Alma the Younger

This week we Studied Mosiah 27- Alma 7

The Sons of Mosiah and Alma the younger’s conversion it is one of the most dramatic transformations in the scriptures. These men were idolatrous and so rebellious. Alma sought to lead men away from the church with flattery. I think about Alma being the prophet, his own son was being the main adversary of the Lord along with his friends the sons of Mosiah. How embarrassing to have his son be the leader of the troublemakers. 

When the Angel struck Alma the younger dumb, Alma rejoiced. Why? Because he had been praying that the he would be brought unto the knowledge of the truth. He knew that there was something really important happening. He then turned his efforts along with his people toward fasting and praying that Alma would speak again. And Alma was born again Mosiah 27:25 “must be born again” Mosiah 27:31 “Yea every tongue confess before him”. Do we as parents sometimes pray for a little kick in the pants for our children so that they can be brought to the truth? I know I have, and I rejoice when the spirit witnesses the truth of this gospel and strengthens my children’s testimony through the trials they have experienced. I can understand how Alma must have felt.

Then these converted young men decide immediately to go and spread the gospel to the Lamanites. They were full of the joy of the gospel and they wanted their brethren to have that joy as well. I am inspired by these events. First the amazing transformation and conversion, then the immediate desire to share that joy and knowledge with others. That is exactly what we need to do. When we have an amazing, ah-hah testimony building moment, we need to share it with those around us. Whether it be in Sacrament on fast and testimony or in conversations with those we come in contact with. We need to share the joy of this gospel and the power of the atonement in our lives. I am so grateful for these ancient words that we can still apply in our lives today. I love this story and the parallels we can draw from this as well as other examples throughout the scriptures. We are blessed to have this roadmap if you will, for us to follow and learn and grow from.

Awesome but hard week

We are on the home stretch fellow Pathway Students

This week in our Religion class we talked about our impressions from the scripture study for the week, we read Enos through Mosiah 3. The lead student talked about taking time for self-reflection as Enos did when he went to hunt alone, he was away from all the distractions to think and commune with the spirit and listen to impressions from the Holy Ghost, and he wrestled with his own personal failings. My online instructor invited us to take note and contemplate the difference between wresting “with” God versus wrestling “before” God, as stated here in Enos 2: “And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.”

This is the challenge for us especially as women, we are often depressed and discouraged. We too often compare ourselves to another more amazing, more capable, gluten-free, low-fat, exercising, super awesome sister. The Lord doesn’t keep a tally on who appears to have it all together, thank goodness. We need to tune in to the fruits of the spirit, which are love, joy, happiness and peace. When we reflect on daily changes we should make, the spirit will guide us to make positive changes that bring us peace and not to dwell on our personal failings or by making comparisons to others. This is what truly matters to the Lord: D &C 137: 9 “For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts”

Remember: Our trials and challenges have a purpose, we all need time away from distractions, this is the time when we can often get answers and understand that we all have the need of the atonement in our lives. We need the struggles to help us grow and be who we want to become. I loved the general conf. talk "What Lack I Yet" by Larry R. Lawrence. He advises us to humbly pray for the spirit to let us know where we can find improvement. We can only receive the messages he has for us personally when we ask Him and then take the time to reflect. It’s so important to get our daily prayer and scripture study in. We can only receive His written messages if we are reading and studying them. There is so much we can glean from these scriptures and apply to our lives, it's also another way in addition to prayer to invite the spirit into our minds for the day. Once invited in, the spirit will stay and guide our day, and peace and joy are the results. Those days are always the best ones.

               

Looking forward to Thanksgiving with our families, and a break from attending the Gathering, even though I will miss seeing your faces this week for sure.

Thank the Heavens

Our Heavenly Father provided a constant guide to help us in our lives. This week we studied 2 Nephi  chapters 28-33 in the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 32: 5   For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

With the Holy Ghost as our constant companion we will not fail. I completely rely on him and his guidance. The kicker is that we have to be first desirous,  then when we have that confirmation that it's true, we have to live worthily and continue in that worthiness to receive his promptings. As soon as I am somewhere he can't be I feel such a loss and want to leave immediately. I am imperfect; there was a time in my life when I was on the wrong path and I let myself stray from following the gospel truths. It was a time where I felt such a loss and a lack of "light" or the spirit. I was being passive in my relationship and letting another drag me down the wrong path, silently praying for His help. But I was passive and not actively doing the right things. The Lord sent me an intervention one day and I grabbed onto it with everything.  That very day, the "light" returned and I saw that I must take action and choose the right path. Even though I was not yet worthy of the return of the Holy Ghost, I had re-committed myself to becoming worthy and I have never looked back. 29 years later, I am still not perfect, but I sure miss when the spirit is not guiding my life.  So I do what I can to repent, sometimes daily, in order to keep the guidance of the Holy Spirit with me. Satan will continue to prey on our weaknesses and past mistakes. Sometimes forgiving ourselves is the hardest part of the process, forgive yourselves please. Then follow the gospel truths and actively move toward your spiritual goals.  

Nephi  continues to testify of Christ throughout these passages. His final words in chapter 33 bring it all home. 

2 Nephi 33: 4   And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.

I am persuaded. I know that what Nephi is testiphying is true. I believe he consecrated Nephi’s prayers as he consecrates my own prayers for the gain of my own people. Any work we do in his name,  however imperfect , is for his glory. He will take our offering and make it “strong unto them”.  We need not fear in sharing the gospel, we have all the tools necessary. We have our own personal witness of the joy it brings into our lives, he will inspire our words and actions and make the most of our efforts. I want to stand as an example and witness of our Heavenly Father at all times, in all things and in all places.  I want to persuade those around me of his eternal love for them. Then endure to the end, and endure it well.

Holdin to the Rod

This week we studied 2 Nephi 9-16. This world is pretty crazy right now and these passages talk about a future vision that seems scary close to the times we are now living.

These passages are comparable to Isaiah so therefore tons of deep thinking. Our weekly study skill was visualize. Have you ever tried to visualize as you are studying the scriptures?  As I tried to create a visual picture of the setting, people and possibly placing myself in the setting as I listened to the scriptures this week was really amazing. As I continue to study daily in the scriptures I am amazed at how much adding these study skills help me seek greater understanding. As I was reading/listening I kept visualizing scenes from Capital in the Hunger Games, 2 Nephi 12: 7-9. How haughty and self-serving the people depicted in the movie as well as how outrageous they all look, it was a really interesting visual. But these same wicked and worldly men will be brought low "the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down" (2 Nephi 12:11). The Lord will humble all of us, especially those who deny him.

We talked in specific detail more about Chapter 2 Nephi chapter 9. We discussed that which brings us closer to Christ vs. that which brings us closer to the devil. In class we reflected on how much easier it is to just go with the flow, how it seems so fun to party and play and worry about our troubles later. At first the consequences either don't set in, or they seem worth it until further down the road. But… further down the road you now have an addiction, a sin to repent from, and much farther reaching consequences than you realize. The things that bring us closer to Christ seem like a list of rules, things we can't do and the way we are supposed to the things we should do. But as we follow the rules and gain the reward of our righteous choices we see and understand that there are no chains only freedom and happiness. It was reconfirmed this week to me that following Christs example is the true path to happiness, I plan to keep holdin tight to the rod.

Once again I want to reiterate my gratefulness to this Pathway program, it is helping me achieve all the things the Lord wants for me at this time. Its giving me the opportunity to learn how to do the "ponderizing" that we learned about in conference this last Oct. It's making sure I put Christ in the center of my life and learning.