Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Elder Edward Dube · Of the Presidency of the Seventy · Sunday Morning Session
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We do not have to make ourselves perfect before coming to Jesus Christ; we come to Him as we are, with a willing heart, and He perfects us through His grace.
Skip a full walkthrough of the three key truths from Moroni 10:32 and the story of the former missionary, and spend the time on the Child family story and the class discussion.
Before Sunday
Sunday: Elder Dube's "Come unto Christ"
This Sunday we will discuss Elder Edward Dube's conference talk "Come unto Christ." He teaches that we do not need to perfect ourselves before we come to Christ, because we come to Christ to be perfected. Read or listen to the talk if you can, especially the story of Randall and Laurin Child. Ponder this: what are you waiting to fix before you feel ready to come closer to the Savior?
Pick one opening
Think of a time you put off something good, like going back to church, praying, or making a temple appointment, because you felt you weren't ready yet or weren't good enough yet. Don't share the details. Just tell us: what does that feeling of 'not ready yet' sound like inside your head?
Think of a time you put off something good, like going back to church, praying, or making a temple appointment, because you felt you weren't ready yet or weren't good enough yet. Don't share the details. Just tell us: what does that feeling of 'not ready yet' sound like inside your head?
In 1987 Elder Dube was a young missionary who had been in the Church for only two years. The gate at the mission office had a sign on it: 'Trespassers will be prosecuted.' Elder Oaks asked that the sign be taken down so no one would feel shut out, because we invite everyone to come unto Christ. Later in the talk Elder Dube says the adversary tries to hang that same sign on the gate of our hearts. What might that sign look like for us?
Read Moroni 10:32 aloud: 'Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.' Elder Dube summed it up this way: we do not need to perfect ourselves to come to Christ; we come to Christ to be perfected. Which of those two ideas do people tend to get backwards, and why?
Teach this first
Moroni invites us to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. Elder Dube teaches that coming is something we choose to do, and that perfecting is the Savior's work through His grace. The adversary tells us that our addiction, doubt, pride, grief, or guilt makes us unworthy to come, but the Lord asks for a willing heart and our best effort, not for perfection first.
Elder Dube shared the answer Laurin Child received in prayer about her husband: "Randall doesn't need to be perfect. He needs to do the very best he can."
Ask the class
If time remains
Elder Dube invites each of us to find one person and invite him or her to come unto Christ. Quoting the Savior, he promises that as we lose ourselves in helping someone else, we will find solutions to our own problems.
Ask the class
Counsel together
Last 3–5 minutes
This week, pray to know one person you can invite to come unto Christ, whether to church, to pray, to meet with the missionaries, or to take a next step toward the temple, and then extend that invitation.
Elder Dube promised that as you lose yourself in helping someone come unto Christ, you will find solutions to your current problems.
Your witness: Think of a time you came to the Savior before you felt ready, or when you saw Him meet someone's honest best effort. Share briefly what you learned about His patience and grace.