Paul retells his experience on the road to Damascus twice in this week's Come Follow Me chapters. He is going to share his testimony with the same mob that tried to kill him in Acts 21 as well as King Agrippa II -- who happens to be the great-grandson of the Herod that killed all of the children in an attempt to stop the coming Messiah.

What do you make of Agrippa's statement: "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."? Do you think he was saying that Paul and nearly convinced him? Or, like some modern-day translators, do you think he was being sarcastic?

As a teaching idea for Come Follow Me this week, whether in your family or a gospel doctrine class, ask your class how they might describe a group of people that had nearly beaten them to a pulp. Notice what Paul calls the mob in Acts 22. Why does Paul choose those three words to describe his persecutors? What do you learn about Paul from that verse? In what ways is Paul teaching us about Jesus Christ in that single verse?

Stephen becomes the first martyr after the Resurrection / Saul becomes Paul / Ananias is tested

Wow, there is so much going on this week. For example, we will dive into the fact that the Lord doesn’t expect Saul to change at his core, but rather, take who he already is as an individual and simply align that with Gospel principles. We will discuss how often the Lord allows us to test our faith because of the people we are around. So, thanks for joining us and lets get going.

The book of Acts (or Acts of the Apostles) is perhaps one of the most applicable and significant books of scripture for Latter-day Saints. When we discuss the "restoration" of Christ's New Testament Church, it is the model established in Acts that we are referring to. It is the model of a Church led by the Savior Jesus Christ through Apostolic keys.

This week we have the opportunity to discuss prophetic process to revelation, prophetic fallibility, Pentecost, changing Church culture and challenges to growth, as well as the personal accountability to being honest with Priesthood leaders and others in our lives.

The empty tomb is the most significant symbol in Latter-day Saint theology -- in any Christian theology really! The Resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ, makes God's plan possible. It may well be the most overlooked and under-appreciated doctrine. And yet, the act of breaking the bonds of death is the central act making our return to live with God possible.

We get to begin our study of the last week of the Savior's mortal ministry and the important teachings leading up to the Lord's atoning sacrifice.

What became of the rich young ruler that went sad after the Savior invited him to give away all that he had? A great teaching idea for this week's Come Follow Me discussion would be to give the class (or your family) the opportunity to write out three different endings to the story: (1) he goes home and does it right away (just because he was sad doesn't mean he didn't do what the Savior asked him to do); (2) he goes home and refuses at first, but eventually does it; (3) he never gives it away. Talk about what outcomes might come from each possible outcome and why?

Have you ever wished that you could have joined the Church later in life so that you might have had the chance to experienced a little bit of sin before making your covenants with the Lord? Well, if you have, you certainly are not alone. However, you might change your mind after today's discussion about the parable of the Laborers.

The lost parables provide significant perspective on how God expects His disciples to feel towards the repentant sinner -- even those that haven't completed the repentance process yet. Additionally, Stuart and I discuss whether or not we believe there is a flock of 99. Is it possible that this flock that "needs no repentance" is a myth that Jesus was using to grab the Pharisees' attention?

Take a Second for Come Follow Me. This week we go through the Savior's counsel on how to get a testimony of his doctrine and His gentle concern for the woman caught in adultery and the hypocritical Pharisees.

The Good Samaritan. How do you read this story? Is it about how you should treat others? Is the story about Jesus saving Adam and Eve from the effects of the Fall? Stuart and I go into both possibilities.

Below are the links that I mention in the video.

Forgive others video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne1LVbLPA98

Jack Welch's article: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/02/the-good-samaritan-forgotten-symbols?lang=eng

"Why teach in parables? To hide the real meaning. That's right. To hide the meaning. Why would Jesus want to hide the meaning of his parables from the people listening?"

What a great conversation that might be in a Come Follow Me discussion group this week. If you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments below.

Please make sure to check out the link to the Joseph Smith quotes about the parables and how the connect to the restoration of the gospel. You can find them in the Come Follow Me 2023 manual for Individuals and Families.

Also, you should check out this video on the parable of the wheat and tares. (You can skip the first few seconds with clips of bugs) Your class/family might enjoy it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K301BL0-vKs