Jacob 4 -Learn With Joy

 

Jacob teaching the people after Nephi's death

My last BOM blog was posted almost 6 years ago, in 2016. As an excuse for my absence, I reference the scene in "Black Sheep", when Chris Farley accidentally slips and falls down a mountainside for about 5 minutes before finally coming to a stop. He then gets up and looks up the mountain and says, "What in the #%^$ was that all about?" Here's a link if you'd like: https://youtu.be/f890SC1schE.

Today's post is about Jacob 4. The date is somewhere between 544 and 421 BC. Which means our little 8-year old Jacob Schwarzenegger has grown up to be around 70 years old or so.

Coming to America -about 592 BC

This chapter (Jacob 4) is very good, and I recommend you read the whole thing. For now, let's just look at a few scriptures of my choosing. There are a few often quoted verses in this chapter... such as...

Verse 1

In verse one we find out that it is difficult to engrave on the gold plates, which means that all those Isaiah chapters back in 1st and 2nd Nephi were actually important. Not to mention the famously long and, uh, fascinating(?) JACOB 5 -The Allegory of the Olive Tree. But we'll get to that next time.

And Verse 12...

And Verse 13

Neil A. Maxwell, one of the 12 Apostles from my younger days, talked about "things as they really are" on a few occasions. I bought a packet of 4 of his books back in the 90's and can honestly say that I started the one with that title. In fact, I started it several times...

And Verse 14...

Having read this verse many a time, and thinking to myself, "Ah, so that's why the Jews have such weird rules," today I'm taking a different lesson. I need to ask myself, 

• What have I been blind to?
• Where and how do I look beyond the mark? 
• What is the mark?

The last couple of years have been hard on my testimony and spirituality. As a confirmed introvert, the COVID pandemic gave me the wonderful opportunity to not have to go to church, but to do my churching from home. Unfortunately, I didn't do much churching at home. I have hardly picked up the scriptures since 2019. I don't pray near as much as I used to, and when I do pray, they are often short and lack substance. 

I have an APP on my phone that gives me reminders to do stuff. And, it keeps reminding me until I either do it and dismiss the reminder, or not do it and dismiss the reminder. Every morning starting at 7am, and bugging me every 1/2-hour until I do it, my phone dings and says, "Don't Forget to Pray!" Many's the time I didn't pray and dismissed my reminder. 

I think trying to have the Holy Spirit in my life, and maintaining my solid convictions of the truthfulness of the gospel without daily prayer and scripture reading (like I've done since I was 16 or so) is akin to me as "looking beyond the mark". My testimony that God Lives, that Jesus is The Christ, and  that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove are still a part of me, but have shrunk enough in significance that I stopped being driven by them. Weird, huh?

I feel like I am doing much better now. I feel the Spirit in my life and heart today, enough so that I felt motivated to pick up the scriptures and do a blog post again after so long. So, that's nice. 

Here's one of the scriptures that has spoken to me many times over the years...

Verse 3

Learning spiritual and life lessons are much funner if they come because of faithfulness, and not because of the lack of it. In other words... feeling blessed because I'm doing what is right, as opposed to feeling like crap because I'm not doing what is right, might give the same lesson, but it always better to...

Learn With Joy and Not With Sorrow

I'll leave the rest of Jacob 4 for you to glean what you will. When I post again (hopefully not 6 years from now), we'll talk about Jacob 5 and all of its dung. How exciting is that?!!!

Thanks for coming, and please, Don't Forget to Pray and Read the Scriptures...

jb

Don't Forget To Pray (2 Nephi 32)

I uttered my first prayer when I was about 5 or 6 years old.  I didn't quite know how to pray, as I recall, but I knew some words that seemed to make me feel good.  Words like "Bible", "God", "Mary", "Joseph" and "Gospel".  I would say these words out loud to myself before I went to sleep. Sometimes memories from childhood can be a bit sketchy, but I really believe that saying those words aloud made me feel better.  They had a calming effect.  And I remember feeling less afraid of the dark.

Saying those words, Bible, Gospel, God, Mary and Joseph, may not have been the most eloquent prayer ever uttered, but God answers all sincere prayers, even if we don't know what to say to Him. Prayer brings light where there was darkness, and hope where there was fear.

