November 25-December 1 Moroni may complain about his weakness with words, but he has given us one of the most insightful chapters on faith in all of scripture. We’ll study it in this episode.
November 18-24 We go to a scene of spirits in the premortal world, anticipating. with perhaps some concern, their descent to a darkened world. We knew we would be taking a journey and must have wondered how we could make it across the wilderness where so much would be insecure.
November 11-17 Moroni told us in Mormon 8, “Behold, I would write…if I had room upon the plates, but I have not; and ore I have none”, so there is an untold story between these verses and the book of Ether. Somehow Moroni was able to get more ore and create plates because he gave us the marvelous book of Ether that introduces us to a whole new world.
November 4-10 As we start our studies today on Mormon 7-9, Moroni has taken over the record from his father and is in a tragic position. He has seen his culture destroyed and he is the last survivor of what was once a thriving world. Could anything be sadder than this?
October 28-November 3 Every time I read the Book of Mormon and get to these chapters, I always hope that the Nephites will repent and that their civilization and people will be spared—and then it happens every time! They are destroyed. And then another entire civilization, the Jaredites, are destroyed for the same reasons. We can’t change their outcomes, but how about ours? Is there a message in here for us, right now, in our day?
October 21-27 When President Russell M. Nelson taught us that we needed to use the true name of the Church going forward, he was teaching us something deeper than we might have understood at the time. Something, in fact that can open up whole new realms of gospel understanding. Let’s explore in this episode.
October 14-20 If you knew that the Lord Jesus Christ would spend the day with you and all who would come to the occasion from your home stake, what do you think He would teach you? What do you think He would do? What would be the most important truths He could communicate with you? What would YOU want to know from Him? Let’s explore these thoughts and explore the record of actual witnesses to such a day.
October 7-13 Can you imagine the joy that would fill your souls if you were witnesses to the visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ? How could you possibly describe your feelings? How could you even handle the happiness that would overwhelm your whole being? The faithful who had gathered at the ancient temple in Bountiful had spent a number of hours with the Lord Jesus Christ and now it was time for Him to go. Carefully searching the record, we have some sense of how the people felt, but even more ...
September 30-October 6 If you were to do a survey to determine the most influential talk or sermon in history, surely the results would point to the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Here are contained the eternal “beatitudes;” here is contained the Lord’s Prayer spoken each week by untold millions of Christ’s followers throughout the world; here we have “the golden rule.” The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most densely packed three chapters in all of holy writ. As an added bonus, when the Lord vis...
September 23-29 How can you not be just thrilled with this week’s readings? The entire Book of Mormon has been centered on one Person—Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer—and His coming to the earth and the promised visit to this righteous branch of the tribe of Joseph in the Americas. Lehi testified He would come. Nephi saw in vision that He would come. Jacob gave bold witness of His mission and His coming. King Benjamin, Alma the Elder, Alma the Younger, Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Himni, Helaman—an...
September 16-22 I was pondering very early this morning as I looked out the window: “What if at 4:00 in the morning on a fall day I looked out the window and it was as bright as day? Would my heart take a leap and would I think: What is going on?!” It was pitch dark when I peered out my window and yet, we have record of an event in this week’s reading, where untold thousands of people could not help but see this incredible, unforgettable sign of a day, a night and a day wherein there was no dark...
September 9-15 In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites always think of themselves as the good guys. In a movie, they’d ride in wearing the white hat or the gold star, signifying their goodness. Yet, the Book of Mormon demonstrates that often the Nephites are relentlessly blind to their own wickedness and it is the Lamanites who are the most faithful and true. Enter the scene into the wicked Nephite city of Zarahemla: Samuel the Lamanite. The point is clear.
September 2-8 As Helaman chapter 7 opens, we see a prophet pleading with God for his people in great agony and heaviness of Spirit. The Gadianton robbers had usurped legitimate authority and taken over much of the government, the people have become corrupted and Nephi is deeply grieved for the wickedness which abounds. In a video for General Conference a little girl asked President Russell M. Nelson, “Is it hard to be a prophet? Are you, like, really busy?” He said, “Of course it’s hard.” It was...
August 26-September 1 In Helaman chapters 1-6, the Lamanites become the righteous and the Nephites the wicked. How does this switch come about? And the new enemy are the Gadianton robbers, who capture the allegiance of many of the Nephites. Things happen fast in the Book of Mormon, a roller coaster of righteousness and wickedness. I used to think it was hard to imagine such reversals and drama in such a short period of time, until we all entered these tumultuous times in our own nation....
August 19-25 The ten chapters that we look at today are about both the low and high points of the Nephite nation. This is a time of continual war, brought on in large part by the “contentions, and dissensions, and all manner of iniquity of the people of Nephi” (Alma 62:40) At the same time, just as the light shines more clearly in a darkened world, we see the power of goodness in Helaman’s 2060 stripling warriors. The image of these young men carrying the banner of freedom and faith with such un...
