Laman and Lemuelism

Today I read 1 Nephi 17 and his chapter is a great example of what I like to call Laman and Lemuelism.  Elder Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once said in one of his talks said that Laman and Lemuel had faith and believed that the Lord could perform all the miracles of ancient Egypt for Moses but could not take care of a modern day Laban.  That is a perfect way to sum up Laman and Lemuelism.  And we see it all the time in today's society.

We see it in the way we think that the Lord will help others in their problems, but not with our challenges.  We think that the Lord is a God of miracles, but not for us.  We see it in that we think God will bless the lives of those around us, but we are too far gone for Him to care about us.  The Atonement applies all people, but our sins are too grievous for Him to forgive.  Not only is this a horrible misconception of the Atonement, it is limiting God.

Laman and Lemuel also suffered from the condition due to being too close to Nephi.  When Apostles are called in this day and age, it is quite common in this day and age for those who know them best to balk at the calling.  There is often shock that such a man would be called to such a sacred calling.  This is due to the fact that the Apostles are men, fallible, prone to make mistakes and those who are closest to us see that in us.  Laman and Lemuel knew Nephi better than anyone, it is quite easy to see how Laman and Lemuel would have no problem believing that Moses would be given such power and authority from God, but Nephi?  Their little brother?  The brother they had wiped tears off his face when he had skinned his knees?  The one they had played pranks on?  Surely not.  Not Nephi.  That is the core of Laman and Lemuelism.  And we are all prone to it at some point or another.  We just have to hope that when it happens to us, we can overcome it and realize that everyone is fallible.  We need to realize that God can choose anyone He desire to and it is not up to us who He chooses.  It is only up to us to support His choice.  Until tomorrow.

The Ignorant Taketh the Truth To Be Hard

Today I read 1 Nephi 16 and I have always liked verse 2 were Nephi says that the wicked taketh the truth to be hard, but I have always used it in sort of a snarky way.  But lately I have been thinking that maybe there is another way to think of this phrase.  You could change out the word wicked to say ignorant, or learned, or anything you want it to say.  When someone is set in their way and some new piece of information comes along and up ends their way of thinking, most people do not like that, it is very hard for most people to accept such things and they take it very badly. 

I think this is the reason most people have a problem with the Gospel the first time they hear about it.  It is so different from most other Christian religions that it can offend people when they learn the finer points of the Latter-day Saint doctrine.  Especially how we view God.  Some are more open minded and willing to learn and want to know more without wanting to convert but those people are rare indeed.  Most not only don't want to learn, they don't want anything to do with the Latter-day Saints.  Personally I try and always keep an open mind and try and learn all I can about everything, no matter what source it comes from.  That is the way we learn knowledge, and knowledge is good.  Until tomorrow.

Nephi Doesn't Mention the Human Sacrifice

Today I read 1 Nephi 13 and I was a little surprised that while Nephi makes mention of the fact that the Gentiles come and make war on his brother's people, he does not mention the decadent state of his people.  I mean, these people have fallen into human sacrifice, a practice so vile I consider it as appalling as rape, perhaps more so, and yet Nephi make no mention of it at all.  I find it just a little bit interesting honestly.   I know Nephi makes a statement at the end of chapter 12 and that is all he says about it and perhaps he is just too preoccupied about with all he is seeing in regards to everything else, which I have to admit is pretty awesome and I would be preoccupied with too so I can't really blame him for being distracted by it.  Just an interesting side note that Nephi didn't mention something he surely found so repulsive.  Until tomorrow.

People Made Clean Through Faith - An Incomplete Statement

Today I read 1 Nephi 12 and I was struck by something the angel said.  He tells Nephi that the garments of his people are made white through their faith in Jesus Christ.  It is interesting to me because the purpose of faith is to lead people to action, specifically to repent and be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  So it is interesting to me that the angel would tell Nephi that his people are made clean through their faith when that is incomplete.  What the angel is implying is that Nephi's people took the other 3 necessary steps in order to be made clean and pure through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I had never noticed before how this verse, verse 11, is written this way.  I wonder how many other implications are in the scriptures that I have just glanced over throughout the years?  Until tomorrow.