2 Nephi 32: 8-9

Chapter 32 in 2nd Nephi is a shorty, but a goody.  It's really worth the read.  Verses 8 and 9 really stand out to me because they are yellow have helped me to pray many times, even when I didn't feel like it, or worse, didn't feel I like I was worthy enough to speak to Him.   According to Nephi's calculations, if you feel like not praying, or feel like you shouldn't pray, or feel like The Lord doesn't want to hear from you today, those dark thoughts aren't coming from a very reliable source.

Story Time!!!

This is actually a fairly long story, and I've most likely already used it in a previous post, so I'm going to brief-a-tize it.  While serving a mission for The Church in Oxford, Ohio in 19 & 88, mein kampf & I had tracted a road about 5 miles out of town.  It was a long road and it was a hot day, and it was dark by the time we got back to our apartment.  Upon discovering that we had lost our tracting record, and, therefore, had no way of knowing who had asked us to come back and who had thrown us out, we decided we'd better ride our bikes the 5 miles back to where we knew we last had it.  On the way out there were faint remnants of light on the horizon, but on the way back it was completely dark.

Imagine the picture above, but without the headlight on, that's what it looked like.  We rode our bikes in the center of the road with our eyes looking down.  We could barely make out the road directly beneath us, but nothing in front of us.  All the sudden both of us darted to the side of the road at the same time.  Just as we did so, a vehicle sped passed us with no lights on.  Didn't see it coming; didn't hear it coming.  We didn't know it was coming until it past us.  The only light on it was the license plate light.  Why we both darted to the right at the same time remains a mystery to us, but not to The Lord.

Then there was the dog

Riding by a farm, we were chased by a dog.  Imagine the photo above, but with all the lights turned out.  I could here the dog's feet hitting the road, and I could hear the dog's breathing growls, but couldn't see where he was.  Now, that freaked me out.  Was I scared?  You are speaking with someone who has laughed in the face of death -- sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.  I was petrified.

Well, what did you do????

At that scary moment in the dark I prayed.  A song jumped into my head and I started to sing it to myself. Peace came to me.  The dark wasn't so dark anymore.  And, best of all, I was still alive and in possession of both of my pant legs.

The Song:  Ere You Left Your Room This Morning

LDS Hymn Book, pp 140

Please pray if you meet the following conditions:

• You are perfect
• You aren't perfect
• You are worthy to speak to Him
• You are not worthy to speak to Him
• You are repentant
• You are not repentant
• You feel like praying
• You don't feel like praying
• Everything is going wonderful
• Nothing is going right
• You are basking in the life-giving light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
• You are crying inside the darkest abyss with nowhere to turn
• Or anywhere in between.  

Prayer really does change the night to day.
Don't forget to pray.

Peace be with you...
jb

Lamanites Cursed (2 Nephi 5)

My brudder Bob and me in 1979

Again about 2005

My own siblings and I have always been close friends.  It makes me sad when siblings don't get along.  This one guy told me once, "I really love how good of friends you and your brother (Bob) are.  I haven't spoken to my brother in 20 years."  I was totally blown away.  I guess it happens.


After the death of dear old Lehi and Sariah, Laman & Lemuel wouldn't stop being butt-heads, so The Lord warned Nephi to get out of Dodge.

2 Nephi 5: 5-6

5.  And it came to pass that The Lord did warn me, that I, Nephi, should depart from them and flee into the wilderness, and all those who would go with me.

6.  Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me.  And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words.  

• I'm glad Nephi mentioned his sisters.  Women didn't get a lot of mentions in the old days.
• Jacob and Joseph didn't have families yet, apparently.
• There were others besides the known good guys who followed Nephi.  I wonder if this included any of the children of Laman, Lemuel or the sons of Ishmael.  

Can a principle be applied to us from this little story?  Yup, I reckon it can.  See, back at the beginning of this chapter Nephi tells us why the move was necessary.

2 Nephi 5: 1-2

1.  Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much unto The Lord my God, because of the anger of my brethren.

2.  But behold, their anger did increase against me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.

I think it's worth noting that Nephi had some major challenges in his life, brought on him through no fault of his own.  He prayed to his Heavenly Father for this challenge to be removed.  Specifically, that his brothers would stop behaving so badly toward him, and stop threatening him with death day in and day out.  Was it in The Lord's power to answer this prayer the way Nephi wanted it?  Yup. Did He?  Nope.

Instead, "their anger did increase against me."  Why wasn't Nephi's prayer answered?  Well, it was, just not the way he wanted.  Not the way he wanted, but in a way that would not only benefit his posterity for many generations, but you and me as well.

