BYU (Brigham Young University) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.” As part of their undergraduate coursework, BYU students take multiple semesters of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.
In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.
In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelites who settled in ancient America. (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names. We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.)
Let us know if you’d like to receive your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon, and/or if these messages encourage and assist you spiritually as well.
Mormon Thoughts: The Unicorn and the Potato Salad
No, the title has nothing to do with the post (sorry if that horribly disappoints you) – I was just trying to be unique enough to gain some attention. This is a letter I wrote to my little sister. She and I used to have scripture study nights together, so now I send her letters with my scripture thoughts to try and keep up our little tradition.
The first thought:
Almost every time the Lamanites gain advantage over the Nephites it is because there is a problem within the Nephite community. I think I knew about this before now, but I don’t think I realized how often it happened. All throughout Alma this happens. Then in Helaman it happens: “because of so much contention and so much difficulty in the government, that they had not kept sufficient guards in the land of Zarahemla.” Then the Lamanites strike and take many Nephite cities.
What a great lesson this teaches us! In our own lives, we are the Nephites and Satan is the Lamanites. And for us, contention and discord within ourselves let Satan gain advantage over us. When we give in to pride and hate and envy and pride and pride (yes, I realize I said pride three times – pride is pretty much the sin. Every other sin can be traced back to pride) then Satan can attack us and gain an advantage over us.
The second thought:
I love Helaman 3:29-30. (Can you tell that I’ve been reading in Helaman lately?) I especially love the very last bit of verse 30: “to go no more out.” I was just thinking a moment ago about how much I miss home. About all the little things I miss – and not really the place or the things, but the people. And then I thought to myself “what a terrible thing it would be to be separated from my eternal friends and family.” I’m no expert, but I believe that when we are brought back to Heavenly Father’s presence we will recognize not only the people, but also the places. I wonder – and I think we did – if we had homes like the ones we have now. I wonder if we had favorite places to visit and favorite pastimes. If I miss my earthly home after being away a few months, I cannot imagine how much I would miss my heavenly home if I was cast away from it for eternity. And to be separated from my heavenly friends and family for forever… I don’t know what I would do. If I can be sad to be away from those with whom I’ve spent 18 years or less, I cannot imagine what it would be like to be away from those I’ve spent an eternity with prior to this life.
And in verses 29 and 30 it says that I can have a chance to go home and be home forever – “to go no more out.” I want that.
The third thought:
It is so important for Church members to learn the “why’s” of the gospel. To understand what they believe – not just accept it blindly. I realized something when reading recently. In Helaman 5:17, it says “they did confound many of those dissenters.” Guess what! All of the lies that Satan feeds to men are just that– lies, and lies can be confounded. Every lie is based on incorrect reasoning and can be confounded. Truth, on the other hand, cannot be confounded. It is impossible to confound truth. All of Heavenly Father’s teachings are based on truth. The Lord’s way cannot be confounded. However, the members of the Church are susceptible to being confounded. Those who do not know why they believe what they do can be confounded very easily. But, the more we read, study, ponder and discuss our beliefs, the more we understand the underlying truths behind them and the less vulnerable we are to being confounded.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided at our stake conference just a few days ago. It was truly a learning experience. At one point, he shared a story where he was being interviewed by a reporter. The reporter was trying to say that the work we do in the temple was strange and secret. Essentially, the reporter was trying to confound our doctrine. But, because Elder Bednar was bold, knew the topic well and had the Lord’s Spirit with him, he was actually able to confound the news reporter. Isn’t that cool! I think so. Truth cannot be confounded. But every single one of the devil’s lies can be.
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