Nephi is Perhaps the Only Person Besides John the Baptist to have Seen the Holy Ghost

Today I read 1 Nephi 11.  As I was reading I had a thought.  As best as I can recall, Nephi is the only person in the history of the world that has seen the physical appearance of the Spirit or the Holy Ghost.  There may have been others, but they are not recorded.  Millions and billions have felt His influence, but aside from John the Baptist seeing the Holy Ghost in the sign of the dove after he baptized the Savior, Nephi is the only person in the recorded scriptures that records he saw the Holy Ghost.  There have been a few people throughout history that have seen God the Father, Stephen when he was stoned, Joseph Smith at the First Vision to name two, and the appearances of the Savior are littered throughout the scriptures, angels appeared until thousands, but never the Holy Ghost.  I had never noticed that before when reading this chapter.  What a singular experience!  Truly something worth noting.  Until tomorrow.

The Lord Does Not Change

Today I read 1 Nephi 10 where Lehi prophesies to his children about the people in Jerusalem.  What struck me though was the last few verses where Nephi reminds us that the Lord does not change nor does He change His pattern.  He will always use the same pattern to communicate with His people.  It is only us people that change and that are tricked by the evil one into believing that He changes and what He did in the past is no longer what He does now.  I am reminded of Moroni who states that if miracles have ceased it is only because we have ceased believing in them.  The Lord will always try and help us, we just have to let Him.  Until tomorrow.

Trust in the Lord

Today I read 1 Nephi 9 and it is refreshing to see how Nephi has such perfect faith in the Lord.  He freely admits that he doesn't know why the Lord commanded him to make a separate set of plates, but he knows it is for a wise purpose.  Nephi understands that the Lord doesn't just give strange commandments without a plan in place.  Sometimes it can be hard to remember that, especially if we are commanded to do something that makes no sense to us.  But like Nephi, I know that the Lord has a purpose for everything He does and if we will just have the faith to believe in Him, we will be better because of it.  Until tomorrow.

Sometimes We Just Have to Follow the Savior and Not Know Where We are Going

Today I read 1 Nephi 8 which is Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life.  A couple of things stood out to me as I read this chapter today.  The first was that when Lehi found himself in the dreary waste he saw a figure in a white robe that bade him follow.  But even though he was following the Savior, he was still shrouded in darkness.  This really hit home to me today as I am trying to make a very important life decision with my family that will literally change the course of our lives.  And like most decisions, I cannot see the end from where I stand.  I have to have faith that while I follow the Savior and involve Him in my decision making, He will guide me to the right place.  Just like with Lehi, even though he was doing the right thing by following the Savior, he still didn't see more than a few steps in front of himself.  Sometimes we have to put it all aside and just trust in the Lord that He will guide us when we allow Him to lead us. 

The second thought I had was, what is the purpose of this vision that Lehi was given?  In the book of 1 Nephi until this point, every vision that Lehi had been given was either for the direct benefit of his family, such as going to get the brass plates and getting Ishmael's family, or for the benefit of those around him such as the commandment to preach to the people at Jerusalem.  But this vision, did it really benefit his family?  Or was it entirely for our benefit in the latter days?  I'm not sure.  It is very possible that Nephi and his people studied this vision as part of their scripture reading during their day, but it is just as possible that this vision was given to Lehi for one purpose only; so that we would have it in the Book of Mormon for OUR benefit in this time.  It's one of those questions I will have to put on the back shelf until I meet the Savior face to face and can ask Him.  But I do know that we do have it now and it would benefit us greatly to study it and to learn the lessons we can from it.  Otherwise, the condemnation is on our heads.  Until tomorrow.

Nephi Has True Charity for His Brothers

Today I read 1 Nephi 7 and as I was reading it, some things stood out to me.  For example, this chapter was an argument between Nephi, his brothers, two of the sons of Ishmael and two of the daughters of Ishmael who wanted to return to Jerusalem.  I can't help but wonder what the other family members were doing during this?  Especially once it came to physical violence.  Were they so cowed by Laman and Lemuel that they were too afraid to come to Nephi's aid?  I can imagine they very well might have been.  It is difficult to intervene in some one else's argument.