Ya see, kids, in this case, it was absolutely vital that the 2 groups, Nephites and Lamanites, one obedient and the other not so much, separate, and then the more righteous group would have to lean on The Lord almost constantly in order to not get destructed by the udder group.  That's how The Lord saves them, by giving them trials that encourage them to call upon Him for His blessings.  If not for the trials of life, they [we] would have gotten too complacent, & felt like they didn't need Him so much, and slowly drifted away toward the world.

Wherefore, we can pray about our own challenges, and sometimes those challenges will be decreased or removed, while other times, we will be blessed to be able to handle them.  In any case, The Lord's answer will ALWAYS play into the bigger picture, which means the answers may not come in the way we wanted.

It took some searching to find the following scripture, but I knew it was there somewheres.  Anywayz, it kind of illustrates my point.  Sorry if I overcomplicated a small principle, but that was where my thinks took me.  So, read this Alma thing, and then let's move on....

Alma 48: 15

15.  And this was their faith, that by so doing God would prosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger.

So, they moved from the land of Lehi north to the land of Nephi.

In their new home, Nephi and the newly dubbed "people of Nephi" prospered exceedingly in the land.  They worked hard and kept the commandments of The Lord, according to the Law of Moses.  Nephi constructed a temple after the pattern of the Temple of Solomon.

A few chapters back, when Lehi was talking to his posterity, he told his grand kids that if they ended up being cursed, that the cursing would be answered on the heads of their parents, and that in the latter days, they would be brought back into the light.  Here's the curse... 

2 Nephi 5: 21-23

21.  And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity.  For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto to my people The Lord did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

22.  And thus saith The Lord God:  I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.

23.  And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing.  And The Lord spake it, and it was done.

Raise your hand if you were offended by anything in those verses...

Yeah, taken at face value, without an understanding of the whole picture, I can see how this would make people stop and wonder what this was about.  Even a lot of devout believers in the BOM hurry over this part, I'd imagine.  This is something that's hard for me to write about because I don't have a clear understanding of it myself. 

But I'll tell you some of my thinks...

• I think there were other peoples living here in the Americas who were a darker skinned people, possibly even from the Orient and had crossed over the land bridge of Alaska during the ice age as science suggests.  I think that while Nephi and his followers kept their covenants of chastity and keeping their relations within the house of Israel, the Lamanites mixed and mingled with the natives, causing their offspring to inherit the darker skin.  Did Heavenly Father snap his fingers and these people's skin just turned dark in an instant.  I just have a hard time believing that.  Though it is important to make note of the fact that I DON'T KNOW.

• I think that the real cursing was being cut off from The Lord, cut off from the Holy Spirit.  In verse 24 it says that, because of the cursing, they did become idle and full of mischief and subtlety.  I don't think that the color of someone's skin causes them to be idle, mischievous or subtle (devious).  I think it is the absence of God and His direction in a person's life that does these things.

• I think the darker skin was to keep the 2 groups separate so that they wouldn't mix together and make one big semi-righteous group.  This would have caused the righteousness in them to slowly dwindle away to nothing.  You've just gotta have a Lamanite Army always trying to kill you to keep you on your toes, and on your knees.  

• I think this was the best strategy for The Lord to use in order to save the greater number of His children.  It really is the reason that the Book of Mormon was able to be written in the first place, and it will serve in the end to bless this ancient situation greatly.  

• I think that the reference in verse 21 to the Lamanites before the cursing being "white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome," refers to them having the Spirit with them.  And afterwards when they're called "loathsome", this refers to them losing that Spirit, and it showed in their countenance.  Those who have the Spirit of God with them have a certain thing about them, a spark, a radiance.  Those who don't, don't.  In Jacob 3: 8, Jacob tells the Nephites that, due to their iniquities, at the judgment bar the skins of the Lamanites would be more white than theirs, if they didn't repent.  And in Alma 23:18, speaking of the thousands of Lamanites who were converted to The Lord, "...and the curse of God did no more follow them."  Much later in 3rd Nephi 2: 15, it says of the righteous Lamanites, "And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites."   

Anyone still offended?

Oh. 

Well, I just don't think that the transformation spoken of that came over these people was a sudden and physical change from dark skin to light skin.  I just believe that it was the light in their eyes, in their countenance that signified that God was a part of their lives, and that they had been enlightened by the Spirit of God. 

