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
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
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
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
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