March 2015

23 MAR 15

It’s not often in the scriptures that the Lord just fixes something miraculously. More often the Lord gives people the means and guidance to fix things themselves or asks them to perform an act of faith prior to the miracle. I like reading through the process that the brother of Jared and the Lord go through as they work through some of the problems (Ether 2:19-25 & Ether 3:1-5).

In this case the brother of Jared does what he was commanded in building the vessels but realizes there will be issues due to lack of light and air circulation. In the case of air the Lord gives the brother of Jared some simple instructions but in the case of the light, he just doesn’t give an answer but asks him what he would have him do. To me this a reminder that sometimes the Lord wants us to do some of our own work to prepare, even in cases where a miracle will still be needed.

24 MAR 15

In Ether 4:4 Moroni described the brother of Jared’s visions as “never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared”. I imagine those visions including things involving the covenants made in the temple and maybe even greater things with in his calling as a prophet, seer, and revelator.

Moroni goes on to describe the conditions that will be needed for this portion to be unsealed. I just wonder what hasn’t been revealed and what parts of it are also parts from the temple ceremonies and covenants. Since it requires us to have faith even as the brother of Jared I think it would also be something that could not be truly understood except the person have the spirit of prophecy.

25 MAR 15

I like catching the bits of revelation that has been fulfilled like that found in Ether 3:3-4. In that scripture in foretells of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon. It strengthens my testimony as I have the opportunity to read of experiences like this and pray to know their experience was true. It is also a powerful witness to me that even as they fell away and only two came back, they never recanted their experience.

An observation I have is that reading the Book of Ether is like reading many of the major themes and history from the entirety of the Book of Mormon crammed into fifteen chapters. This thought occurred to me as I was reading Ether 7:20 and it was talking of the divisions forming in the land.

26 MAR 15

“Secret combination” (Ether 8:18-19)

Once again the downfall of a civilization in America is preceded by the growth of secret combinations. I’m not a conspiracy theory person but this makes me wonder if I should be. We know that in the last days there will be wars and rumors of wars. This makes me wonder if this will be accomplished here by secret combinations set to get gain. Some would argue they aren’t so secret and that is much of the purpose of politics now days.

Speaking of politics lets go to Ether 10:5-6. In this section we are told of a series of leaders, some more righteous and some very less righteous than others. In verse 5-6 we read of Riplakish who built extravagant building and taxed the people into squalor. This makes me wonder if this should be used as word of caution in our day and the governing practices of our leaders and what they can lead to.

27 MAR 15

What does 30+1 have to do with the scriptures? Well in Ether chapter 12 the word faith is used 30 times and the word faithful is used once. These uses are spread across the words of Ether and the commentary of Moroni on the subject. The repetition of the words just stuck out to me and I realized that whole chapter is centered around the principle of faith.

A few of my favorite quotes concerning faith from the chapter are:

“faith is things which are hoped for and not seen” “ye have not witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6)

The first is a beautiful definition of faith and the second reminds me to be strong in trials.

“if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27)

This quote I find comforting that the Lord will make me stronger if I have faith.

“if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith” (Ether 12:30)

Literally, mountains can be moved by the power of faith.

 

Sarah got me a new watch band for my Asus Zen Watch. I stained my old one from sweating and wearing it while during yard work. I usually wore sport watches in the past and I just wasn’t thinking about damaging the leather. I purchased a new watch band, pins and tool set to assist in changing it all out. It was pretty easy to change out and I was even able to transfer the original deployment clasp over. I wish I had purchased a spring bar tool set before. It makes changing out straps quick and easy. Overall I am happy with the new change to the looks of the watch.

Watch band http://amazon.com/gp/product/B002EEP5WI/

Spring bar tool set http://amazon.com/gp/product/B005ZEWGSA/

Spring bar pins http://amazon.com/gp/product/B000X94TVO/

 

 

 

 

So I took of Thursday with the intention of getting ahead on my homework for the math I’m taking online. I looked at the weather report and realized Saturday was going to be full of rain. So I switched to doing yard work I had planned for Saturday. I took Sarah and Joseph along and we got some supplies and plants for my projects from the Home Depot. I normally prefer Lowes but their saw was not working this past Saturday. The prediction for rain was correct and I will get to that homework in a few minutes here today. First I’d like to do a quick blog post about some of the yard work I did. I  mowed and fertilized the backyard but I also did a couple more interesting projects.

In my first project I built two raised planters and placed the start of some blackberry bushes in them. I figure the raised beds will help me keep them from growing into my lawn. I also made a simple trellis from spare fencing and wood that I had. I also think the position of the bushes will provide an additional natural thermal protection layer to my house. The wall the bushes are against get a good 6-10 hours of direct sunlight so I hope they will thrive in their current spot. The wood for the boxes were from some simple 2″x12″x8′ that I had cut down. Each box is 2’x2′ and hold roughly 4 cubic feet of soil. The bottom of the boxes are open but I placed cardboard down to assist in killing the grass below the boxes. Prior to placing the boxes I cut the grass down to as close to bare earth as I could get.

