Book of Mormon Weeks 28, 29, 30

Book of Mormon Weeks 28, 29, 30

We are now less than a month away from the starting of our Fall class. We are scheduled to begin on Thursday, September 13 at 7:00 pm in the Granite Tabernacle. The class is not yet listed on the BYU web site. We are waiting for Stake President authorization, but there should be no problems there. I am really looking forward to being back in the classroom and hope that your schedules will allow you to be there. Some of you may have noticed on the web site that I will be teaching the same class (Alma 3-Moroni 1) on Wednesdays from noon to 1:30 at the Layton East Stake Center. I am thankful for this opportunity. It fits really well with my work (just a few blocks away) and my new temple assignment in the Bountiful Temple. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Sorry about my Summer-slows on these updates. We have had a very active Summer. We got to visit Island Park last week with an old college roommate and his wife. We are only 11 days away from finishing the Book of Mormon on the 239th day of the year. Congratulations to those who are keeping up.

Gary

Thought - The Book of Mormon is one of the most marvelous records ever revealed to the world. Many members of the Church do not seem to realize that when this record was revealed to Joseph Smith he was but a lad in his teens, and that when it was translated and the Church organized he was but twenty-four years of age. Because of family circumstances his privilege to attend school was extremely limited, and it is absolutely beyond comprehension how any youth, by his own initiative and ability, could have produced such a record. In fact, we may defy all the learned men in the world to produce such a work and present it to the world as an authentic document giving the history of an ancient but lost people. Should they attempt it, their effort would be filled with glaring errors and their work could not endure.

No book ever published has passed through the intense criticism and the most bitter opposition of the learned as well as the ignorant, yet it has triumphed over them all. Had it been a work of fiction it would have been forgotten, notwithstanding the divine claims which it contains. The truth has met with severe opposition all through the ages; yet it goes on. The thousands who have come into the Church can testify that the words of Moroni are true. Every man who seeks to know the truth will come to the light if there has been a sincere and prayerful desire to know the truth. It is only natural that a record of this kind, which is true, would have to face the most intense and bitter opposition. (Joseph Fielding Smith, in An Approach to the Book of Mormon by Hugh Nibley, Course of Study for the Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums, 1957, Preface)

Date	Chapter	Verse	Comments
July 27	Mormon 4	12	A key verse in understanding why the Nephites were destroyed.
July 28	Mormon 5	20	A 2 part prophecy. We live and work in part 2.
July 29	Mormon 6	21	Mormon's sad commentary to his unrepentant and soon to be destroyed people. It is also a sober reminder to us.
July 30	Mormon 7	9	Mormon's message to latter-day Israel that the Book of Mormon was given to help us believe the Bible.
July 31	Mormon 8	34-5	My favorite verse in all of scripture. Thank you Moroni!
Aug 1	Mormon 9	1-3	Moroni asks those who do not believe when they will. I love it!
Aug 2	Ether 1	43	God tells the Jaredites about just how wonderful America has & always will be.
Aug 3	Ether 2	11	Another editorial statement from Moroni warning us to listen to his from the dust pleadings.
Aug 4	Ether 3	14	Jesus testifies to the Brother of Jared of His mission.
Aug 4	Ether 3	35	The Brother of Jared saw "History of the World" parts 1-7
Aug 5	Ether 4	7	A conditional promise that we will be able to see the same movie.
Aug 6	Ether 5	6	Moroni gives another challenge to us. He is pleading with us to pay attention.
Aug 7	Ether 6	17	We should teach each other and we each should also be taught from on high.
Aug 8	Ether 7	25	Give prophets the opportunity and they will change lives and nations.
Aug 9	Ether 8	24	I had never noticed how directly Moroni speaks to people of our day.
Aug 10	Ether 9	22	A prophet who saw Jesus almost 2000 years before His birth.
Aug 11	Ether 10	28	A Zion time amongst the Jaredites.
Aug 12	Ether 11	21	The Jaredites find out about the Nephites.
Aug 13	Ether 12	6	No witness until AFTER the trial of our faith.
Aug 13	Ether 12	27	God gives us weakness to ALL and then helps us turn our weakness into strength.
Aug 14	Ether 13	20	A great example of if and then. It seems easy when we see others.
Aug 15	Ether 14	25	Thus we see that Wickedness prepares us for destruction.

