Blueprint to Christ

In class this week we discussed Moroni 7-9 and had a great discussion on the chapters. One of the things we discussed in class was in chapter 7, where Brother Griffin gave us a cross-reference to Matthew 25:14-30. These verses talk about the parable of the talents and how, if you sacrifice your best, the Lord returns it right back. But, if you are like the brother who does nothing with his talents, you receive no reward. Brother Griffin stressed the importance of seeing God as merciful and not mean. He judges us with a righteous judgment and we must always remember that.

Another cool thing we talked about was messages and how we share them with one another. When the Lord  opens the veil and endows us with a message, it is our responsibility to share it. Both testimony and agency together is how we spread faith to those around us. The resulting outflows and blessings of faith are miracles and angels, like we can read in verses 27-28 and 29. The first is 27-28: "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men? 28: For ... he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing[.]" In verse 29 it says "And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men." In verse 30 we see again that all of these things come as result of having "strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness."

We also discussed how interesting it is that time and time again, the scriptures emphasize having a soft heart but a firm mind. A firm mind leads to busy hands and standing for righteousness, but a soft hard brings humility and charity. In verse 31 we can understand that doing all of these things (having faith, experiencing angels/miracles, and having a soft heart/firm mind) helps us become "chosen vessels of the Lord, that [we] may bear testimony of him." A vessel is a carrier of something--in this case, a carrier of testimony. Pretty cool.

In verse 40-42 we read about a pretty cool cycle about faith and hope. Sometimes we think hope comes first, but these verses make it very clear that they are dependent upon each other. Verse 40 says "How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?" Then verse 42 says "Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope." These attributes go in a circle and are necessary for each other.

Verses 45 and 46 are great too. Verse 45 lists what charity is, and Brother Griffin suggested that this is a perfect blueprint for becoming like the Savior. We can replace the word "charity" with the word "Christ," and we have an exact idea of what the Savior is like. In verse 47 it says "Charity is the pure love of Christ" so we know it's a literal part of Him. It is what He is and if we follow verse 45 we can become like Him.

We talked about lots of other great things, but I'm out of time. Thanks for reading!

Kelsey

Winds of Trials

We discussed some wonderful things in class this week. Our block was Ether 3-15, and they are some incredible chapters!

Our main discussion in chapter 3 came from verse 14, where it says "Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son."We talked about how that could be potentially confusing, since we are always taught that Jesus is our older brother. Brother Griffin explained that in order to be deemed "father," one has to engender new life in something. Our ultimate Father is Heavenly Father, who created our spirit. Our second father is our earthly father, or the person we call "dad." Then finally, Jesus Christ is our third Father, for He is the everlasting Father of the creation--He is the Father of eternal life and engenders life into our resurrected bodies. He is the Father of our spiritually begotten rebirth. Brother Griffin taught us that as we let Jesus Christ become our Father--the Father who will save us from our sins and redeem us--it will strengthen our relationships with our other two fathers. That's kind of an interesting promise.

Chapter 5 we labeled "Dear Joseph, Love Moroni." It's pretty cool because there are several references to Joseph Smith in this chapter, and you can only imagine what a comfort that would've been to him to be translating this book. In verse 4 it says "And in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established; [through] the testimony of three and this work[.]" At this point in time Joseph hadn't shown the plates to anyone by commandment, so to read a verse that said he would have three other witnesses of the record must have brought him pure joy. However, later in the verse, we are reminded of who the true three witnesses are, for "the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost bear record" of it. They are the true three witnesses who say it's true, and that's the only witness we should need.

A principle I loved in chapter 6 was in verse 5. It says "And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind." We read again that the Lord God caused those winds. Why? To get them to the Promised Land. It's interesting to think that the most furious, strongest winds are the ones that brought them the greatest distance. Likewise, it's the most difficult, challenging trials that bring us the most growth as a person. It's during the hardest times that we make the greatest distance. In verses 11 and 12, we read that they went through this difficult, furious winds for almost a year. But still, "when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land, they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them."This is a great reminder to us to maintain perspective throughout our storms and to praise him with gratitude when we reach the end of them. They never lost sight of where these storms were taking them (to the Promised Land) and we must always remember that our trials, if we endure them well, will take us to the Celestial Kingdom.

We covered much more, but that's all I have time for. Have a great day!

Thanks for reading,

Kelsey

One in Purpose

This week we talked about Mormon 7-Ether 2. There were so many wonderful things covered in this week's lessons!

