Christ, Christ, Christ — Trust First, Listen Closely, Then Take the Next Step
Week One asked us to follow the Leader by listening. Rally 2 begins by carrying that lesson out of the chapel and into town, home, school, treatment, family conversations, and cyberspace. Listening is not passive. It is conscious discipline: stop, hear, comprehend, then respond with the action that genuinely helps.
Sunday's ward practice centered on hymns 260, 185, and 130. Familiar faces are becoming friends in a gospel family centered on Jesus Christ. A prayer invited us to truly share what is in our hearts. That is the pattern: speak to God the Eternal Father in Jesus Christ's name — spirit to Spirit, heart to heart — and then learn to offer that same quality of listening to one another.
Carson's message gave Rally 2 its courage line: “You have to be brave to follow Jesus.” Faith comes before complete knowledge. Whether a young person is learning to pass the sacrament, a family is walking through treatment, or any of us is trying to make something right, courage is choosing the next faithful step before we know every outcome.
Prelude — Homeward Bound
Leaving the chapel does not mean leaving Christ there. We carry the Sabbath into town, into our homes, into appointments, into school, into the workbench, and into cyber imagineering.
Sunday's Gospel Family
- Ward hymn practice: 260 • 185 • 130.
- More familiar faces are becoming people known as friends in Christ.
- A prayer reminded us to truthfully share what is in our hearts.
- The chapel becomes gospel family when people are willing to listen to the facts of one another's lives.
Courage to Follow Jesus
Carson's message: “You have to be brave to follow Jesus.”
Standing for what is right becomes easier when friends stand together in service. Passing the sacrament is not a performance or a high-dive test. It is an opportunity to tend Christ's flock and help provide spiritual nourishment.
Faith begins before certainty. We choose the covenant path because we trust Jesus Christ before we understand every part of the road.
Christ as the Focal Point
Christ. Christ. Christ.
Mountains, straws, destinations, distractions, fears, and questions all look different when Christ remains the focal point. The Book of Mormon repeatedly points the learner back to Him: trust Him, remember Him, press forward in Him, and act in His name with faith and accountability.
Tyler — Steps Forward
Tyler is moving forward through a new chapter of court-ordered treatment. The important measure is not simply another order on paper; it is whether treatment becomes meaningful, conscious, and useful to his long-term ability to advocate for himself.
- Continue through the current treatment structure one day at a time.
- Keep treatment focused on comprehension, recovery, healthy choices, and real-life skills — not merely silence or compliance.
- Move guardianship/surrogacy advocacy forward so his voice and needs can be represented while he rebuilds his own ability to advocate.
- Keep looking toward an appropriate supportive living environment with interaction, accountability, treatment, and financial assistance.
- Recognize every kept appointment, honest conversation, healthier decision, and completed day as movement.
2 Nephi 31:20 — Rally application
Pressing forward does not require seeing the entire road. Sometimes it is one appointment, one truth, one boundary, one sober decision, and one better day at a time.
The Shimmer Zone — Wagon Wheel
On the way to town this week, creature-of-habit me almost walked away with a Wagon Wheel mug. I noticed it, called about the moment, and then stopped in to apologize.
That was outside my comfort zone and somehow completely inside the Shimmer Zone: conscience notices, integrity responds, and the little thing gets made right before it becomes a bigger thing.
Communication — Weird Tech Moments
Bishop Voyles was not receiving texts sent from one cell number while messages associated with the number listed in the ward directory appeared to come through.
That becomes another listening lesson: silence is not proof that a person received, ignored, rejected, or understood a message. Sometimes the first useful question is simply, “Did it reach you?”
Mother's Hymnbook — Still Missing
The blue spiral-bound hymnbook engraved Marie Garrett Kirton is still missing.
Its return matters because it is family property and living memory. Rally 2 keeps the request simple: if you have seen it, please help it find its way home.
Lil' Creeker Countdown
Nine more days until Lil' Creeker Watson officially becomes a twelve-year-old sixth grader — the final year before the teen zone begins.
Children learn courage by seeing it practiced. We do not only tell them to follow Jesus Christ; we show them what trust, service, repentance, repair, truth, and perseverance look like in ordinary life.
Thoughts Become Things
What we repeatedly think influences what we notice. What we notice influences our choices. Choices repeated become habits, and habits shape destinations.
That is why the focal point matters. Feed courage rather than fear. Feed faith rather than helplessness. Honor the strength that carried the family this far while remaining willing to learn something new today.
Week Two Listening Practice
STOP • HEAR • COMPREHEND • RESPOND
STOP: Notice habit, fear, anger, assumption, or autopilot.
HEAR: Receive the person's actual words — and check whether the message actually arrived.
COMPREHEND: Ask what the person means and what facts are still missing.
RESPOND: Choose the action, boundary, service, correction, apology, support, or silence that truly helps.
Rally 2 Assignment
MONDAY: Reflect on Sunday's message. Write the one thing you heard differently because you were actually listening.
TUESDAY: Verify one communication instead of assuming silence means an answer.
WEDNESDAY: Help one person take one practical step forward.
THURSDAY: Correct one small thing your conscience has been nudging you about.
FRIDAY: Encourage someone who is doing something difficult.
SATURDAY: Prepare your heart and your space. Ask what you are bringing into the Sabbath.
SUNDAY: Gather with gospel family. Listen for courage, Christ, and the needs of His flock.
Weekly Questions
- Did I trust the Lord enough to take the next step?
- Did I listen for comprehension or merely wait for my turn?
- Did I verify the message before judging the silence?
- Where did courage make following Jesus easier?
- What practical assistance would genuinely help?
- What did my example teach a child watching me?
- What needs to come home?
Closing Thought
Homeward bound is not retreat. It is taking what we learned in Christ's house and carrying it into the places where life actually happens.
The teacher is listening. Our conscience is listening. Our children are listening. Our gospel family is listening. Most importantly, we are learning to listen to Christ closely enough that His pattern becomes recognizable in how we speak, serve, repent, repair, protect, and continue.
Trust first. Listen closely. Be brave enough to follow Jesus. Then take the next step.
Closing Prayer
Speak truthfully from the heart to God the Eternal Father in the name of Jesus Christ — spirit to Spirit, heart to heart — with gratitude for another week to learn, repair, serve, and move forward.