Earthly and Heavenly Rewards

The young man chose not to follow the Lord because of his great possessions. He walked away from Christ because even though he had kept the commandments his whole life, he was unable to give up his riches.

Jesus promises us that if we make sacrifices for him, we will be blessed an hundredfold of everything we have given up for his sake.

When Peter asks what they (the apostles) will receive for doing what Christ asks and giving up everything for the gospel, Jesus responds that they will be seated among 12 thrones, to judge the House of Israel at the last day. This is inspiring to me to put the Lord first in all things and to be willing to make that sacrifice, because it proves that we can attain the same status with God as the apostles have attained, and that we can be assured everlasting life in his Kingdom.

Hour Hired	Wages Promised	Hours Worked	Wages Paid
1	1 penny	11	1 penny
3	1 penny	9	1 penny
6	1 penny	6	1 penny
9	1 penny	3	1 penny
11	1 penny	1	1 penny

From this parable, we can learn about the blessings we receive from serving in the Lords Kingdom. We will all receive the same blessings for contributing anything to the Lords work, despite how much it actually is. Serving in the Lords Kingdom merits the same blessings for all of us.

This can be encouraging to converts of the church because many of them feel as though they have missed out on so many blessings for not joining the church until later in life. The can learn that though they may have missed out on a lot of service during their mortal probation, this can be made up for in the eternity we can have with our Lord.

Members who are upset about this and feel as though they, who have served in the church their entire lives, should receive more need to remember what the purpose of this service is. Even though some may do more work than others, all of the work that is done is equally important in the sight of the Lord. It is not about how much work each individual does, it is about getting the work done, that salvation may be extended to all.

Parables and Accounts that teach Eternal Truths

From the parable of the Unjust steward, we can learn to prepare ourselves as much as possible as quickly as possible, because we will not always have the opportunity to prepare ourselves to meet our Lord. We have to use the time appointed to us in our mortal state to prepare while we can.

From the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we have to learn that we will be treated in our immortal state the way we treated others in our mortal probation. It is the basis for the golden rule. We need to learn to treat people in this life the way we want to be treated in the next life.

In this parable, Jesus heals the ten lepers, but only one comes back to thank him. The one that came back was a Samaritan, one of a people who were looked down upon by everyone else. I think from this parable, Christ wanted to teach us to be grateful, and to accept everyone as Christ does.

When Christ gives the parable of the unjust judge, he is very clear in why he gave it. He said he gave the parable because "men ought always to pray, and not to faint." This means we must call upon the Lord in all things and at all times, and that we should trust that he will answer us.

Jesus gave the parable of the pharisee and the publican to teach us to be humble. He said that "every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he tat humbleth himself shall be exalted." Christ is again very clear on the meaning and purpose of the parable. If we are not able to humble ourselves we will not be worthy to live with God in the Celestial Kingdom.

The Saviors instructions on the Holy Ghost

What the Holy Ghost does:
Comforts us, gives us truth, dwells in us, teaches us all things, brings all things to our remembrance, gives us peace, guides us, show us things to come, quickens our minds, puts off the natural man, inspires us to be as God, tends to our physical aspects as well as spiritually, brings us messages from the Father.

How we can get it:
Keep his commandments, sent by the Father to us, live righteously, the laying on of hands after being baptized.

After the Saviors death and resurrection, the Holy Ghost was very important to the apostles in their missions. The Holy Ghost is key to missionaries. It inspires, teaches, and guides us as to what we should do. After Christ left the earth, the Apostles were guided in what they should do by the Father and by Christ, by way of the Holy Ghost. It showed them where they should teach, and what they should teach, and it taught them more and more about the gospel as they lived more and more righteously, keeping the commandments given them by the Son.

I have been blessed by the Holy Ghost with comfort. I have been worried and scared and very unsure how to deal with everything, with the pressures of school, and trying my best to live the commandments to the best of my ability. During these stressful times, when everything seemed to be crashing down around me, the Holy Ghost has brought me great comfort and has helped me to have the peace of mind to deal with everything at once. The Holy Ghost has inspired me many times to be sensitive to others and to their feelings. During high school, I had a very hard time being kind to my siblings the way we are commanded of our Father. I never really understood how my actions affected others, but the Holy Ghost has taught me to be more Christ-like and how to love everyone. It is still something I need to work on a lot, but the Holy Ghost has taught me a lot about this.

The Savior Annointed

The woman anointed Christ's head with oil to anoint his body for the burying. When Mark wrote this, he was implying that the woman knew of Christ's atonement that he was about to perform.

Some of the Disciples thought this was a waste because the oil was very expensive and could have been sold, giving the money to help the poor.

Christ praises the woman for her sacrifice. He praised her because she used her finest oil to anoint his head and to serve him. She sets the example for us to serve him and to give him our finest things. There are so many things we can sacrifice to the Lord. A lot of the time we can be more willing to offer our time and our resources to the Lord in the service of others. We may be willing to help, but not to offer our very best materials, as this woman was. We need to give our very best things to the Lord, because it shows our love an appreciation for him.

Preparing for the saviors second coming

In Matthew 13, Jesus gives us several things to beware of and to prepare ourselves to meet God. He tells us to not be deceived, to pray, and to watch for the signs of his second coming.

In regard to preparing to meet Christ, there are many scriptures that give us council. D&C 87:8 councils us to be in holy places so that we may be ready when Christ comes again. Joseph Smith- Matthew 1 has several verses in regard to this. This chapter councils us to treasure up the words of Christ, and to always be ready for the coming of the Lord, because we don't know exactly when he will come, and we don't want to miss it or be left out when he does come. D&C 33:17 councils us similarly to this, in that it advises us to make sure we are always ready for the time of the second coming, and pray always. D&C 45 also speaks of this same thing. It again talks about the importance of living in a way that we will always be ready for the coming of the Savior, no matter when it is. We always have to be ready for it.

Overview of the Last Week of the Saviors Mortal Ministry

Parables

After reading the parable of the unjust steward, I think the thing the Lord wants us to learn the most from that is we need to prepare ourselves for the Kingdom of God. We know what is going to happen to us, and the fact that we have that knowledge should make our preparations much more focused.

From the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we can learn a lot about how we need to treat others. The rich man does nothing to serve Lazarus, so when they die, Lazarus goes to what is called "Abraham's bosom," and the rich man goes to Hell. From this parable, the Lord clearly wants us to learn how to treat others properly in this life.

The parables of the 10 lepers teaches us an import lesson about gratitude. The lepers were healed by following the council of the Savior, and though all 10 were healed, only 1 came back to thank Christ. He wants us to learn how to be grateful and how to show our gratitude and be humble.

In the parable of the unjust judge, the Lord wants to teach us to pray always, and that if we pray he will answer us quickly and justly. He will not answer our prayers because we keep asking him something, he will answer our prayers because he loves us.

The Savior gave the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican to teach us to be humble. The pharisee thanked the Lord in prayer for everything he had been given, but then compared himself to the publican. He was very proud of himself and prayed looking towards heaven, while the publican prayed humbly, bowing his head and acknowledging his sins before the Lord.