Thought: Not everything in this life is black and white, but it seems that
the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its keystone role in our belief is
exactly that. Either Joseph Smith was the prophet he said he was, who, after
seeing the Father and the Son, later beheld the angel Moroni, repeatedly heard
counsel from his lips, eventually receiving at his hands a set of ancient gold
plates which he then translated according to the gift and power or God-or else
he did not. And if he did not...he is not entitled to retain even the
reputation of New England folk hero or well meaning young man or writer of
remarkable fiction. No, and he is not entitled to be considered a fine teacher
or a quintessential American prophet or the creator of great wisdom literature.
If he lied about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, he is certainly none
of these. (Jeffrey R. Holland, "A Standard unto My People," CES
Symposium, 9 August 1994, BYU)
Book of the week - Nurturing Faith Through the Book of Mormon.
Five articles written by Jeffrey R. Holland, Daniel H. Ludlow, Robert J.
Matthews, Robert L. Millet, John W. Welch. The article by Robert Matthews lists
what the Lord has declared about the Book of Mormon in the D&C: D&C
1:29; 3:9, 12, 16-20; 5:6-12; 10:57-63; 19:26-27; 124:119.
Gary's Green Verses
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Date
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Chapter
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Verse
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Comments
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April
19
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Alma
15
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16
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Is
the Gospel True? Then what else matters?
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April
20
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Alma
16
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16
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And
so we pray for the Lord to prepare hearts and for us to have the chance to
share the gospel with prepared hearts.
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April
21
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Alma
17
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2-3
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One
of my favorite things is to see old friends who are still faithful.
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April
22
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Alma
18
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32
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We
need to work on our thoughts and intents of our heart. Progress?
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April
23
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Alma
19
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33
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One
indication that our hearts have been changed is that we want others to know.
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April
24
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Alma
20
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26
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A
heart softened when a father saw a missionary love his son.
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April
25
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Alma
21
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9
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Take
away the atonement & we have nothing to look forward to.
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1. Alma 5:14- One measure of the new birth is the appearance of
the new man. Paul described the process of salvation as obtaining “the mind of
Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16); that is, learning to
think as Christ thinks, believe as he believes, feel as he feels, and do as he
would do. Peter described the same thing as partaking of “the divine nature” (2
Peter 1:4), meaning that we must acquire the attributes of
godliness. Joseph Smith explained: “The
Savior most clearly show[ed] unto us the nature of salvation, and what he
proposed unto the human family when he proposed to save them- that he proposed
to make them like unto himself, and he was like the Father, the great prototype
of all saved beings; and for any portion of the human family to be assimilated
into their likeness is to be saved; and to be unlike them is to be destroyed;
and on this hinge turns the door of salvation” (Lectures on Faith 7:16). As a
child learns by imitating and emulating parents and those older than himself,
so we learn godliness by imitating others who have set an example in
righteousness, especially Jesus Christ. Alma appropriately describes this
process of becoming Christlike as receiving the image of Christ in our
countenances. The heart can be a symbol for the entire soul, the source of life
and power in all that we do. To experience a “mighty change” in our hearts is
to gain a full and complete commitment to the gospel cause. It is to be filled
with spiritual vigor. It is to have a soul consecrated to the upbuilding of the
kingdom. (DCBM 3:28-30) "Forgiving ourselves
and others is not easy. In fact, for most of us it requires a major change in
our attitude and way of thinking—even a change of heart. But there is good
news. This “mighty change”8 of heart is exactly what the gospel of
Jesus Christ is designed to bring
into our lives. How is it done? Through the love of God. When our hearts are
filled with the love of God, something good and pure happens to us. (Uchtdorft,
General Conference Sunday Morning April 1, 2012)
2.
Alma 5 - 41?'s and 17 alls
3.
Alma 5:46- How Alma gained his testimony
4.
