• Jeremiah 18 – the potter made something that wasn’t good, and tried again. We are like this in the Lord’s hands. We are also like this in our mother’s hands. They build us and shape us and help us become who we are
• No particular verse was given, but one person talked about the women in Christ’s life
• 1 Nephi 1: 1 – hopefully we can all say we were born of goodly parents
• Joseph Smith – History 1: 20 – after having the First Vision, Joseph Smith went home. As Elder Bednar said, Joseph’s mother was in the right place at the right time asking the right questions

I thought it was interesting that no one mentioned the strippling warriors and how their mothers had taught them.

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This past Sunday, I also taught a High Priest lesson about the Book of Mormon.

With those two things in mind, I wanted to post the famous quote by Parley P Pratt about how he first came across the Book of Mormon and how it made him feel.

We visited an old Baptist deacon by the name of Hamlin. After hearing of our appointment for evening, he began to tell of a book, a STRANGE BOOK, a VERY STRANGE BOOK! in his possession, which had been just published. This book, he said, purported to have been originally written on plates either of gold or brass, by a branch of the [p.19 consists of pictures.] tribes of Israel; and to have been discovered and translated by a young man near Palmyra, in the State of New York, by the aid of visions, or the ministry of angels. I inquired of him how or where the book was to be obtained. He promised me the perusal of it, at his house the next day, if I would call. I felt a strange interest in the book. I preached that evening to a small audience, who appeared to be interested in the truths which I endeavored to unfold to them in a clear and lucid manner from the Scriptures. Next morning I called at his house, where, for the first time, my eyes beheld the “BOOK OF MORMON” that book of books-that record which reveals the antiquities of the “New World” back to the remotest ages, and which unfolds the destiny of its people and the world for all time to come; that Book which contains the fulness of the gospel of a crucified and risen Redeemer; that Book which reveals a lost remnant of Joseph, and which was the principal means, in the hands of God, of directing the entire course of my future life.

I opened it with eagerness, and read its title page. I then read the testimony of several witnesses in relation to the manner of its being found and translated. After this I commenced its contents by course. I read all day; eating was a burden, I had no desire for food; sleep was a burden when the night came, for I preferred reading to sleep.

As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists. My joy was now full…

Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt Jr. (1938), 36–37.

That is a fantastic quote. It makes you think about so much… Do I feel that way about the Book of Mormon? Has anything in the church ever made me feel like sleep was a burden? Does my knowledge of the Book of Mormon make me feel that my joy is full? I feel strong in the gospel, but I still have a long way to go!

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The description from the web site is as follows:

If the martyrs who brought the King James Bible into existence could still talk to us today, they would most certainly tell the tales of international politics, intrigue, subversion, bloodshed, fire, and the runaway libido of King Henry VIII that were the backdrop of its creation. These stories, along with a modern, scholarly perspective of the 16th century book, are presented in BYUtv’s Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of The King James Bible – a series of films which celebrate the 400th anniversary of one of the most enduring pieces of writing in the history of humanity.

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My favourite part of the article I linked to is this line, “So to anyone who thinks the Bible’s the last word on anything, remember this: It isn’t even the last word on itself.”

I suppose that the source of the chart would make you think that they are trying to discredit the Bible. However, we Mormons might have a different view than most. We’ve always accepted the fact that the Bible is not perfect. After all, We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. So seeing something like this doesn’t bother me at all.

A few other thoughts/questions:

• It would be interesting to see the chart without links between the Old and New Testament (separating the old and new laws)
• Can the contradictions be ranked or categorized? A contradiction of an age by a few years, or a location by the next city over doesn’t seem like much of a contradiction.
• Do all the contradictions exist in all the “standard” (or popular) version of the Bible?
• It’d be neat to see this done for the Book of Mormon as well. Does it “hold up” better?

Ultimately, does this really matter at all? Sure, it is interesting to look at and think about, but does it really affect anyone’s faith or how they perceive the Bible? I suspect not. If you believe the Bible, you’ll still believe the Bible. If you don’t, then you still won’t.

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But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Saviour is telling us to be kind to those who are unkind to us. I’ve always understood the last part of verse 45 to mean that rain is a good thing. We are to do good to others, even as He allows good things to happen (rain falling on crops) to everyone. However, the person who was speaking interpreted that verse to be a negative thing, as in just as rain falls on everyone, we all face tough times.

