Alma

In the book of Alma it talks about Alma seeing the evil ways of his people and him wanting to do something about it. That sounds like a lot of what we hear now a days. Many of us see the bad things going on in the world and make comments like, I wish I could do something to help, or, if that we my kid I would...., But think about that for a moment. we can do something. We just chose not to because it puts us out of our comfort zone.
Now take the example of Alma. Not only did he say something, he did something. What common man in a position of authority, would give up the office of head of state to try and help people they don't know save their souls. I can not think of one person aside from the Apostles.
I wish I could say I would give it all up to help others, but I don't know if I have the kind of dedication that would require. I know I posses the love in my heart to help others and often do on a small scale, but we are talking about giving up a power that is unimaginable to most people. I hope to someday be able to say I would give up everything I have and am to be the kind of leader Alma was.

Debt

One of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 2:22 "And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if you keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you" I love the promise the Lord gives to all people in this verse. It is simple keep my commandments and i will bless you and prosper you. I know for a fact that he keeps his promise. In the next couple verses it talks about the debt we owe to him. He gave his life so we could live and all he asks in return is obedience to a few commandments, which when we are obedient he immediately blesses our lives so we are again in his debt. I don't know about anybody else, but if i had to have any debt, I would not want any other debtor that the Lord. When was the last time you took out a debt and the lender continued to give before the debt was paid. That is what the Lord does for us. He keeps giving even when we have not been able to pay.

Verbal vs. Written

In the very beginning of 2 Nephi chapter 33 Nephi writes "And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children  of men." I got to thinking about this a lot. How many times are we (those in school) asked to write things weather it is about a personal experience, about the gospel , or about a school subject? I can't speak for anybody else, but i feel the same way Nephi did. I am not a strong writer and would much rather have a verbal conversation were i can pass ideas back and forth with someone than to try and write things on a piece of paper. When you are speaking to someone it is much easier to keep your thoughts together and stay on track. Especially when discussing the gospel. When you are writing things down it is super easy to get things out of order and get them all jumbled up. So we do our best and keep plugging along, but i prefer to have a one on one. It has way more feeling and you can get a much deeper connection.

Isaiah

So this week we are in the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. In the study help it talks about the difficulty of understanding Isaiah and if you don't get just keep reading and it will come. Well i keep reading and it's not happening for me. About the only thing that happened for me this week was one question. Isaiah talks about Angels in the constant act of praising God. How admirable. Please don't get me wrong, i think it is awesome. But as a human, and one in a leadership position I get people brown nosing me all the time and it drives me nuts.So i wonder how God sees this act? is it viewed with a great appreciation? Does he get tired of hearing the same thing all the time? How is this received? Thoughts?

Nephi

I was reflecting on my many experiences reading the Book of Mormon and started to think about Nephi and the way he reacts to his family while in the wilderness. They go through a lot of trials and tribulations, and no matter what the circumstance he still treats them with love and kindness. They murmur and he rebukes them, but he does it with love. They try to kill him and he rebukes them with love. His father the prophet starts to murmur against his god and Nephi finds a way to set him back on the right path with the love of god. I don't think i could have the patience Nephi had. The first time someone tried to kill me would be their last breath if they did not succeed. What a great way to look at life. I hope and pray that one day my friends and family will be able to say that I was able to show the love to them that Nephi did to his family.

The mist of Darkness

In reading about Lehi's vision on the Tree of Life, Patty and i had a really good discussion about the mist of darkness. It speaks of falling away and repentance being the way back to the rod. But how do you find your way back? When you repent, does the mist lift long enough for you to see your way back. My theory is that when we repent, God is able to see the Godly sorrow we have in our hearts and it is at that point that he sends Jesus to  us to be our savior. Jesus is the light that can help us see through the mist and is then able to grab hold of us and guide us back to the rod. Which brings everything full circle for me because as we repent and show godly sorrow we are grabbing hold of the atonement god has provided for us in his son.

Strength from Faith

Strength from Faith

As a family we have read the Book of Mormon multiple times. The problem is that we have always read it to get it done. I know my wife has asked countless times to slow down and try to absorb what we are reading, and my only thought has been to get finished and move on to the next book of scriptures so we can say we have read all the scriptures. So to Patty and our daughter Aimee, I am deeply sorry. We have never sat down and studied like we have been asked to do in the first couple weeks of class.  I now realize how much we have missed. Not only do I feel like I have shorted them in their desire to gain insight into the scriptures, I also feel as thought I have robbed myself of the opportunity to grow closer to my heavenly father.

The first week of reading in the Book of Mormon, and I have discovered what great strength we can gain from simple faith. I had never thought about Nephi's desire to obtain the plates as he was commanded, as a partnership between himself and the Lord. I had always thought it was just something he was told to do and he obeyed. It seems to me that he had a simple faith. God said do this and you will be blessed, and Nephi did the task, short, sweet, and to the point. As a former soldier I learned quickly how to obey orders so it never dawned on me that there was more to it than that. This week i realized that Nephi loved the Lord so much that he would endure anything and everything to please his God.  His simple faith gave him the strength to endured long travel with whinny brothers, rejection when he believed he was doing what God had commanded and even being beaten. It was not until after he endured so many trials that the Lord delivered Laban into Nephi's hands. I can only imagine the happiness Nephi felt when he accomplished his task. I know when I embark on a long journey, a difficult task and things seem impossible, I am apt to give up, but when the Lord steps in and gives me the courage and strength to get those things done, I feel overwhelmed with his love. When I stop, step back, and rely on the Lord, exercise my simple faith, he gives me the strength and courage to accomplish all things through him.