Forgiveness

There is a passage of scripture that has always intrigued me ever since my mission. That passage is found in 1 Nephi 7:8-21. I won’t put all the scriptures because it's a lot of verses, but this passage is about Nephi, his brothers and the family of Ishamael and when they are returning to their father in the wilderness from Jerusalem. Laman and Lemuel start murmuring get mad at Nephi, so Nephi starts asking them questions, questions that are direct and probably, in the eyes of Laman and Lemuel, offensive. Nephi goes on for a couple of versus asking them questions then he starts to preach to them. Laman and Lemuel get upset about it all and they take Nephi and bind him with cords and seek after his life "that the might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts." Now if I were Nephi I would probably be frustrated with them and not too happy for wanting me to be killed by wild beasts but Nephi isn't focused on that at all, his whole mindset is always towards the Lord. Verse 17 is a famous verse for teaching us how to ask for things which puts even more emphasis on how Nephi's mindset is. After Nephi becomes free he speaks again to his brothers, now we don't know what he said but it made his brothers get even more mad and "they were angry with me again, and sought to lay hands upon me." Some of the family of Ishmael intervened so that Laman and Lemuel would stop trying to kill Nephi, so after they stop they began to feel sorrowful because of their wickedness. Now the part that calls my attention is in the next verse, verse 21. 

21 And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness. And it came to pass that they did so. And after they had done praying unto the Lord we did again travel on our journey towards the tent of our father.

I love the word “frankly” that Nephi uses. The definition of frankly is "in an open, honest, and direct manner." Nephi, still being open and direct just like he was before, forgives them. Even though there was the potential of him being killed by his brothers he is sincere, honest, truthful and loving when he does forgive them. This is, for me, one of the greatest examples Nephi gave. Forgiveness is a huge part of the Gospel and yet it is one of the most difficult to do. This example speaks powerful truths and can change hearts. The example gets better though. After he forgave them he exhorted them to pray to God, to ask His forgiveness. He is always looking for ways to teach. He didn't rebuke them, he didn't yell or scream at them, he forgave and taught, which I believe is a very powerful principle everyone could learn and improve. This principle gives you a lot to think about. 

Creation: a Divine Activity

This past week I started a study of the Creation and the Fall. I began in Genesis, and am currently reading in Moses and will then go to the account in Abraham. I am doing this in an effort to come to know Christ more by studying His works and life and mission.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/jehovah-creates-earth-rane-1344168?lang=eng

As I first started out I had an awesome learning experience with what it means to create.

Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 states:

       In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In the footnote for the word "created" it says "always divine activity."
That sparked my interest and got me thinking. Creation is always a divine activity? How is that?

When you are truly creating something (when creating anything), you are using those divine, godly characteristics, attributes and DNA. We were made to create and be Creators (just as President Uchtdorf has stated ).

When in the process of creating something, I believe it is a spiritual experience whether the person recognizes it or not. It's a divine activity, God is truth, all He does is in truth, and the Spirit testifies of truth.

But what about those who come up with evil designs that prove to not be of God? That question left me thinking for a while. Here is what I came up with: it's simply not a creation, but a counterfeit or a twist on truth.
Satan and his followers are incapable of being able to create something since it is "always divine activity." However, they (meaning Satan and followers) take what has already been created for the benefit of man (to progress, become, have joy) and will tweak, alter, or change it in order to bring about eventual destruction of the soul.

Think of all the amazing things in the world and how they were made for good. Think of the same things and how they eventually were changed and the purpose turned into something not originally intended. These are not originals, but counterfeits. Satan can not create.


After I had this whole thought process I began to think on more of a physical (neuro and chemical) level as to what is happening in the brain during the process of true creation compared to counterfeit. But I won't go into that here (feel free to ask me if you're curious).

You may not completely agree with me, and there may be some flaws in my thought process. This is a new and evolving impression of mine. I also may not have been able to clearly convey and communicate exactly what I felt and learned about this (actually, I know I haven't been able to completely convey everything). Take with it what you will.

I look forward to gaining a greater understanding of the power and amazing ability to create. We are blessed to have countless opportunities to participate in this godly activity.

The Wilderness

This past week in Brother Griffins class we have been going over the first couple chapters in 1 Nephi. It wasn't until my mission that I could see the powerful teachings that are found in the first 15 chapters or so of the book of mormon, but just like any chapter in the Book of Mormon it takes an honest effort by the reader to pull the most out of it.
Taking this class, even though we've only had 3 class periods, has reminded me of the depth of study one can have while reading the Book of Mormon. I'd like to focus on one verse that is found in 1 Nephi 2:4.

