Loving the Book of Mormon Verse by Verse

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...

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...

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...

  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...