Taught by Shauna Cameron
Sister Cameron wasn't given a specific topic for her lesson, so she spent time studying and praying. While she was reading hymn number 248, Up, Awake, Ye Defenders of Zion--She noticed that AWAKE really stood out to her:
Up, awake, ye defenders of Zion!
The foe's at the door of your homes;
Let each heart be the heart of a lion,
Unyielding and proud as he roams.
After reading this and being drawn so strongly to AWAKE--she decided to base her lesson on how to --Better Guard the Doors of our Homes and also our Hearts.
Sister Cameron then shared a story about how eight years ago she was living with her young family in Tennessee. Her sweet little boy had been an extremely difficult baby--due to ear infections and a constant need to nurse. She was was overwhelmed and exhausted from around the clock two hour feedings. One night when the baby was three months old, and her husband was out of town, she was up for a feeding at 3 am and she heard a loud whistling sound coming from inside the house. She went, with baby attached, to check it out and found that it was the wind from the storm brewing outside making its way inside the front double doors. She quickly became worried that this sound would wake up her two young daughters and that was more then she could currently bear. she thought of all the ways she could pull the doors shut to stop the sound, but ultimately the only thing that worked was her physically pulling the doors closed. She sat up in the night holding those doors closed, from all the worries on the other side. She could recognize the symbolism even then--of protecting her family from all the dangers outside of their home.
Sister Cameron then shared a quote from President Eldon Tanner, "To mothers, daughters, and women everywhere, let me stress the fact that because of your great potential and influence for good in the lives of all of us, Satan is determined to destroy you."
She then shared a quote from Julie Beck that talked about how we are fighting the darkness and we need to be like lionesses and guard the gate.
Sister Cameron then asked what it looks like for us to be guardians and lionesses of our home--she then added to the board, watchful, anxiously engaged, prayerful, and love.
She then shared Peter 5:8, " Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" She reminded us that the devil is stalking like a lion and we need to fight against him.
She talked about cats she has observed and how they are quick to notice and remove anything and we need to do the same against anything that would get in the way of the spirit.
She quoted again from Sister Beck, where sister Beck emphasized our need to be intentional about everything and our need to fight hard against the enemy.
She then quoted from Sister Dew, "We no longer have the luxury of spending our energy on anything that does not lead us and our families to Christ."
Sister Cameron then talked about how we need the spirit to help us be watchful. She then shared a list of things she had learned from a church leader that can distract from hearing the spirit:
-Addictions
-Extremes with Word of Wisdom
-Tiredness
-Stress/worry
-Anger/contention
-media
-Wants placed to high
She stressed our need to eliminate these things
Sister Cameron then shared from 2 Nephi 4 where Nephi is lamenting his problems but she loves how quickly he recognizes his complaints and starts to fight them. She also pointed out how often Nephi, in another chapter, uses the word "AWAKE."
Sister Cameron finished her lesson by referencing the Christmas gift the RS presidency is giving to the sisters. In it is a key with a poem about being a better innkeeper. She quoted from Elder Maxwell,
"Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!"
She encouraged us all to shut out the excess of what we don't need during this season.
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