Today I read Helaman 13, the first chapter in Samuel the Lamanites prophecies to the Nephites. Samuel was one of the Lamanites who was converted to the truth and was very faithful. He was sent to the Nephites and was cast out of their cities but the Lord commanded him to return and give them His message. So he climbed a wall and proceeded to prophecy to them.
Part of his message to them was to point out to them how unrighteous they were at this time. He mentions that the prophets who are sent to them they kill and cast out and say they have a devil. But if one comes along who says it's ok to do what you want and it is not a sin, then they hail as a prophet and give him money. It really reminds me of the scripture that says wo unto them who call good evil and evil good. This really was the state the Nephites were in at this time.
Samuel also told them that the only reason they were currently being spared was because of the righteous and if there ever came a day when the wicked would cast out the righteous, then there would be nothing to stop the Lord from pouring out His wrath upon them. This thought really does comfort me. I know that is kind of morose, but really, it gives me hope. There is a lot of evil going on in this world and it saddens me when I see it and when I look at it. But when I realize that there are still righteous people in the world, it makes me not quite so sad or scared.
This is a pattern the Lord has kept for many thousands of years too. When the Lord wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, he told Abraham that he would spare the city if Abraham could find 10 righteous people inside of it. Sadly, those two cities were so corrupt, that they could not even find 10 righteous people between the 2 cities. That is really quite pathetic and really sad if you think about it. I know we rag on New York and Los Angles all the time for how rude the people can be and for how unrighteous city life sometimes is, but those two cities are still full of righteous people in addition to the very unrighteous. I feel confident we could find at least 1000 righteous people in each city!
Today at church we talked about Elder Nelson's recent Conference talk about being a good member missionary and one of the things Elder Nelson spoke about was creating a profile on Mormon.org. I did that this afternoon and am pleased that with each new invention it becomes easier and easier to share the Gospel with the world. Sadly, Satan always has his counterfeit and it is just as easy for him to use these wonderful inventions in order to spread his "gospel" also. That is why it is so important for us to make sure that we are taking advantage of all the opportunities that are available to us to be good examples to those around us, to be the best people we can be and to make sure that we are doing our part to make the world a better place to live in.
I get saddened by all the evil in the world these days and it's only going to get worse according to the prophecies and the scriptures. We have to do what we can in our own sphere of influences to remind people of all that's good and descent in the world. As we do this, we will be amazed at how much good we can accomplish in His name. I hope each of you will also create a profile on Mormon.org and do your part to spread the "good news" of Jesus Christ and help make this world a better place for all of us! Until tomorrow.
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