A Personalized Model of Scripture Study

My husband and I are old timers.  We are in our late 70s and have been actively attending church all our lives.  We have made it through so many stages of life.  We were teens just finding ourselves.  We were young marrieds dealing with jobs, babies, and never enough time or energy.  We raised teens and learned how little we knew.  We have been divorced with all it's challenges.  And we have been married now for 20 years during which we have gotten to know each other's families, have served three missions, been involved in a church welfare program that changed our views about poverty in dramatic ways.  Always changing.  Always learning new things.  Always reminded how much we know and how little we know.  Life evolves and needs change.

Come Follow Me was designed to help us and our families have meaningful Gospel discussions.  It models a way of studying the scriptures where you don't just read to read.  We are asked to read and look for things that stand out as we read.  Why do those passages catch our attention?  What is this scriptures saying to me?

The written text of the Come Follow Me guide gives us that model.  The model is what is essential.  The specific questions in that guide are not.

I learned a long time ago that I can read the scriptures over and over and new passages suddenly stand out.  Why did I never see that before?  Why?  Because my life had changed.  My challenges were new and different than before.

So what I am sharing here as I journal my thoughts may not be the same things that you will find and journal.  That does not matter.  What matters is that when we read the scriptures, we let them speak to us where we are in our lives.  And we want our children to know that we are finding here answers to our own personal searches.  This is especially critical as your children grow up.  They want to know how the scriptures have meaning for them and the world they live in.  We want the scriptures to guide us as families into meaningful discussions that will help us see the value of spending daily time in these books.

So as I begin this blog, I am 5 months into our 2020 study of the Book of Mormon.  I will go back and add some thoughts from the previous chapters at a later date.

Moroni 10

What message would I write to the world as my last words? 

Moroni does just that in this last chapter of the Book of Mormon. This man has seen the destruction of hid nation - the Nephite people. He has been the keeper of the records and knows of the beautiful transformation that came to his nation at the visit of the Savior. And now they are gone - killed off by violent wars of revenge between two nations who were once the same family.

No wonder he is thinking of what could have been and about the teachings of Jesus. His people chose evil and he writes tell us that the destruction of an entire nation really can happen. Terrible things result when people reject the principles of happiness and let anger take over their lives.

He reminds us of the beautiful gifts that God wants to bestow: 

• Wisdom 
• Knowledge 
• Faith 
• Healing

All these come to those who trust in the Lord.  Oh, why did his people not choose these?

He pleads to all who read his words, "Come unto Christ".

That is my plea to our fallen world, "Come unto Christ". Believe His words. Follow Him. Seek the God made man who walked among us because of His great love for us. He lives and loves us. He will heal all wounds if we let Him. We are safe with Him. He will give us rest.

This I know. 

Moroni 9

It sounds like Moroni is describing our world today as you read through this chapter.

• Satan stirreth them up continually to anger one with another
• They have lost their love toward one another
• They thirst after blood and revenge continually
• They left them to wander wither so ever they can for food
• They are without order and without Mercy
• The suffering of our women and children upon all the face of this land doth exceed everything

The Primary song "Follow The Prophet" ends with this verse: 

Now we have a world where people are confused

If you don't believe it, go and watch the news

I did just that this morning when I got up. The news is abysmal:

• Another US city mayor resigned because of harassment over mask mandates because of rising Covid numbers
• Two black churches in Washington DC had Black Lives Matter flags on their doors. Those flags were pulled off of those buildings and burned there on their lawns. reminiscent of KKK burnings of our unsettling past.
• Senate majority leader Mike McConnell officially welcomed Biden as the new President-elect and has been called a traitor by many in the Republican party.
• 14 million households face evictions if Congress doesn't take action immediately and give our nation more relief.
• President Trump continues to fire people just because they disagree with him on some policy.
• Jobless claims are rising to unbelievable numbers as Covid takes its toll on our economy.

And all of this is what is happening here in the United states. If we look outside there is even more trouble as wars and refugees and genocides take center front on the news all over the globe.  Earthquakes and hurricanes are terrible but it is the fact as Mormon puts it "that they have lost their love toward one another" that causes the greatest suffering.