Consider this...

Alma 5: 21

21.  I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of Him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem His people from their sins.

Isaiah 1: 18

18.  Come now, and let us reason together, saith The Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

3 Nephi 19: 25 (When The Savior Himself appears to the people of the Book of Mormon)

25.  And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto Him; and His countenance did smile upon them, and the light of His countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.

White is a symbol of purity and cleanliness according to the cultures of those who kept these records.  Is that a racist statement?  Well, sort of, at least, pretty politically incorrect according to today's standards, but I don't think it was meant that way.

My final argument is this:  I know that The Bible and The Book of Mormon are truly the words of Christ, our Lord.  I echo the words of Nephi back in...

1 Nephi 11: 17

17.  And I said unto him:  I know that He loveth His children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

That's about the best I can do.  If you are troubled by any of these things, please seek The Lord in prayer.  He said,

"Ask, and ye shall receive.  Knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Peace be with you...

Peppermints and Hungry Elephints (1 Nephi 16, part 2)

Me at Hueston Woods State Park in Ohio, about 100 years ago.

When I lived in Oxford, Ohio I used to like to ride my bike out to Hueston Woods.  Hueston Woods was my go to place whenever I felt down or blue, or troubled by some foolish game, it always seemed to make me change my mind.  I had a lot of spiritual experiences there, and one scary experience with a demonic beaver I'll have to tell you about sometime.

From my apartment in Oxford out to Heuston Woods was 5 miles.  The loop road that went around the park was 10 miles around.  So the whole round trip was..., let's see... yeah, 50 miles or something.  Only when I felt real ambitious did I do the whole thing.  One time I was about 3/4 around the loop road when I had an attack of the starving to deaths.  I have a touch of hypoglycemia, ya see, and sometimes it can really wipe me out.  When it hit on this occasion I was alone and had..., let's see, 3/4's around a 10-mile loop plus 5 miles back to Oxford, yeah, about 50 miles to go, I was in trouble.  My brain gets all foggy (or foggier), I start to sweat and shake and stuff.  I lose the connection between my head and my legs.  I was in need of sustenance, fast.  It was a real Paul Blart moment.  I prayed for help.

Voila!!  I was still trying to ride, facing down instead of looking where I was going, a common pose in that condition, when I saw my tire run over an already smashed peppermint candy. I circled around and stopped to pick it up.  It was just peppermint powder in a plastic wrapper.  I poured it down my throat.  Fog clears, eyes open, legs feeling fit, I biked the 62 miles back to Oxford.  A miracle?  Well, prayer is definitely cool, and can come in quite handy when you're drooling.

Being hungry can produce some awful grouchiness.  In 1 Nephi chapter 16, Lehi and the fam are very hungry, and they are getting quite vocal about it.  Laman and his minions are up to their old murmuring ways of course, no surprise there, but Lehi, the prophet of God, joins in this time.  But, I totally get it.  He's an old man.  He's been walking all day. He's starving. 

1 Nephi 16: 18-20

18.  And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow, which was made of fine steel; and after I did break my bow, behold, my brethren were angry with me because of the loss of my bow, for we did obtain no food.

19.  And it came to pass that we did return without food to our families, and being much fatigued, because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food.

20.  And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly, because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness; and also my father began to murmur against The Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against The Lord.

Nephi's broken bow

It must have been very hard on Lehi to see his wife hungry.  The life of leisure they left behind them in Jerusalem probably added to their orneriness.  It is surprising that Lehi joins in with the murmuring.  He has a solid testimony of The Savior, and that he can count on Him no matter what.  How could he not know The Lord would provide for them?

Oh no, do I have to apply this to myself?  Rats!!

This ever happened to you:  You pay your tithing like a good boy or girl, then BAM!! your car needs a new car?  When things like this happen, is "The Lord will provide" the first thing that comes to your mind, or is it more often a word that rhymes with BAM!!?  Well, good for you if you never murmur, but I ain't always so quick to remember my faith in such moments. 

A Sorrowful Juxtaposition

First:
1 Nephi 16: 20

20.  ...and also my father began to murmur against The Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against The Lord.

Second:

1 Nephi 16: 23-25

23.  And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow; wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones. And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?

24.  And it came to pass that he did inquire of The Lord, for they had humbled themselves because of my words; for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul.

