Day 83: Mormon 9 - Ether 1

Hello Everyone!

Can I tell you how much better I am feeling today??!!  I feel like I have been in a fog for the past 2 weeks.  I had migraines almost every day and I was soooo tired.  It sounds like it was just a weird virus but somehow I managed to trudge on and function almost normally.

We had such a wonderful Ward Conference yesterday at church.  We were able to hear from our Stake Leaders and receive inspiration from them for us.  I went with my cup empty and returned home with it overflowing!  I love Sundays like that!  One of the things that our Stake President talked about was living up to our potential.  He asked what we had expected from church that day.  Did we come prepared?  I had been looking forward to hearing his words all week that I feel like I was actually prepared!  Some Sundays I feel like I barely make it to church with 5 kids in tow and totally unprepared to fill my cup.

This past week we had the opportunity to help a sister in our ward start to organize her life.  I feel for this sweet sister and can only imagine what her life must be like.  I am thankful that we have a Savior who understands what we are going through because He is there with us every step of the way!  The Elders were able to go and help us out a couple of days.  What a blessing they are to us in our ward!

Today we are finishing up Mormon and starting Ether.  We basically see the destruction of the Nephites because of their unrighteousness and wicked ways.  It is so sad to me to see what a great nation they could have been but because of the pride in their hearts they chose their path.  In Ether we learn of ANOTHER group that came over to the Land of Promise (the Americas).  The plates were found and translated by the Nephites and preserved with the other records.  I love reading about Ether and the Jaredites.  I hope you will enjoy the story and lessons that are in Ether as well.

In Mormon, Moroni (who is Mormon's son) is finishing up the book by exhorting ALL non-beievers to come unto Christ.  He is speaking to all the ends of the earth, even to us!  I will share some of these scriptures with you.  Basically this is the entire section of chapter 9!  I couldn't pick and choose a few scriptures so I am sharing all of them!

Mormon 9

1 And now, I speak also concerning those who do not believe in Christ.

 2 Behold, will ye believe in the day of your visitation—behold, when the Lord shall come, yea, even that ^agreat day when the^bearth shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall^cmelt with fervent heat, yea, in that great day when ye shall be brought to stand before the Lamb of God—then will ye say that there is no God?

 3 Then will ye longer deny the Christ, or can ye behold the Lamb of God? Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a^aconsciousness of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws?

 4 Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your^afilthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the ^bdamnedsouls in ^chell.

 5 For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your ^anakednessbefore God, and also the glory of God, and the ^bholiness of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you.

 6 O then ye ^aunbelieving, ^bturn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, ^cpure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the ^dLamb, at that great and last day.

 7 And again I speak unto you who ^adeny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the ^binterpretation of tongues;

 8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the ^agospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not ^bunderstand them.

 9 For do we not read that God is the ^asame ^byesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no ^cvariableness neither shadow of changing?

 10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

 11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of ^amiracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same ^bGod who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.

 12 Behold, he created Adam, and by ^aAdam came the ^bfall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the ^credemption of man.

 13 And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the ^apresence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the ^bresurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless ^csleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal ^dband of death, which death is a temporal death.

 14 And then cometh the ^ajudgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is ^bfilthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.

 15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do ^ano miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

 16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous ^aworksof God?

 17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his ^aword the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was ^bcreated of the ^cdust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?

 18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty^amiracles? And there were many ^bmighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.

 19 And if there were ^amiracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he ^bchangeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

 20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do ^amiracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should ^btrust.

 21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, ^awhatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this ^bpromise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

 22 For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unto his disciples who should tarry, yea, and also to ^aall his disciples, in the hearing of the multitude: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;

 23 And he that ^abelieveth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be ^bdamned;

 24 And ^athese signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out ^bdevils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay ^chands on the sick and they shall recover;

 25 And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I ^aconfirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth.

 26 And now, behold, who can stand ^aagainst the works of the Lord? ^bWho can deny his sayings? Who will rise up against the almighty power of the Lord? Who will despise the works of the Lord? Who will despise the children of Christ? Behold, all ye who are ^cdespisers of the works of the Lord, for ye shall wonder and perish.

 27 O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. ^aDoubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and ^bcome unto the Lord with all your ^cheart, and ^dwork out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.

 28 Be ^awise in the days of your ^bprobation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your ^clusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and ^dliving God.

