Week 14

Moroni 10: 32 "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." What does it mean to deny yourself of all ungodliness? I think that we each have things in our lives that we know aren't the best things but that we justify. It's these things that are the hardest for us to deny ourselves from participating in. But it's these things that are stopping our progression. It's the things that we continue to justify, that drive the Spirit away (but that aren't bad enough to make us feel guilty bright to stop doing them) that are keeping us from coming closer to Christ. I know that in my own life, this is something that I can work on. I can deny myself if the urge to judge others when I see differences in them that I don't agree with. I can deny myself the impulse to say something rude to or about someone when I'm in a bad mood. I can deny myself the inclination of pride. Of feeling like I am better than others. Or feeling like I can do something a better way than they can. I can deny myself of the music and TV shows that I know don't have a good message. I know that these are some of the things that are keeping me from having the Spirit constantly in my life. I know that as I consistently work on these things than God will bless me with the power to overcome them. His grave is sufficient and I will be perfected in Him.

Week 13

Ether 12:37 "And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father." This verse had honestly never stuck out to me before until one of my friends said that it was his favorite verse. I went back and re-read it looking for a lesson that I could learn and the reason that he liked it so much. After thinking about it for a minute, I realized that this verse can really apply to me. The Lord is saying that in order to improve upon our weaknesses we have to admit them to our self. In my own life, I tend to hide my weaknesses from others and even struggle admitting them to myself. I try to pretend that they're not there because I don't want to seem weak. I don't want other people to know that I struggle with things. This verse helped me to realize that it is a good thing to recognize my weaknesses. I have to admit them to myself and to the Lord so I can get help from Him to improve and be better. If I continually cover them up or deny that I have them I will never be able to overcome them. Becoming better starts with admitting that we have something to work on. Once I do that, I can focus on changing. I know the things that I struggle with. I know that as I admit my weaknesses to myself and come to the Lord in humility, willing to work on improving, He will facilitate opportunities for me to practice the very things I seek to improve upon.

Week 12

I love the story of the brother of Jared. The part that I find the most interesting is Ether 2:23. After the brother of Jared asked God what they should do to have light in their boats, the Lord replies, "What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?" God didn't just give the brother of Jared all the answers. He left it up to him to figure it out for himself and then come to the Lord for help once he had an idea. This is how we are supposed to approach getting answers from the Lord. We don't just come to God with all our problems and say, solve them. The Lord requires us to study it out in our mind before hand, and then ask Him if what we have decided is a good decision. We have to work at it ourselves. Sometimes I get frustrated in my own life that my prayers aren't getting answered. I've come to realize that if I want clear answers I have to prove to the Lord that I want them. I can't just ask and not do anything about it. I have to pray and study and fast and act on what I know. I have to take a step of faith and move forward to receive revelation. When I went on my mission, it wasn't until my first day in the MTC that I received a clear answer from the Lord that I was doing the right thing. I knew that it was a good thing to do and that it wasn't the wrong decision, but up until my first day in the MTC I didn't feel like I had a sure answer. I need to remember this experience and act in faith even when I feel like I don't know for certain.

Week 11

Mormon 3:12 is a super interesting verse to me. Mormon is leading the wicked Nephites to battle and even after seeing them curse God and watching how they delight in bloodshed and wickedness he still loves them. Not only did he just love them a little bit but he loved them with all his heart. This is an important lesson that I can learn a lot from. Sometimes it's really hard for me to love people. Before I went on my mission that was something that I was really worried about. Every returned missionary talks about how much they grew to love the people that they were with so so much. The advice they give you is just to love the people. Love everyone. When I got that advice I was really nervous that I wouldn't be able to love the people as much as I should or wanted to. I've never been one to just love people instantly. It takes me time to develop that love for them. I think the phrase that says he loved them according to the love of God which was in him is a really key line in this verse. Sometimes people do things to me, to themselves or to others that make me feel like I can't love them. But the important thing I know it true is that God loves them and that He can give me some of the love that He has for them. If I'm not able to come up with the love for them myself, I can pray to feel love for them and Heavenly Father can give me that love when I don't have any. The second thing that sticks out to me in this verse is when it says that Mormon prayed without faith for the Nephites. What? Why was he praying without faith? Isn't that what all the prophets tell us? To pray with faith or else our prayer is in vain. The lesson that I got from this however is that there are two things our faith cannot do: take away the agency of others and force God to comply with our desires. Mormon understood this and knew that his prayer couldn't change the future. To me the verse implies that he lost faith in the wicked people not in God.

