Recap from Sunday Lesson

Sister Knowlton taught a very inspired lesson on the Sacrament. Every ordinance of the gospel focuses in one way or another on the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, and surely that is why this particular ordinance with all its symbolism and imagery comes to us more readily and more repeatedly than any other in our life. It comes in what has been called “the most sacred, the most holy, of all the meetings of the Church” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56, 2:340).

Elder Russell M. Nelson: "We are seated well before the meeting begins. During that quiet interval, prelude music is subdued. This is not a time for conversation or transmission of messages but a period of prayerful meditation as leaders and members prepare spiritually for the sacrament” (Liahona, Aug. 2004, 13; Ensign, Aug. 2004, 27).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks: "During sacrament meeting—and especially during the sacrament service—we should concentrate on worship and refrain from all other activities, especially from behavior that could interfere with the worship of others… Sacrament meeting is not a time for reading books or magazines. Young people, it is not a time for whispered conversations on cell phones or for texting persons at other locations. When we partake of the sacrament, we make a sacred covenant that we will always remember the Savior. How sad to see persons obviously violating that covenant in the very meeting where they are making it. For families who have or will someday have young men who will officiate in the ordinance, teach the Priests who offer the prayers in behalf of the congregation to speak the words slowly and distinctly, expressing the terms of the covenants and promised blessings. This is a very sacred act. All should be well-groomed and modestly dressed. There should be nothing about their personal appearance or actions that would call special attention to themselves or distract anyone present from full attention to the worship and covenant making that are the purpose of this sacred service."

How can we prepare ourselves and our family to be more spiritually prepared each week to partake of this sacred ordinance? Much of the lesson came from the following two talks if you would like to spend some personal study time on this topic "Reflections on the Sacrament Prayers" & "This Do in Remembrance of Me".