Lesson 12: “Fruitful in the Land of My Affliction” – Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – Genesis 39:21-23

Reading 2 – 1 Peter 4:12-13

Elder Richard G. Scott has said, "While you are passing through [your trials], the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love." (Richard G. Scott, "Trust in the Lord," Ensign, Nov. 1995, 1

Romans 8:28

Reading 3 – Genesis 41:1-16

Genesis 41:25

Reading 4 – Genesis 41:37-43

Reading 5 – Genesis 42:5-8

Reading 6 – Genesis 42:17-24

Genesis 42:36-38

Reading 7 – Genesis 44:18, 30-34

Reading 8 – Genesis 45:1-15

Reading 9 – Elder Dallin H. Oaks has written:  The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe he has our welfare at heart, may we not let his plans unfold as he thinks best? The same is true with the second coming and with all those matters wherein our faith needs to include faith in the Lord's timing for us personally, not just in His overall plans and purposes. (Dallin H. Oaks: Even As I Am, p. 93)

Elder Mark E. Peterson has written that Asenath was not of the forbidden Egyptian blood, but, was, in fact, a Semite, and that marriage by Joseph to her was lawful.  The true religion was not in Egypt, except in the person of Joseph, so he taught Asenath the true gospel.  (Joseph of Egypt, pp37-38)

Lesson 10: Birthright Blessings; Marriage in the Covenant – Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – Genesis 24:3-9

Reading 2 - Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written:  "Celestial marriage is a holy and an eternal ordinance; as an order of the priesthood, it has the name the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. Adam was the first one on this earth to enter into this type of union, and it has been the Lord's order in all ages when the fulness of the gospel has been on earth. Its importance in the plan of salvation and exaltation cannot be overestimated. The most important things that any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ever does in this world are: 1. To marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority; and 2. To keep the covenant made in connection with this holy and perfect order of matrimony -- thus assuring the obedient persons of an inheritance of exaltation in the celestial kingdom." (Mormon Doctrine, p118)

Elder Bruce R. McConkie also wrote: "Those portions of it (the Abrahamic covenant) which pertain to personal exaltation and eternal increase are renewed with each member of the house of Israel who enters the order of celestial marriage; through that order the participating parties become inheritors of all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." (Mormon Doctrine, p13)

Reading 3: Genesis 24:12-14

Reading 4: Genesis 24:15-20

Genesis 24:57-58

Reading 5 – Genesis 25:22-23

Reading 6 - Genesis 25:29-34

Reading 7 – Brother R. Val Johnson has said, “The birthright given anciently to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is also yours. Your patriarchal blessing identifies your lineage in the house of Israel and describes many of the blessings and responsibilities you will receive if you live worthy of your birthright.” (R. Val Johnson, “You Have a Birthright,” New Era, Nov 2005, 9)

Elder H. Ross Workman asks, “Why should you be interested in this birthright, Esau being long dead? Because God has offered the birthright to you. Through temple ordinances every man and woman can receive the birthright blessing.” (Elder H. Ross Workman, “Devotional,” Oct. 28, 2008, BYU-Hawaii)

Reading 8 – Genesis 28:3-4

Genesis 28:11-17

Reading 9 - Elder Marion G. Romney said of this dream: “Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord … were the rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings—blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord” (“Temples—The Gates to Heaven,” Ensign, Mar. 1971, 16).

Abraham: Living Righteously in a Wicked World - Scriptures and Quotes

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "The traditional family is under heavy attack. I do not know that things were worse in the times of Sodom and Gomorrah. … We see similar conditions today. They prevail all across the world. I think our Father must weep as He looks down upon His wayward sons and daughters." (“Standing Strong and Immovable,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, 10 Jan. 2004, 20, quoted by Elder Richard G. Scott, “How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil,” Liahona, May 2004, 100–102)

Reading 1 – Doctrine and Covenants 101:1-5

Reading 2 – Doctrine and Covenants 132:29-32

Doctrine and Covenants 132:37

Reading 3 – Luke 17:28-32

Reading 4 – Doctrine and Covenants 133:10-15

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, " It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. We certainly know that Laman and Lemuel were resentful when Lehi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem. So it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin." (Jeffrey R. Holland, "Remember Lot’s Wife," devotional address at Brigham Young University, 13 January 2009.)

Joseph Smith said: "After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.150).

Reading 5 – Genesis 13:6-7

Reading 6 – Genesis 13:8-9

Reading 7 - Elder Neal A. Maxwell has written "We see generosity of spirit in the life of Abraham when he and Lot, who was his nephew, found their cattle grazing on the same land. There was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham's cattle and of Lot's cattle. It is Abraham who took the initiative and said unto Lot, 'Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.' (Genesis 13:7-9.) The complete, genuine willingness of Abraham to adjust to whatever Lot's decision was is the mark of a generosity of spirit of that remarkable patriarch." (That My Family Should Partake, pp92-93)

Genesis 13:12-13

Reading 8 – Genesis 14:22-23

Genesis 14:18-20

Reading 9: President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Our world is now much the same as it was in the days of the Nephite prophet who said: ‘… if it were not for the prayers of the righteous … ye would even now be visited with utter destruction. …’ (Al. 10:22.) Of course, there are many many upright and faithful who live all the commandments and whose lives and prayers keep the world from destruction” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1971, 7; or Ensign,  June 1971, 16).

Genesis 19:15-17

Genesis 19:24-26