Sunday, January 3, 2010
1 Nephi Ch 4 (Annabelle)
I was reading in the beginning of chapter 4 in 1 Nephi and was thinking about how hard it must have been for Nephi to kill Laban. All his life he had probably been taught not to kill and when he learned of his father's vision and of Heavenly Father it must have been made even more clearly not to kill. Yet, here he his with the spirit of the Lord prompting him to kill this man. Though in the end he did it and was blessed. I think the Lord blessed him so that he wouldn't be guilty of his kill. The Lord always knows what is best. He loves us and always will. Amen
from Sally (aka Mom, Grandma)
I was reading this morning in 1Nephi 20. I never look forward to the Isaiah chapters because they are hard for me to understand but today I was impressed with verse 18 where it says, "Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments-then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea". I think that everyone in the world is seeking peace, both inner peace and peace in their surroundings. I think this scripture gives us the key to inner peace which is keeping the commandments. In verse 22, it says, "...there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked". If everyone kept the commandment and had this inner peace, then we would also have peace in the world.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
1 Nephi: 18
As I was reading chapter 18 tonight and reading over the part where Laman and Lemuel bind Nephi with cords. I decided to go back through 1 Nephi and see how many times I could see that Laman and Lemuel either murmured or turned their hearts away from the Lord. I may have missed some but in just the first few chapters there were 5 or 6. I was thinking of how this reminds me of the atonement for us. Everytime Laman and Lemuel murmured as long as they repented and turned their hearts back to the Lord, the Lord forgave them and was always by their side. I know that later down the road Laman and Lemuel go down the wrong path but if they had continued to make the right choices and turn their hearts back to the Lord he would have been there for them. This relates to us because no one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes, but as long as we are doing our best and following the right path and turning our hearts to the Lord he will not leave us behind. The atonement is an incredible thing and the Savior felt every feeling and pain for us, so that we could work through life and repent and return back to Heavenly Father.
1 Nephi 17-18
Terrica and me have recently got up to this point in our scripture study. Nephi is commanded to build a ship. Not only is is laughed upon and scorned for wanting to build a ship but the way he goes about constructing the ship is mocked as well. Verse 2 of chapter 18 says "Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men." I think this is very relevant to daily life in many ways. The way of the gospel is not the way of men. It is very easy to give into the world when it questions the differences in lifestyle that the worthy members of the church abide by. It takes a great deal of faith and humility to follow the commandments we have been given even if others question the sensibility of the decisions. If we maintain an eternal perspective on life and the decisions it entails, we too can be blessed for making decisions in accordance with the commandments of the gospel.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Jan 1, 2009 "Softening Hearts"
This is Dad ( Jay) . I'm still learning how to use this blog and I think I have it figured out thanks to Julia. Most of us were just adding comments to Julia's initial entry rather than adding our own post that shows up on the home page. (see Julia's instructions below). I've really been enjoying those comments, by the way. Anyway, I have a new post and then I will copy and past the comments made by everyone here on the main blog page.
alli said...alli said... alli said...
I was thinking, just imagine being Ishmael and getting a visit from Nephi and his brothers telling you to pick up and leave everything to go into the wilderness to join their family and marry Nephi's sons and travel to who knows where? How would Ishmael and his family ever agree to such a crazy idea? Verse 5 in 1Nephi chapter 7 gives the answer. "The Lord did soften the heart of Ishamel and also his household." I thought, if the Lord can soften Ishmael's heart to do such a big thing - surely he can soften the hearts of family loved ones or others to do things according to his will. Do we know someone who's heart needs softening? (we probably all need to an extent for that matter) The Lord can make it happen! In fact verse 12 tells us the Lord is able to do all things according to His will, for the children of men (and here's the key) if it so be that they will exercise faith in him." Dad
Here are the other great comments I'm copying and pasting from the comments section:
This is Dad.
