Book of Mormon Chapter 6: http://youtu.be/n3KbdQzxNDQ
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How the Book of Mormon came about: http://youtu.be/FMQEb9A9L2g
Scripture Thought (What I Learned):
Nephi and his family continue their journey through the wilderness, Ishmael dies. The brothers of Nephi and the daughters of Ishmael fight against Nephi and have to be humbled many times by God. It says "...he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord..." (1 Nephi 15:3); this really caught my attention, because so many times we are caught fighting something that has been commanded of us. We all are like Laman and Lemuel, we murmur, we whine and complain... but usually it is because we don't understand. We often times need to look unto the Lord and ask him to help us understand what we don't, and help us to realize why something has to be done a specific way. Sometimes the simplest things can be the hardest for us, because we tend to overcomplicate things.
Later on there is more complaints about how hard the journey is, and how they all want to return to Jerusalem where they could be happy. Nephi explains to them that "...the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center. And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us". (1 Nephi 16:2-1); this is very interesting, because I think that everyone, again, has been in this situation. Like I had mentioned above, if we are following the commandments of God and striving to live the life that he would have for us, we shouldn't have a reason to complain. Often times we complain and say that things are not fair or difficult... then when things get really bad (often consequences of our own unrighteousness) we complain and blame God for our problems. Then when someone speaks the truth to us, it hits us hard and we know that we are wrong. This is where we have two options... #1: we accept the truth, realize the errors of our ways, plead for forgiveness and move on, or #2: we don't accept the truth, get mad and blame the church and God for our problems, defame the church and its leaders and become very unhappy for the rest of our lives.
Nephi and his family continue with the journey, Laman and Lemuel continue to complain, all the while God has to humble them and teach them that he is all powerful. "...because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished". (1 Nephi 17:41) Again, the Gospel is simple... have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, be baptized under the proper authority and live a righteous life and you will return to live with your Heavenly Father. Simple and Easy, yet so many people cannot accomplish it... and because of this, there were (and will be) many that shall perish. Don't get me wrong, it is very simple and I know that for mankind it is difficult. I fight on a daily basis to live up to what God would have for me. It is a constant struggle, but the same can be said with exercising of the muscles in our body or stimulating our mental capacity. It is a constant workout. Mind, Body and Soul!
Finally Nephi is commanded to build a ship, can you guess what Laman and Lemuel have to say about it? Yep, they complain. Again! But Nephi reminds them of a very important thing... God, is ALL Powerful... "And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?" (1 Nephi 17:51); this goes to show that if God is all powerful (which He is), then why couldn't He command Nephi to build a ship? OR Why couldn't He command Joseph Smith to translate the Golden Plates and publish the Book of Mormon? He could and He did.
That is something super important to remember and something that the critics must hear; God is all powerful and all knowing, He can do anything... including restore his church on the earth, call a prophet and instruct his children with even more scripture. The Book of Mormon is true, and I know of these things by means not of this world. Only God can tell you through the Holy Ghost if these things are true. I have asked, and I have received. The answer? The Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and through that prophet God restored his church on the earth. There is a living prophet today and no matter what anyone in this world tells me, my story and testimony will never change.
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