August 12-18 You may get to the so-called war chapters in the Book of Mormon and wonder why Mormon bothered to include so many of them. Yet, he was a prophet who’d seen our day and if ever there were chapters as fresh and relevant as today’s news headlines, here they are. They are filled with the best heroes, like Moroni, who hoist the title of liberty, the darkest villains, like Amalickiah who prosper by deceit and betrayal, and underscoring it all is an existential question: what is the price ...
August 5-11 With only 239 chapters in the Book of Mormon and only 531 pages, would you take four of those chapters and 8 pages just to talk about one wayward missionary’s story who committed a grievous sexual sin? Why would the Prophet Mormon think it was so important to include this story for our day? Let’s explore this together.
July 29-August 4 We see many conversations in the Book of Mormon where fathers teach their sons and their impact changes not only their son’s life, but the generations that follow. The lessons are profound. The impact overwhelming. If there was ever scripture that calls out for fathers to step into their parenting role with power, the Book of Mormon is it.
July 22-28 Alma has a hidden message in this week’s readings. You all are familiar with the concept he teaches of having a particle of faith and planting a seed and nurturing it that it may grow. But what is that seed to grow into? What is the metaphor he wants us to understand? As we read and study this week’s material you might think Alma the Younger is one of Lehi’s students—he takes a chapter right out of the vision of the tree of life—and if you miss that part of the lesson, you miss one of...
July 15-21 It is surprising that an idea can at once be so popular, attracting people to give it passionate devotion, and at the same time be completely false. Why are people so often crazy enough to jump on a trend that is destructive or just plain foolish against their own best interests? Again and again, the Book of Mormon presents us smooth talking, powerful, intellectuals whose words corrupt the nation.
July 8-14 It’s intriguing to me to ponder about why the great abridger of the ancient records, the Prophet Mormon, included some stories and not others in the text. No one in ancient times had the Book of Mormon. This book was written for us—for our day—for our time. So, why did Mormon include the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis? What possible application does this have for our time? What are we to learn from this almost unbelievable group of people who turned their whole souls to the Lord Jesus C...
July 1-7 Can you imagine if today you opened a mission call and it was for a 14-year mission to a violent people whose aim was to destroy you? You might think twice about that kind of call. Yet, the sons of Mosiah, Nephite princes who could have had a very different life, chose to go to preach to the Lamanites, a people described as “wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites” (Alma 17:14). No wonder Mosiah was concerned about the safety of his s...
June 24-30 Have you ever thought about Alma and Amulek watching the believers in Ammonihah burn? It is not just the pain that these are their tender converts. Could it be that Amulek’s own family was among that group because he is in particular anguish after the event?
June 17-23 Here’s an irony. In our day, when someone wants to change everything that is wrong with the world, they run for president. In the Book of Mormon, Alma, hoping to pull down the pride and craftiness and contentions among his people, saw no way to reclaim them except to give up his office.
June 10-16 I’ve always loved Alma chapter 5. It could be taken as the most introspective chapter in all of holy writ. Alma asks more than 40 questions of his listeners and really wants them to probe their spirituality in a deep way. But Alma wasn’t just talking to the people in Zarahemla—he is talking to us. So, to put it in our language and context today: If you have received a witness of this great work, if you have felt those wonderful feelings of the Spirit in your life, if you came to know ...
June 3-9 Hugh Nibley calls Mosiah 29 one of the most important treatises on political power ever written. In fact, the Book of Mormon has plenty to say about good and bad political leaders. Why does a spiritual book have so much to say about politics? We’ll find out today.
May 27-June 2 When I was growing up and first learning about the story of Alma the Younger’s conversion in the Book of Mormon, I always pictured him as a rebellious teenager who hung out with the four sons of Mosiah and together, the five of them wreaked havoc on the Church. If you look closely at the record and put the facts together, you come to know something altogether different.
May 20-26 I have often wondered what was on Abinadi’s mind as the fire that would engulf and kill him burned hotter and hotter. Did he wonder if he’d been a good missionary, because after all, there wasn’t a rush of converts from King Noah’s court.
May 13-19 There are many times in our lives when we just have to stand up for the truth and, sometimes we stand alone. Has that ever happened in your life? Has it happened in the lives of your ancestors or the lives of your children? President Nelson said recently: “Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested.” (Nelson, Russell M., The Future of the Church: Prep...
May 6-12 Elder Richard G. Scott said, “Help from the Lord always follows eternal law. The better you understand that law, the easier it is to receive His help.” The chapters that we are studying in this episode demonstrate just that.