Week 10

Mormon 1:2 "And about the time that Ammaron hid up the records unto the Lord, he came unto me, (I being about ten years of age, and I began to be learned somewhat after the manner of the learning of my people) and Ammaron said unto me: I perceive that thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe." I find the description of Mormon quite interesting. Ammoron and Mormon both use sober child to describe Mormon. When I was about 14 my family went to Nauvoo to be in the pageant. Before we went, we were set apart as some type of missionary for the two weeks that we would be there. I remember in my blessing that I got from the bishop he counseled me to be sober. I had never really thought about what is means to be sober before so I was taken aback a little bit when it was said in my blessing. I still am not completely sure what it means to be a sober child but here are a few of my ideas. One thing I think it encompasses is to not be dramatic about things. Not be rash in decision making. Not to overreact to insignificant things. I think it has something to do with maintaining an eternal perspective. Having a firm anchor in the gospel will help us to be more stable in all aspects of our lives. Another lesson that could apply is to be wary of light mindedness and loud laughter. Being sober doesn't mean that we should not express emotions or never have any positive or negative reactions to things that happen in our lives, but it means that we should bridle our passions and not let our emotions control our decision making. Another characteristic that Ammoron says Mormon has is being quick to observe. I think that means that he was quick to observe the commandments of God. He was quick to listen to his leaders. He was quick to act on what needed to be done. He was a good decision maker. He could observe, analyze, make a decision and act on it. These two qualities are ones that I want to develop in my own life. I want to be grounded in the gospel and not let whims of doctrines, trends, or bad things that happen in my life shake my faith or cause me to dramatically change everything I do because of a bad day. I want to be quick to observe the counsel of my leaders and apply the things I know I should in my life immediately so I can continue to grow and change for the better. I know that if I strive to develop these two characteristics I will be happier in my life and increase my relationship with Heavenly Father.

Week 9


When the Savior comes the second day, he asks Nephi to bring the records and show them to Him. He asks Nephi if the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite have been written down and if the fulfillment of them was written down also. When Nephi tells him no, Christ rebukes him for not keeping the record more detailed. I think this lesson can apply to journaling as well. Many prophets and apostles have commanded us to keep a journal. They have counsels us to write down the miracles we see in our lives and the tender mercies of the Lord. The blessings they promise us from doing this are plenty. They promise that we will have more gratitude for the Lord as we take note of His blessings. I can be better at writing down and remembering the blessings from the Lord. Even if I just spent 10 min a week writing down the blessings that I saw in my life that week, I would be more aware of the love that God has for me. Another lesson from this reading is the commandment to pay tithes and offerings. For me tithing has always been easy. It's just been what I've done my whole life. My parents had me start paying tithing as soon as I started getting any money. Paying tithing was always something fun and exciting for me and my siblings. I don't know how my parents got us to look at it that way but at the end of the year when we went to tithing settlement we were always super excited to be full tithe payers. I guess it make us feel like big kids or something. The hearts of the children are turned to their fathers is another lesson Jesus teaches his third day with the Nephites. This is a sign He gives of the second coming. This prophecy is getting fulfilled in our day as we are seeing family history and temple work taking a huge stride of progress. The amount of temples we have now is amazing. We are ushering in the Millenium with the work of the dead. One last comment on this weeks reading, babies were saying marvelous things that can't be written because of how sacred they were! I can't even imagine how cool this must have been! You're a mom and your baby just starts talking and making prophecies! That would be incredible.

Week 8

I love the first few verses in 3rd Nephi 16 when Christ talks about the other sheep that he must go visit. He tells the Nephites that he has other sheep that aren't them and that aren't the people in Jerusalem but other tribes as he called them. I like to think that he went and visited the lost 10 tribes. Maybe not all of them, depending on how spread out they were or how righteous they were, but those are who he visited. I can't wait to read the record that they made when Jesus came and visited them. Because Jesus' visit to the Nephites is the focal point of the Book of Mormon I want to read the other record of His visit to the other tribes. Another part from this reading that I've always loved is when Jesus explains how the Law of Moses is fulfilled in Him. Christ tells the Nephites that He is the one who gave the law and He came to fulfill the law. He's not coming to destroy it or go back on what He or other prophets had testified in the past but that He was the great and last sacrifice and that now He was establishing a higher law. It was no longer an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but it was love your enemies, do good to those that hurt you. The sacrifice was changed from a burnt offering to a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This higher law, although it was less explicit and controlling, was harder to live. In order to love it you had to elevate yourself to a new level of dedication to Christ. To live it, we have to be more like Him and love like He loves. Having charity for all. We have to humble ourselves and be repenting every day.

Week 7

This week we got to the most pivotal chapters in The Book of Mormon; when Jesus Christ appears to the Nephites after his resurrection. The resurrection is the most incredible miracle in all of history. I love the beginning of chapter 11 when Heavenly Father speaks to the people. I think that it is interesting that the voice of Heavenly Father is described just like the Spirit is described. “…it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn” (3 Nephi 11:3). The Spirit is always described as the still small voice or the burning in the bosom. One teacher I had told us that we can learn to differentiate between the voice of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. They can all speak to us differently. However, I’ve also heard that they can all speak for and in behalf of each other. So I’m not really sure what that means. I know that it is extremely rare for Heavenly Father to speak in the scriptures and that the majority of the time it is Jesus Christ and the Spirit. 