I can also feel the love Nephi has for his brothers in this chapter.  How easy would it have been to allow Laman, Lemuel and those who wanted to go, to just return to Jerusalem?  It's not as if they were trying to stop Nephi and the others from journeying into the wilderness, at least not that we are told.  But Nephi loved his brothers enough that he did not want to see them get killed.  So he risked their wrath and violence, yet again, to try and talk some sense into them. 

I can empathize with Nephi quite a bit in this chapter.  I love my brothers and my sister.  I personally think that family is the most important thing in this life.  I could not just stand by and let them walk off a cliff that they were not aware of either.  Despite his temper, Nephi's love for his family was so overwhelming that even after trying to kill him, sort of, he still reaches out to them in love and tries to help them see the folly of their course of action.  That is true charity.  That is doing good to those that hate you and spitefully use you.  It is no wonder that when Mormon read the small plates he was pleased with what he found and saw no need to add anything to them.  We can learn so much from Nephi!  Until tomorrow.

Nephi Writes the Things of God

Today I read 1 Nephi 6 where Nephi states that he does not write the things that would be pleasing unto the world but rather the things that are pleasing unto God.  Ever since I was little, I have loved Joseph Smith and been fascinated by his life.  I have also tried very hard to learn the lessons his life can teach us.  One of the most profound lessons his life teaches us is to fear God more than man, as he learned the hard way with the lost 116 pages he loaned to Martin Harris against the wishes of Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father has told us many times that His ways are not our ways.  He understands that the world is very different from the way He lives His life and has tried to tell us that.  In this chapter, Nephi is displaying his understanding of that principle.  He knows that what the world wants and what God wants are different.  He knows that the things that are important to God are not the same things that will be important to mankind.  I am very grateful that God has provided us the scriptures and that we have them to understand His will concerning us.  Without them, we would be a very lost society.  I am also grateful that Nephi feared God and obeyed Him.  Without Nephi's diligence in keeping the commandments of God, we would not have the scriptures we do today.  Thank goodness for prophets that obey the word of God and help keep us on the strait and narrow path to righteousness.  Until tomorrow.

Do We Treasure the Scriptures Like We Should?

Today I read 1 Nephi 5 and it got me thinking, what must it have been like to live in a world without access to the scriptures?  I can hardly even fathom such a world as that, but truth be told, for most of the history of Christian churches, the general population did not have direct access to the scriptures.  And it seems like in Nephi's time it was also true that the general public did not have access to the scriptures whenever they wanted.  Knowing this makes me feel really bad that I don't treasure my scriptures more, that I take for granted that I have 2 sets of scriptures in the house for me, 2 for my wife and the standard works on my phone and my tablet.  I know I should do a much better job of searching the scriptures and treasuring them up in my heart and in my mind.  It is something I will work on for sure.  Until tomorrow.

Nephi's Feelings Towards Laban and Zoram's Feelings Towards God

Today I read 1 Nephi 4 and as I was reading a couple of things occurred to me.  The first one is that Nephi seemed to bear no malice towards Laban.  Granted he is writing this record a minimum of 8 years after the events actually happened so maybe he is just leaving that part out, but we know from his own words, that Nephi had a problem with his temper and getting angry at his enemies.  So it is interesting that in his words he seems to bear no hard feelings towards Laban at all, despite the fact that he had not only been an obstacle in fulfilling the commandments of the Lord, but also that Laban had tried to murder him and his brothers!
 
Now, would that justify in Nephi's heart murder?  Absolutely not!  Nephi  is a kind hearted man that abhorred blood shed so I can completely understand how he would still balk at being asked to kill a man, even a man like Laban who he knew to be a murderer.  It is just strange that Nephi doesn't seem to have any hard feelings about his treatment at the hands of Laban.
 