I underlined several things in the first 6 pages of the Book of Mormon I read tonight. I was impressed that "heart" was mentioned several times. Lehi prayed with "all his heart" giving us an example of how to pray. A few verses later "his whole heart was filled" because of the things he'd seen in a vision in answer to his prayer - teaching us the feeling we can have as our prayers are answered if we pray with or whole heart.
I was also impressed with 1 Nephi 4:6 "And I was led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." In trying to relate that to us I think it means that if we're prompted to to do something where the exact course and the end product is not clear, if we that that first step into the darkness, relying on the Lord, he will let us know what we need to do. It just takes faith that you are being led by the spirit. Hope to hear your thoughts on scriptures you're reading. Dad
Dad,
Thanks for your thoughts on being led by the spirit. When we were contemplating what job Riley should take after he graduated, we felt really good about the job in Boise, but we weren't sure why. We heeded the promptings of the spirit and it was such a blessing. When Riley got really sick a few months after starting his job here, we were so grateful that it included really good insurance. The other job didn't have any.
So, I began the Book of Mormon again today is response to this challenge (thanks Jeff and Julia!).
I didn't always read the intro. to the BoM and I can't even remember who inspired me to start doing it, but I have found so many treasures in those first couple of pages and I would like to share my thoughts on a few.
The purpose of the BoM is laid out so clearly in these pages. Those I have found are to:
1. Witness of Christ
2. Give us the doctrine of Christ (4 Nephi)
3. Testify of Christ.
The Book of Mormon truly is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ."
I found a certain quote particularly interesting as I reread the Introduction this evening, because I hear of so many people searching for peace in their lives. This, the Book of Mormon, "tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come (Introduction to the Book of Mormon, par. 3)."
As I live by the teachings found in the Book of Mormon, I have peace. The best self help book I have ever read is the Book of Mormon. My best counselor; Christ.
This is Annabelle's comment:
I was reading the introduction in the Book of Mormon and I saw a little slip of paper my class had glued in front of the introduction. It is a quote by Ezra Taft Benson. He said,"Heavenly Father wants you to continue to learn from the Book of Mormon every day. It's Heavenly Father's special gift to you.By following it's teachings, you will learn to do the will of our Father in Heaven." What that means to me is, you should always strive to read the Book of Mormon every day. As you read you should strive to learn the teachings. I know that it will help you in your troubles so much if you take the time to read the Book of Mormon every day. Each time I start over again I get something new out of the Book of Mormon. My favorite scripture is the Book of Mormon, and I will strive to follow the teachings I read in this book.
Adding New Post
**Mom posted a post right below this one, so make sure to check it out**
Hey Everyone! I've noticed that people have been adding to the blog which is GREAT. I love reading everyones thoughts and insights. One thing Dad and I noticed was that it's getting put in the comments under my first post. I was just going to add on here how to add a new post so it can be seen right when you go to the blog and you don't have to click on the comment section. Then if you want to leave a comment specifically for someone's post then you can use the comment section.
1. go to blogger.com
2. sign in using your email and password
3. click on little blue button that says New Post
4. It will then bring up a two separate boxes: one for a Title (smaller one) second for main composing area (bigger box). Once you are done typing what you want hi publish post and will show up on the main page of the blog.
I hope this helps a little....please let me know if you have any questions!
1Nephi 1-15
Dad and I listened to the first 15 chapters of 1st Nephi on our trip to Utah this week. I was interested in a few ideas that came to me. First, I was thinking about how little material wealth matters in the long run. Lehi and his family left everything they had and traveled in the wilderness in order to be obedient. In an effort to get the plates, the brothers brought all their gold and silver to Laban. They took all they had as far as material wealth and lost it but they obtained a greater treasure... the plates that had their genealogy and the commandments. I have also been thinking about Lehi's vision of the iron rod. When Nephi was shown the same vision, he explained that Lehi had not noticed that the river was filled with filthy water. I think that we get so busy sometimes and so distracted that we miss very obvious dangers in our lives. It is such a blessing to have loved ones and church leaders who can help us see things we might have missed.
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