Alma 6:6 - Who are you praying for? If we will pray and ask Heavenly Father who
we can help and promise to act on the promptings He gives us letting us know
how we can help, He will answer our prayers and we will become instruments in
His hands to do His work. Acting in love upon the promptings given by the
Spirit becomes the catalyst. As you have listened to these experiences of
naturally and normally sharing the gospel with those you care about, many of
you have had the same experience that Eileen Waite had. You have thought of
someone to whom you should reach out and either invite to come back or share
with him or her your feelings about the gospel of Jesus Christ. My invitation is to
act, without delay, on that prompting. Talk to your friend or family member. Do
it in a natural and normal way. Let them know of your love for them and for the
Lord. Missionaries can help. My counsel is the same that President Monson has
given so many times from this very pulpit: “Never delay a prompting.”12 As you act on the prompting and do
it with love, watch as our Heavenly Father uses your willingness to act to
bring about a miracle in your life and in the life of the person you care
about. (David F. Evans CR April 2012)
5.
Alma 7:11 - Howard W. Hunter -Think
of it! When his body was taken from the cross and hastily placed in a borrowed
tomb, he, the sinless Son of God, had already taken upon him not only the sins
and temptations of every human soul who will repent, but all of our sickness
and grief and pain of every kind. He suffered these afflictions as we suffer
them, according to the flesh. He suffered them all. He did this to perfect his
mercy and his ability to lift us above every earthly trial. ("He Is
Risen," Ensign,
May 1988, p.16)
6.
Alma 9:20-22 - How the Lord show favoritism
7.
Alma 10:6-7 - Who do we fast for?
8.
Alma 10:22-23 - Prayers of Righteous prevents destruction!
9.
Alma 11:24 - Another lesson on priorities.
10.
Alma 12:10-11 - "A person's worthiness to be entrusted with the mysteries
of God is directly related to the hardness or softness of his heart. Living the
gospel of Jesus Christ, ensures that your heart will remain soft, pliable, and
receptive to the greater portion of the word and the eventual fullness of the
mysteries of godliness. (Ogden p. 412)
11. Alma 13 - “All these rewards were
seemingly promised, or foreordained, before the world was. Surely these matters
must have been determined by the kind of lives we had lived in that premortal
spirit world. Some may question these assumptions, but at the same time they
will accept without any question the belief that each one of us will be judged
when we leave this earth according to his or her deeds during our lives here in
mortality. Isn’t it just as reasonable to believe that what we have received
here in this earth [life] was given to each of us according to the merits of
our conduct before we came here?” (Harold B. Lee, in Conference Report, Oct.
1973, 7–8; or Ensign,
Jan. 1974, 5).
"Now
I think it is folly for one to compare one President of the Church with another.
No one takes the place of another President of the Church. Each President has
his own place. I had a lesson taught me some years ago when, in company with
one of the brethren, I had reorganized the presidency of the Ensign Stake. We
had named the bishop of one of the wards as stake president. It was near the
end of the year, and he elected to remain as bishop, along with his first
counselor, who was a bishop, until they had closed the books at the end of the
year. Six weeks after they were sustained, the stake president suddenly passed
away. Then I began to receive a barrage of letters. Where in the world was the
inspiration for you to call a man whom the Lord was going to let die in six
weeks? They invited me to talk at his services, and some seemed to be expecting
me to try to explain why I had appointed a man that the Lord was going to take
home in six weeks. President Joseph Fielding Smith sat on the stand and heard
my attempt to satisfy these people, and he said to me, “Don’t you let that bother you. If you have called a man to a
position in this church and he dies the next day, that position would have a
bearing on what he will be called to do when he leaves this earth.” I believe
that. I believe that every President of this church, every apostle of this
church, every bishop, every stake president, every presiding position will have
a bearing on what one is called to do when he leaves this earth. And so,
when you think of one President taking the place of another, he doesn’t. That
President maintains his own place. We shouldn’t try to compare one as being
greater than this one or greater than the other, because each one is, in the
eyes of the Lord, in his own time the one most needed for that particular time.