The other thought that occurred to me, and again this could just be the way that it is written, is that Zoram did not agree to going with Nephi and his brethren until after Nephi explained that it was a commandment from the Lord.  Nephi first tells Zoram that if he were to come with them, that Zoram would be a free man.  I can only assume that Nephi further ups the ante if you will because that wasn't enough to convince Zoram, by saying that Nephi and his brethren had been commanded by God to retrieve the records and take them to their father in the wilderness.  It is only after hearing that all that Nephi did was at the command of God, that Zoram gives his promise to go with them.

I have commented before that Zoram really does not get enough credit but I today I have to wonder even more about the character of this man that we really know next to nothing about.  We know he was a God fearing man and a true friend to Nephi and that he was a servant to Laban and not a free man.  And that's really about all we know.  I think when we meet him, we will find a very humble, righteous servant of God.  Much like Sam, Nephi's brother.  It's often the unsung heroes of life that are the most worthy of our emulation.  And I think that Zoram falls into that category nicely!  Until tomorrow.

Nephi's Brother Follow Him

Today I read 1 Nephi 3 and it is interesting to me that as often as Laman and Lemuel complain about Nephi trying to be a ruler over them and what not, they sure do listen to his counsel a lot.  After giving a good faith effort where Laman goes to the house of Laban and gets cast out as a robber, Laman, Lemuel and even Sam it seems, are ready to return home in failure.  However, Nephi steps up and gives a very impassioned speech about fulfilling the commandments of the Lord.  And as I stated up above, for all their bluster about how much they despise Nephi, the rest of his brothers listen to him and go along with his plan!
 
I have found that this is the way with natural born leaders.  Something about them just makes others want to follow them.  I wonder if Laman and Lemuel even realized that they were following Nephi and his advice or if, like a lot of men, they thought it was their own idea or just didn't want to argue or any number of other ideas for going along with it.  It just seems a little funny to me that for all the many times they complain that they don't want Nephi to be a ruler over them, they never seem to mind following his plans except for a few times that are recorded in the scriptures.  And maybe that's the difference, maybe we just don't have their arguments for each time recorded.  I guess we'll know some day.  Until tomorrow.

How Does He Always Seem to Know What We Need?

At 35 years old, I know that I should no longer be surprised at the omniscience of God, but sometimes I am still caught of guard by it.  Today I read 1 Nephi 2 and in the first verse I found a message the Lord had prepared just for me.
 
The first verse reads that the Lord appeared unto Lehi in a dream and spoke to him.  To be clear, the Lord did not appear in a dream, but the Spirit made it clear that the next message was as much meant for me today, as it was meant for Lehi when he first received it.  "Blessed art thou [Fred], because of the things which thou has done; and because thou hast been faithful..."  I'm not ashamed to admit that tears came to my eyes.  I like most people worry about my standing before the Lord and especially with my admitting yesterday that I have not been reading the scriptures like I ought to have been, I would not be surprised to learn that the Lord was not only frustrated with me, but upset with me to boot!  But to learn that He was not only pleased with me, but happy with me, was more than my heart was prepared to handle this morning.
 
This General Conference was particularly special to me.  It was only 2 days ago but I already feel like it happened a while ago.  I feel like all of the speakers were speaking directly to me.  I was able to take something away from every single talk, which in years past had not been the case.  And as a result, I found several areas, mostly Spiritual, that were found lacking.  After talking with my wife and daughter, I have recommitted myself to doing better.  And after only one day receiving a confirmation from the Lord that I am on the right path is a wonderful thing I had not expected.
 
The Lord knows us individually.  I know this for a fact.  We are His children and He loves us as much as we love our earthly children.   I believe what President Ezra Taft Benson said that when we see Him again His face will be familiar to us and we will be surprised how well we remember Him.  I want to live my life so that I can return to live with Him.  The time is now to start on that path.  Use the time wisely.  Until tomorrow.

Afflictions - Blessings in disguise?