I also looked it up and realized I should have already removed the stakes from my trees. So I cut out the wire and started trying to wiggle them out. This was of course some tough work. I thought there had to be an easier way so I looked on Google and found a handy guide on YouTube with easy to follow directions on a method that worked for me. In my case I had 1’x6’x4″ boards but they substituted in okay for the place of the 2’x4′ boards. They just got chewed up good by the stakes biting into them. It’s projects like this that make me glad I purchased my large wood vice last year. I first used it for building our table but it has come in handy for several other projects. Below is the video guide I followed for removing the stakes.

16 MAR 15

In 4 Nephi the people were united and there was no contention in the land (4 Nephi 1:15). This was the second time a Zion society had been established on the Earth and the student manual refers to it as the Nephite Zion (golden Nephite era).This lasted for two hundred years before pride and distinctions arose again in the 201st year (4 Nephi 1:24). In short span of time there came to be many churches “which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of the gospel” (4 Nephi 1:27).

While we are not in a Zion society, I would say for the most part the church is currently righteous. What are some things we can do to avoid falling into the pits of pride and distinctions?

To answer my own question I would say we need to constantly taking a hard look at ourselves and honestly evaluate if our spirit and actions are in keeping with the Lord. If we see others fall, we shouldn’t judge but be supportive in helping them back up. If we fall, we should repent quickly and seek help if we need it.

17 MAR 15

Mormon called by prophet at a young age. (Mormon 1:2)

I’ve worked with eleven year old scouts. Mormon must have been quite an unusual boy to be considered sober by a prophet. Most boys that age are pretty silly to me.

Three Nephites taken from earth. Miracles cease for a time. (Mormon 1:13)

This makes me sad to think of the great miracles these people denied themselves by having the Three Nephites go. Even with being pretty much invincible there is a time to go when no one is listening anymore and just try to toss you in lion’s dens and light you on fire. I guess that get’s old after a while.

Sorceries, witchcrafts and magics. (Mormon 1:19)

I’ve always wondered if this part referred to Aztec blood sacrifice like rituals or if people were running around yelling magic missile at each other and it actually worked. Somehow I don’t think they were as nice as today’s fictional Gandalf or Harry Potter.

18 MAR 15

Leader of the Army at sixteen. (Mormon 2:2)

It later says he was leading roughly 42,000 soldiers into battle. I’m assuming that’s not including camp followers and others that would have been considered part of the support staff. Today that would make him roughly equivalent to a Lieutenant General in charge of an Army Corps.

Here are some numbers for perspective:

A company typically has 62 to 190 soldiers, and a battalion is a combat unit of 300 to 1,000 soldiers. Three to five battalions, approximately 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers, comprise a brigade. The size of a division varies from about 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers, and most divisions have three or more brigades of roughly equal size. A corps, which consists of two or more divisions and support troops, normally has from 20,000 to 45,000 soldiers. (Number from usmilitary.about.com)

Mormon stops being commander. (Mormon 3:11-12)

So Mormon is helped by the Lord and miraculously defeats the Lamanites in three major battles. Then the Nephites still don’t repent! They are just blind in missing these miracles. It gets to the point that Mormon has to refuse leading them. This of course can’t be good for them at all.

Wicked punished by wicked. (Mormon 4:5)

This is an interesting concept that only gets brought up on a few occasions in the scriptures. I always hear that in many ways the Lamanites were less wicked as they hadn’t had all the blessing the Nephites did before their fall.

Lamanites sacrifice women and children to idol gods. (Mormon 4:14)

Now here is the actual human sacrifice I was wondering about earlier. I remember a lot of it occurred at this point in the scriptures. How twisted is Satan, that he would pervert the true and everlasting sacrifice of Christ into a spectacle of pain and torture.

19 MAR 15

In Mormon 5:12-14 we are told how the records Mormon is writing will be “hid up unto the Lord” and later revealed. We are also told that the records will be revealed and that they will go forth to convince the unbelieving that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God”. I like that simply said primary concept from the Book of Mormon. It frustrates me when people claim we are not Christians yet Christ is the center of our religion and it is said so often through the scriptures. If only they would take the time to really listen, then maybe they would come to see how Christ is at the center of all that we do. Christ’s name is on the cover of our scriptures, in the Church’s name and in our prayers. He is truly in the center of our lives. It’s almost as if some people are being intentionally obtuse.

20 MAR 15

The hill and land Cumorah (Mormon 6:2-6)

Where was the hill Cumorah? The church doesn’t have an official stance on that one. According to some scholars it could have been in Mexico and not New York and that the New York Hill Cumorah is another location by the same name. It’s not essential to my salvation but it is an interesting topic. Here are a few pages with discussions on this topic:

Fair Mormon

Wikipedia

Mormon laments the fall of the Nephites. (Mormon 6:17-19)

I can really feel his pain expressed in this passage. I feel sad for his having to watch the fall of his people.

Mormon calls the Lamanites to repent and be baptized. (Mormon 7)

This is the true love of Christ. He see’s his people utterly destroyed by the Lamanites but he still has the love to call them to repent and be baptized. This tells us some about his character.

Coming forth of Book of Mormon (Mormon 8:26-32)

I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Mormon 9:8-9)

God doesn’t change. Sure people change and how he deals with them is a little different but the principles behind it all are the same.