Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

2:20-26 – I love the concept here that King Benjamin teaches, I think there are many different lessons here that can be over looked sometimes. First is the lesson on humility. This was a difficult lesson for me to learn in Young Women’s because I equated humility = I am worthless. I guess I’ve never had a really firm teaching on a lot of things, cooking, taking care of myself, self-esteem, gospel concepts, there are a lot of life lessons that I either don’t know at all, or have learned the hard way, that’s why yesterday’s lesson with my daughter was such a big deal for me because that’s a life lesson that I learned the hard way and I want her to have that before it really devastates her. And I’ve always equated having humility with being humiliated, not standing up for yourself, being the victim all the time. I know it’s crazy, but when you have no one to teach you these lessons, satan takes the opportunity to be of influence, and that’s where I learned that I am worthless, I am unwant...

Back when I first started going back to church in 2005 I was assigned a companion and given a visiting teaching list. We only went out together once, but I remember talking in my living room when we got back and she said something that I never heard before and never heard since. She said that even though it is taught as doctrine that Jesus was without sin that was wrong. She said that Jesus had in fact sinned, when he was on the cross and asked “oh God, why hast thou forsaken me?” She said that he doubted and that doubt was his sin, so he was in fact not a perfect man. Now don’t get me wrong, she was active in church and I had just gone back but I still wasn’t buying it. If it is preached from the pulpit that Jesus lived a perfect life, then that is the doctrine that I cling to, but I had no rebuttal other than “that’s not what the prophet says.” I’ve often thought about that and while I didn’t believe her view on the subject, I did wonder about it, what it meant, but have never had an...

I'm really hoping to have some more time today, I was really into last night's reading so hopefully we can continue with that. Continuing on with King Benjamin's "Do Not" list for being a good leader: 4. Condone murder, plunder, stealing, or adultery. I'm going to assume here that the word that King Benjamin uses "suffered" in this context means "allowed" "condoned" "turned a blind eye toward" or "engaged in" these things. These are basic 10 commandment type stuff and this is the reason that I based #2 on, there are always going to be people to will try to do those things, to commit those great sins, and so there always has to be a punishment for it or else there really wouldn't be any law right? So if King Benjamin says that he didn't allow his subjects to commit murder, then what happened if someone did, and surely at least one person does in all societies, they would have to go to jail, and probabl...

I'm so so so very short on time today and I really feel it in my heart that I haven't written in 3 days, definitely a void there. Guess that should teach me that the weekend isn't a vacation from scripture study. 2:9-11 - Verse 9 has several references from the citation index, and most of them are the teacher imploring the people to not "trifle with the words" that words that should be spoken, and really that's the lesson that I have been learning over the last several months. A friend taught me the importance of not "trifling" with the word at church and that I should actively seek to be spiritually fed. This was a new concept for me and I'm so grateful that he was bold enough to call me on it because it's been life changing. Not "trifling" with the word is not a passive pursuit, it's an engaging activity that requires effort to pay attention, maybe take notes, listen, not be distracted, because really all we want to do as hu...

I've had a very interesting day again today, and it actually ties into the lesson from the reading for today. I've not felt very good the last few days, kind of out of it, really really tired for some reason, I might be fighting off my son's cold, but anyway, work has been really busy and I just needed a little bit of down time for myself, to just kind of chill out, and I got to do that today. I usually work out right after I wake up but because I've felt bad I skipped it today and I sat around and watched tv for a while instead, which was nice for me, and while I was chillin for a while, I read Mosiah chapter 2, the first half and also the IM portion going along with that because I've felt a disconnect for the last few days as I've been reading and writing, like just kind of out of it, so I decided to get a head start on today's reading and try to be a little bit more engaged, and I have been so that's been nice. But what's been really interesting i...