And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and ^adeparted into the wilderness.


In class Brother Griffin talked about the wilderness being the "growth zone". We talked a little about this topic but since then I have been thinking more about this comparison. To begin with, what is wilderness? How could we define wilderness? According the Nephi, wilderness is leaving home, leaving comfort, riches, friends, familiarity and more. I believe there are a couple different levels of the this "Wilderness" in our lives. The largest level would be the Plan of Salvation. We are here on earth in our growth zone. We are in an unfamiliar world, away from our home and comfort, being tested but we have what we need in order to "survive". Lehi took his family with him, provisions and tents. He had what he needed to survive in this zone of discomfort. Just like Lehi, we have the resources to help us survive and grow here on the earth. Another level would be the trials that we face here on this earth. Trials cover a huge range of the Wilderness. That could include starting a new job, going on a mission, school, losing a loved one, moving to an unknown area or anything else that could be a trial. These are what stretch us, make us, help us, and overall teach us. We all have our own wilderness's that we go through everyday, wether big or small, we all have them. These zones are opportunities for us follow Gods Plan for us so that we can become what we need to to fill our roles in His great Plan. I think there is one section of this "Wilderness" that can help all other sections. Our own weaknesses. If I am going to improve my own weakness it has to be my choice. No one else can do that for me. Weaknesses scare us. We are afraid of failing, messing up, not doing good enough but this is precisely what makes us stretch, improve and learn. That is exactly what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for, to help us improve our weaknesses and that is exactly what the Book of Mormon teaches.
Lehi's example is great. It teaches us that in order to gain something, we must give up something. In order for Lehi to receive the promise land, he had to give up his own land, gold, silver, precious things and his home. In order for us to become like Our Father in Heaven we had to give up our heavenly home for a time. We see this pattern throughout scripture and the history of the Church. So when it comes down to it, I should ask myself, which of my weaknesses is impeding me to do better, to not fail, to not mess up, to grow. We are afraid of entering our weaknesses because often it is unknown territory, unfamiliar, and dark. It takes courage to enter and work on them. In Lehi's example we have two famous examples, Nephi and Laman and Lemual. They both "entered" but they had two different experiences. We can enter and work at it day by day, or we can enter and complain and murmur about it and still have to do the same things without any results. They all helped build the ship, but i'm sure Nephi's faith grew more than Laman's. Our weaknesses effect every aspect of our lives, which I think is a good thing. Here are a couple examples: Patience, if I work on patience, then my home life could improve because I could develop better skills of communication and then the Spirit could be more of an influence in the home with less contention. Missions; service mends problems. If I work on serving my companion then we will have a better relationship which allows the spirit to be with us more.
There are so many examples, view points, options, and results we could come up with. Improving weaknesses means improving character which improves situations.

We shouldn't be afraid of the wilderness. Eventually we will have "explored" all of the wilderness and will know it perfectly.

Giving Thanks and Offering Sacrifice

As I was reading from the beginning of the Book of Mormon (specifically the first 7 chapters) I noticed something that I hadn't before. There were three different times that it referenced giving an offering or a sacrifice to the Lord along side giving thanks:

1 Nephi 2:7

And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.


1 Nephi 5:9

And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.

1 Nephi 7: 22

And it came to pass that we did come down unto the tent of our father. And after I and my brethren and all the house of Ishmael had come down unto the tent of my father, they did give thanks unto the Lord their God; and they did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto him.


I find it amazing how many times Nephi records how grateful and blessed he feels. He has left his home in Jerusalem, with all it's worldly comforts and conveniences, and is living in the wilderness. Despite this, they still gave thanks often and offered sacrifice unto the Lord (when they've already sacrificed their home and the life they knew).

But what better way to give thanks to the Lord than by offering a sacrifice to Him? While we may not give burnt offerings or animal sacrifice, it is still a very appropriate way for us to show our thanks and love towards God. We can offer our time by studying His word, spending time in prayer with our Heavenly Father, magnifying our calling, and serving His children. We can show thanks through fasting in which we sacrifice something that our body needs. We can offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Above all, to show our thanks and love for the Lord, we can offer up our will to Him.

What a great blessing it is to be able to sacrifice in our lives. It is an opportunity to become more like our Savior. It's amazing to me that when we give up something we receive blessings in so many aspects of our lives - which is worth much more than what we gave up.

God is good.