My Foundation: Work: Take Responsibility and Persevere

Maximum Time: 20 Minutes

Ponder:

Why does Heavenly Father want me to take personal responsibility for my life?

Watch:

“Sedrick’s Journey,” available at srs.lds.org/videos. (No video? Read the script at the end of this section.)

Discuss:

How do we learn to keep going, even when the work is difficult?

Read:

Doctrine and Covenants 42:42 and the quote by President James E. Faust.

Doctrine and Covenants 42:42

“Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer.”

President James E. Faust

“Perseverance is demonstrated by those who . . . don’t give up even when others say, ‘It can’t be done.’”

“Perseverance,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2005, 51

Discuss:

Read the quote by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Why does the Lord expect us to work for what we receive?

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

“God has designed this mortal existence to require nearly constant exertion. . . . By work we sustain and enrich life. . . . Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life filled with work, sometimes repetitive, . . . sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, . . . lifts, [and] aspires.”

“Reflections on a Consecrated Life,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 17

Activity (5 minutes)

Step 1: Choose a partner and read together each step in the pattern below.

Step 2: Share a hard task or challenge that each of you currently faces.

Step 3: Help each other apply the four steps below to the difficult task or challenge.

1. Keep a Positive Attitude	2. Remember to Work Together	3. Replace Fear with Faith	4. Move Forward with Patience and Courage
List your blessings.	Ask friends, peers, group members, and others for help.	Avoid doubt. Remember that the Lord has all power. Call upon Him and accept His will.	Never, never, never give up; endure with faith. Look for lessons the Lord might be teaching you.

Step 4: Write two or three ways you can move forward with faith, trusting that God will provide.

Ponder:

Read the quote by President Thomas S. Monson. How do I react when I experience failure?

President Thomas S. Monson

“Our responsibility is to rise from mediocrity to competence, from failure to achievement. Our task is to become our best selves. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final.”

“The Will Within,” Ensign, May 1987, 68

Commit:

Commit to do the following actions during the week.

• Choose something that is hard or uncomfortable and finish the task. Write the task you will complete below.

• Share what you’ve learned today about work and perseverance with your family or friends.

Sedrick’s Journey

If you are unable to watch the video, choose a group member to read the following script.

Sedrick: My name is Sedrick Kambesabwe. I live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I’m a member of the LDS Church.

I’m a branch missionary in the village of Kipusanga. I need to prepare to go on a foreign mission. In order to go on a mission, I need a passport, which now costs 250 U.S. dollars.

To earn money, my father and I buy bananas. Some villages produce a lot of bananas: Tishabobo, Lusuku, and Kamanda.

Tishabobo is about 9 miles from here. Lusuku is 18 miles. Kamanda is 18 as well. We go there and buy bananas, and we bring them back here to sell.

To go to the villages we use a bicycle. We can take four or six bunches of bananas.

When I go by bike, it can take an hour and a half each way, if the bike is working and I have the strength. When it is midday and the heat is oppressive, I move slowly because of the heat and the sun.

I can do two trips per day if I wake up very early in the morning. It is a good way to help pay for my passport.

Now I’m earning money, little by little, so I’m saving for both school expenses and the mission. And now, after four years of work, I have enough money for my passport, plus 70 dollars earned.