Starting in Mormon chapter 7, Mormon introduces the chapter by giving his last words/counsel to the house of Israel so that "they may know of the things of their fathers." These "fathers" include God the Father as the most important; then Jesus Christ as the second Father, then Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. as the third fathers. Mormon is hoping to teach his posterity about these fathers in this chapter. He says "These are the words which I speak" and Brother Griffin had us write in "so that ye..." because it seems like that's what Mormon is wanting to say. "So that ye know that ye are the house of Israel... so that ye know that ye must come unto repentance..." etc.

This chapter also teaches us how to put our past behind us. In verse 7, we read of the cause/reward of the effect/action. The reward is to dwell with Him and to sing praises with the choirs above. The effect/action is that we must repent to have that blessing! The commandments therefore become an effect--the action upon which blessings are predicated. Because commandments are our way to blessings, we should look at them as an opportunity and desire to live them. Brother Griffin even suggested we ask for more commandments!

Then with verses 8-9 (I think?) we cross-referenced John 17:11, 21 and 22, which is Jesus' intercessory prayer. These verses stress the truth of their "one-ness," and makes it very clear that they are not one in person--rather they are on in purpose. They emphasize the kind of one-ness that the Savior desires us to have. He doesn't want us all to be squished together in one body; He wants us to treat each other with love, respect and kindness and be one as sisters and brothers in Christ. Brother Griffin suggested we remember these verses when teaching about the Trinity, which is definitely something I'll have to do down in Alabama! The south is right along the Bible belt and it's good for me to be prepared with verses straight from the Bible.

Another cool trick we learned was in the last half of verse 8 through verse 9. He told us to replace every "this" with "The Book of Mormon" and every "that" with "the Bible." It gives a cool twist on the scripture and shows how we believe that the Bible and The Book of Mormon work together. The Book of Mormon was written to help people better believe in the Bible. We believe that they are one in purpose.

Chapter 9:12 is a cool scripture because it shows the three pillars of eternity and how they work together as the Plan of Salvation. It first says "He created Adam," (the Creation) then "by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ," (the Fall) and finally "And because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man." (the Atonement). It lists all three elements together--cool, huh?

Ah, there are so many awesome principles we covered in class this week and I just don't have time to cover them all!

A cool scripture we discussed in Mormon 9 is verse 31, where Mormon is obviously very self-conscious about the language he's writing in, which is reformed Egyptian. He says in 31 "Condemn me not because of mine imperfection..." and in 33 he says "and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record." Brother Griffin compared that to the way that many of us will feel who are speaking different languages. There will be times when we'll wish we could just speak in our own tongue, English, because then we could say exactly what we want to say in the right way! But whom the Lord calls the Lord qualifies, and just as Mormon was able to write and preach in this language, so will we be able to preach in our foreign languages. It's cool to know that even the prophet Mormon had the same insecurities as us.

Last of all we talked about Ether chapter 2, where the brother of Jared comes to the Lord and asks Him for help. The Lord answers him in verse 23 saying "What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?" The Lord challenges the Brother of Jared to ponder on an answer and to come up with a solution, then to ask the Lord for help with it. This is a prime example of what the Lord expects us to do. We are supposed to come to Him with our questions and desires, but there is a great responsibility on our part to act and use the resources He has given us. This is so applicable to us in our every day lives.

I love the scriptures. :)

Thanks for reading,

Kelsey

Quick Post

One of the cool things we talked about in class this week was in Mormon, chapter 1. We discussed the striking similarities between Mormon and Joseph Smith and how they compare to each other. In verse 2 it says that he was a "sober child," and "quick to observe." We can imagine Mormon as very contemplative and aware of when it was appropriate to have fun and when it was necessary to deal with serious matters. As we know, Joseph Smith was very much the same way. As much as he loved his games and pulling people  over sticks, he also was a sober, meek child who knew how to study. In verse 6 we read that Mormon "was carried by [his] father into the land southward" at the age of 11, and in one of the accounts of Joseph Smith's father, we read that he moved the family to Palmyra, New York after his family experienced many trials. Ironically enough, Joseph was the meek age of 11 as well. In chapter 2 we read that Mormon was appointed to be the leader of the Nephite armies, and we know that the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph when he was near the age of 15 as well. These striking similarities are reminders to us of how the Lord prepares His servants and is mindful of their roles in life.

