Parables, Gospel, and Good Vessels!

Hey Everyone! So this week in New Testament class we learned able the parables. It was really interesting to read these stories. The reading assignment was Matthew 11, 13, Mark 4-5, and Luke 7-8.

My favorite verses and principle for this week come from Luke 8:46. It is the story of the woman that touched His garments to become clean again. This verse made me think of just how virtuous the Savior was. He could tell that someone had touched Him, because he said, he could tell that virtue had gone out of Him. I think it is very important for us to remember how important virtue is and always remember to hang around people that will lift us up and not tear us down.

The student Choise Assigment for the week is as follows: Choice #2
- In your own words, define Parable.
* I think the word parable means to use materialistic things to explain a spiritual concept.
-What describes the future growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?
*Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:24-30)
-Why does the church send out so many missionaries?
*Parable of the Gospel net (Matthew 13:47-50)
-How do you explain the remarkable growth of the church, considering that it is fairly new compared to most world religions and started small in the American frontier?
* Parable of the Mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32)
- Why are some members of the Church willing to sacrafice so much worldly wealth and recognition in order to maintain membership in the church?
*Parables of the Treaure and the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:44-46)
-Why do some members choose to leave the Church?
* Parable of the Tares( Matthew 13:24-30)
-Considering the parables of the treasure and the pearl of great price (see Matthew 13:44-46)what sacrafices would you be willing to make to obtain the treasure of the gospel? What sacrafices have you or those you know already made for the gospel?
*I think we are so blessed to live when we do. We are not required to give up very much to live the gospel and do what is right. We are challenged more to keep ourselves spiritually worthy, than actually having to sacrifice something physical. Knowing the comfort the Gospel gives us, I think that I would be willing to sacrafice alot. I know that I want to spend eternity with my family and I will do what is asked of me in order to be with them. I know personally the comfort that we can receive from the Atonement and I will sacrafice what I need to in order to have those blessings.

-What does the net represent in the parable of the net cast into the sea? (see Matthew 13:47) What does it mean to be gathered into the net? What is represented by the action of gathering the good into vessels and casting the bad away? (see Matthew 13:48-50).
* In verse 47 it says that the net is like the Kingdom of heaven. I think the visual of a net being thrown into the sea is cool. It is like our church. We are asked to be in the world, but not of the world. So, throughout our lifetime we are in this net in the sea. When it is time, Heavenly Father will draw in His net and we will all have to account for what we have done on this earth. The good will be seperated from the bad.