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Ether 2:25

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25  And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. I learned two things that I love from this verse documenting God's interactions with the brother of Jared. First, we are all going to have obstacles come into our life. There is something comforting about being forewarned that there is a great deep, waves, winds, and floods that will make life challenging. Having the right expectations somehow makes some things more manageable. Second, there is reason to believe that God has prepared us for every challenge we have faced and will face in life. God has given us attributes, experiences, knowledge, and relationships that allow us to flourish when the difficulties of life come upon us. Looking back now, I can see this pattern in my own life. One example comes from my mission. I often felt discouraged during my mission because of limi...
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Mormon 9:3-6

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  3  Then will ye longer deny the Christ, or can ye behold the Lamb of God? Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a   consciousness   of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws? 4  Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your  filthiness  before him, than ye would to dwell with the  damned  souls in  hell . 5  For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your  nakedness  before God, and also the glory of God, and the  holiness  of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you. 6  O then ye  unbelieving ,  turn  ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless,  pure , fair, and white, having been cl...
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Mormon 5:17-18

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17  They were once a delightsome people, and they had Christ for their   shepherd ; yea, they were led even by God the Father. 18  But now, behold, they are  led  about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they. Mormon creates beautiful images here that capture an underrated blessing of being a disciple of Jesus Christ: purpose. Chaff being blown around or a boat being pushed in every direction describe for me a life without direction, pushed from one thing to the next. Discipleship on the other hand imbues every moment with purpose - every decision can meaningfully impact oneself and others around them. Every decision can draw us closer to or farther from our Heavenly Father. I can imagine how that kind of meaning could feel like a heavy weight - what if you do make choices that take you away from God? Well,...
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4 Nephi 1:2-3

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2 ...the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. 3  And they had  all  things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly  gift . 4 Nephi is a wonderful book because it teaches how to create a community without contention, bound together in love. One of the characteristics of this society that I love the most is that "every man did deal justly one with another." So, what does it mean to deal justly one with another? Let me first illustrate the temptation I have around this. A few weeks ago, a young man came and knocked on our door just a little bit after a general conference session ended. He told me that he was painting house numbers onto people's curbs so that he could earn money for his mission. I had just finis...
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3 Nephi 22: 7-8, 10

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7  For a small moment have I   forsaken   thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8  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. 10  For the  mountains  shall depart and the hills be removed, but my  kindness  shall not  depart  from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. These verses from Isaiah are beautiful, encouraging, hopeful, and easy to love! As I've memorized them, I've been thinking over the question why forsaking or turning away is even part of the process. Many of our kids struggled to learn how to sleep. For each one of the kids at some point (for many of them, this happened multiple times), we had to let them cry it out - let them cry until they fell asleep without one of us coming in to soothe them. Many of our kids cried for a...
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3 Nephi 18:24-25

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Here are the verses I've been thinking about.   24  Therefore, hold up your   light   that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the   light   which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed. 25  And ye see that I have commanded that  none  of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might  feel  and see; even so shall ye do unto the world; and whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation. I am grateful that Jesus in these verses provides details on what it means to shine our light unto the world. Of course, it makes sense that the only light we can share is the Savior and what He has done. In light of His invitation, here is what I have seen Jesus do in my life Jesus has forgiven me of the worst, the pettiest, the most disappointing moments in my life. Jesus has loved me w...
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3 Nephi 13:19-21

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  19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where   moth   and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal; 20  But lay up for yourselves  treasures  in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. 21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. I love Jesus' words because they inspire me to reflect on who I am and who I choose to be. That quality is one of the reasons I know the Book of Mormon is true - so many verses prick the heart and invite me to think. The question that arises when thinking about these verses is what evidence do I have that shows me where my treasure is. Indicators I think of include (a) what I spend my time on, (b) what I want to learn more about, (c) what I think about, (d) when faced with choices, which way do my desires lean. When I consider on these indicators, I worry that the preferences revealed through these actions lie far fr...
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