Ok, I’m feeling a little bit better today, I don’t know what was going on last night, I didn’t really feel very well and we’ve been so busy at work for the last several weeks, I was just burned out. But I had a good day today, got some of my stuff done, I’m still really tired, but doing better. So, let’s see, what am I grateful for today? I’m grateful for the seasons. I lived in a lot of different places and one of the things that I love experiencing is each place’s different versions of the seasons. I loved the seasons in Utah, there was a mild snow in the winter, tulips in the spring, swimming in the summer and changing leaves in the fall. I absolutely loved it. Sometimes I really miss it, especially in the summer because we used to have weekly barbeques in the canyon, every time I smell a cook out, all I can think about is the time spent up in the mountains and my super-duper camp grill that I never got to use because I moved. I loved looking up into the mountains and seeing the dif...

First, the gratitude of the day. Today I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost. We talked about it today during our Family Home Daytime, and it went really well. My kids actually knew a lot more than I thought that they did, and it was shocking and amazing to hear their answers when I asked questions. My 6 year old son knows the story of the First Vision! But the Holy Ghost is amazing, he teaches me lessons, and is constantly behind me, giving me his full attention. I honestly am never alone because he's my constant companion, he even knows exactly what to say to me to make me understand the lesson. There have been many times in my life where I have not had him with me because of my bad choices, and now that he's back, I love him and I'm so grateful. 1:1 - There are a couple of interesting points here that we should discuss before getting too far in. The first point is something that I noticed and that I think helps clear up a little bit of my confusion about who's plates...

I was pretty interested in how all the plates worked and went together, as far as the large plates, the small plates, were they separate records, what exactly did Joseph Smith do, etc.? I asked two of my friends who I consider pretty knowledgable about the scriptures and they both gave me answers that were good, but not the definitive "well the plates consisted of these many plates, and they weighed this much, and had these people's fingerprints on them, etc." But what they both taught me was that this information, while interesting, is not essential knowledge, so best to move on. So I will move on, and I'm glad for the lesson of, it's more important what's on the plates than what they're made of. I also decided to start a daily gratitude journal, nothing long, just saying something I'm thankful for and why briefly. Today, I'm thankful for my job. I'm a single mom and I am SO blessed to make enough money to support my kids and to do so comfor...

I had a really interesting day today. I mean, it wasn't like out of the ordinary weird, but just different lessons learned today than usual. My first lesson came to me during sacrament meeting, even though it happened last night. I was talking to a friend last night and I realized that I was being super sarcastic, which is my nature in general but there are a lot of people who can't handle it, it's irritating, or, I don't know, just a negative interaction, and I don't want to be like that, I don't want to be irritating to people or negative, and through further gospel study I've found that sarcasm is not ok, it's damaging to the soul. There's an August 2013 Ensign article that I listened to that really brought the idea home to me entitled " No Corrupt Communication ," and the part that really struck a chord with me was "the Greek root for sarcasm is sarkazein and means 'to tear flesh like dogs.' One dictionary defines sarcasm a...

Ok, now this might get a little bit confusing, I know that I'm kind of lost here in what all the plates mean and how they fit together. 1:1-2 - Sometimes I wish that I was reading the Book of Mormon for the first time, from the perspective of never having learned from it before. It's kind of like watching a movie since you were a little kid, watching it all your life and then finally as an adult trying to dissect it with a fresh perspective. There are a lot of advantages to doing it from the stand point of a life long learner, but sometimes I try to look at it from the perspective of someone who might be reading it for the first time. I always thought that the jump from "the Messiah is coming later!" to "and it is many hundred years after the coming of Christ," was a little bit hard to process, it's just such a stop and restart. And suddenly all the Nephites will be destroyed, after Mosiah just left to save the righteous ones, it's always been a...

Before we get into today’s reading, there are a few things that I have been thinking about that I want to discuss. First kind of ties into today’s reading, and that is the initial purpose of the plates as from the perspective of the Book or Mormon writers. This thought process started as we were reading scriptures today, me and my kids. We read 1 Nephi chapter 9, and it’s short, only 6 verses, but it is Nephi telling us about the two separate sets of plates that he has created, the large plates for the “account of the reign of the kings, and the wars and contentions of my people,” and the smaller plates “are for the more part of the ministry.” So here we get that there are two sets of plates, but both are named the plates of Nephi, that can be kind of confusing, and that one is for historical recording and the other is for the things of God. So maybe we could liken that to one being Time magazine and the other being the Ensign magazine. But here’s what caught my attention, in verse 5 w...