The Lord himself said so in Moses 7:33 and 37:

And unto your brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood.

But behold, their sin shall be upon the heads of their fathers; Satan shall be their father, and mystery shall be there doom and the whole heaven shall weep over them even all the workmanship of mine hands; wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?

Until mankind discovers the truth that God is love and we are His offspring, capable of loving as He loves - we will continue to suffer. Our religions have let us down. They have portrayed God as narrow, judgmental, and vindictive. We have become exclusive little groups  who believe we are favored of God while all others are not and will be punished. We have become embattled with one another and have allowed our politics to be so enmeshed with our religious beliefs that we cannot even compromise in our legislatures for the good of the American people. We have allowed policies to become more important than people and we close our hearts to the cries of the poor. We have learned to deal in mathematical algorithms and refuse to see the faces behind the numbers.

We are a sorry lot who suffer because we don't know who we are. We are Family.  We are the sons and daughters of Heavenly Parents, kind and loving beings who work tirelessly and lovingly to help us towards our eternal destinies.

Oh, how the world needs the pure message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Oh, how we need to cleanse that message so that it is clear who God is so that we may know for a fact His character and have a more beautiful and true model before us. 

How else can Zion come?  Those who think the Lord will come and cleanse the world and then all will be well are mistaken.  The Lord will come when we have created an acceptable home for Him.  We have to create Zion first.  We have to change our hearts.  We have to care about others. 

Lord, I Would Follow Thee (Hymn # 220 in the LDS hymnbook) is a beautiful hymn that shows the way:

1. Savior, may I learn to love thee,

Walk the path that thou hast shown,

Pause to help and lift another,

Finding strength beyond my own.

Savior, may I learn to love thee—

Lord, I would follow thee.

2. Who am I to judge another

When I walk imperfectly?

In the quiet heart is hidden

Sorrow that the eye can’t see.

Who am I to judge another?

Lord, I would follow thee.

3. I would be my brother’s keeper;

I would learn the healer’s art.

To the wounded and the weary

I would show a gentle heart.

I would be my brother’s keeper—

Lord, I would follow thee.

4. Savior, may I love my brother

As I know thou lovest me,

Find in thee my strength, my beacon,

For thy servant I would be.

Savior, may I love my brother—

Lord, I would follow thee.

Moroni 7:45-48

And charity suffereth long and is kind and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh not evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if you have not charity, you are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail -

But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

That Mormon could even be thinking such beautiful thoughts while he is watching the Lamanites destroy his nation is remarkable in and of itself. But this section is critical in our understanding of the nature of deity and our destiny - to be like them.

Charity suffereth long and is kind

Those who follow Christ are not just kind to those who are kind to them. No! They are kind even when they suffer.  Can you just hear the Savior's words? Love your enemy. Do good to them that hate you. When we are filled with God's love - that pure love of Christ - we don't DO kind things. We ARE kind.

Envieth not

Envy is the response of the empty soul trying to fill itself with anything because emptiness is painful. When we are filled with the love of Christ there is no more hollowness. Envy fades away.

Is not puffed up

Only the self-centered are puffed up. This also is a cry from an empty soul;  an attempt to be someone when we don't know we are beloved, divine beings, children of God Almighty our Heavenly Parents.

Is not easily provoked

Why? because we are too busy loving that person whose actions are less than perfect. We don't need them to be perfect. We love all because we are filled with God's love. We see as he sees.

Thinketh no evil

God does not look at our mistakes and assume the worst. He sees us on our path toward godhood and assumes we are doing our best and that we are learning from each experience. He assumes we are doing the best we can given our circumstances. Just as we picked up that baby learning to walk and urged him on - so God does to us. We fail.  He encourages.

Rejoiceth not in iniquity

Since life is not a competition we don't have to win at the expense of another. God's world is plentiful and bountiful.  There is enough for all. So we can be generous to those who fail. We can bestow heavenly gifts.

Rejoiceth in truth

There is a truth that frees us and allows us to rejoice and to be filled with joy. That truth is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ filled with chapter after chapter of truth about who we are, who God is, the purpose of life on Earth and our eternal destiny.

