Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

15:1-13 - Reading this last chapter was like reading the last chapter of the Hunger Games, in that at the end, I was just so down in the spirit about it, it was just a basic reflection of the horror and misery that Satan so eagerly leads us into, and the willingness that we have to follow him. Coriantumr has a very interesting awakening as he “recovered of his wounds, he began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him. He saw that there had been slain by the sword already nearly two millions of his people, and he began to sorrow in his heart; yea, there had been slain two millions of his people, and he began to sorrow in his heart… He begun to repent of the evil which he had done; he began to remember the words which had been spoken by the mouth of all the prophets, and he saw them that they were fulfilled thus far, every whit; and his soul mourned and refused to be comforted.” He’s reflecting, seeing the awfulness of what he’s done and what he’s caused his people to do, a...

14:1-31 - The next chapter is like a bad dream, craziness that you just can’t understand or get away from, it’s madness. First thing that’s mentioned is the “curse” on the land, which I don’t really understand, is the land actually cursed in that whatever is hidden is physically removed by a supernatural power? Or is the curse that everyone steals so anything not secured to your person will be taken by someone else? The word “curse” is cross referenced with Helaman 13:20 which says, “And the day shall come that they shall hide up their treasures, because they have set their hearts upon riches; and because they have set their hearts upon their riches, and will hide up their treasures when they shall flee before their enemies; because they will not hide them up unto me, cursed be they and also their treasures; and in that day shall they be smitten, saith the Lord.” There are other verses referenced with this word, but I liked this on the best because it really went to the heart of the ma...

13:1-12 - Moroni has bid us farewell in the last chapter, and now will “proceed to finish my record concerning the destruction of the people of whom I have been writing.” It’s really interesting because when I write, if it’s a story type thing, I don’t finish half way through with my final words and an “amen.” It makes me wonder if the Jaredite records were abridged in the order that they are presented here, meaning if Moroni was abridging and commenting at the same time or if he did one and then the other and then mixed them, if that makes sense. Ether told the people many thing, “for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands.” He taught them everything from the beginning to the future. Verse 3 is kind of confusing because it uses both past and future tense, “and that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven and the ho...

12:33-34 - The word “charity” is discussed next, which is another word that is hindered in our understanding because of its usage in our modern society. I think that it’s mostly associated with giving to the less fortunate and it’s not that at all. The best piece that I’ve ever heard on charity is actually quite accusatory by saying something to the effect of, we as a society think that by giving money we are free from the sin of neglect and pride, when in fact by throwing money at issues we don’t want to address and then calling it “charity” is really blaspheme. Ok maybe I put that last part in there but it seems about right, really that’s how I feel. This concept of “charity” and Christ-like love has been an interesting journey for me, I remember when I first started writing this blog and coming to charity for the first time. I don’t like people, or I should say that I didn’t like people, and feeling towards others and being open and personable was really scary for me, but I knew th...

12:29-32 - Moroni gives us some pretty good insight about the grace of God and the Atonement helping us overcome our weaknesses. The Lord has just expounded to him the purpose of weaknesses and how we can be strengthened if we allow Him to help us, and at these words, this comforting teaching, Moroni “was comforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith.” I gleaned a couple of really interesting points from this. The first one is recognizing that the Lord’s will is the way that will make us happy. Moroni’s exclamation that “thy righteous will be done” sounds like something a person would say as they were turning their lives over to be transformed by the Lord, kind of a throwing your hands up and saying “ok God, you take over, I’ll do what you say.” It’s also interesting to me that Moroni made that statement while being comforted with the knowledge that we can overcome weaknesses. I wonder if I was ha...

12:23-28 - Moroni laments to the Lord his concern that “the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing… because of the awkwardness of our hands.” I wish I could find it but of course I can’t, it was either an Ensign article or a general conference talk that went through the weaknesses of some of the ancient prophets and discussed the aspects of that. The article spoke of the difference between Enoch and Moses, who were both called as prophets when they had a speech impediment. Enoch went forward in faith and became a mighty speaker; Moses on the other hand, was hesitant and wanted his brother Aaron to be his mouthpiece. This has always intrigued me, I’ve always wondered why the Lord would “give in” and allow Aaron to the Moses’ speaker, instead of just compelling him to trust God and learn to be a great speaker, and I guess that stems from my own feeling of sometimes being compelled to “learn” something before I can move forward. If I looked closely at my li...

12:5-7 - Moroni continues on his lecture on faith and hope when he continues, "I would show unto you that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen." I always had a problem with this explanation because of the word "hope" and I think the reason for this is the way that it's used in English in our society. Hope is a flippant word, used in "I hope I win the lottery" or "I hope that I can get a new job." I equated the hope described in conjunction with faith as a trust. I listened to an Ensign article last week from June 2009 entitled " Hope: the Misunderstood Sister ." I loved the explanation offered by the author, 'Then there's Hope, who seems to have a problem with the way people perceive her. It may be her name and the way it's commonly used: 'I hope the car passes inspection.' Or, 'I hope the weather will be nice for the wedding.' Used this way, the word hope is the verbal equivalent of keeping y...

12:1-4 - This is a very long and very content intensive chapter, so it's probably going to take some time to get through. We met Ether yesterday, but today we are set up more fully to understand his role, personality, and position as the Jaredite nation collapses. Moroni tells us that "Ether was a prophet of the Lord; wherefore Ether came forth in the days of Coriantumr, and began to prophesy unto the people, for he could not be restrained because of the Spirit of the Lord which was in him. For he did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance lest they should be destroyed." There's a really interesting phrase in here "for he could not be restrained because of the Spirit of the Lord which was in him." It's incredible how the Lord sets me up, almost daily, for my post that night because it seems like almost everyday I hear something in the lessons or in the Ensign on my way to work th...

11:1-7 - Even though I skipped over a lot of the end of the last chapter, it was mostly a back and forth between righteous and wicked kings, wars and power struggles and captivity. We end on Com as the ruler and the people becoming wicked with "robbers in the land; and they adopted the old plans, and administered oaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom. Now Com did fight against them much; nevertheless, he did not prevail against them." As the people degenerated into wickedness, the Lord sent prophets, as he always does, and "there came also in the days of Com many prophets, and prophesied of the destruction of that great people except they should repent, and turn unto the Lord, and forsake their murders and wickedness." Did the people see the error in their ways and repent? No, they did not, "the prophets were rejected by the people, and they fled unto Com for protection, for the people sought to destroy them." This...