So as you readers may have noticed, I have not posted a new post in almost over a year.  Well, something Elder Ballard said in the Priesthood session of Conference struck me right between the eyes.  He asked if us to consider for a moment as if we were having a personal interview with him and the first question he asked us was do we search the scriptures regularly.  I had to answer that I do not.  Ever since I stopped doing this blog, I stopped being regular about my scripture reading.  What is sad about that statement, is that for the past six months, I have been so sick with my physical health that I have been unable to work, so you would think that this would be the time I would spend the most time reading the scriptures and doing the most for my spiritual health!  So, I took his point to heart and while I was reading 1 Nephi 1 this morning something struck me and I decided to talk about it.

In the first verse of 1 Nephi 1 Nephi states that he has seen much affliction in his life.  For those of us familiar with his life, we know this is both true, and an understatement.  But I got to thinking about that word, affliction due to the last six months in my own life and my eyes wandered down to the footnotes.  To my great surprise, after a Topical Guide reference for affliction, there was a reference for Blessings and Gifts from God!
  
Needless to say this kind of blew my mind and caused a few minutes of reflection and thinking on my part.  It also brought to mind a blessing given to me at the beginning of my health challenge given to me on Thanksgiving day last year by my father in law that said in part that I should not look upon my health challenge as a trial, that anything that brings me closer to Heavenly Father is a blessing.  So it led to this though, I know that God gives us trials to help us grow and that some trials are due to our own mistakes and choices we make.  But perhaps afflictions, which by the very definition of the word carries a negative connotation, should be thought of in a more positive light and as a chance to grow also.  I know that it has given me much to think on for myself and the way I view my health challenge moving forward.  Until tomorrow.

What Does it Mean to Be Like Moroni?

It has been a long and interesting week.  I was under the weather almost this entire week and so am just now finding the strength and time to write my thoughts down.  This week I read Alma 42 - 51 which is the start of the war chapters and our introduction to Captain Moroni, Lehi and Teancum.  The Three Amigos of the book of Alma if you will.  These three men almost single-handedly save the Nephites from destruction at the hands of Amalickiah and later his brother Ammoron.  They are men who take the defense of their people very, very seriously and are not to be trifled with.  They are men that will do anything to defend their people, including put to death those who would try and destroy them from the inside out.

I often wonder what people mean when they say they want to marry a man like Captain Moroni.  Are they just agreeing with Mormon who said that if all men would be like Captain Moroni that it would cause the powers of darkness to shake?  Or have they really thought it through?  Maybe they mean they want a warrior, or a no nonsense man of action?  Or someone with a testimony.  Maybe I will ask my wife tomorrow what she thinks it means.  To me it means that they want a man who is not afraid to cut anything that is impure out of his life.  If he has friends that are not uplifting, they will not be his friends long.  If he sees a piece of media that is filthy, he walks away and shuts it off.  He teaches his children to abhor sin and to embrace righteousness in all its forms.  He helps those in need and considers it a privilege to serve God.  That is what I think of when I think of Mormon's famous lines that we need to be like Moroni.  That is what I strive for, what I desire to be.  Until tomorrow.

Alma Teaches Corianton

Today I read Alma 39 - 41 which is where Alma talks to his son, Corianton.  I know most people tend to focus on Corianton's mistake, his breaking of the Law of Chastity while on his mission, but that is really unfair.  That is judging the poor man by the worst, I hope, mistake of his life.  One that if the scriptures are to be believed, he repented of and never made again!  That's the part we should be focusing on.  Much like his father, Alma the Younger, he repented of his youthful ways and never turned back to them.  He later goes on to serve more missions and faithfully teaches the Gospel to many men and women.  He is a man I can relate with, after all, I'm not perfect.  I'm certainly no Alma.  I am trying to be though.

The other lessons I learn about Corianton is he is a young man anxiously striving to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and getting frustrated because it is not making sense to him.  Alma takes the time to read the scriptures with his son and to help him understand, like a good father should.  I too have wrestled with questions before and spent long hours, days sometimes, pondering a question about the Gospel.  The fact that Corianton feels comfortable speaking with his father about it is a good thing to my mind.  A lot of children, youth are not comfortable speaking to their leaders or parents and so go to other sources for information, which we adults know will not always be reliable.  As far as rebukes go this is a very gentle one too.  I can feel the love Alma has for his son and how he is begging him to repent and to search the scriptures more diligently.  If all men, and women, had fathers like Alma the Younger, this would would be amazing and scriptorians to boot!  Until tomorrow.

