April Apprentice Class

APPRENTICE:

Study/Learn

1 - Read: “21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader” Chapter 15: Relationships

2 - Read: “The Young Traveler's Gift” Chapter 8: Forgive Others – The Power of Grace and Mercy.  Then finish off the book by reading chapters 10 & 11.

3 – Read: Doctrine & Covenants 98:1

4 – Read this article: “The Merciful Obtain Mercy” by Elder Deiter F. Uchtdorf

5 – Read this article: “Hidden Wedges” by Pres. Thomas S. Monson

6 - Find principles as you read.  Choose 2 of the principles that you found in each article.  Re-write them in the "if...then..." format.  Make a list of 3 actions for each principle that you could take to more fully live that principle.


Know/Understand

DO THE FOLLOWING :

We often carry around hurt or pain from our past.  We may think that these things don't bother us anymore.  But unless we have made peace with them -- have expressed the feelings, got them all out, forgave and moved on -- we carry them around with us.  The old negative feelings continue to hold us back and taint the relationships that we build in the future.  These feeling continually keep us with a "heart at war" towards others.

Think of the people in your immediate family - parents and sibling (mentors, you can include your children in this).  Which family member do you have a "heart at war" with?  (Having a "heart at war" with someone doesn't mean that you hate them.  It looks more like someone who bugs you or who you are easily drawn into contention with.  We all have these feelings, so don't feel bad, we can fix it!)  Choose the person you feel your heart is most at war with and write, beginning your writing with "My heart is at war with _(name)__ because...".  Don't worry if you don't know what you are going to write.  Once you start a paper with that sentence, it will come to you.  Write everything that comes to your mind, don't edit things out (even if it's yucky).  Get it all out.  End your writings with "please forgive me for feeling this way and holding onto these negative feelings."

Now that you have written this paper, it is very important that you do the following: DO NOT SHOW IT TO ANYONE,  DO NOT SHOW IT TO THE PERSON YOU WROTE ABOUT, and DO NOT KEEP IT AND REREAD IT.  Take your paper and either shred it into little pieces and throw it away or even better, take it outside to your BBQ grill and burn it.  (Please get your parent's permission before using fire, and DON'T BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN!)

This pulls the negative feelings out of your heart and mind and is the beginning of healing your heart and your relationship with this family member.  Do this as many times as you feel like you need to and with as many family members as you feel you need to.

Become/Serve
(If you are doing more than 1 level of class this week, just choose ONE Become/serve for the whole week.)

Elder Uchtdorf said:

“My dear brothers and sisters, consider the following questions as a self-test:

Do you harbor a grudge against someone else?

Do you gossip, even when what you say may be true?

Do you exclude, push away, or punish others because of something they have done?

Do you secretly envy another?

Do you wish to cause harm to someone?”

Journal for 15 minutes about your thoughts on Pres. Uchtdorf's questions above.  Be honest with yourself.  How are you doing?  How can you be better?  Set 2 goals to improve on the questions you could use a little bit of help with and work on those goals this week.