Gaining knowledge through prayer and studying the Scriptures.

Putting it all Together Assignment. Lesson 05

This week we were to study Helaman 10 through 16.

We are encouraged to share what we learned each week. Well I have chosen to share with you all the following scripture from the Book of Mormon, which reads:

·       Alma 17:9

9 And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

This verse is not from the chapters we were assigned to study. For those of you not in the Pathways Program through the church which I belong to. If you are new to my blog, I will give you a littler background here. As a student in the program we are required to teach others what we are learning because part of the BYU-I learning model it is believed that we will learn and understand a point of study or skill more if we are able to teach another. If we are able to teach another, we must be able to understand it before we can teach it to someone else. I for one believe this theory to be true. I have seen it work and have been a part of it now for 1 ½ semesters.

Now back to the scripture I want to talk about. See when we are studying a scriptural block we are not just reading the scripture as it is written. We are encouraged to study it out and ponder it for ourselves. This is how I ended up with this verse. I am trying to gain a Christ-like attribute of “Knowledge”. So I searched the term “Knowledge” on the lds.org website and searched within the Book of Mormon.

The term or word “knowledge is used twice in this verse. The first time it is used it is referring to the knowledge of the truth that what they were trying to teach to the brethren the Lamanites was true. The second time “knowledge” is mentioned it is referring to the fact that they knew that some of the things that their fathers were teaching or “traditions” were false or not correct.

I have found that to be one of the most point of issue one may find hard to try to teach another. Telling someone that what they may have been doing since they were old enough to be taught is wrong or incorrect. Let me write about one such point here. It is taught by many churches that God, Jesus Christ and The Holy Ghost is one person or unity. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it is taught that God, Jesus Christ and The Holy Ghost are 3 separate Personages that work as one to bring about the salvation of man.

Ok remember these are my thoughts on this verse and my opinions only. I want to state again I do not speak for the Church and hope I am teaching others what I believe to be true. My The Holy Ghost testify to you the truthfulness of the scriptures as you read and ponder them for yourselves.

Any additional thoughts from my classmates or anyone who has been invited to view this blog? I would love to hear others takeaways from this verse.

*Footnote: Scriptures posted here are copied and pasted from lds.org 

My takeaways from The Book of Mormon chapters Alma 43 to 63

Putting it all Together Assignment. Lesson 03

This week we were to study Alma 43 through Alma 63.

Some students were calling these the war chapters. I can see why, but War is found through out the scriptures. So I personal am not labeling them as such.

So what outcomes did I personal get from reading this block of scriptures?

I found the strength of Captain Moroni to be a great example of trusting in the Lord. He knew that Alma was shown the strategies of the other army and had the protection of God on his side.

*Alma 43:  23 But it came to pass, as soon as they had departed into the wilderness Moroni sent spies into the wilderness to watch their camp; and Moroni, also, knowing of the prophecies of Alma, sent certain men unto him, desiring him that he should inquire of the Lord whither the armies of the Nephites should go to defend themselves against the Lamanites.

 24 And it came to pass that the word of the Lord came unto Alma, and Alma informed the messengers of Moroni, that the armies of the Lamanites were marching roundabout in the wilderness, that they might come over into the land of Manti, that they might commence an attack upon the weaker part of the people. And those messengers went and delivered the message unto Moroni.

I also found strength in the mothers of the young men fighting with Moroni. They prayed for their sons and their safe return home.

Alma 56: 47 49: 52-56

  47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

 49 And it came to pass that I did return with my two thousand against these Lamanites who had pursued us. And now behold, the armies of Antipus had overtaken them, and a terrible battle had commenced.

52 And it came to pass that the Lamanites took courage, and began to pursue them; and thus were the Lamanites pursuing them with great vigor when Helaman came upon their rear with his two thousand, and began to slay them exceedingly, insomuch that the whole army of the Lamanites halted and turned upon Helaman.

 53 Now when the people of Antipus saw that the Lamanites had turned them about, they gathered together their men and came again upon the rear of the Lamanites.

 54 And now it came to pass that we, the people of Nephi, the people of Antipus, and I with my two thousand, did surround the Lamanites, and did slay them; yea, insomuch that they were compelled to deliver up their weapons of war and also themselves as prisoners of war.

 55 And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain.

 56 But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war.

There is a lot of fighting going on in these chapters, but what I see happening is the the leaders that believe in God and Kept his commandments had given their enemies many chances to give up with only the promise of not waging war against them they would let them live and the enemies never chose the easy way.

Any additional thoughts from my classmates? I would love to hear others takeaways from these chapters.