 29 See that ye are not baptized ^aunworthily; see that ye partake not of the sacrament of Christ ^bunworthily; but see that ye do all things in ^cworthiness, and do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God; and if ye do this, and endure to the end, ye will in nowise be cast out.

 30 Behold, I speak unto you as though I ^aspake from the dead; for I know that ye shall have my words.

 31 Condemn me not because of mine ^aimperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.

 32 And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the^areformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.

 33 And if our plates had been ^asufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no ^bimperfection in our record.

 34 But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared ^ameans for the interpretation thereof.

 35 And these things are written that we may rid our garments of the blood of our ^abrethren, who have dwindled in unbelief.

 36 And behold, these things which we have ^adesired concerning our brethren, yea, even their restoration to the knowledge of Christ, are according to the prayers of all the saints who have dwelt in the land.

 37 And may the Lord Jesus Christ grant that their prayers may be answered according to their faith; and may God the Father remember the covenant which he hath made with the house of Israel; and may he bless them forever, through faith on the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I can't remember if I shared this video with you all or not yet but I feel inspired to share it again.  I want you all to know that your Heavenly Father sent you to earth for a purpose.  Come unto Him and live to your full potential!  I love you and am so grateful for this time I have been able to share my beliefs with you.  Only about a week left and we have completed the Book of Mormon.  How wonderful that is!

Hugs,
Robyn

Day 82: Mormon 6-8

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I'd like to start by inviting the Spirit by sharing an uplifting song and message.

This song was sung by a family choir during General Conference.  This is such a special song to me because I taught it to the Primary Children when I used to serve as the Primary Chorister in my ward.


This message is given by our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, to the Relief Society Sisters in our church.  To learn more about Relief Society click HERE.  I love the title….  "We Never Walk Alone".  That is such a true statement.  I hope you feel a sweet peace as you listen to it.



Today we read Mormon's final words to us in these last days.  I found the following on lds.org.

Introduction

By studying the final testimony of Mormon and the initial writings of Moroni, you will better understand the role and purpose of the Book of Mormon. Moroni declared: “I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing” (Mormon 8:35). Moroni’s prophetic vantage point allowed him to complete the Nephite record with total awareness of both the escalating wickedness and the great spiritual blessings of the dispensation of the fulness of times. In a day when some people might be inclined to abandon faith in the face of great difficulties, Moroni’s words teach us to see miracles and revelations as evidence that “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (see Mormon 9:9). Although the spiritual and social conditions in the world may be in a state of constant change and decline, God’s covenant people can have full confidence that He is eternally the same.

Mormon 7:2, 5. Mormon’s Final Plea to Believe in Christ

• •
  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reflected on Mormon’s poignant plea to those of the latter days to believe in Christ:
  “In a soliloquy of death, Mormon reached across time and space to all, especially to that ‘remnant of the house of Israel’ who would one day read his majestic record. Those of another time and place must learn what those lying before him had forgotten—that all must ‘believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God,’ that following his crucifixion in Jerusalem he had, ‘by the power of the Father … risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up’ [Mormon 7:2, 5]. …
  “To ‘believe in Christ,’ especially when measured against such tragic but avoidable consequences, was Mormon’s last plea and his only hope. It is the ultimate purpose of the entire book that would come to the latter-day world bearing his name”

I wanted to share another video with you all on missionary work and missionaries.  This video reminds me of my husband's family.  There are 7 brothers and they have all served missions for our church as well, along with 2 of his sisters who served as well.   I echo the words said in this video how it is so important to share our beliefs with others if we have a testimony of them.

I hope you all feel the Spirit as you read from the Book of Mormon.  I encourage you to pray and know for yourself if it is the word of God.  I know that by reading the Book of Mormon and finding out for myself, it has changed my life forever.

I wanted to close by sharing a picture of my sweet friend, Laura, who was just diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer only a few short weeks ago.  I hope you will keep her and her family in your prayers.  She is a woman of great faith and I know that she is being inspired from the Lord on how to go about her treatment.  I'm thankful for her friendship and her amazing testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Day 81: Mormon 3-5

Hello Friends!

Life has been super busy…. still!  I wish I have had more time to post.  I wanted to share some pictures from our Missionary Fireside we had last Sunday.  It was a wonderful event where members of our faith and missionaries shared about their lives and the story of "Why I'm a Mormon".  We have such a diverse group of people in our church.  It is wonderful!

