having to stop and pray over every little decision and thus seek to have God compel me to do everything I do ( I think that we have all heard this discussion come up at one point or another in relation to the injunction to pray always. Rather, I am envisioning a state of being where I live life with a purpose, His purpose, of going about doing good, and seeking to always be open to the nudges and direction of the spirit (“having [my] heart full and drawn out in prayer”?).

I believe that Heavenly Father may really care what we do for our profession, where we live, etc, because there may be unique opportunities for us to serve others with our talents and abilities and certain means that he intends to serve and instruct us and perhaps even trials that he intends for us to pass through, all of which may not occur in a different situation.

Again, I am not suggesting the need for definite guidance to the point of debilitation. I am merely suggesting that perhaps our lives need not (perhaps should not) be so compartmentalized as we sometimes regard them. We need not separate church and state in our lives and minds! Then, we are more like the great disciples that we know and admire (ex., Henry Eyring who spoke in a scientific setting, and afterwards was surprised as his son told him, “Dad, you bore your testimony!”) I’ve noted that this mental non-segregation of the spiritual and secular seems to be common to all who I have held as great examples of missionary work. It’s just a part of who they are and they choose not to filter their words or actions out of a sense of ‘political correctness’.

Perhaps this is an oversimplification, but these are a few thoughts that I have had on the matter.

Kirkcaudle: I apologize for steering your lesson notes off track and onto my personal tangent from the get-go. I was just curious what others might know. :)

For example, I agree that taking the sacrament is part of a process of repentance. Therefore, what if every week when you went to church you actually confessed your faults to another person? Maybe you are mad at your Bishop, or you gossiped about someone and need to stay that you are sorry, etc.

I think taking the sacrament every week is how we confess our sins to Christ. Acknowledging our sins to one another is how we prepare to take that sacrament.

Maybe…

Interestingly, it appears from New Testament times Christians meet in groups on Sunday, “on the first day of the week we came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7). However, it is unclear if those early Christians viewed Sunday at the “sabbath” or just a meeting day.

This might seem strange at first, but even in LDS history members have meet on non-sabbath days. For many years PH meetings were held during week days.

So why do Mormons have a Sunday and not a Saturday Sabbath? I think that Mormons would agree with Dr. Adam Clark, in his Commentary on Revelation 1: 10, “The Lord’s day” the first day of the week, observed as the Christian Sabbath, because on it Jesus Christ rose from the dead: therefore it was called the Lords day; and has taken place of the Jewish Sabbath, throughout the Christian world.

This are just some scattered random thoughts and so I’m not sure if any of this helps or not.