25.  And it came to pass that the voice of The Lord came unto my father; and he was truly chastened because of his murmuring against The Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.

Is there a difference in the 2 uses of the word sorrow?  Yup. #1 is worldly sorrow (I'm sorry that I'm so BAM!! hungry) and #2 is Godly sorrow (I'm sorry I was of little faith, and was so quick to complain).  This sorrow thing deserves more time and space than it will get here.  I'll get back to it, if not in 2nd Nephi 4 or Alma 36, then definitely in Ether 8.

Ishmael Died

His kids were pretty upset.

1 Nephi 16: 34-35, 37

34.  And it came to pass that Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom.

35.  And it came to pass that the daughters of Ishmael did mourn exceedingly, because of the loss of their father, and because of their afflictions in the wilderness; and they did murmur against my father because he had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, saying: Our father is dead; yea, and we have wandered much in the wilderness, and we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness with hunger.

Laman & Lemeul, who were in a humble and thankful state just a few verses back, have once again forgot to remember not to forget.

37.  And Laman said unto Lemuel and also unto the sons of Ishmael: Behold, let us slay our father, and also our brother Nephi, who has taken it upon him to be our ruler and our teacher, who are his elder brethren.

This time The Lord yells at Laman and Lemeul:

1 Nephi 16: 39

39.  And it came to pass that The Lord was with us, yea, even the voice of The Lord came and did speak many words unto them, and did chasten them exceedingly; and after they were chastened by the voice of The Lord they did turn away their anger, and did repent of their sins, insomuch that The Lord did bless us again with food, that we did not perish.

Man, that's good news!  Laman and Lemeul are all humble and repentant now, and will no more bother Nephi... until chapter 17.

Closing Arguments

• Have Faith in God.  He knows you need food for goodness sakes.
• Accept chastisement from Him with Humility and Obedience.
• Don't forget to remember not to forget how He blessed you when you were in that other fix.
• Pay your Tithing, even if an elephant sits on your car.
• Sometimes your ability to support your family can break, even when it's made of steel.  If this happens, go to the words of the Prophets, go to The Lord in Prayer, He will show you what to do.
• Don't tell people you biked 62 miles when you only biked 20, unless it's funny.
• Road kill peppermint candy can save your life.
• Add yours here.

Peace be with you...

Five Brides for Four Brothers (1 Nephi 16, part one)

Chapter 16's got some stuff in it.  You got your "wicked take the truth to be hard" thing, a big wedding that gave a friend of mine his testimony of the BOM, the Liahona, Nephi breaking his bow, murmuring by the prophet of God, and Laman's bipolar disorder comes back.  This will probably take 2 posts at least. 

A friend of mine mentioned Cognitive Dissonance in his blog recently.  I learned that term in college and it really resonated with me, which is another word I learned in college: resonated.

The definitions and examples they taught us in class, I could take 'em or leave 'em, but this scripture coming to my mind while the prof was talking about it pretty much stuck with me, and I constantly overuse it to explain to myself why people fight against the truth:

1 Nephi 16: 1-3

1.  And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.

2.  And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.

3.  And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us.

Cognitive Dissonance, in other words, is:  What I believe my behavior should be is not matching up to what my behavior actually is, and this is making me feel bad.  To rid myself of this discomfort, I will either change my behavior or change my belief.

Example 1:  

• I believe I should keep God's commandments
• I don't keep God's commandments
• I will repent and keep God's commandments

Example 2:

• I believe I should keep God's commandments
• I don't keep God's commandments
• I don't believe God's commandments are that important
• I don't like these people who hammer these commandments on my head
• I don't like The Church
• I need other people to not like The Church too so that I can be sure I'm right

I know I'm oversimplifying a complex issue, and I'm generalizing (and I hate it when I get generalized), but it is true in many a case.  Step number 3 in Example 1 may cause some to say, "Well, it ain't that easy, man."  Ha, tell me about it.  How many times have I had to wash, rinse, repeat; wash, rinse, repeat?  Have you heard this saying:  If at first you don't succeed, join the club?  The Nephies of us will keep trying as long as it takes, applying Faith and a belief in Christ's saving and enabling atonement.  The Lamans among us will give up on Example 1 because it's too hard, and join Example 2, even though, in reality, it's a much more difficult road.

The Dories among us will just keep swimming.