Week 6

One verse that I love states this. “But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head” (Helaman 13:38). I had a super special experience with this verse on my mission with one of my investigators. We had assigned him this chapter to read and this verse really testified to him of true happiness coming from God and not from the world. He understood that cheap worldly pleasures were not true joy and that by living for those he could not have the real happiness that comes from following God and his commandments. It really spoke to him about the little pleasure he got from smoking not being worth it in the long run. He realized that he was seeking for happiness in doing iniquity and that it was not what he wanted. It was because of this verse that he had the strength and desire to quit smoking and prepare to be baptized. I know that we can apply this to all of our lives with great or small worldly pleasures that we each have. We can’t put off repentance and change. We have to choose now follow God more fully in our lives and we will find that by doing so we are much more happy. 

Week 5

The gadianton robbers are probably the scariest group in the Book of Mormon. Everything about them is terrifying. The fate of all three of Pahorans' sons is so sad. First of all they fight with each other for the judgment seat and then they all die in the span of like one year of each other. I think one lesson we can take from this tragic story is to not seek for power. It will be your downfall. Another message from this reading is the importance of fortifying the inside. While the Nephites were fighting among themselves, the Lamanites come to the center of the city, Zarahemla, and take the city. Someone in class said, it’s much easier to prepare and prevent than repair and repent. Again the theme of the Nephite dissenters being the ones to stir the Lamanites up to go to battle against the Nephites is a lesson in these chapters. The ones who have had greater light and knowledge are more hardened and bitter towards God when they turn away than those who haven't had the gospel. We have to be so careful to not let trials and pain harden us and turn us away from God. Another theme that is continually revisited is the fact that the Nephites only loose battles when they are wicked. When they are righteous they are strengthened in the Lord and are able to beat the Lamanites. I really like this principle because it is a powerful miracle. God decides who wins and looses. It doesn't matter who has more warriors fighting or who technically has the advantage, God is in charge. If we are keeping the commandments and living righteously God will bless us. He will reward us for giving Him our will and our time. I really need to remember this principle especially now in my life. I know that if I put God first He will bless me to do better in every aspect in my life but it's so hard to actually apply it when I get busy and overwhelmed and stressed! I have to remind myself of the blessings and miracles I've seen in the past from living this way and trust in God's promises.

Week 4
Moroni is such a boss. He is so bold it would be frightening to disagree with him. The raging letter he sends to Pahoran is scathing. Moroni loves freedom more than anything other than God. He will do anything to defend freedom even if it means death. Moroni is also super intelligent. The strategies he continues to come up with are so amazing and fun to read about. He continues to destroy the Lamanites with his cunning skills. Moroni fortifies the weakest cities the most and turns them into the greatest strongholds. When the Lamanites come to attack they are surprised at how strong the previously weakest cities are. This can be applies to Satan's tactics today. He tried to exploit our weaknesses. If we work on those and fortify them then Satan will have no power over us. Another part of this reading is Teancum killing of Ammoron. Teancum is also bold and a bit rash it seems. It is never wise to make decisions when you're emotional. We obviously don't know if Teancum made this decision solely on anger or that it was a bad decision or that he wouldn't have died if he had thought about it more deliberately but we can take this lesson from it. He and Moroni are the perfect duo to incite fear among the Lamanites. Another lesson I took from the reading is to choose to not be offended. Pahoran could've been offended by the false accusations of Moroni, but he didn't. A saying my mom always says is "he who takes offense when offense isn't intended is a fool. He who takes offense when offense is intended is usually a fool." We can choose whether or not we take offense. It is entirely up to us. I liked the quote in the institute manual that talked about all of us having times when we are embarrassed by something or we feel insulted or mistreated. That is part of life! Whether it happened on purpose or not is does happen. To everyone. We can't let it get to us. We have to be mature and get over it. We can't let it get in the way of our relationship with God. We have to be like Pahoran and say "it mattereth not." The last thing that I think is super cool is that President Joseph F. Smith tells the people from New Zealand that they are descendants of Hagoth! That is so cool! It blew my mind leaning about that for the first time!

