Regina and Moroni

 I  used “Once Upon A Time” in Sunday School.  (I now teach older teens) Regina (the evil queen in Fairytale Land and the mayor and powerful, overbearing adopted mother of Henry in Storybrook) has been trying to change because of her love for him.  Even giving up magic and power.  Last week, Emma (his birth mother) and Snow (his grandmother) were on a mission in Fairytale Land and about to return through a magic portal.  Certain that they could not succeed against Regina’s even more evil and even more powerful mother Cora and that Cora would be coming instead, Rumplestiltskin convinced Regina that they had to do something to the portal that would kill whoever tried to come through.  Henry, having great faith in Emma & Snow and that good always wins, pled with Regina.  At great personal sacrifice and risk, Regina took the destructive power from the portal and upon herself.  I thought it might have killed her.  Emma and Snow made it!  Hugs for Emma & Snow!  Eventually a hug for Regina.  Then Emma, Henry, and all their friends decide to go to dinner, leaving Regina alone. Alone and sad.  It hurt my heart and made me disappointed and angry.

 How likely is it that Regina will continue to give up power and magic and choose to do good?  

What has this to do with Sunday School class? We were studying Moroni 1-6.  Regina comes up in 6.

Moroni taught that after people were baptized and had received the gift of the Holy Ghost, “they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken” (Moroni 6:4). 

 4 And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and ^acleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the ^bchurch of Christ; and their ^cnames were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually ^dwatchful unto prayer, ^erelying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

from the lesson manual:

Why were their names recorded? (See Moroni 6:4.) Who has the responsibility to see that both long-time and new members are “remembered and nourished by the good word of God”? (Emphasize that each of us has this opportunity and responsibility. Then share the quotations below.)

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “Any convert whose faith grows cold is a tragedy. Any member who falls into inactivity is a matter for serious concern. The Lord left the ninety and nine to find the lost sheep. His concern for the dropout was so serious that He made it the theme of one of His great lessons. We must constantly keep Church officers and the membership aware of the tremendous obligation to fellowship in a very real and warm and wonderful way those who come into the Church as converts, and to reach out with love to those who for one reason or another step into the shadows of inactivity” (in Church News, 8 Apr. 1989, 6).

President Hinckley also said: “With the ever increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with ‘the good word of God’ (Moroni 6:4)” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1997, 66; or Ensign, May 1997, 47).

Do we walk away and leave those who are trying to change to struggle alone and without reward?  Do we shun those who smell or look funny?  Do we let them come and go without a word or a smile?  Do we support people who are trying to make positive change in their lives or do we shun them and leave them to struggle alone? 

Who shares the blame if the struggling individual finds the loneliness and the effort too much to bear?

I thought it went over very well.