Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

We return to the regular type of format in section 103, with the Lord speaking and the Prophet receiving the counsel. The IM gives background for 103 as: “During the first week of November 1833, the Saints in Jackson County, Missouri, were driven from their homes and forced across the Missouri River into Clay County, where they were received with some degree of kindness. Elder Parley P. Pratt gave the follow account of subsequent events: ‘After making our escape into the county of Clay- being reduced to the lowest poverty- I made a living by day labor, jobbing, building, or wood cutting, till some times in the winter of 1834, when a general conference was held at my house, in which it was decided that two of the Elders should be sent to Ohio, in order to counsel with President Smith and the Church at Kirtland, and take some measures for the relief or restoration of the people thus plundered and driven from their homes. The question was put to the Conference: ‘Who would volunteer to...

Section 102 is a little bit different than we’ve seen before and we’re given some insight into how the Church functions through its disciplinary councils. The IM gives background saying, “On 17 February 1834 Joseph Smith organized the first high council of the Church in this dispensation. On the next day, 18 February, the Prophet reviewed and corrected the organizational minutes. Then on 19 February the council was reassembled, transacted business, and the minutes were presented to the council. The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke to the council on the necessity of prayer, ‘that the Spirit might be given, that the things of the Spirit might be judged thereby, because the carnal mind cannot discern the things of God. The minutes were read three time, and unanimously adopted and received for a form and constitution of the High Council of the Church of Christ hereafter; with this provision, that if the President should hereafter discover anything lacking in the same, he should have the priv...

101:76-80 - The Lord goes into some pretty specific stuff about how the Saints should go about solving their problems, and the origin of the United States constitution. I’m not sure what the saints were expecting, vengeance or permission to fight, maybe like the Jews at the time of Christ, they wanted a warrior god to free them from their oppression but like the Jews, the Lord tells them to be patient, to endure, to perfect themselves in their tribulations. This is similar to Alma and Amulon, Limhi and his people, they weren’t delivered right away, it took time, they were told to wait and so they did, kicking and screaming much of the time. Here the Lord tells them to “importune for redress, and redemption, by the hands of those who are placed as rulers and are in authority over you.” The IM teaches, “One purpose of government is to protect individuals ‘in their inherent and inalienable rights,’ including ‘the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the pr...

101:67-75 - One part of the parable of the vineyard that I think goes unnoticed until the Lord brings it up in verse 68 is that everything is not done immediately, like when the servant asked when they would possess the land and the master's house, and the Lord said "when I will." In verse 68 he tells the saints "let not your gathering be in haste, nor by flight; but let all things be prepared before you." One question I've always had is why not make everything happen right away? I'm the kind of person that if I know something is going to happen or needs to happen, my main goal is to make it happen as soon as possible. For instance, after the apostles were killed and the gospel was taken away in its fullness, why not just restore it again right away? Why have all those people suffer or dwindle in unbelief for all those centuries because of the choices of others? But the point isn't that I need to understand why, but that I need to make sure that I do...

101:35-38 - These verses were made just for me to read today. I've been kind of down a little bit about stuff and I really feel like the Lord is telling me these things. It's interesting because one of the lessons that I've learned, and have even heard Ensign articles talk about this, that the believers are asked to endure harder and longer than the unbelievers. It's like Moroni and Coriantumr. Moroni lived alone wandering for decades, whereas I don't think Coriantumr wandered that long, I'm trying to remember the math that I did or that I read somewhere but I don't think it was nearly that long. I think one of the difficulties for me is that I feel like I bear a crushing responsibility of my family and that if I would just date and marry outside of the Church that I could probably be married again by now and not have to make all my decisions alone, or pay all the bills alone, or that someone would care about how my day was, or things like that. But because ...

101:19-22 - Verses 19 to 22 discuss some concepts that are difficult for me to understand. The Lord says that only the places that He designates are to be used “for the work of gathering of my saints… Behold, it is my will, that all they who call on my name, and worship me according to mine everlasting gospel, should gather together, and stand in holy places.” The IM quotes Elder Harold B. Lee as teaching, “In these days of our generation, many are asking: Where is safety? The word of the Lord is not silent. He has admonished us: (D&C 45:32). The Lord has told us where these ‘holy places’ are: (D&C 45:68). Where is Zion? During the various periods of time or dispensations, and for specific reasons, the Lord’s prophets, His ‘mouthpieces,’ as it were, have designated gathering places where the Saints were to gather. After designating certain such places in our dispensation, the Lord then declared: (D&C 101:21). Thus, the Lord has clearly placed the responsibility of direc...

101:9-11 - The Lord puts forth a statement characterizing human nature, which is that in general people put more value on the gospel in times of trouble than in times of peace and prosperity, and historically, we’ve seen that to be true. But just because we as people can be brats sometimes, we are assured “notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them. I will not utterly cast them off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy.” This seems kind of contradictory, that God will remember to be nice while he is punishing us, but here is where perspective comes in to play in our understanding. When we are disobedient to the laws of God, and we will be, universal rules decree that a withdrawal of the Spirit and certain blessings must happen. Because of the atonement, Jesus took all of those penalties on to himself, therefore he can determine what negative impacts our choices bring us knowing what it will take for us to come back to him. It’s not that h...

101:3- - One thing that I find interesting in this section is the back and forth between “the afflictions are because of your unrighteousness,” and “you’re being wronged, you should seek redress from the government.” I don’t believe that this is a contradictory statement even though it kind of seems like that. Let’s look at it from another point of view. Take the Nephites and the Lamanites for instance. The Nephites were destroyed because they were wicked, but did that mean that it was ok for the Lamanites to attack them? No, both parties were in the wrong. Applying that to this situation, The Lord allowed the Saints to be afflicted because of their transgressions, but does that mean that those in the mob destroying or harassing them were in the right? Not at all. I don’t know enough about the Saints in Missouri to know what kind of unrighteousness was going on there, but the more I think about it and read about it, it seems like Zion, as far as Missouri is concerned seems like an alm...