In chapter 2, we also read about the stumbling block of the Nephites. We see in verses 10-12 that they did "begin" to repent and "begin" to cry, but in 13 it says that their sorrowing was not for repentance to God; but rather it was a sadness for and of themselves. In 14 we read that "they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts, but they did curse God, and wish to die." These are the kind of things they experienced, and this is a lesson to us to not let our trials and struggles separate us from God. We need to let them bring us closer to Him.

An Exciting Week

For those who may have missed it, MY MISSION CALL CAME!! After two whole months of anxiously waiting to see where the Lord wants me to spend the next year-and-a-half of my life, it finally came. I've been called to the Birmingham, Alabama mission and I couldn't be happier. I'm speaking English and I report on May 29th, which is a little over 2 months away! It's crazy how soon I will become a full-time missionary.

A bunch of people came to support me at my call opening, and even more were there in spirit/phone/video in Texas and surrounding states. Here are some pictures...

Me with my roommates, Margo on the right and Audrey on the left.

One of my dearest friends, Mckenzie.

It's here!!!

Holding my call. So, so excited.

My brother and I, who recently returned from a mission to Mesa. His phone looks like it's in my mouth... but it's not, promise.

My mom and me. Mixed emotions, for sure.

Family picture. My favorite people ever.

Reading through the book...

And this is by far my favorite picture of the whole night. Captures my shocked "I'm going where?!" reaction perfectly. Alabama, here I come. :)

Well, enough about my mission call. It's time to start writing about my Book of Mormon class from this week. We discussed several chapters this week, but the ones we covered the most in-depth were chapters 22-28. His challenge to us was to take our scripture study and turn it to "I" level, where we can be up close and personal and apply the truths to our lives. In chapter 22, verses 5-10, the Savior is quoting Isaiah. But verses 7-8 are a missionary's goldmine scriptures, according to Brother Griffin. It says "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." This is a powerful verse that can comfort many investigators if we take it to a personal level. Oftentimes my investigators probably will feel as though God has forsaken them and turned Himself away from them. However, they can be reassured that this will only be for a small moment. Because He will gather us "with great mercies," and He will have "everlasting kindness" and "mercy" on us. It goes onto mention all the trials that we will endure, and so will our investigators. Regardless, He will always be there and "will lay [our] stones with fair colors, and lay [our] foundations with sapphires." The road won't be easy, but it will always be blessed by the Lord. 

One interpretation of verse 16 is also pretty cool. It says "Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy." It's interesting how a "smith" or a blacksmith is a tool for work, and ironically enough, the Savior's tool to restore the gospel was also named Smith. The instrument that's mentioned is the Book of Mormon, which is the best instrument there is. Finally, the "waster to destroy," is us, the missionaries. We are called to purge the world of sin and bring the truthfulness of the gospel. Cool, huh?

In chapter 23, the Savior commands us to search the words of Isaiah, and there is a big difference between reading and searching. Brother Griffin said that the ones who study Isaiah the most are often the ones who understand love it the most. The Savior has commanded us right then and there to love Isaiah's words. I love this class.

Thanks for reading,

3 Nephi 15-21

I realized from this week just how much I love the book of 3 Nephi, especially the chapters when Christ is visiting the people. I think 19 has got to be one of my all-time favorite chapters. It's so beautiful and so descriptive. It gives such powerful imagery and helps me to imagine myself in that situation.

Sadly we didn't really discuss 19 in class. We focused more on the historical side of it all--the twelve tribes of Israel, the scattering and gathering, the Law of Moses, etc. I enjoyed it, but I think I enjoyed my personal reading the most.

We did, however, discuss chapter 17 where Christ blesses the people. He mentions in verse 2 that they are weak, and He tells them to go to their homes and recover so He can teach them more tomorrow. But when He tells them to do this, the people begin to cry. He instead stays and tells them to bring everyone forward that needs to be healed. In verse 9, it emphasizes that "He did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him." He healed each person individually and took the time to love each of them. He realized that people were more important than time restraints. I've been trying to think about this a lot too, as I balance homework/life/school with service and going to the temple regularly. This is a good example to me of putting the most important things before important things.

