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Showing posts from January, 2020

9 - 15 Mar - Learn With Joy and Not With Sorrow - Jacob 1 - 4

Jacob 1 - That We Might Persuade Them to Come Unto Christ I'm taking an online economics class right now, which prompted me to think of the definition of economics in the context of the scriptures. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. In the case of Nephi and his successor Jacob, the plates upon which they engraved their record was a scarce resource. They were costly to make and difficult to engrave, and instilling a tradition of passing them through generations was surely cumbersome.  Recognizing the great importance of spiritual things and the challenge of maintaining records, Nephi instructed Jacob to prioritize religious instruction saying, " if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people" (Jacob 1:4).   This priority was not only reflecte
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Jan 13-19, 2020 - They Came Forth and Fell Down and Partook of the Fruit of the Tree - 1 Nephi 8-10

1 Nephi 8 - They Came Forth and Fell Down and Partook of the Fruit of the Tree "I began to be  desirous  that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was  desirable  above all other fruit" ( 1 Nephi 8:12). Lehi's motivation to share the blessings of the atonement with his family was based in his personal knowledge of its sweetness. It seems obvious, but if I want to be more effective in teaching my children to know and love God, to repent and keep the commandments, and to love others I need to invest more in doing those things myself.  A little over a year ago I went to a leadership training meeting for church where the speaker encouraged leaders to use real and current examples from their own lives when they were teaching or speaking in church meetings. When we speak from personal experience we are more sincere in our words and more compelling in our message. Stories are the best surrogate for personal experience when we are trying to persuad
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Jan 6-12, 2020- I Will Go and Do - 1 Nephi Chapters 1-7

Speaking of Lehi and his family, the  Come Follow Me lesson manual  asserts "there is real power in following the examples of faith that this family  —despite their imperfections  —demonstrated." I tend to focus on what I can learn explicitly from what the author's of the Book of Mormon say, but this prompt from the lesson manual made me consider what I learn implicitly from  the figures in the Book of Mormon. Lehi did an impossibly difficult thing. He boldly challenged the people to repent, even when doing so incurred the wrath of the people and jeopardized his life. He endured hardship and uncertainty traveling in the desert, and crossing the ocean in a make-shift vessel. He tirelessly appealed to wayward children in faith and love.  Despite his righteousness and courage, there were times when he complained and stumbled. In some ways, Lehi's human moments are more inspiring than his peaks of faith because they show me that I can influence others for good de
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Dec 30 - Jan 5, 2020: That They Might Not Be Destroyed - The Introductory Pages of the Book of Mormon

If you only had three minutes and twenty seven seconds to share the most important message you could with the world, what would you say? In the twilight of President Monson's life, I remember focusing on his brief General Conference addresses. The scarcity of his words made them more precious to me, and I was struck by the economy of what he had to say. He must have known as he prepared each talk that he would only have about five minutes before his shoulders would slump--palms pressed down to braced against the podium--and his words would grow heavy and slow in his mouth.  
In  April 2017  he said, " My dear associates in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives." I was listening to his talk on my run to work, and I remember stopping ha
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