Week 3

The three themes that stuck out to me the most in these five chapters in Alma were faith (Alma 32 duh), prayer, and the atonement. I love to read Alma 32 and ask myself those questions to gage where my faith is at. I love the lesson that humility is required in order to have sincere faith. I also like in verse 28 that it says the word is like unto a seed. I always compared faith to the seed because of the primary song but one time one of my mission companions pointed out to me that it compared the word to a seed and not faith. The word and the Spirit begin to swell and grow and that's how you know that the word or the scripture/principle is good and comes from God. Once you see this prayer/experiment work then your faith will increase as well. 
Prayer was also a big focus in Alma 33. It’s crazy that they thought they could only pray on their rameumptom and nowhere else. Also, let me just say how bazaar there memorized prayer was. How did they stray so far so fast?? I love that they are so excited when they learn that they can pray to God even though they are outcasts. They can pray to God anytime and anywhere. This is such an amazing blessing and miracle. Can you imagine if we could only pray at church? How sad! 
The other big theme was the atonement. This is perhaps the most complicated of all gospel miracles. The atonement was the great and last sacrifice which fulfilled the law of Moses. No more blood was to be spilt or animal sacrifices to be made. But the sacrifices we make are now a broken heart and a contrite spirit. We must submit our will to the Lords. We must keep His commandments and live in a way that pleases Him. I know as we do this God will bless us more than we can imagine and we will happier than we have ever been before.

Week 2


I loved using the Book of Mormon Student Institute Manual as a supplement to my reading. It really helped me get more out of these chapters. Learning about the Chiasmus in Alma 36 was so thrilling. I remember getting taught about this very thing years ago but I had completely forgotten. Alma is an amazing writer to use such fascinating literary elements. It's like he wrote in code and we have to find the hidden message. Reading the story of Alma the younger is always stirring for me. God is so merciful. Just yesterday my friend shared a quote on his facebook by Elder Holland that I really liked. Elder Holland says, "I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it." God loves us so much and wants to show us mercy by forgiving us and taking away our guilt. I have felt this in my own life as I have earnestly prayed to be forgiven by the Lord. Just as he did with Alma, he took away my pain and replaced it with peace and confidence in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I also liked the manuals commentary about the Liahona. I thought it was interesting that different general authorities related the Liahona to multiple things; the scriptures, our patriarchal blessing, and the Holy Ghost. Each of these means of revelation and direction are just like the Liahona; meant to guide us on our path in the direction that God would have us go. Each is meant to make our journey through our own wilderness possible. God will show us the easier way to happiness as we follow the Liahona.

The three themes that stuck out to me the most in these chapters in Alma were faith (Alma 32 duh), prayer, and the atonement. I love to read Alma 32 and ask myself those questions to gauge where my faith is at. I love the lesson that humility is required in order to have sincere faith. I also like in verse 28 that it says the word is like unto a seed. I always compared faith to the seed because of the primary song but one time one of my mission companions pointed out to me that it compared the word to a seed and not faith. The word and the Spirit begin to swell and grow and that's how you know that the word or the scripture/principle is good and comes from God. Once you see this prayer/experiment work then your faith will increase as well. Prayer was also a big focus in Alma 33. It’s crazy that they thought they could only pray on their rameumptom and nowhere else. Also, let me just say how bazaar there memorized prayer was. How did they stray so far so fast?? I love that they are so excited when they learn that they can pray to God even though they are outcasts. They can pray to God anytime and anywhere. This is such an amazing blessing and miracle. Can you imagine if we could only pray at church? How sad! The other big theme was the atonement. This is perhaps the most complicated of all gospel miracles. The atonement was the great and last sacrifice which fulfilled the Law of Moses. No more blood was to be spilt or animal sacrifices to be made. But the sacrifices we make are now a broken heart and a contrite spirit. We must submit our will to the Lords. We must keep His commandments and live in a way that pleases Him. I know as we do this God will bless us more than we can imagine and we will happier than we have ever been before.

Week 1

Oh how excited I am to study the Book of Mormon in depth this semester! I have come to love and cherish that book more than any other. Just attending our first class and discussing the Title Page and learning about the four key words “abiding by its precepts” has made me excited to look for the precepts and principles that each story teaches and apply them in my life. I know that as I abide these precepts that come from our Father in Heaven I will see the Spirit in my life increase and the happiness that it brings will be felt in more abundance.

This week for part of my studies I read a talk called, “The Book of Mormon: Man-Made or God-Given?” by Tad R. Callister. There are many things that stood out to me while reading and listening to the talk. Many of the arguments people have against the Book of Mormon that Elder Callister discusses were new to me. It’s interesting to me how contradictory to each other they all are. This in and of itself shows me how false they all are. It’s like when Jesus was put on trial and they couldn’t find anything to accuse Him of because no two accusations were the same. People were all just making up lies and no two could agree on one. Another thing that stood out to me is the quote by Emma Smith when she calls Joseph ignorant. She of all people knew him best and knew that he did not have the education necessary to write the Book of Mormon.

I have my own personal testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have read it. I have prayed about it. I have had countless experiences of receiving peace and revelation through it and I know that it is a true book. I know that it was written by ancient prophets of God. I know that through abiding by its precepts I will be happy and be able to return and live with God again someday.