“Fruitful in the Land of My Affliction”
The masterfully written story of Joseph in Egypt is like nothing else in the Bible–it can actually be described as a novella. This touching account also engages with fundamental life questions: What contributes to success? How can our trials and suffering be for our good? How do we find meaning in life? And perhaps most profoundly, how much and in what ways does God intervene in our lives?
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Class Member Reading: Genesis 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45; D&C 64:8-11
Additional Reading: 2 Nephi 2:2; D&C 122:5-9
Other Reading: Review Genesis 39
Gina, Jody, and Steven contribute a thoughtful discussion.
You can access the Annotated Reading here (or PDF).
You can access the Lesson Notes here (or PDF).
Timeline
Lesson Part 1
0:00 Announcements and overview
4:33 Assigned Reading
21:00 Trials for our Good, Forgiveness and Preparedness
Discussion Part 1
36:12 Intro and Nature of Sunday School Discourse
41:16 Joseph’s Story
56:10 How do we respond to tough trials?
1:11:27 How about negative outcomes?
1:16:45 Communities to lift us, and ground us
1:21:10 Personal Stories
1:39:13 Forgiveness and Preventing Harm
1:54:02 Provident Living
Resources
- Hugh Brown, God is the Gardner
- C.S. Lewis Living House quote
- Neal Maxwell, Irony, the Crust on the Bread of Adversity
- President Hinckley, Forgiveness
- President Faust, Healing Power of Forgiveness
- Chieko Okazaki, Raised in Hope
- President Hinckley, The Times in which We Live
- Bonds That Make Us Free
- Peacegiver
- The Story of Joseph, Discovering the Old Testament
- Ska, Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch
- Joseph and Aseneth, background and online text
Thanks to William Newman for content editing, James Estrada for audio postproduction, and as always to Steven Nelson for the beautiful bumper music.
Engaging Gospel Doctrine 
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