After healing the people, He healed their children as well. In verse 21, it says "And when he had said these words, he wept ... and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them." The cool thing Brother Griffin pointed out is that weeping requires opening your heart. It requires allowing yourself to feel emotion and to feel someone else's pains, which isn't always an easy thing to do. It's hard to make yourself vulnerable and capable of sharing those emotions, but that's one of the beautiful things about the Atonement. Because Christ suffered each and every one of our pains, sorrows and afflictions, He knows exactly how to open His heart to us. He knows how to cry with us and to make Himself vulnerable, because He's already been there and has done it before. He can share our emotions because they've already been His. Pretty cool. :)

Chapters 18-21 is about turning our mortal efforts into eternal rewards. In chapter 18 we discussed the Abrahamic Covenant in which Christ says "I'll be your God if you'll be my people." The cool thing is that baptism and the sacrament is our own form of the Abrahamic covenant. Each week we take the sacrament and renew that covenant with Him to be completely clean and do what He has asked of us. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had sacrificial meetings, but we have sacrament meetings. Each week we put all of our mortal, earthly desires, worries, cares, goals, passions and concerns on His altar. We give them and ourselves to Him, because things that are His can be eternal.

That's all for this week!

Kelsey

The Beatitudes

Our lessons in Book of Mormon were fantastic this week, and I learned so much. We covered 3 Nephi 11-14, and you'd probably think I'm crazy if you saw how marked up chapter 12 is! My margins are filled to the brim with writing... haha. I really love this class.

3 Nephi chapter 12 covers the Beatitudes of the Savior, or rather "the process to obtain perfection." Throughout verses 1-10, Brother Griffin drew a staircase to illustrate the various steps of the Beatitudes and how you climb them to go through the repentance process. The first one can be found in verse 1, where it says "Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister to you[.]" So, the first step is to...

1. Listen to the prophets. 

2. Believe and be baptized.

The second step is found in the end of verse 1 where it says "blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized." We have to exercise faith in him and be baptized to begin the process of repentance.

Ironically enough, these first two steps are not mentioned in the Bible's account of the Beatitudes. This is interesting because compared to the rest of the steps below, these two are the two that must preface any sort of repentance process. First, we must keep His commandments, and second we have to be baptized. Once those two conditions are met, we can continue on the path to receiving forgiveness for our sins. 

3. Become humble and recognize the gap between who we are and who we should be.

The third step (which is the first after the previous two are satisfied) is in verse 3. "Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Essentially, we need to become humble to receive forgiveness. We know what we should be and we know what we are, and it's important for us to recognize the difference.

4. Feel sadness for our sins and separation from God.

In verse 4 we read "And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Once we've acknowledged the distance between us and the Lord, full repentance requires mourning. It requires sorrow and sadness for our sins and for the gap between us.

5. Become meek and give our will to Him.

Step five comes from verse 5 as well. It reads "And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." We become humble and meek after realizing our own nothingness, and we submit our will to his. We become willing to do whatever He wants us to do to become more like him.

6. Get up--hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Step six in verse six says to "hunger and thirst after righteousness" to be "filled with the Holy Ghost." This is so important because after becoming humble, being sorrowful and being willing to do whatever He wants of us, the next step is to actually do those things. We can't just sit there and say "okay, Lord, I'm ready. Change me." It requires effort on our part to get up, make those changes and seek for those righteous things. 

7. Be merciful and forgive ourselves.

Step seven in verse seven is to be merciful, because they who are merciful "shall obtain mercy." The cool thing about this verse in this context is that it's not referring to being merciful to others--it's about being merciful to ourselves. We can't move forward in our lives and the repentance process without forgiving ourselves and showing ourselves mercy. 

8. Become pure even as He is pure.

In verse eight it reads "And blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." After we've accomplished each of these steps and reached this point, we have to put these things into practice. We have to practice being pure and emulating his example of goodness and perfection. Of course we can never be perfect, but we can follow His example as we do our best to be pure. 

9. Be a peacemaker. 


Step nine is about becoming a peacemaker, because "they shall be called the children of God." Not only is it our duty to find peace in this life for ourselves, but for others as well. Through sharing our knowledge of the gospel with those around us, we can be peacemakers.

10. Experience persecution and start over.

In verse ten, our spiral staircase starts all over again with persecution. Persecution can bring trial and sin, and if we fall into sin, we begin the cycle again. It's a perfectly ordered plan for repentance and can be used with any issue we may have. Are you struggling with choosing good media? This plan applies. Maybe you're having an issue with modesty... plug it into these steps and it can help. It's really a cool thing; who would've thought the Beatitudes could be applied to repentance? Pretty cool. 

We all ended up drawing a diagram in our scriptures that looks something like this..

Pretty cool huh.. I thought so. We talked about that and a few other chapters, but that was my favorite part. 

Thanks for reading,