Weaknesses and Strengths

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Either 12:27

This is one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon.  So often I feel like I can't do all of the things my friends can and that I am not talented.  This scripture makes me feel so much better about myself. In my mission prep class, my teacher told us a story about weakness.  There was a man who had a giant rock in his yard.  He wanted to get rid of it, but it was too big for him to move.  He prayed to God for help and God told him that if he would work every day at moving the rock, he would be able to succeed.  Every morning the man would get up, push the rock all day long, and when evening came he would go to bed. This cycle lasted for months.  One day the man said to God "God, I've been pushing this rock all day every day and it hasn't moved at all.  Why do I have to keep pushing? It's clearly too heavy for me." With that, God pointed out to the man all the muscles he had formed from pushing the rock all day. While the trial was too great for him to accomplish, it had made him strong and he was now a better person because of what he went through.  I know that God gives us trials not because he wants to punish us, but because with trials he can shape us to become the people he wants us to be.

Prophetic Connections

This week in Book of Mormon we studied "The Book of Mormon," confusing I know. As we read chapters 1-6, Brother Griffin pointed out that they are a great example of how life is hard.  Mormon went through many trials in his life, and it was all so that he would be in the right time and place to prepare the plates.  In verse 2, it says "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.  Mormon was only ten years old when he was approached by the prophet.  We made ties to Mormon Jr. and Joseph Smith Jr.  They had very similar life experiences, something I had never previously noticed.  At a young age, they were both visited by a prophet and given the plates.  The similarities were so great, that they were both moved to different parts of the land.  Brother Griffin told us a great story about the family of Joseph Smith.   When Joseph was very young, his family lived in Virginia.  His parents owned a farm and over and over, they lost their crops and were unable to pay their bills. Eventually they had to move to New York and just so happened to live in Palmyra New York, right next to the hill where  the plates were buried.  God helps us in our lives, and sometimes when it feels like we are being punished, he is really just preparing us for something better in the future.

Names

This week in Book of Mormon, we talked about the importance of names.  I've never really thought much about how names are used in the Book of Mormon, but Brother Griffin pointed out some interesting facts.  We mostly focused in chapter 27 of 3rd Nephi.  Names are mentioned over and over in this section.  Brother Griffin started by pointing out that the husband first gives his name to his wife, then after as a father he gives his name to his children.  Similarly, the church is named after the father.  In verses 7-8 of chapter 27 he says "7. Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name that he will bless the church for my sake.  8. And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses' name then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel."  I love these two verses.  Christ makes it so clear to the Nephites that they need to be taking upon his name and calling the church the Church of Christ.  (Take note that the name of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was given in D&C 115:4 as revelation to Joseph Smith).  I also love that he mentions that not only does it need to be called in his name but also that it must be built upon his gospel.  A church cannot just call themselves Christ's Church and be true, they need to be built upon his gospel. 

Protection from on High

This week in Book of Mormon, we were reading in 3rd Nephi about when Christ is visiting in the Americas.  In the chapters he taught about the scattering of Israel.  In chapter 21 when they talk about Israel being gathered back together and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, Christ promises the Gentilies that they will be saved if they are willing to believe and obey the commandments.  He also talks about Joseph Smith in this chapter.  He says "But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them.  Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil."  Christ here shows us that he has ultimate power and that although people have the freedom to do what they want, he will protect us in the end and will not allow us to be destroyed.  Even though this was taught a long time ago, it still applies to us today.  Even when times are rough and we feel like we are alone and not protected from the evils of the world, Christ will always heal us and help us overcome our trials. 

Attitudes

This week in Book of Mormon, one of the things we talked a lot about was the Beattitudes.  I've read over these many times, but I usually don't think twice about them.  Brother Griffin showed us a new way to see them.  He pointed out that the Beattitudes are a representation of the repentance process.  Let me show you how it works.  Starting in 3 Nephi, chapter 12 verse 3 we find them.  The first is "Blessed are the poor in spirit" When we are pure in spirit, we recognize that we have made a mistake.  In verse 4 we see "blessed are they that mourn" mourning represents that we feel bad about what we did.  verse 5 says "blessed are the meek" when you are meek, you admit that what you did was wrong. verse 6 says "blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness" showing that they have the desire to do what is right. Verse 7 is about forgiving yourself when it says "blessed are the merciful." 8 and 9 kind of go together "blessed are all the pure in heart" and "Blessed are all the peacemakers" saying that you are becoming better and helping others as well.  I thought this was a super cool way of looking at these ideas that I haven't really thought much about before.  One of the best things about our church is that we believe that through Christs atonement, we are able to repent and be forgiven of our sins, but it is not just a confession and you're done, you have to put forth the effort and really feel sorry for what you have done.  Even if what you has done seems awful and you feel like you can never be forgiven, Christ is there for you and he will help you.

Samuel was a Prophet

This week we learned all about Samuel the Lamanite.  I've never payed too much attention to Samuel, I just saw him as another prophet the Lord sent to preach the gospel.  When I heard his name, my mind automatically pictured him standing on the wall with arrows all around unable to touch him.  Brother Griffin was able to open my eyes and help me see him in a whole new light.  He pointed out four different things about him that I hadn't noticed before.  Number one, Samuel is the only lamanite whose preachings were recorded in the Book of Mormon. Second, his prophesys were specific.  While many other prophets would tell of things to come, Samuel was able to give an exact number of days.  The third thing he pointed out was that Samuel was a nobody.  The only other nobody we see in the Book of Mormon was Abinidi.  Aside from the two of them, we always know their heritage and where they come from.  The final thing we noticed was the Samuel's doctrine was deep.  All of these things together helped establish a whole new view of Samuel for me.  He was an excellent prophet who worked hard to please the Lord.  If we can strive to follow the gospel in the same manner that Samuel did, we will be blessed in our lives.

The Dangers of Pride

Any of you who know much about the Book of Mormon, have heard about the pride cycle. For those who don't, I have included a picture and i'll briefly describe it.  The pride cycle is the pattern that the people in the Book of Mormon often follow.  They start out as a righteous people, and because they are righteous, they recieve blessings from God.  After revieving blessings, they think they are better than their bretheren and become prideful.  Because of the pride, they begin to be wicked and sin.  This sinning leads God to destroy what they have until they have again become humble and willing to listen to the word of God.  Then the cycle repeats itself.  In class, we went more in depth than I have before, and learned more about this cycle and the other cycles within it.  Our teacher referred to this main cycle as the Terrestrial cycle. It is the medium ground.  Eventually, the people go back to being good, but they don't stay their for long.  On the other hand, some people stay in the bad half of the cycle.  After their pride has led to wickedness and destruction, they are angry with God and go back to being prideful.  This is considered the Telestial cycle.  The cycle we want to be in is the Celestial cycle.  This means that after we are righteous and blessed, we go straight to being humble and trusting in the lord.  Seeing this drawn out was interesting.  It made me want to make sure I never reach the telestial part of the cycle.  Pride is difficult to avoid, but if we make sure to recognize that without God, we are nothing, we will be able to remain humble.