Rochelle's lesson--Freedom of Choice, an Eternal Principle--Chapeter 3

I was out of town last week and felt so bad to miss Rochelle's lesson.  They are always so inspiring and uplifting!!  I really hate to miss.  I just want to share a story that was told during her lesson.

Taken our of a talk given in the last General Conference By D. Todd Christofferson--The story is told of a man who simply would not work.  He wanted to be taken care of in every need.  To his way of thinking, the Church or the government, or both, owed him a living because he had paid his taxes and his tithing.  He had nothing to eat but refused to work to care for himself.  Out of desperation and disgust, those who had tried to help him decided that since he would not lift a finger to sustain himself, they might as well just take him to the cemetery and let him pass on.  On the way to the cemetery, one man said, "We can't do this.  I have some corn I will give him."  SO they explained this to the man, and he asked, "Have the husks been removed?"  They responded--No.  "Well then," he said, "drive on!!"

We are agents unto ourselves, and the Lord expects us to do good things of our own free will.  Sometimes the Lord hopefully waits on his children to act on their own, and when they do not, they lost the greater prize, and the Lord will either drop the entire matter and let them suffer the consequences or else he will have to spell it out in greater detail.  Usually, I fear, the more he has to spell it out, the smaller is our reward.  "We should be "Anxiously engaged" in good causes and leave the world a better place for having lived in it.

At a young age, Ezra learned that he and his family would have more to eat if they chose to take care of their garden.  He learned that if he wanted the family to be successful in their dairy business, he had to decide to get out of bed early every day to milk the cows.  He saw that when he made the choice to work hard, local farmers hired him to thin their beets and pitch their hay.  He saw that trials come even to the faithful, but he also saw that individuals and families could decide to respond to trials in a way that would help them be happy and successful."

For young Ezra, some consequences of good decisions could be measured in buckets of milk, on trucks loaded with hay, and with generous pay for a day of hard work.  Others were harder to measure but more lasting.  For example, as he observed his parents, he saw the joy, peace, and strength that come when family members choose to be faithful to one another and the Lord.  He learned that the law of the harvest---"whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap"--applies to spiritual pursuits as well as physical labor."  With this experience as a foundation, President Benson frequently reminded Latter-day Saints and others of the importance of agency--the freedom to choose the course they should follow.

This life is a probation: a probation in which you and I prove our mettle, a probation that has eternal consequences for each of us.  And now is our time and season---as every generation has had their--to learn our duties and to do them.  We use our agency to make decisions that determine out happiness now and throughout eternity!!

Wow--that's quite a statement.  Makes you really stop and think about the choices we make each day.  

Great lesson--Thanks again to Rochelle.  We have the best teachers ever!!