Week 13 - Getting Home Faster

Ether 6:5-6

5 And it came to pass that the Lord God cause that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.

6 And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind.

Just as the Brother of Jared and all those who traveled with him experienced the furious winds and waves and tempests along their journey to the promised land, we will experience temptations and trials and sorrows along our journey back to heaven.

So many of us question why, when we are making righteous decisions and living our lives well, we must go through hard things. To understand why, we must first understand the purpose of these hardships. 

Think about the struggles that you've gotten through already. What did you gain from those experiences? Did you strengthen a relationship with someone close to you? Did you learn something about yourself? Did it force you to let go of something that you didn't realize was holding you back? Did it improve you or your life in some way?

If you didn't answer yes to one of those questions, then you might want to re-evaluate the trial that you went through. Struggles are there to make us stronger and to make us and our lives better after we've gotten through them.

Just like a boat gets to its destination faster when there are waves and wind to push it along, we are pushed closer to our Heavenly Father when we go through trials.

If everything in life were perfect, we would be less inclined to end up on our knees and plead for the things we need because we wouldn't really need anything. Having trials ensures that we will have times of weakness. During those times, we will turn to our Heavenly Father and confide in him to help us through it.

Our Savior will also be there for us when we need him. He personally has felt every sorrow, pain, and weakness that you have felt. He truly is the best person we can turn to when we need comfort. He loves you so much and will be there to share that love with you when you seek for it.

Though there may be other things that we may gain from hardship in this life, our biggest blessing will be our strengthened relationships with both out Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Your God, your Savior, and I love you. Look for the good in whatever you're going through. For "thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes" (D&C 121:7-8)

Paige

Week 12 - The Mouth of Two Witnesses

Mormon 7:8-9

8 Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you.

9 For behold, this is written for the intent that ye may believe that; and if ye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will also know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.

There are so many debates about whether there needs to be a second book of scripture after the Bible. Why was another book of scripture needed?

Let's first refer back to the scripture above. This can be a little tricky so make it easier to understand, let's replace the word "this" with "the Book of Mormon" and the word "that" with "the Bible." This will hopefully help make this more clear.

When we understand the purpose of these records, we can understand that there doesn't have to be just one of them. After all "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (2 Corinthians 13:1). For the same reason that we send missionaries out in pairs, God has given us another testament of his word.

The power of having more than one book increases the believe-ability of each of them. They support each other, they testify of each other, and they clarify each other. They are stronger together than they could ever be alone.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that the Book of Mormon is just as much scripture as the Bible is. We believe in them equally and support the teachings of both. We believe that both the Book of Mormon and the Bible have been brought forth by the power of God with the Bible testifying of Christ in the old world and the Book of Mormon testifying of him in the new world.

Having the Book of Mormon does not detract from the power of the Bible. In fact it does the opposite, it allows us to understand its teachings more clearly. Scripture is scripture, and what God has given to his people to help them through this life should be used to our greatest advantage.

But the only way to truly understand what I'm talking about is to read each book for yourself, and ask God, for he will surely answer those who seek his reply.