If that gospel does not give you cause to rejoice it is because you are misunderstanding something. The truth is beautiful. It is that Gospel of Super Abundance

• Filled with love
• Inclusive
• Expansive
• Redemptive

I love how Mormon says pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart that you may be filled with this love - the love that will allow us to be like Jesus and our Heavenly Parents.  If we do indeed pray with all the energy of heart it means we are ready to accept that gift. He will change our hearts when we are ready. This is a prayer he will and can answer.

We spend all of our lives praying for this and that - for a new job, for a healing, for a spouse, for a child, for success, to have our problems removed. My prayers have often been self-centered desires for all problems to be erased.

What I really needed were spiritual gifts; these beautiful things Mormon talks about and which he promises the Father will bestow. They often come as the learned results of the very problems I asked God to remove.

We need not fear life and it's adversity. Mortality itself is a gift given by loving Heavenly Parents who wants us to become like them and who are shepherding us toward that end.

Moroni 7 :15

For behold, brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that you may know good from evil. And the way to judge is as plain, that you may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

I wish wish it were so. Oh, how I wish life was so simple, that everything was either black or white, that there were no grey areas. This last year has taught me that what is so obviously good to me (and what verged on just plain evil as well) was not seen the same at all to my fellow church members.

It was the elections and in particular the Trump presidency and his policies and especially the derogatory language that was a constant from President Trump himself. And yet the majority of my LDS friends support him.

We who have the light of Christ, the gift of the Holy Ghost, discerned good versus evil in opposing ways.

This was a great example of how difficult it is to actually identify good and evil in our world today.

I pray daily for the courage to stand for the principles I believe and to be gracious to those who see differently.

Moroni 7:6-8

For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; or if he offereth a gift or prayeth unto God except he shall do it with real intent, it profiteth him nothing.

For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.

For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.

Mormon continues to explain more in the following verses but by now we see the point. He is directing us to the higher law where what is in our heart is more important than our actions. God is always looking to change our hearts, to bring us closer to being like Him.

Every parent has had the experience of having two children caught fighting. As a mom, I have asked my children to apologize and say they are sorry. But all I got was an resentful "I'm sorry!" spoken angrily.

Am I like that child? Have I been caught saying words with my mouth when my heart was filled with anger?

The gifts Mormon talks about are not packages wrapped in colored paper and ribbons. They are the spiritual gifts we can bestow upon each other: forgiveness, unconditional love, an apology, mercy.

These gifts bless the giver as much as the recipient and are at the heart of all human relationships. We cannot live together in peace without changing our hearts and thus our ability to sincerely offer such gifts.

Grace - the freely given, unmerited love of God, must become our mode of operation also. Can we become so filled with God's love that it could begin to pour forth from us?

That would be my wish for myself.

I believe we can only become that person if we truly believe that God is a God of love. If we are stuck in the old Protestant model of God as the great judge, we will find ourselves judging others, wanting and waiting for them to change before they deserve our love and attention.

At the Christmas devotional last evening , Elder Brent H. Neilson was sharing part of his father's history from World war II. In one of his father's last letters home he told about attending church for the first time in 3 years. He said he "didn't care too much for the talk."

"Mother, a lot of things seem very trivial to me now that once we're so very important, that is probably as strong as ever, but I look on God as a person who is loving and understanding rather than one [who] is always standing over you to punish you for every mistake you make. 

I say AMEN to his words!!

Quoting from page 93 The Christ Who Heals:

"We do not know the endmost depths of the human heart; it is revealed only to love. But those who condemn have generally little love, and therefore the mystery of the which they judge is closed to them."

"It is impossible to know another completely and not love that person deeply."

Oh, there is so much to learn about human beings. I am just a novice.

Moroni 4-5

The sacrament is our acknowledgment that Jesus died for us. it reminds us of that Passover night when he gathered his disciples and ministered to them for the last time  - always in the role of servant bestowing blessings upon them.

Oh, how I have longed my whole life to know Him as they did. I always loved the song, "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked" because I wanted to have been there and to have walked with Him. 

