January 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering – Enoch’s example of building Zion in our own lives
The January 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering Printable ties together President Russell M. Nelson’s October 2021 General Conference talk “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation” and this January’s Come, Follow Me lesson on Moses 7 and “Enoch’s efforts are a pattern for building Zion in our own lives.”
Download January 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering Printable (4×6)
You can print these printables as 4×6 photo prints. My local drug store prints them for just pennies. They are also a higher resolution if you want to enlarge them.
January 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering Message
Moses 7: Enoch’s efforts are a pattern for building Zion in our own lives.
On your list of New Year’s Resolutions, who has added “be like Enoch?” Nobody? It feels pretty unattainable, doesn’t it? When reading about the amazing things Enoch accomplished, it is easy to feel like these goals are meant for scripture super heroes. Not for someone like me.
Who Was Enoch?
Enoch lived in a very challenging time. He was surrounded by chaos, wickedness, war, and bloodshed. But in the midst of all this, he managed to build a city of Zion. Enoch talked with God face to face and led the people of God in battle. When he spoke the earth trembled and the mountains fled. Even the rivers changed course and the roar of lions was heard. He almost sounds like a Marvel Comic hero. Imagine going to battle against someone like that? Enoch was so powerful that he was feared by all nations.
In the City of Enoch, the people were so righteous that the Lord dwelt with them. The people came from many different groups, but they were one in heart and dwelt in righteousness. There was no poverty or violence. After many years, the city became so righteous that the Lord took it up to heaven.
How Did Enoch and His People Do It?
I am a little intimidated by Enoch. What he did feels totally unattainable. But in “Come, Follow Me” this month, we are invited to think about how Enoch and his people did it. “How did they become ‘of one heart and one mind’ (Moses 7:18) despite the wickedness around them?”
There is more than one answer to this question, but one thing stood out to me. In the first few verses of Moses 7, we see Enoch preaching to the people. As he was journeying, the Lord commands Enoch to go to mount Simeon. And Enoch goes. This first step towards the mountain of the Lord leads to all the following revelations and progression.
Throughout the scriptures, mountains are where God speaks to His people. On the tops of mountains, we see important revelations and direction given to people like Moses, Elijah, and Jesus with Peter, James, and John.
Interestingly, the Hebrew equivalent of Simeon is Shimʼon, which means “hearing.” And while Enoch is on mount Simeon, he not only hears the Lord, but he receives an expansive vision of what is going to happen to the people around him. The Lord then commands Enoch to preach repentance to the people. This vision is just the first step. In subsequent visions, Enoch learns more and more.
Going to the Mountain of the Lord
In these latter-days, temples are our mountains and high places. Like Enoch, the Lord has commanded us to go to the mountain of the Lord. And when we heed that invitation, we not only receive a more expansive vision of our Heavenly Father’s plan, but we can obtain personal revelation on how we fit into that plan. Like Enoch, we can learn the steps we need to personally take.
So how did Enoch build Zion? When the Lord told him to go to the mountain, he went. Enoch went prepared to learn and prepared to come back again and again.
In the October 2021 General Conference, President Nelson shared, “The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.”
President Nelson says later in the same talk, “I plead with you to seek—prayerfully and consistently—to understand temple covenants and ordinances. Spiritual doors will open. You will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you, and how better to receive direction from heaven. Your diligent efforts to do so will reinforce and strengthen your spiritual foundation.”
Receiving the Same Blessings
The path Enoch took is not unattainable. In fact, it is the very path the Lord pleads for us to take. We can choose to be intimated and never start the journey, or we can look forward in faith and humility to find out what the Lord has planned for us.
I may not scare my enemies with the roaring of lions, but the Lord will bless me with His power as I stand to protect my home. And for my family, that will be just as necessary and great a miracle as causing the mountains to flee. The City of Enoch was translated when it was 365 years old and Enoch was 430 years old. His progress wasn’t overnight and ours won’t be either.
We sell ourselves short when we assume that the blessings and miracles in the scriptures are only for the great and important people in the scriptures.
Like President Nelson said, “Thus, in the house of the Lord, we can make the same covenants with God that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob made. And we can receive the same blessings!”
As we set our goals for the New Year, we can look forward with faith. We can turn to the temple and learn what the Lord has prepared for us personally.
Additional Quotes
There were so many quotes from President Nelson’s talk “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation” that tied in so directly to Enoch. I couldn’t add them all, so I decided to include a few of them here:
“The Lord has declared that despite today’s unprecedented challenges, those who build their foundations upon Jesus Christ, and have learned how to draw upon His power, need not succumb to the unique anxieties of this era.”
“Temple ordinances and covenants are ancient. The Lord instructed Adam and Eve to pray, make covenants, and offer sacrifices. Indeed, “whenever the Lord has had a people on the earth who will obey His word, they have been commanded to build temples.” The standard works are replete with references to temple teachings, clothing, language, and more. Everything we believe and every promise God has made to His covenant people come together in the temple. In every age, the temple has underscored the precious truth that those who make covenants with God and keep them are children of the covenant.”
“When you bring your temple recommend, a contrite heart, and a seeking mind to the Lord’s house of learning, He will teach you.”
“If you don’t yet love to attend the temple, go more often—not less. Let the Lord, through His Spirit, teach and inspire you there. I promise you that over time, the temple will become a place of safety, solace, and revelation.”
January 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering Handout
I fell in love with these to do lists and thought they were perfect for this month. My favorite part is that they help you prioritize! So stick going to the temple under the “Super Important” section and put create the perfect charcuterie board under “Chill, this can wait.”
Ladybug also helped me with the printables this month. The snow background on the printable was watercolored by her with the help of a dear friend.
Did you like this January 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering message? Find more Relief Society Ministering Printables for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
These ministering printables are a great way to help families incorporate the “Come, Follow Me” lessons into their own study. They are also perfect for Young Women’s, Relief Society, Sunday School, or Family Home Evening. I hope that these ministering printables will be a simple way to reach out to those we minister to.
