My Foundation: Become One, Serve Together

Maximum Time: 20 Minutes

Ponder:

How does losing myself in the service of others actually save me?

Watch:

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

Discuss:

How can serving others open the windows of heaven in your life?

Read:

Some people feel that they deserve what others have, which can cause resentment. Others feel entitled to things they have not earned. These two traps blind people from seeing an essential truth: all things belong to God. Resentment and entitlement are overcome by focusing on the needs of others. Read Mosiah 2:17, Mosiah 4:26, and the quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Mosiah 2:17

“When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”

Mosiah 4:26

“And now, for the sake of . . . retaining a remission of your sins from day to day . . . I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley

“When you are united, your power is limitless. You can accomplish anything you want to accomplish.”

“Your Greatest Challenge, Mother,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 97

Activity (10 minutes)

My Family cover

The purpose of this activity is to plan a service project that you will complete this week as a group.

Step 1: As a group, think of someone who needs help.

Step 2: Discuss the talents, contacts, and resources you have to offer.

Step 3: Make a plan to serve that person. For example, you could:

• Perform a service project in your community.

• Prepare your family history using the booklet My Family: Stories That Bring Us Together. Then go to the temple and perform sacred ordinances for family members who have died.

• Help someone on his or her path to self-reliance.

Read:

Read the quotes by Elder Robert D. Hales and President Thomas S. Monson.

Elder Robert D. Hales

“The purpose of both temporal and spiritual self-reliance is to get ourselves on higher ground so that we can lift others in need.”

“Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 36

President Thomas S. Monson

“When we work together cooperatively . . . , we can accomplish anything. When we do so, we eliminate the weakness of one person standing alone and substitute the strength of many serving together.”

“Church Leaders Speak Out on Gospel Values,” Ensign, May 1999, 118

Commit:

Commit to do the following actions during the week.

• Act on the plan your group made to serve someone.

• Share what you’ve learned today about service with your family or friends.

In the Lord’s Way

If you are unable to watch the video, choose two group members to read the following script.

In the Lord’s Way

President Henry B. Eyring: The principles at the foundation of the Church welfare program are not for only one time or one place. They are for all times and all places. . . .

. . . The way it is to be done is clear. Those who have accumulated more are to humble themselves to help those in need. Those in abundance are to voluntarily sacrifice some of their comfort, time, skills, and resources to relieve the suffering of those in need. And the help is to be given in a way that increases the power of the recipients to care for themselves and then care for others. Done in this, the Lord’s way, something remarkable can happen. Both the giver and the receive are blessed.

(Adapted from an address given by President Eyring at the dedication of the Sugarhouse Utah Welfare Services Center, June 2011, LDS.org)

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: Brothers and sisters, we each have a covenant responsibility to be sensitive to the needs of others and serve as the Savior did—to reach out, bless, and uplift those around us.

Often, the answer to our prayer does not come while we’re on our knees but while we’re on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us. Selfless acts of service and consecration refine our spirits, remove the scales from our spiritual eyes, and open the windows of heaven. By becoming the answer to someone’s prayer, we often find the answer to our own.

(“Waiting on the Road to Damascus,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 76)