It just got me thinking about how there are often many ways something can be interpreted, and there is rarely a right answer as to which interpretation is the correct interpretation. This then got me thinking about how we do things in the Church. I’ve read online many times where people lament correlation, and how we have no freedom to do anything. That isn’t true. Sure, the Church Handbook of Instructions gives you guidelines, but I do think you have a lot of leeway in how you implement those guidelines. The problems that arise more often than not are because people think things are “supposed to” be a certain way. When talking to these people, I always think of a line from The Simpsons. The family moved, and Bart was put in an earlier grade than he was in Springfield:

Bart: Look, lady, I’m s’posed to be in the 4th grade
Teacher: Sounds to me like someone’s got a case of the spose’das

In the Church, there seems to be a lot of people who have a case of the spose’das. I don’t know if it is correlation’s fault or not, but too many people think things are supposed to be a certain way. They are always surprised when I nicely explain to them that it may have been like that previously, but now we have more options. Just because something was done before, doesn’t mean we are “s’posed to” do that.

There are very few things that are mandated. It really is one of the beautiful things about the Church. Local leaders extend calls to other leaders, and we all work together to help the work move forward. Sometimes we use the “best practices” of others and sometimes we try new things. We keep using what works, and take a pass on the things that don’t work.

Whether rain is a good thing or a bad thing, I’m glad that I can choose for myself.

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I’ve added this to the Official web sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints page.

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First of all, let me say that I am not a therapist of any kind. I haven’t run the course myself. What I have done, is to use it myself. Not because I have any substance abuse problems, but because I wanted to know how it could be used with some of the members of my ward.

It is phenomenal. There are 12 steps that are adapted from the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 steps (credit is given at the front of the booklet), but they are entirely Church principle focused. There are quotes from general authorities, scriptures, and lots of questions to ask yourself. I’ve been using this as my daily scripture study recently, and I’m quite enjoying it.
The book/program are introduced in this way:

Whether you yourself struggle with addiction or associate with someone who does, this guide can be a blessing in your life. The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous have been adapted into a framework of the doctrines, principles, and beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are presented in this guide as key principles at the beginning of each section. This guide will help you learn how to apply these key principles; they can change your life…

Church leaders and counseling professionals have also been involved in writing and developing this guide. The combined wisdom and experience of these many authors stands as yet another witness of the reality of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the possibility of recovery from addiction.

It mentions that there are recovery support groups and the booklet is meant to be used by those attending the groups, but it can be used by those who are not near a support group, or who want to work on things on their own or with their bishop.

The 12 steps/principles that are taught are:

1. Honesty
2. Hope
3. Trust in God
4. Truth
5. Confession
6. Change of Heart
7. Humility
8. Seeking Forgiveness
9. Restitution and Reconciliation
10. Daily Accountability
11. Personal Revelation
12. Service

You can download a PDF of the book on the Provident Living web site, or you can order it from the Distribution Centre.

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In the crowd was smurfs, Geotrax men, army men, Little People (including a tourist, pilot, ice cream man, cave girl, and more) and a Mega Bloks Buzz Lightyear (that another sister had purchased for my sons).

It looks exactly like the scripture in Helaman 16!

And now, it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, which he spake upon the walls of the city. And as many as believed on his word went forth and sought for Nephi; and when they had come forth and found him they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord.

But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows.

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If you spend a lot of your time online (you don’t subscriber to the Ensign anymore because you can read it online), or consider yourself a pretty tech-savvy individual, then you might be interested in doing your scripture study online. ReadTheScriptures.com is a site that allows you to create reading schedules. You will get daily or weekly emails with your readings, including audio selections. You can use the site to keep track of your reading (and notes) as well.

The inspiration for the site is explained this way:

The concept for Read the Scriptures.com originated while Wayne was watching the October 2005 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and contemplating President Gordon B. Hinckley’s recent challenge to all church members to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. He thought of developing this program for his own use, and then realized the potential of how such a system could benefit others as well.

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I have three children under the age of 6. The oldest one reads quite well. The middle one isn’t in school yet, and the youngest one is only 7 months old. We generally do our family scripture reading out of the “readers” for the children (although lately we’ve been reading the real Book of Mormon with the oldest one). As we’ve read the stories, I’ve noticed some funny and/or strange pictures throughout. I thought we had older versions of the readers, however, when I went on the Church site, the pictures are still the same. Some of the wording has been modified, but not the pictures.

Anyway, here are a few that stood out:

This is from the Book of Mormon Stories and is first one that I noticed. I was a little surprised to see this kid (on the left) breastfeeding. I know that it is natural, but I guess it wasn’t something I expected to see in the Book of Mormon Stories book.

These are from the Doctrine and Covenants Stories. I thought these were a little odd as the people “who changed the teachings” obviously were leaders of other churches. The Church has tried to distance itself from this sort of wording/imaging.

This one is from the New Testament Stories, and is just funny looking. This may be sacriligeous, but Jesus looks like he’s giving the guy a wet willy

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