From https://www.lds.org/languages/eng/content/manual/come-follow-me-for-elders-quorum-and-relief-society-april-2018/second-and-third-sunday-meetings
Sister Aburto’s message provides an opportunity for your quorum or Relief Society to evaluate how well you are working in unity to do the Lord’s work. To help members do this, you could show pictures of monarch butterflies, the Savior’s visit to the Nephites (see Gospel Art Book, 82, 83, 84), and the Church’s humanitarian work (see LDS.org). Members could search the message and discover how Sister Aburto used these examples to teach about the purposes and blessings of working in unity. What can we do to work “with one accord”?
Monarch butterflies
‘One of the most remarkable creatures on earth is the monarch butterfly. On a trip to Mexico to spend Christmas with my husband’s family, we visited a butterfly sanctuary, where millions of monarch butterflies spend the winter. It was fascinating to see such an impressive sight and for us to reflect on the example of unity and obedience to divine laws that God’s creations demonstrate.
Monarch butterflies are master navigators. They use the sun’s position to find the direction they need to go. Every spring, they travel thousands of miles from Mexico to Canada, and every fall, they return to the same sacred fir forests in Mexico. They do this year after year, one tiny wing flap at a time. During their journey, they cluster together at night on trees to protect themselves from the cold and from predators.
A group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope. Isn’t that a beautiful image? Each butterfly in a kaleidoscope is unique and different, yet these seemingly fragile creatures have been designed by a loving Creator with the ability to survive, travel, multiply, and disseminate life as they go from one flower to the next, spreading pollen. And although each butterfly is different, they work together to make the world a more beautiful and fruitful place.
Like the monarch butterflies, we are on a journey back to our heavenly home, where we will reunite with our Heavenly Parents. Like the butterflies, we have been given divine attributes that allow us to navigate through life, in order to “[fill] the measure of [our] creation.”Like them, if we knit our hearts together, the Lord will protect us “as a hen [gathers] her chickens under her wings” and will make us into a beautiful kaleidoscope.
How can we ‘cluster together’ for protection?
How are our differences valuable?
What does it mean to have our hearts knit together?
‘Even with diversity of languages and beautiful, uplifting cultural traditions, we must have hearts knit in unity and love.[See Mosiah 18:21] The Lord has stated emphatically: “Let every man esteem his brother as himself. … Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.” Doctrine and Covenants 38:25, 27 While we treasure appropriate cultural diversities, our goal is to be united in the culture, customs, and traditions of the gospel of Jesus Christ in every respect.’ (Quentin L Cook, General Conference, April 2015)
What is the difference between ‘unity’and ‘uniformity’?
The Saviour’s visit to the Nephites
I think it is significant that the phrase “with one accord” appears several times in the book of Acts, where we read about what Jesus Christ’s followers did immediately after He ascended to heaven as a resurrected being, as well as the blessings they received because of their efforts. It is also significant that we find a similar pattern among the faithful of the American continent at the time the Lord visited and ministered to them. “With one accord” means in agreement, in unity, and all together.
Some of the things that the faithful Saints did in unity in both places were that they testified of Jesus Christ, studied the word of God, and ministered to each other with love.
The Lord’s followers were one in purpose, in love, and in works. They knew who they were, they knew what they had to do, and they did it with love for God and for each other. They were part of a magnificent kaleidoscope moving forward with one accord.
Read Acts 2 and 4 Nephi 1 to see what these two groups did be of one accord.
What can we learn about unity from the early followers of Christ and from the faithful saints in the Americas after Christ’s visit to them?
Humanitarian aid
We hear so many stories of neighborly love shown among people when catastrophe strikes. For example, when the city of Houston suffered a massive flood last year, people forgot about their own needs and went to the rescue. An elders quorum president sent a call for help to the community, and a fleet of 77 boats was quickly organized. Rescuers went around the affected neighborhoods and transported whole families to one of our meetinghouses, where they received refuge and much needed help. Members and nonmembers worked together with one purpose.
In Santiago, Chile, a Relief Society president had the desire to help immigrants in her community who had come from Haiti. By counseling together with her priesthood leaders, she and other leaders came up with the idea to offer Spanish classes to those immigrants, helping them integrate better into their new home. Every Saturday morning, missionaries gather together with their eager students. The feeling of unity in that building is an inspiring example of people from diverse backgrounds serving with one accord.
In Mexico, hundreds of members traveled for hours to help the survivors of two major earthquakes. They came with tools, machinery, and love for their neighbor. As volunteers gathered together in one of our meetinghouses waiting for instructions, the mayor of the city of Ixhuatán broke down in tears as he saw such a manifestation of “the pure love of Christ.”
Have you had the opportunity to be involved in Helping Hands or other humanitarian projects? How did you feel?
In what ways can we work with people who are not members of our church to meet the needs of others?
How does serving others help us to develop Christ-like attributes?
‘Brothers and sisters, may I reemphasize that the most important attribute of Heavenly Father and of His Beloved Son that we should desire and seek to possess within our lives is the gift of charity, “the pure love of Christ” Moroni 7:47 From this gift springs our capacity to love and to serve others as the Savior did.’ (M Russell Ballard, General Conference, April 2011)
Latter-day Bloke 