*Footnote: Scriptures posted here are copied and pasted from lds.org 

Putting it all Together Assignment.
This semester in my Book of Mormon class (FDREL 122G) we are studying the second half of the Book of Mormon Alma 30 through Moroni 10. When I say studying I mean studying not reading. I have read the book of Mormon a few times now over the last 12 years and have receive a testimony of the truthfulness of the contents. Now I am starting to understand what our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to learn and do after reading the scriptures held with in it.
Part of our learning this semester is to teach others what we are learning. The BYU-I teaching model has teaching each other as part of our learning. When we are able to teach others what we are learning it shows we are understanding what we are being taught. See, If you can't teach someone else what you have learned you really have not understood the materials fully. I am not talking about the fear of talking to someone. See with teach someone else it can be someone who is very close to you. It could be your best friend, son, daughter, wife, husband, mom or even your dad. Anyone you know will tell you if they understand what you are trying to teach. They might not agree with you but that is ok. Everyone has their own opinion.
Ok, this semester I will be posting things I am learning and I hope to write about people I have tried to teach what I am learning (With their permission.)
Please post any insights that you have or questions you may have to me and I will try to answer to the best of my abilities.
I am hoping my fellow Pathway students from my gathering class will also be posting to my blog this semester. I do not know of or if any will participate, but I am hoping to get more views and or readers to this blog. I may have started this blog as a class assignment last semester, but I am hoping it turns it to a positive place for everyone to come and learn from each other.
This week we read from the Book of Mormon Alma 30 to 35. I want to talk about Alma 31:8 through 16 and the false teachings and practices of the Zoramites. It reads:
*Alma 31: 8-16, 8 Now the Zoramites were dissenters from the Nephites; therefore they had had the word of God preached unto them.

 9 But they had fallen into great errors, for they would not observe to keep the commandments of God, and his statutes, according to the law of Moses.

 10 Neither would they observe the performances of the church, to continue in prayer and supplication to God daily, that they might not enter into temptation.

 11 Yea, in fine, they did pervert the ways of the Lord in very many instances; therefore, for this cause, Alma and his brethren went into the land to preach the word unto them.

 12 Now, when they had come into the land, behold, to their astonishment they found that the Zoramites had built synagogues, and that they did gather themselves together on one day of the week, which day they did call the day of the Lord; and they did worship after a manner which Alma and his brethren had never beheld;

 13 For they had a place built up in the center of their synagogue, a place for standing, which was high above the head; and the top thereof would only admit one person.

 14 Therefore, whosoever desired to worship must go forth and stand upon the top thereof, and stretch forth his hands towards heaven, and cry with a loud voice, saying:

 15 Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.

 16 Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children; and also thou hast made it known unto us that there shall be no Christ.

What I believe are false teaching and practices being taught or being done were these. They taught you could only pray in the synagogues. They did not keep the Law of Moses which are the 10 commandments. They taught others that there was not Christ. They felt for this reason they were they chosen people of God. 

Now please read the rest of Alma 31, then read 32 and 33. 

Now I am not posting those scriptures here (It would make a long post a very long post). I want to finish with a short summary of what I found to be what is still being taught to us today. He taught the people who where cast out of the synagogues that they could pray and worship God anywhere and everywhere at any time. You do not worship or pray to God just one day of the week in one place only. He also told them to read and study the scriptures which they had at the time. He also taught them to have faith in Jesus Christ.

This is all for now please feel free to add to other teachings that you find being taught in these chapters. Remember please to be nice to everyone as if we were talking one on one with the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

*Footnote: Scriptures posted here are copied and pasted from lds.org 

I would like to be more like Christ in all ways

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-001-christlike-attributes?lang=enghttps://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-001-christlike-attributes?lang=eng

Look to the Light.

What I got from watching the Mormon Message – "Look to the Light" video.

 https://youtu.be/Aup9M5HZawI

“Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time”

“The world has a chance to change. The world can become what Jesus intended it to be from the beginning. The world has a chance to except his love and follow him.” Sal, Contractor, New Jersey, USA“

 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness.” John 12: 46

What does this mean? If light is Jesus Christ what is Darkness, The Devil? I'm going with this theory and running with it. I hope it's not like running with scissors.  I believe that if we have Jesus Christ in our life the Devil can not really harm us unless we let him in. If we do that the the light of Christ will become darker in us. Jesus Christ will keep on shinning brighter than we can comprehend. That is why we have a savior to rescue us. Jesus was born so man can be saved. At any moment we have and can be saved by excepting Jesus Christ and his love. We can all repent it is never to late. Would it not be the greatest gift we can give our Heavenly Father is that all my receive his atoning sacrifice and return to him? I say yes. Please be kind to one another no matter what you believe. Kindness can not hurt you or the one whom is receiving that kindness.