The Wedding

When I went on my mission for The Church, my first companion was a fellow named Peterman.  Elder Peterman had been out for 20 months of his 2 years.  A month prior to my arrival, Elder Peterman had had his first convert baptism.  This was a shock to me, for I had high hopes of the whole state of Kentucky joining The Church.  Anywayz, to the point.  Peterman shared this story with me:  He came out on his mission without a testimony of The Church.  He was obedient and worked hard his whole mission, and prayed consistently to know if the Book of Mormon was true and if, by association, The Church was true.  For 18 months he struggled, then his prayers were answered.  He was reading in the BOM one day, 1 Nephi 16, and came across this verse:

1 Nephi 16: 7

7.  And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also, my brethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife.

Seems pretty simple and lacks extraordinariness, doesn't it?  In Elder Peterman's mind came a thought:  The Lord even remembered to provide a wife for Zoram.  When reading the scriptures, a person can have a thought come to them, and it may be inspiration or not.  There are thoughts, there are impressions, and there are revelations.  This was a revelation for Peterman from Heavenly Father, in answer to many prayers.  After having this thought about Zoram, Elder Peterman felt the Spirit so strongly that tears poured down his face.  He knew absolutely that the Book of Mormon was The Word of God, and that The Church was true.

Me & Peterman in our apt. -Feb 1987.

A month later he baptized his first family, then he trained me for 2 months, then he finished his mission as our Lexington Zone Leader.  He was quite a guy.

South, Southeast Direction

X = Lehi's camp.  Big blue things:  1= Red Sea; 2= Persian Gulf; 3= Indian Ocean, generally speaking.  Big brown thing:  4= Saudi Arabia.  Arrow = Direction of travel. 

So, it's time to go.  When setting out on a journey in this part of the world, it's best to travel with a GPS, a map, some water, and maybe some dehydrated food or MREs (meals ready to eat).  It would be nice to, at least, know where you are going.  

Lehi finds the Liahona. 

1 Nephi 16: 10, 13-14, & 16

10.  And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass.  And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.

13.  And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days, nearly a south
-southeast direction, and we did pitch our tents again; and we did call the name of the place Shazer.

14.  ...And we did go forth again in the wilderness, following the same direction, keeping in the most fertile parts of the wilderness, which were in the borders near the Red Sea.

16.  And we did follow the directions of the ball, which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness.

28.  And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.

29.  And there was also written upon [it] a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of The Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it.  And thus we see that by small means The Lord can bring about great things.

So, this cool Liahona thing is pretty neato.  It's not only a compass that shows them how to get to their destination, but helps them stay in the more fertile parts of the land (a big plus in Saudi Arabia), and The Lord writes on it from time to time, giving them knowledge and understanding.  Sign me up, man.  I wish I had one of those.

Ah oh, I do have one of those.  It's called the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The gospel shows me where to go, the best way to get there, how to stay healthy on the way, and teaches me the mysteries of heaven, just like Lehi's liahona. 

Oh, man!!!  You mean to tell me I've been making fun of how stupid Laman and Lemuel are because they had this miraculous liahona right in front of them and didn't follow it, and I'm just like them (sometimes)?  Man, I hate being a Laman.  As my wife says, "Shootest Begootest!"

We'll talk more about this when we reach Alma 37: 38-47 (in about 19 months, maybe).

Closing Arguments

You could say that Elder Peterman's mission experience was like a wilderness for him.  He lacked the knowledge he needed to be successful, and needed direction from The Lord.  Teaching people that The Church is true and that they would do well to be baptized must have been difficult when he wasn't sure whether it was true himself.  This became a moment of Cognitive Dissonance for him.  Through faith, obedience and diligence in following the gospel of Jesus Christ, Peterman was able to find his Liahona, the Book of Mormon.  And Heavenly Father wrote something on it for him to find in the morning:  The Lord even provided a wife for Zoram.

Through small means, The Lord can bring about great things.

Peace be with you...

Take from me this heart of stone (1 Nephi 15, part 1)

Nephi is sleepy.

This is a very common experience after a major spiritual experience.  Here's some examples...:

Moses 1: 9-10

9.  And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself.  And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth.
10.  And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man...

Joseph Smith History: 20 and 48

20. ...When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven.  When the light had departed, I had no strength...

48.  ...I shortly after [Moroni's visit] arose from my bed, and, as usual, went to the necessary labors of the day; but, in attempting to work as at other times, I found my strength so exhausted as to render me entirely unable.  ... in attempting to cross the fence out of the field where we were, my strength entirely failed me, and I fell helpless on the ground, and for a time was quite unconscious of anything.