How Do You Make Sure You Are Spending Enough Time With Each of Your Children?

Today I read Alma 34 - 38.  It is interesting to see what things Alma shares with his sons and how he does not share the same things with each one.  For example Shiblon gets the least amount of counsel as any of them.  Is this because he had the strongest testimony?  Or perhaps because he would not have as much responsibility as Helaman would have in the future.  I can tell you that in life if you are doing ok you might get overlooked by those in authority as they strive to help those that need more assistance.  I have experienced this at home, school, church and even work.  I have even been guilty of this myself at work in the past.  It is easy to forget about those employees that just quietly do what they are supposed to do because they are already doing what is needed.  But it is important to make sure that they get the needed face to face time that each of us crave. 

One of the things my Dad did to try and make sure he spent time with each of us is he would hold personal interviews with us as well as take us out on Daddy dates once a month.  Each of us would have some alone time with our Dad and in general we could do what we wanted to do.  Of course we could not spend a lot of money but if it was inexpensive we could choose the activity.  I remember those times very fondly even though I can only remember a few of them since they kind of tapered off as we got older.  It is something I want to continue doing with my children to ensure I spend at least some alone time with each of them from time to time.  It is easy right now since I only have one daughter but as we have more children I know I will need to make a more concentrated effort to make them each feel special.  But it is very worth it for sure.  Until tomorrow.

You Can Pray Anywhere at Anytime

Today I read Alma 32 – 33 and I have always liked Alma and Amulek’s sermon on prayer to the Zoramites.  Prayer is our way of communicating to our Heavenly Father.  The way I look at it is if we have a way to speak to a being who is all powerful and can help us no matter what our situation is, why wouldn’t we?  The great news is we do in fact have that ability and our Heavenly Father loves us and wants to hear from us.  The Zoramites who were poor did not understand that they could pray anywhere they were and it would be heard by our Heavenly Father.  To me, because I grew up knowing this, it seems so obvious, but I look around me and see evidence of this same way of thinking today in our world.  It is sad really.  I feel so blessed that I have a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that I know I can reach Him no matter where I am or what I am doing.  It is an important lesson to know.  One I hope I am teaching my daughter through my actions as well as my words.  That is my greatest responsibility, to teach my daughter and make sure she knows the truth and who she can rely on for her salvation.  Until tomorrow.

I am Left to Mourn Because of Their Ignorance

I have not been feeling well this week and have missed a few days.  However I have kept up with my reading and have read Alma 25 - 31 in the past few days.  It's hard to pick out what is most enjoyable about so many good chapters, but I suppose if I am being honest with myself the thing that has been weighing most heavily on my mind lately has to be Korihor and those like him.

It just blows my mind when people will reject hundreds, thousands of eye witnesses.  And yet will find the one exception to the rule and cling mercilessly to it as the reason why those thousands of people are in fact wrong.  Part of me is so impressed by their stalwart, foolish defense of their position.  It's almost like a person a sinking boat arguing that they are not sinking as the water covers up their mouth and stops them from talking.  Of course they are welcome to their own thoughts and opinions, but myself I try and keep an open mind.  If you can argue your cause well enough and have the facts to back it up, I can be persuaded that I am wrong.  The problem I find with most people is they do not have the facts to back it up and are just arguing a certain way because that is how they feel.  And they have every right to feel that way, but don't expect me to jump on board because you feel a certain way and have no facts or eternal truth to back it up.  That is why I cannot be turned from the Gospel.  I have been presented with mountains of facts and have a personal witness from one of the Members of the Godhead Himself that has testified of its truthfulness to me.  And the really sad thing to me, is everyone has that same opportunity if they will just ask.  But they won't so they remain in ignorance and I am left to mourn as did Nephi of old.  Until tomorrow.