Pathway Week 7: 3 Nephi 12-17

Our reading this week is from 3 Nephi 12-17.  I loved our reading. Starting off, we read about the Sermon on the Mount which is located in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  It’s the “Lord’s blueprint for perfection.”  President Harold B. Lee said “Christ came not only into the world to make an atonement for the sins of mankind but to set an example before the world of the standard of perfection of God’s law and of obedience to the Father. In his Sermon on the Mount the Master has given us somewhat of a revelation of his own character, which was perfect, or what might be said to be ‘an autobiography, every syllable of which he had written down in deeds,’ and in so doing has given us a blueprint for our own lives.”  I loved it put in those words.  If we read these few chapters we really can get a great glimpse into Christ’s life and can continually work on perfecting our life.

I really enjoyed digging in and studying the Beatitudes listed in Chapter 12.  I spent a few days just on this chapter.  I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts from it.

Give Head to the Apostles – Jeffrey R. Holland said “In such days as we are now in—and will more or less always be in—the storms of life ‘shall have no power over you…”  I don’t know about you, but each conference, I have issues, I have problems and each conference I get my issues resolved and problems solved.  I feel peace.  Our lives are not going to be sunny and happy each day; the storms of life will get us, but if we have that foundation in listening to our prophets and apostles we will be able to handle what comes our way.  

Blessed Are All They That Mourn- Recently Howard’s cousin lost their sweet 4-year-old in a tragic accident.  The next day, they had their baby born.  They had just moved into a new neighborhood and hadn’t unpacked yet. When she came home from the hospital from having her baby their neighbors had unpacked her house and put pictures up on the wall.  They mourned with them, they didn’t just say they were sorry for their loss, they went to work and made their burdens lighter. 

Blessed Are the Meek – President Kimball said “Humility is not pretentious, presumptuous, nor proud. It is not weak, vacillating, nor servile. …

“Humble and meek properly suggest virtues, not weaknesses. They suggest a consistent mildness of temper and an absence of wrath and passion. … It is not servile submissiveness. It is not cowed nor frightened. …

“How does one get humble? To me, one must constantly be reminded of his dependence. On whom dependent? On the Lord. How remind one’s self? By real, constant, worshipful, grateful prayer”

In the world we are told to be the opposite of this.  We shouldn’t be meek; we need to be independent!  But how lucky are we that we can be dependent on the Lord and we show him this dependence by prayer.

Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness- I think a lot of this hunger and thirst depends on our desire. We need to have the desire to make it an action word.  Sheri Dew said this “Hungering and thirsting translate to sheer spiritual labor. Worshiping in the temple, repenting to become increasingly pure, forgiving and seeking forgiveness, and earnest fasting and prayer all increase our receptivity to the Spirit. Spiritual work works and is the key to learning to hear the voice of the Lord”  Its not enough to just hunger and thirst we must then get to work!

Pure in Heart – Joseph B. Wirthin said this about being pure in heart. “If we are without guile, we are honest, true, and righteous. These are all attributes of Deity and are required of the Saints. Those who are honest are fair and truthful in their speech, straightforward in their dealings, free of deceit, and above stealing, misrepresentation, or any other fraudulent action. Honesty is of God; dishonesty of the devil, who was a liar from the beginning. Righteousness means living a life that is in harmony with the laws, principles, and ordinances of the gospel” Two things I liked about his quote, one its required of the Saints.  We must be honest.  And two, by living righteous we are living in harmony of the laws, principles and ordinances of the gospel.  And we’re just plain happier. 

Peacemaker – this may be my favorite.  We talk about this a lot on our house.  We talk about being peacemakers at school at home with our siblings.  Bruce R. McConkie said “Peacemakers: In the full sense, only those who believe and spread the fullness of the gospel are peacemakers within the perfect meaning of this Beatitude. The gospel is the message of peace to all mankind. Children of God: Those who have been adopted into the family of God as a result of their devotion to the truth. By such a course they become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.”  I hadn’t really thought of being a peacemaker by being a missionary.  But it only makes sense.  The gospel brings peace, sharing the gospel is sharing peace.

Whoever is Angry With His Brother –We need to avoid judgment.  And I know this is much easier said than done.  And then in verse 24 Jesus taught that you need to get it resolved before you come to him.  Its better to avoid anger and judgement all together. 

I Would That Ye Should Be Perfect- James E Faust said “Perfection is an eternal goal. While we cannot be perfect in mortality, striving for it is a commandment which ultimately, through the Atonement, we can keep” This gave me a feeling of peace.  Perfection will not happen overnight.  It will not even happen in this lifetime, but its something I can continually work towards and grow. 

I know that if we work on this list of goals to better ourselves we can work towards perfection and continually being closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I’m grateful for these chapters. I’m grateful for my testimony growing this week while I learned directly from our Savior.

Pathway: Lesson 5 Helaman 10-16

This week’s reading is Helaman 10-16. 

The beginning of the reading Nephi is “pondering”.  Elder Russell M. Nelson shared this about the benefits of pondering, “As you ponder and pray about doctrinal principles, the Holy Ghost will speak to your mind and your heart [see D&C 8:2]. From events portrayed in the scriptures, new insights will come and principles relevant to your situation will distill upon your heart”  This semester I’ve tired hard to have my time to study the scriptures uninterrupted, so I can really dig deep into them and actually study them…not just read them.  This usually happens when my daughter is having her “resting time.”  I’ve noticed by separating myself from everything else in my life I can get better insights and I’m seeing more direct revelation from them.  Its been such a blessing.

Let’s talk about the cycle of righteousness.  Helaman 12:2 says “Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.”  This is a hard one, and unfortunately something I can see even in my own life.  When things are tough and hard we turn to the Lord for help and guidance and our faith grows stronger.  When things turn around and we start to prosper, we slack a bit.  This is the cycle we see shown again and again in the Book of Mormon.  How do we avoid it?  I think we avoid it by continually praying heart felt prayers, nurturing our relationship with Heavenly Father.  Continually read our scriptures as well.  Its those “Sunday School Answers” that will help us.

Next we read about Samuel the Lamanite.  He prophesied many great things which were fulfilled.  He prophesied of Christ’s birth in 5 years and the signs they would see because of his birth.  I loved reading about it from a different view than the bible.  He also taught them to prepare to meet Christ; to repent, believe in God.  He taught 4 truths:

Know the judgments of God

Know the conditions of repentance

Know the coming of Christ

Know the signs of his coming

These are truths we need to know and study now. 

In my directed study this week it asked if we would have listened to Samuel the Lamanite now and I immediately thought yes I would!  After thinking about it more, it would not have been easy.  Especially if everyone around me ignored his teachings.  All I can think is you have to go where the spirit is.  I’ve followed this in my life when things haven’t been easy and I feel like I’ve ended up where I need to be. 

When I was in Young Woman’s as a leader, we had an investigator come to our ward.  Her family got baptized right away and she didn’t.  She would ask very good questions each Sunday.  I always admired her for getting her own testimony before she would be baptized.  I always had my parents and I know for a long time I relied on their testimony.  But at such a young age she was able to gain her own testimony and that’s something no one can take away.  She is now getting ready to go on a mission.  She’s amazing.

I’m so grateful for examples in my life and for the examples in the Book of Mormon, there is always room for growth and that is exciting.