You may be sure of that." (HBLee, CR, Oct. 1972 o, 129-130)
12. Alma
13:12 - See also 2 Nephi 4:31; Alma 19:33 and Mosiah 5:2; D&C 20:33-34 - President Brigham Young
explained what sanctification means to the Saints by declaring: “I will put my
own definition to the term sanctification, and say it consists in overcoming
every sin and bringing all into subjection to the law of Christ. God has placed
in us a pure spirit; when this reigns predominant, without let or hindrance,
and triumphs over the flesh and rules and governs and controls as the Lord
controls the heavens and the earth, this I call the blessing of sanctification.
. . . Do not suppose that we shall ever in the flesh be free from temptations
to sin. Some suppose that they can in the flesh be sanctified body and spirit
and become so pure that they will never again feel the effects of the power of
the adversary of truth. Were it possible for a person to attain to this degree
of perfection in the flesh, he could not die neither remain in a world where
sin predominates. Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin. I think we
shall more or less feel the effects of sin so long as we live, and finally have
to pass the ordeals of death.” (In Journal of Discourses, 10:173.)
13. Alma 13:18 - see JST Geneses
14:25-40 and Who was Melchizedek and who was his God? © Dr Margaret Barker 2008.
According to her,
Sola Scriptura has hindered rather than
helped the understanding of Christianity.
14. Alma 14 - See D&C 122:9
15. Alma 14:14, 20, 24, 25- does this remind you of how Jesus was
treated?
16. Alma 15:4-5 - Are Alma and Amulek going to see a friend? What
have they just suffered because of Zeezrom?
17. Alma 16:5-6 - Zoram sets a pretty good example for us today.
18. Alma 17: 3 - Again,
we must get an idea of what this word fasting means. It's a very old
English word. I wrote down the dictionary meaning on the back of one of these.
I can tell you easily enough what it is. Fast is the same word as feast
and fest and festival, and fasti in Latin. It means to
hold fast to something, to observe something carefully. But it means to
exercise self-control. Fasting means to hold yourself back. That's what it
really is. Fasting is to correct excesses. It's to hold firm. It's
self-control. That's the dictionary definition of it, and then it branches off
into other things. Fasting is self-restraint. (From an article whose author I
do not know sent to me by DeLynn Kirkham.)
19. Alma
17:25 - A great message for anybody called to a church position.
20. Alma 18:5 - Is this false
doctrine prevalent in the world today? How do we help people who
have been taught false doctrine in their lives? " King Lamoni had been brought up with a belief that there was a
God but that whatever the king did was right. He had been specifically taught
false doctrine that might have made him impervious to feelings of guilt. Do you
remember that when he heard where Ammon was, a feeling of guilt, of fear that
he had done wrong in the killing of the servants, came over him (see Alma 18:5)?
Remember the effect in Alma chapter 18:“And they answered the king, and said:
Whether he be the Great Spirit or a man, we know not; but this much we do know,
that he cannot be slain by the enemies of the king; neither can they scatter
the king’s flocks when he is with us, because of his expertness and great
strength; therefore, we know that he is a friend to the king. And now, O king,
we do not believe that a man has such great power, for we know he cannot be
slain. “And now, when the king heard these words, he said unto them: Now I know
that it is the Great Spirit; and he has come down at this time to preserve your
lives, that I might not slay you as I did your brethren” (Alma 18:3–4).
I have always focused before on how mixed up Lamoni was in his doctrine,
without seeing the miracle. The miracle was that a spiritual need was created
in a man, that he might be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. His heart was
broken. He felt guilt. And it came from the temporal things that Ammon had
done. I bear you my testimony that you can prepare the hearts of your students.
Serve them; find little things to do for them. Pay the price of service, and
God will honor it. I will make you that promise. Do not worry if your students
are not lovable at times. Just do something for them, and they will seem a
little more lovable to you. It will be a gift from God. I bear my testimony
that the Holy Ghost will prepare your students, as He prepared King Lamoni for
Ammon. Never, never underestimate the spiritual value of doing temporal things
well for those whom you serve." (Henry B. Eyring, "The Book of Mormon
will change your life" Ensign, Feb. 2004)
21. Alma 19:16 - One of
four-Abish the inactive missionary.
