Hello, friends, and welcome back to Primarily Scripture. I'm your host, Cindy Young, and I am so pleased that you're here with me today. Some of you may be finding this channel for the first time, so I want to explain a little bit about what I do. I am trying to encourage you to study primarily, mostly, firstly, scripture, but also it's not as hard as you think it is to dive into the scriptures. As a matter of fact, it's so easy that a primary kid can do it. So that's where the name comes from. I make free worksheets every week and it's multiple pages, there's a journal page, as well as some other study pages. There is direct scripture on these worksheets to help you to learn the language of the scriptures, and I give you prompts how to dive in a little bit, but I don't want you to rely solely on the worksheets. I want you to transfer it to your scriptures. So anytime you're marking or looking at these things, please go open up your scriptures and put your markings in your notes. directly in your personal scriptures. And for that reason, I highly recommend using paper scriptures. Now, digital scriptures are fantastic and I use them all the time, but I really love being able to go back and flip through and see my notes and my markings. And I've had many prayers answered that way. So I encourage you to use your paper scriptures. We are in , week two of studying the Doctrine and Covenants, and for this week, the reading is section one. It is really short, it's the equivalent of one chapter, but in Doctrine and Covenants they're not called chapters, they're called sections. There are multiple study prompts on the worksheets and each one of those could easily be turned into a 10 minute video or lesson. I don't want to take all that time, but I do want to point out on the second worksheet, I'll show you what it looks like right here. On this page, there are scriptures right in the middle and then things along the margins to help you think about and ponder those verses. And so what I really want to encourage you to do today is to get out your pencil or pen. I like to use colored pencils and colored pens as I study to mark. And then as I'm reading, I will make notes and marks and write right in my margins of my scriptures. Some of the things that I did this week as I studied, I put into this worksheet so that you can do it too. Now the purpose isn't so that you can mark your scriptures the exact same way that I do mine. What I want is for you to learn some of the tools so that then you can study the scriptures in your own way and to find answers in the scriptures. It's time for each of us to become just a little bit more spiritually self reliant, which means you need to know how the Holy Ghost speaks to you, and you need to know how to find answers in the scriptures. By doing these exercises, it gives you tools you can then use as you study on your own. So let's look at this worksheet. The first page of study has three columns, but we're going to the second page that has all the little, notes and bubbles in the margins on the side. Let's read this first verse and look at what the notes are in the margin that will help you. This is the very first verse of the whole Doctrine and Covenants. So the first thing the Lord is telling us is what?" Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high." The voice of him who dwells on high? That's a fancy way of saying the Lord. This is what the Lord says. Now, notice there's a little line to the margin. Let's read those first two notes. First it says, cross out, O ye people of my church, and write your own name. Do you belong to the church? I do. And so I feel like this is totally relevant to me. The Lord is talking to me. I'm gonna write my name in right there. Now it says, Hearken, Cindy, saith the voice of him who dwells on high. You can apply the scriptures to yourself, and you should always be looking for ways where you can put your own name in the scriptures, and see if it's a message for you from the Lord. And I would tell you that, yes, the Lord is telling everybody in the whole world, hearken, listen, And hearken, actually, look at the second sticky note in this margin. It says, circle the first word of verse one. That is hearken, like we just said. What does this look like in your own life? First, you need to be sure you know what hearken means. Hearken means to listen and obey. To do what the Lord says. Okay, so what does that look like? How would you hearken? Now, like, Abraham, he hearkened to the Lord by taking Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him. And he ended up not having to do that, but he was hearkening, listening, and obeying. You're not going to be asked to do what Abraham did. What does hearken look like in your own life? Take some time to think, and then write down one or two things. You can write two words, or you can write a whole paragraph. Whatever you want. If you run out of room on this page, then turn to the third page in the worksheet packet. This is a journal page for you to write your thoughts down. Okay, for me, when I think of hearkening to the Lord, I think, oh, maybe I need to read my scriptures a little more. Maybe I need to be better at doing my calling because I have a calling in the church. Your answers will be specific to your life. You might have the prompting, I need to be nicer to my brother. I would never have that prompting because I don't have any brothers. But, when I was a kid and I was praying about what to do, the Lord would tell me to be nicer to my sisters and that was hard sometimes, but I tried. So what is the Lord wanting you to do? Pause and think and write down some thoughts. Now, when you do it this way, your scripture study is going to take much longer than just reading the words. And that's okay. If you don't read every verse today, don't worry about it. The important thing is that you studied the scriptures. And that's why having a pen in your hand, is a really big deal when I study because I'm showing the Lord that I'm ready to receive an answer. And it's important enough to me that I'm going to write down what the spirit whispers to my heart. So I encourage you to try it. There are lots more study prompts on this page, but I want you to do them yourselves. Let's skip down to the very bottom of this page to verse 38. There's a phrase here that's underlined in purple, and so I've got my purple pen."Though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled." What does that mean? So many things change in the world, don't they? The way people talk changes, right? The older generation today sometimes has a hard time understanding what the younger generation is saying because the way that they speak has changed so much. So, "though the heavens and the earth pass away," though everything else changes, "my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled." You know what this teaches me? This teaches me that God keeps his promises. I love that so much and so I'm gonna write that in the margin. God keeps his promises. Okay, let's keep going. The next part is highlighted in green, so I'm going to grab my green colored pencil. Whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. What does that mean? Do you know who are the servants of the Lord? Now, we all are trying to be servants of the Lord, but this is specifically talking about the people who have been called and set apart to lead this church, particularly the prophets and the apostles. So "whether by my own voice," the Lord himself, "or the voice of [his] servants," what is said in general conference and from those leaders, "it is the same." The same! Did you realize that? That means that when you hear something in general conference, you can trust it just as much as you trust the Lord. Wow, that is amazing doctrine! There's a little spot here for you to write your thoughts. What would you write there? This is important doctrine, and it's so important that if you turn back to the first page of the worksheet, there's a memorization challenge here. I would challenge you to memorize the At least that last part, whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. This is important doctrine to our church. We are led by a prophet and apostles and they speak for the Lord and they lead his church. I am so grateful for that knowledge. And it's right here in the scriptures. It's not just something that somebody made up. It is from the Lord in the scriptures. So, we could talk for an hour or two, but I want you to do it yourself, because no matter what I find in the scriptures, it doesn't help you nearly as much as you finding it yourself. So follow the study guide, open up the Come Follow Me manual, and answer the questions in there. There are so many great resources for you that will help you to study, but it doesn't work if you don't open up your scriptures and actually do the studying on your own. No matter what other ways you study the gospel, podcasts and videos and storybooks and "The Friend" has stories in it. Those are all wonderful and they can invite the spirit into your heart. But the best way to study the gospel is to study primarily, which means mostly, most importantly, scripture. So go open your scriptures this week and don't forget to journal as you study. Use that pen or pencil and write down your thoughts. You'll be so amazed at how much the Lord has to share with you. I will see you guys next time. Have a great week. Bye bye. Thanks for tuning in to Primarily Scripture with Cindy Young. Don't forget you can subscribe to the newsletter and download free worksheets on the website PrimarilyScripture. com. And if you like the channel, be sure to subscribe, like, share, and leave a review. See you next time!