Mormon 8:1-7

8:1-7 - This is a pretty big chapter, so we’ll see. Moroni takes over the record here, and interestingly HN says that this is 15 years after the last battle, I’m not exactly sure where that number came from but ok. I can’t imagine very many existences that are worse than Moroni’s because he spent decades alone. My daughter is reading the Island of the Blue Dolphins in school and I remember reading that and just the thought of being completely isolated for years and years is just abhorrent to me, honestly, I think I’d kill myself. I think that I’m lonely and crushed with responsibility now? Just wait until I am the only person left, the only other people around want to murder me, and I’m bearing the weight of the prophetship, how is that for lonely and crushing responsibility? The IM gives some good insight on this when it says, “Moroni witnessed the death of his father, Mormon, and the destruction of the entire Nephite nation. Nevertheless, his life was preserved, and he faithfully fulfilled his mission in mortality. The Lord appointed Moroni to finish writing ‘the sad tale of the destruction’ of the Nephites. Before his death Moroni wrote the last part of his father’s book, abridged the Jaredite record (the book of Ether), recorded the vision of the brother of Jared in the sealed portion of the plates, and also wrote his own book (the book of Moroni). Yet Moroni’s mission continues in our dispensation. In modern revelation we learn that Moroni holds ‘the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim.’ The resurrected Moroni ministered to the Prophet Joseph Smith and tutored him several times on his role in restoring the fullness of the gospel, including the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Depicting Moroni’s role in the Restoration, the Church has placed statues of Moroni atop most of its temples.” I always wondered if it was the Book of Mormon, why did Moroni take on the role of meet with Joseph Smith and being on top of the temples? Why was it not Mormon? Now that I’ve learned a little bit more of who Mormon was as a man, it would make sense that he himself wouldn’t take on that role, it seems like he would gladly give his son that honor, instead of keeping it for himself. I’m not exactly sure that the “record of the stick of Ephraim” is, is the Book of Mormon the record of the stick of Manasseh? But Manasseh isn’t mentioned very many times in the Book of Mormon, but Ephraim is mentioned many times, more specifically, Ephraim is mentioned in conjunction with the “stick of Ephraim” and the “stick of Judah” indicating the Book of Mormon and the Bible respectively, so I guess that’s what it means. The IM continues by quoting Elder L. Tom Perry as teaching, “Do you read the Scriptures, my brethren and sisters, as though you were writing them a thousand, two thousand, or five thousand years ago? Do you read them as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them? If you do not feel thus, it is your privilege to do so, that you may be as familiar with the spirit and meaning of the written word of God as you are with your daily walk and conversation…’ Let us take Brigham Young’s advice and imagine we are standing in the place where Moroni, the last of the great Nephite prophets, stood. The assignment his father gave him to complete the record, which was entrusted to his care, was very difficult. He must have been in a state of shock as he described the total destruction of his people. He must have felt compelled to describe how his people had been hunted by the Lamanites until they were all destroyed. In his feeling of loneliness, he reports that his father was among those who were killed. We sense that the only thing Moroni is living for is to complete the record, as he writes, ‘therefore I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not.’ All he has is the faith that the Lord will preserve him long enough to complete the record and that someday it will be found by one chose of the Lord. He realizes that the record will be a voice of warning to future generations of what occurs when nations like his own turn away from the teachings of the Lord. It is from the depths of his heart that Moroni cries out to those who will eventually receive the record. He wants to spare those who read his account the heartache and misery which comes from disobedience. He writes first to the members of the Church and then to those who have not embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. Moroni’s last words to the members of the Church are written as a voice of warning. He writes as one who sees the history of his people repeating itself in the future.” So that was pretty long, but there were several points that I thought were valid. I thought that it was interesting that he recommended that we read the scriptures from the stand point of what we would have said if we were the ones looking at the carnage and writing the record, that’s very interesting. It was like it was on my last Sunday in nursery, when I was thinking what message I wanted the little kids to remember from me when I was gone, I told them, “always read your scriptures, always say your prayers, and always follow the prophets.” This was my message; I guess this was my little taste of what Moroni’s responsibilities were. This is the legacy that I'm trying to teach to my kids, with the daily scripture study, daily family prayer and weekly family home daytime (even though we missed it this week) I'm trying to put into their hearts this message to protect them against the heartache and estrangement that comes with sin. I don't want them to experience the pain that I have before when I made bad choices, I want them to be spared that pain and to thrive and prosper. There is definitely some desperation to Moroni's tone in the first few verses, "I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they are gone, and I fulfill the commandment of my father. And whether they will slay me, I know now... and whither I go it mattereth not... and I have no ore, for I am alone... and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not." I can not imagine how awful that must have been, that existence. I've often wondered if Moroni was married, if he had kids? I would imagine that he did, but none of them are there now, that would be incredibly difficult. I have a hard time being alone, not married, in my life, I couldn't even begin to fathom the suffering that he endured. This picture at the top was really painful for me to see, it broke my heart that this little elephant was kept alone and isolated, and sometimes I feel like that, I feel like the elephant so lonely I hold my own tail, but this is some perspective for me on how Moroni felt wandering the land as the sole survivor.