And so I did the best I could. I read His words and tried to live them. I did so imperfectly and yet each Sunday I renew my desire to do so as I partake of the sacrament and promise once again that I will remember him in all I do (at all times and in all things and in all places)

This year in Primary we learned a new song that really touched me. I think perhaps I am just a child at heart for there in Primary that I feel God's love the very strongest.

Jesus walked in wisdom

Jesus grew in truth.

He showed love to God and man

While in his youth.

Jesus wants to guide me.

Jesus shows the way.

Calling me to come and walk

With him each day.

I walk with Jesus to my home above

He will bless me with his spirit

And fill me with his love.

Change my heart forever

And help me clearly see.

I will walk with Jesus

And he will walk with me.

"I Will Walk with Jesus" by L Goosen

I will walk with Jesus and he will walk with me. Isn't that what the sacrament is all about?

Ether 12

I was reading this week's lesson in the Come Follow Me Art Companion. I absolutely love the questions they have posed for this week.

1.  Moroni explains the power of faith through a series of examples. (Read Ether 12:7-22). He introduces these examples with the phrase, "It was by faith that" someone was able to do something. If he had included you in his series of examples, how would he have completed the sentence,  "It was by faith that. . . .? "

I had to exercise faith so many times in my life as I stepped into the unknown. Every step along the way of life can be exciting and yet at the same time frightening. When I say I exercise faith I mean that I trusted that the Lord would be with me and help me through each of these challenges.

The first big step for me was when I went to Wayne State University. I was the first person in my family to go to college so I had no one to help and guide me. I had faith that I could do the work, that I could work and go to school at the same time, and that I would be able to pay for this step in my life. I had faith that I wwould be able to create a life for myself through my education.

It took faith to join the church.

It took faith to pack up and go out to BYU.

It took faith to get in my car and head to Winnebago.

It took faith to marry my first husband.

It took faith to divorce that husband.

It took faith to get my job Farmington Public Schools.

It took faith to retire from that job.

And it took faith to marry again and start a whole new life

Every step was a momentous step for me. These are all the things you do that will impact your life greatly. I have always trusted that the Lord would guide me.

Oh, I've been mad when things weren't easy and went wrong. But I learned that growth comes from hardship. Along the way I learned that having faith meant each experience would help me grow toward my potential - and not that faith would make life easy. I learned that lesson painfully.

I feel like my greatest exercise of faith was learning to stop trying to manipulate and control. I gave it all to the Lord and I trust him. I am now free to just love others! What a blessing.

2. Moroni evidences his personal insecurities when he writes about his concern that the readers will mock what he has written because of his weakness in writing. (Ether 12:23) In response to those concerns, the Lord tells Moroni that fools mock (Ether 12:26) and that weaknesses can become strengths (Ether 12:27). And Moroni was comforted. ( Ether 12:29) What does this teach you about acknowledging to the Lord your insecurities?

Oh, man. I love this question! There is something so profound and acknowledging our insecurities to the Lord.

We admit that we have them. Just naming them and owning them is a big step. These insecurities own us until we finally start talking about them.

Addressing them in prayer is such a safe place to have that discussion. Heavenly Father loves us so much. He already knows our struggles. He must be so happy when we finally come to talk about them.

My experience has been that when I "get real" in my prayers and talk about the reality of my life instead of just "saying prayers" - well, those are the times when I have experienced the Lord's love.  I love that about prayer and about Heavenly Father.  

3. According to Moroni, if we do not overlay our talents with charity, our talents will be taken away (Ether 12:34-35) what talents do you have? How can you demonstrate charity in using your talents?

I'd like to add to that thought and question a challenge that the pope issued this week.  He was talking about the world's economic systems and is suggesting that as we use our talents to solve those issues that we also exercise charity.

He said the future will be "time that reminds us that we are not condemned to economic models whose immediate interest is limited to profit and promoting favorable public policies, unconcerned with their human social, and environmental cost." "We are speaking of a conversion and transformation of our priorities and of the place of others in our policies and in the social order."  "We need to accept structurally that the poor have sufficient dignity to sit at our meeting, participate in our discussions and bring bread to their own tables."

Isn't that just such a great example of adding a level of charity to our talents?