Aha!  This explains why I can't make it through my Sunday meet'ns without nodding off.

Anywayz, Nephi was tired when he came back to camp after his multi-chapter vision.  And, considering what the vision had shown him about his brothers and the difficulties these two knuckleheads would pass along to their kids, it must have been disheartening when he returned to find his brothers arguing again.  Don't worry, he took a nap before dealing with them.

1 Nephi 15: 6

6.  And it came to pass that after I had received strength I spake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their disputations.

Turns out, they had the very same questions that Nephi had.  The difference was, Nephi prayed for answers while Laman and Lemuel tried to figure it out for themselves.  This brought about Nephi's infamous solution to all such problems:

1 Nephi 15: 8

8.  And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of The Lord?

Their answer really tried Nephi's patience:

1 Nephi 15: 9

9.  And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.

What grieves Nephi about his brothers, and what I want to talk a little bit about, is the state of their hearts.  In scripture language, one who is sensitive to the Spirit or is charitable toward his fellows has a "soft heart", while one who is insensitive, disobedient, and/or mean is said to have a hard heart.  For example:  "Pharaoh did harden his heart, therefore he would not let the children of Israel go." 

Story Time!!!

I remember one time when this heart metaphor really struck me.  I was singing with this stake choir in Cincinnati, preparing for an Easter cantata.  Our music leader had composed and written all of our songs over a period of nearly 10 years.  These songs were steeped in the scriptures, and helped me see things that I'm not sure if I ever would have seen otherwise.  There was a song in there in which the bass line soloed:

"Take from me this heart of stone; make it flesh, even as Thine own."

You may wonder why this simple phrase would stir within me so much.  Well, I don't know if you've ever been involved in a choir that was learning all new and technical (for me) music, but it's a process.  You stumble through your part, trying to learn the words, the pitch, the cues, etc, and it's not for 5 or 6 practices that you finally start to listen to and internalize what you're singing.  Wow, those songs were so inspired.  She (Natalie McKasson) surely received them by revelation.

So ya see, the process of learning 9 songs for our performance brought a spiritual awakening to my own heart, making the above phrase very personal for me.  Singing with that choir remains one of my top 4 spiritual experiences ever.

So, let's get back to some scipturizing.  When reading the scriptures, I try to look for principles.  Remember, a principle is a formula from The Lord, which, if applied, will result in a promised blessing.  It can also be a formula from The Lord describing behavior contrary to His will, which, if not changed, will result in a heap of trouble.

1 Nephi 15: 3

3.  For he [Lehi] truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto The Lord as they ought.

• One Indication of a hard heart:  Not looking unto The Lord as you ought.

1 Nephi 15: 10

10.  Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of The Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?

• One Result of a not looking unto The Lord as you ought:  Not understanding the gospel.
• One Result of not understanding the gospel:  Not keeping the commandments of The Lord. 
• One Consequence of not keeping the commandments of The Lord:  Therefore, ye will perish.

1 Nephi 15: 11

11.  Do ye not remember the things which The Lord hath said? -If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

• One Indication of a soft heart:  You will pray to The Lord in faith, believe that you WILL receive an answer, and keep His commandments diligently.
• One Blessing of praying in faith, believing you WILL receive an answer, and keeping His commandments diligently:  He will reveal awesome things to you.

Personal observation and criticism: 
I have a heart of stone.  I think that way because of my quickness to anger, quickness to judge others, limited resources of patience that run out way too quickly, my lack of faith that I WILL receive an answer, and etc. etc.

Personal goal:
Join forces with The Lord in chiseling away the rocky ridges of my heart.  This must be a combined effort.  The choice of obedience is mine, but the ability to triumph over my own weaknesses comes from Him.  The effort to pray is mine.  The resulting increase in my faith comes from Him.  I can work on having more charity.  Only He can enable this process.  Ya see?  It's like this guy named Robert Millet said:  "Jesus is perfect.  I am imperfect.  Together, we are perfect."

Ezekiel 11: 19-20

19.  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
20.  That they may walk in my statues, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Like I've said before, I hate it when I see how stupid Laman and Lemuel are and then realize I'm so much like them in many ways.

"Take from me this heart of stone; make it flesh, even as Thine own."

To be continued...
Peace be with you