Week 5 - Looking Back

Nuggets from the week:

Chapter 1 – Lehi, when speaking to some of his sons before he died exhorted, “Awake . . . and be men . . .”

In the April 1992 General Conference, Elder Carlos E. Asay shared an experience he had as an eighteen year old priest. It came at a time when he refused to become involved in some inappropriate activities with a group of his peers. He said, “As I walked away . . . , my companions taunted me by shouting, ‘When are you going to grow up? When will you stop being a sissy and a religious fanatic? When are you going to be a man?’”

The world’s definition of what it takes to be a “man” is quite different from what we know a “real man” to be. Lehi, in his counsel to his sons, named many attributes of the “real men” he wanted them to become. The Savior stated His expectation succinctly, “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am: (3 Nephi 27:27).

Chapter 2 – If there were nuggets to be found in the other chapters, then chapter 2 is a whole gold mine. So much truth packaged in such a small space! We spent two days on this chapter and could have spent more. The further you dig, the more you seem to find. Many parts of the Plan of Salvation are addressed here. Among other things, the role of afflictions is taught; instruction is given on salvation, redemption, and the need for a Savior; why opposition is necessary (thanks, Catherine, for helping with that object lesson); information is given on the three grand pillars of eternity: the creation, the fall, and the atonement – and we discussed this thought by Bruce R. McConkie: “…without a knowledge of all of them, it is not possible to know the truth about any one of them…”; the major purposes of life are laid out – to receive a body, to test us to see how we will use our agency, and ultimately, that we might have joy; it is clearly taught that we are free to act for ourselves and not to be acted upon; that we are free to choose liberty and eternal life through the great Mediator or captivity and death so that we can be miserable like the devil. Every day we make decisions: the associations we’ll have, the activities in which we will be involved, how we’ll entertain ourselves, how well we’ll carry out our responsibilities, whether or not we will choose to get an education, how we’ll treat our bodies, and a multitude of other things. Really, though, we can place every decision we make into one of these categories: liberty and eternal life OR captivity and death. We learned from the video in a symbolic way that “green is good.” Now you know why there is green crepe paper on the door to the seminary room. When you walk through that door you are making a choice that fits in the liberty and eternal life category!

Pres. Ezra T. Benson said, “The Book of Mormon teaches that ‘it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things’ (2 Nephi 2:11) – and so there is. Opposition provides choices, and choices bring consequences – good and bad. The Book of Mormon explains that men ‘are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil (2 Nephi 2:27). God loves us, the devil hates us. God wants us to have a fullness of joy as He has. The devil wants us to be miserable as he is. God gives us commandments to bless us. The devil would have us break these commandments to curse us. Daily, constantly, we choose by our desires, our thoughts, and our actions whether we want to be blessed or cursed, happy or miserable” ( Ensign, May 1988, 6).

Chapter 3 – A quote by Pres. Boyd K. Packer goes well with verse 12:

“The Old Testament and the New Testament . . . and . . . the Book of Mormon . . . are now woven together in such a way that as you pore over one you are drawn to the other; as you learn from one you are enlightened by the other. They are indeed one in our hands”

(Ensign, Nov. 1982, 53).

Chapter 4 – This chapter begins with Lehi’s counsel to some of his grandchildren prior to his death. In verse 12, we learn that Lehi died. “Not many days after his death” (v.13), Laman and Lemuel became angry with Nephi. In verses 15-35, we have Nephi’s words that are referred to as a psalm. In the beautiful poetic Hebrew style, he first expressed sorrow for his sins. Then he named his blessings, resolved to improve, and lastly – expressed his trust in the Lord and his desire to be redeemed. A few of the mini-sermons included in that psalm:

For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them . . . (v.15)

O wretched man that I am! Yea my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. (v.17)

I know in whom I have trusted. (v.19)

Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions. (v.29)

Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of evil? (v.31)

May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! (v.32)

O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; (v.34)

Our faithful effort to offer to our family the testimony we have of the truth will be multiplied in power and extended in time. We have all seen evidence of that in families we have known. I saw it in South America as I looked into the faces of missionaries. Hundreds of them passed by me, shaking my hand and looking deeply into my eyes. I was nearly overwhelmed with the confirmation that these children of Father Lehi and of Sariah were there in the Lord’s service because our Heavenly Father honors His promises to families. To nearly his last breath, Lehi taught and testified and tried to bless his children. Terrible tragedy came among his descendants when they rejected his testimony, the testimonies of other prophets, and of the scriptures. But in the eyes and faces of those missionaries I felt confirmation that God has kept His promises to reach out to Lehi’s covenant children and that He will reach out to ours” (Pres. Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, May 1996, 64).