When I look back over my life it has been really fun to see how I was able to use my talents to serve in any way that I can. When we were on our mission in Santa Rosa California we became the mission photographers, engaged the missionaries in community volunteer service, and did musical programs both inside the church and in the community. Right now I'm having the fun of doing Primary music, and even making videos for Primary. My husband is the one who initiated handmade birthday cards and how much fun that has been! I am enjoying making quilts for the family. Our work at Samaritas' refugee program has evolved into using what we learned from our welfare mission and training to now train volunteers that are working with refugees. All the things that we love to do we are able to find ways to use them to help others!

Ether 12:4

Wherefore, who so believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yay, even a place at the right hand of god, which help cometh a faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men which would make them sure and steadfast always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

What could be more beautiful than to live this verse - to know that your life is such that you have a place with God - and that He is with you and all your efforts to do good here on the earth - to feel His influence and His love - to feel confident and filled with hope for a better world here as well as in the eternities.

Hope is everything. We need hope. It's been so hard to find this last year. but I hope for an end to this pandemic. I hope for a peaceful transition of the new presidency. I hope for peace on eath, goodwill toward men.

Ether 7-11

What a story this is! The first time I've read this book (Ether) I thought it was fiction. I could not believe that such a trauma could be true. I felt more like it was a soap opera!

Then I read the book "The World of the Jaredites" by Hugh Nibley.  His chapter called "Early Asiatic and Jaredite Civilizations" describes the civilizations that ruled the Asian steppe where he says, "It is rather, and always has been, a shrewd game of chess played by men of boundless ambition and formidable intellect with mighty armies at their disposal."

He doesn't suggest any proof for the Jaredite civilization but rather shows us that the Jaredite story is consistent with the histories of this part of the world.

"It was after cheating his brother of the throne that Attila hoped to subdue the entire world and after his death two descendants went out into the wilderness and there gathered about them armies of outcasts each hoping to win back the world empire for himself."

"Genghis Khan lived for years as an outcast and a bandit as he gathered around him the forces that were to conquer all his rivals and those forces were actually drawn off from the armies of the rivals themselves."

As I read through the pages of Ether chapters 7 - 11 I was taken by the following phrases

• rebelled against his father
• his cutting words
• exceedingly sorrowful because of the loss of his kingdom
• his heart was set upon the kingdom
• drew away the more part of the people after them
• also sought power

It is all about power. It is all too easy to get caught up in the struggle for fame and power. We saw it with the disciples and the Savior instructed them:

"He that his greatest among you shall be your servant period and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."

In our day, the Lord reminded us with these words:

No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by longsuffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.

by kindness, and pure knowledge which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile.

President Trumps unwillingness to accept defeat in the 2020 election is very much a Jaredite type drama play out before us  "His heart is set upon the kingdom."

Power is addicting. It is hard to let go.

Ether 1-6

The story of the Jaredites is a story of preparation. We read about all the many ways the Lord prepared these people for their biggest challenge of all.

They began with desire - they wanted to stay together as a family and friends and not have their language confounded.

They had faith - they took their desires, their wishes, to the Lord.

They traveled by land and by sea several times as they made their way to the shore of the ocean. They built barges and cross several smaller bodies of water. They learn to work together, to travel and live that nomadic life. They exercised faith and saw the Lord's hand guiding them.  When they at last stepped into those last barges they were prepared.

I'm not sure I can find any such pattern in my life. No great journey came to me. I don't look back and see events that prepared me for any of my greatest trials.  But the trials themselves became the preparation for my future.  This is the pattern I see in all of life. Each experience builds upon the past as we go through our mortal journey. We learn it is not so fun to repeat mistakes and we begin to learn the lessons we need to know.

There is always a forward movement - growth comes. We become better people as we go along if we are willing to be taught.

Perhaps the great journey we are being prepared for is not here in this life but is our eternal destiny.  That is so hard to even imagine. What will I be a thousand years from now or 10,000? Will I be a light shining in the dark? For now I am content to just learn something new each day and to grow closer to my Heavenly Father. I'm filled with gratitude for this mortal experience. I treasure every day.