Book of Mormon Week 26-27

Thought: I set out to identify great scriptural speeches and messages of the atonement in all of scripture. I wanted to collect into one file the clear and powerful statements about the purposes, processes, and effect of the atonement. After several years of study, my file stands at about 17,000 words of scripture. In my very imperfect and random collection of scriptural gems on the atonement, almost 4% of the gems come from the Bible, almost 7% from the D&C and fully 89% come from the Book of Mormon! I think that President Benson got it right when he (among others) pointed us to the Book of Mormon in order to understand Christ and His magnificent, eternity-altering atonement. (Wallace Goddard, Meridian Magazine June, 2012)

Gary's Green Verses:

Date	Chapter	Verse	Comments
July 17	3 Nephi 25	6	Where else to we find this important verse? Bible, D&C, PofGP. It must be important!
July 18	3 Nephi 26	14	Jesus allows us and our children to teach the things we most need to hear and in so doing he blesses the teacher and the student.
July 19	3 Nephi 27	27	Jesus tells us who we should try to be like.
July 20	3 Nephi 28	10	We are that we might have Joy now and a fullness of Joy later.
July 21	3 Nephi 29	1	Another verse reminding that the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is as sign of the times.
July 22	3 Nephi 30	2	An great invitation from Mormon to ALL the Gentiles.
July 23	4 Nephi	15	If we really love God, we will avoid contention with His children.
July 24	Mormon 1	15	Mormon was about the same age as Joseph Smith when he had his vision.
July 25	Mormon 2	19	Is my heart filled with sorrow because of the life choices of people I love?
July 26	Mormon 3	20	A good measurement of how our life is going is to ask ourselves, "how would it be if my day to stand before Jesus was today?

We should finish reading the Book of Mormon in just 1 month. Any suggestions as to the next way to read this Book of Books?

Our Fall Institute class begins September 13. You should be able to register on line by the first of August. Let me know if you have questions or suggestions. If you have complaints send them to Janice or Ed.

My wife, Jill and I spent a few days since the last message fighting  Bed Bugs. They are tough bugs!

I have an interview with a member of the Presidency of the Bountiful Temple tomorrow. Pray for me.

Gary

Book of Mormon - Week 24-25

Thought: "A casual, infrequent exposure to the scriptures will generally not open the door to the whisperings of the Spirit or provide insights...There are certain blessings obtained when one searches the scriptures. As a person studies the words of the Lord and obeys them, he or she draws closer to the Savior and obtains a greater desire to live a righteous life. The power to resist temptation increases, and spiritual weaknesses are overcome. Spiritual wounds are healed...In the dream Lehi saw a tree which produced a fruit which was exceedingly white, very sweet to the taste, and desirable above all other fruit...According to the vision, the only way to reach the tree and become a permanent partaker of the fruit was to 'continually hold fast to the iron rod. (Merrill J. Bateman, Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 27-28)

Gary's Green Verses:

Date	Chapter	Verse	Comments
June 30	3 Nephi 8	24	Is this is a scripture which will be oft quoted when He comes again?
July 1	3 Nephi 9	20	I wonder how many of us have been baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost and didn't know it. I also love the idea of a broken heart & contrite spirit.
July 2	3 Nephi 10	14	Another witness that ALL of the words spoken by prophets will happen.
July 3	3 Nephi 11	29	Contention in a marriage, family, ward or country is not of God.
July 4	3 Nephi 12	20	A great reminder that our works do matter.
July 5	3 Nephi 13	33	A priority reminder.
July 6	3 Nephi 14	21-23	Whoever says that we are saved by grace alone should read the Sermon on the Mount again.
July 7	3 Nephi 15	21	Jesus tells us who the other Sheep are from John 10:16.
July 8	3 Nephi 16	13	Obedience is more important  than our spot on the family tree.
July 9	3 Nephi 17	3	We need to prepare our minds to receive the word of God.
July 10	3 Nephi 18	21	The best verse in scripture to teach the importance of family prayer.
July 11	3 Nephi 19	9	A great reminder of what we should pray for.
July 12	3 Nephi 20	41	A verse to read to Aaronic Priesthood holders (and all of us) before they participate in the Sacrament.
July 13	3 Nephi 21	2	The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sign that Israel is to be gathered.
July 14	3 Nephi 22	17	Check out Pres. Hinckley's quote on this verse in the Inst. Student Manual.
July 15	3 Nephi 23	1	The verse that makes us want to search the words of Isaiah.
July 16	3 Nephi 24	7 & 13	Two key verses for understanding the chapter.

Sorry I am slow again. This is turning out to be a fun summer. We went to Bear Lake last week and we head off to Arizona to spend time with my in-laws tomorrow. I miss the class room and am really looking forward to September.