In other news this week……  my oldest daughter got her driver's permit!!  YIKES!  I cannot believe my oldest baby is now driving with me in the car!  I let her drive to seminary every morning and home from school every day.  She is doing WONDERFUL and is going to get more polished every day.

Today I will share my favorite scriptures from these chapters with you.  If you don't have your own copy of the Book of Mormon and would like one, please e-mail me at mypinkstamper@gmail.com and I will get you your own copy.  You can also read along with us by clicking HERE!  

Mormon 3:2-3

"And it came to pass that the Lord did say unto me:  Cry unto this people -- Repent ye, and come unto me, and be ye baptized, and build up again my church, and ye shall be spared.

"And I did cry unto this people, but it was in vain; and they did not realize that it was the Lord that had spared them, and granted unto them a chance for repentance.  And behold they did harden their hearts against the Lord their God."

Mormon 3:11

"And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly refuse from this time forth to be a commander and a leader of this people, because of their wickedness and abomination."

Mormon 3:8–11. Mormon Refused to Be a Commander

• •
  In spite of Mormon leading his people for approximately 35 years, at this point he refused to lead them. Mormon must have been influenced by the abridgement he was making of the Book of Mormon. He saw Captain Moroni’s and Helaman’s justifiable reasons to go to war (seeAlma 43:9–58:12)—defending their lands, houses, wives, children, rights, privileges, liberty, and ability to worship. He taught the people these purposes of war (see Mormon 2:23–24). After seeing the motivation the Nephites in his day had for fighting the Lamanites—to “avenge themselves” and that they “began to boast in their own strength” and that they were guilty of great “wickedness and abomination”—he temporarily refused to lead their armies 

One of my favorite, and the most powerful, scripture from this chapter is…

Mormon 3:22

"And I would that I could persuade all ye ends of the earth to repent and prepare to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ."

An Admonition to Believe in Christ


• •
  President Gordon B. Hinckley testified that the Book of Mormon is another witness for Christ: “This scripture of the New World, is before us as an added witness of the divinity and reality of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the encompassing beneficence of His atonement, and of His coming forth from the darkness of the grave. Within these covers is found much of the sure word of prophecy concerning Him who should be born of a virgin, the Son of the Almighty God. There is a foretelling of His work among men as a living mortal. There is a declaration of His death, of the lamb without blemish who was to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. And there is an account that is moving and inspiring and true of the visit of the resurrected Christ among living men and women in the western continent. The testimony is here to handle; it is here to be read; it is here to be pondered; it is here to be prayed over with a promise that he who prays shall know by the power of the Holy Ghost of its truth and validity"

Chapter 5 also ends with very powerful words….

Mormon 5:22-24

"And then, O ye Gentiles, how can ye stand before the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways?

"Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?  Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?

"Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you -- lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver."

Mormon 5:23. “In the Hands of God”

• •
  Mormon wrote for us in the latter days, admonishing us to recognize God and His power. We are in His hands. Elder W. Craig Zwick of the Seventy explained some symbolism and blessings suggested by being in God’s hands:
  “Hands are one of the symbolically expressive parts of the body. In Hebrew, yad, the most common word for hand, is also used metaphorically to mean power, strength, and might (see William Wilson, Old Testament Word Studies [1978], 205). Thus, hands signify power and strength. …
  “To be in the hands of God would suggest that we are not only under His watchful care but also that we are guarded and protected by His wondrous power.
  “Throughout the scriptures, reference is made to the hand of the Lord. His divine assistance is evidenced over and over again. His powerful hands created worlds, and yet they were gentle enough to bless the little children. …
  “Every one of us needs to know that we can go on in the strength of the Lord. We can put our hand in His, and we will feel His sustaining presence lift us to heights unattainable alone. …
  “… How do we learn to extend our hand and connect to the comfort provided by the Lord? …
  “Here are four keys:
  “Learn
  “Listen
  “Seek the Spirit
  “Pray always
  “The Lord will provide sustenance and support if we are willing to open the door and receive His hand of divine assistance. …
  “Imagine the wounds in His hands. His weathered hands, yes, even His hands of torn flesh and physical sacrifice, give our own hands greater power and direction.
  “It is the wounded Christ who leads us through our moments of difficulty. It is He who bears us up when we need more air to breathe or direction to follow or even more courage to continue.
  “If we will keep the commandments of God and walk hand in hand with Him in His paths, we will go forward with faith and never feel alone”

I want to close today by this inspirational song sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  I hope you are all having a great week!  I can't believe we are almost finished reading the Book of Mormon!