Impact of the Book of Mormon on Todays World

So, this is yet another blog post that I decided to write. It's just terrible that I always forget to post regularly here, isn't it? Anyways, I just thought I would write about a subject that many people have asked me about.

Throughout my time growing up, I have been asked several times what the purpose of the Book of Mormon is and why it is important in my life and in the lives of others. In fact, I have asked myself that several time because it is something that is hard to understand sometimes. The standard response to this question that people often give is "The Book of Mormon is there as a second witness of Jesus Christ to the bible" without explaining more to that. As you may imagine, being a second witness would imply that it reflects and expands the teachings that the bible and other resources would have and that is something that I have been focusing on lately in my studies. The Book of Mormon helps us better understand the complete purpose of Christ's life while also giving examples of people who violated these teachings. It helps us understand the issues of our day and apply this to our lives by understanding the circumstances that the people in the Book of Mormon faced while also giving clear examples of people who dealt with these issues and grew closer to Christ.

Throughout the Book of Mormon, the love that Jesus Christ has for His children is very apparent. Nowhere is this more apparent than when He was visiting the Nephites after the resurrection. In 3 Nephi chapter 17, it reads:

 7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.

 8 For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you.

 9 And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.

 10 And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.

 11 And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.

 12 So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.

Sorry for such a long quote, but I could not think of one, other than ones referring to His atonement, that testifies to the same extent as this specific one the love that Jesus has for everyone. When he was about to leave the people, he was overcome with compassion and decided to stay among them longer so that they could see him close up and learn more from him than they otherwise would have. It probably would have taken quite a while for everybody to see him, but he had the love and the patience to let everybody see him. Because Christ showed himself to a people that was not just in the Old World, the Book of Mormon is a second witness of his love and of his teachings to everybody and not just the people he was in contact with during his mortal life.

The Book of Mormon is full of examples that pertain to our own day of people who rejected Christ's teachings and the results of this. The story of Korihor is one such story that is in the Book of Mormon that is of a man who taught that there is no God. After a discussion with Alma, Korihor lost the ability to speak. In the September1977 ensign, an article examining Korihor's arguments, written by Chauncey C. Riddle, is portrayed. part of it reads as:

"Korihor took what might be called a philosophical approach to destroying faith in our Savior an approach remarkably similar to that taken by many persons today in semiphilosophical attempts to “relieve” believers of what they are pleased to call their “naivete.” His arguments could not hurt those whose belief was born of genuine spiritual experience, but they were powerfully effective among those weak in the faith whose belief had not yet gone beyond words."

(https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/09/korihor-the-arguments-of-apostasy?lang=eng)

The arguments that Korihor used against the Church are often used today by those who appose the teachings. For example, many people say things like "Well, I have never seen Jesus Christ myself so I cannot know he exists" or "Well, there is no empirical evidence for God's existence so I'll be an atheist." People who are like Korihor are everywhere so this story is definitely applicable to today.

The Book of Mormon also shows us the nature of sin and acts as a warning to us in today's world. By acting in sin, people refuse the support that Christ offers and will suffer in some way because of this. Sin is around us all the time. It leads to death, broken homes, and ruined lives and relationships. The Book of Mormon prophets knew that things like this would happen in today's world, which is why they included passages like Helaman 4: 11-13

 11 Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.

 12 And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites—

 13 And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.

All of these sins and evil the Nephites were committing is everywhere in today's world. People are too full of themselves and forget to care for the poor, or they have contention with their family because they think they're better than them, etc. 

I hope that what you can take away from this is that the Book of Mormon is one of the best resources one can use to better understand the challenges the world faces today.

 

Anyways, I think this post is long enough.

Missionary stuff

So, it has been several months since I have updated my blog. Since it has been getting so close to the time my mission starts, which will be to Jackson, Mississippi, I just thought that I would share with everybody some thins about missionary work that I have been thinking about lately. When I actually got my mission call, everybody thought that I was lying because the only roommate that I have who has gone on a mission so far went to the exact same place that I'm going on. We all find that hilarious.
 
Anyway, as many of you who know me may know, missionary work is a critical part of my religion. Out here, it seems like everybody has served a mission and is always telling mission stories as if their missions were one of the greatest highlights of their lives. Mormons serve missions because they love those around them. In the Book of Mormon, one of our sets of scriptures, in Alma chapter 36:23-26, it reads:

23 But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did
manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.
24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring
souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste;
that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
25 Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of
my labors;
26 For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God,
and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know
of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God.

In this quote, Alma is teaching his son, Helaman, the importance of serving your fellow man by spreading the gospel to all the earth. He explains that, through sharing the gospel, one will have greater joy than if they don't share it with those around them and that it is a natural desire for those who do have a testimony of Jesus Christ to share the gospel. The gospel will bring joy to all of those involved in spreading it.

When people join my church, they make covenants between themselves and God. A covenant is a promise one makes with God in which He fixes the terms. A covenant is a promise in which, if we follow through on something that He expects from us, we will be blessed. Anybody can make covenants if they are worthy of them and they are free to choose to follow or break these covenants after breaking them. Examples of covenants are baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, priesthood, marriage, and the list goes on. Before I go on my mission, I will be making more covenants in the temple. I do not know the exact covenants and promises that I will make just yet, but I know that these covenants are very special and sacred. Heavenly Father cares deeply about us and that is why we have covenants. The other day, I read a talk from M. Russel Ballard entitled Keeping Covenants from the 1993 General Conference of my church in which he says “Satan will seek to tempt us at times and in ways that exploit our greatest weaknesses or destroy our strengths. But his promises of pleasure are short-lived deceptions. His evil design is to tempt us into sinning, knowing that when we sin we separate ourselves from our Heavenly Father and the Savior, Jesus Christ. We begin to move away from Heavenly Father’s promised blessings toward the misery and anguish in which Satan and his followers languish. By sinning we put ourselves in Satan’s power." Heavenly Father gives us covenants so that we can be happy and return to Him someday.

When I leave for my mission, I will likely need help getting through the trials that are thrown my way. I will likely deal with humid weather, companions that are hard to deal with, and working long hours doing what I can only wonder why God would have me do it. I am sure that I will love what do, but there is no denying the fact that I will likely have to deal with trials every day. It is only through the strengthening and enabling power of the atonement that I will be able to deal with these stresses. In Mosiah 24: 13-16, it reads:

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

When somebody has issues, if they pray to Heavenly Father, He will help them through their challenges. He will give them strength to press forward and will help us understand His will for us. When I am on a mission, it will be important for me to obey and pray and He will help when times get tough for me. It is because of the enabling power of the atonement that that is possible

Saturday

I'm going to Utah on Saturday to visit my aunt and uncle this week. It's important because I get to then go to college in Idaho.

First Post

Well, this is my first post. Just wanted to see how this works. Alrighty then. Bye!