Jacob 5

The allegory of the olive trees always seems so long and involved to me when I read it. Sometimes I read it and get a lot of insight from it. Other times I struggle with it. This is one of the times that I was struggling to pull meaning from it.

But what I did get is that sometimes you can plant a seed in the best soil and nurture it carefully and have all the best expectations, and it still brings forth bad fruit. Other times a plant grown in bad soil with little care can unexpectedly flourish. So it's important not to get set in your expectations of others just because of where they came from or what their past history may be.

Also, with enough care and nourishment, sometimes a plant that brings forth abd fruit can be turned around and eventually have good fruit again. Reason enough to have hope and keep working toward that end.

Jacob 4

How appropriate to read this verse as we are approaching Christmas and our celebration of the birth of Christ:

4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us.

Hundreds of years before His birth, people were anxiously awaiting His coming. They knew of Him and gloried in Him, even before He came to Earth. How much more should we glory in His life and His love because we know of His words and His works.

not today

I'm having kind of a rotten day and I'm not in a mood (or rather, I AM in a mood - a bad one!).

I know that this is when you should force yourself to do things like your scripture reading and get past the bad mood... but I'm just not able to do it today.

Jacob 3

1 But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.

Okay, so no one is seeking my destruction. And my afflictions are pretty small at the moment. But still, I am worrying over the furnace, and hoping my pipes won't freeze, and concerned that they might declare a snow day for Haley while I am tied up in meetings all day and will not be able to easily get home to her. So none of it huge, but it adds up. This verse spoke to me and reminded me that I should PRAY about it. The only way to get the help I need is to ask. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do that now...

Jacob 2

It's so easy to spend my time focused on our finances. Things are so tight right now that sometiems it feels like that's all I can think about/obsess over/dwell on. Verses 18 and 19 remind me that my focus should be elsewhere:

18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

Jacob 1

When Nephi died, the Nephites loved him so much that they decreed that their leaders afterwards would still be called Nephi. And yet, it only took them until the reign of their second king after Nephi to start hardening their hearts and being wicked.

Even with the best of intentions, it's easy to get off track. Little mistakes lead to bigger and bigger sins if you're not careful to repent and get back onto the straight and narrow path.

2 Nephi, chapter 33

A lovely farewell as Nephi ends his writing and a testimony of the truth of his words.

11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

Almost a challenge, really, that if you don't believe in his words, then just wait until we're standing at the judgment bar and then we'll see. Personally, I'm not inclined to take him up on his challenge. I will have faith and believe the things I read. I believe that Nephi received this words and revelations from God and that we can trust the words of Christ as given to us through Nephi.

2 Nephi, chapter 32

Finally, I am getting back to my scripture blogging. It has been a long month or so, what with piglet flu, swine flu, hospital visits, assorted extra infections, and then preparing for and traveling for Thanksgiving. I think we are finally going to get back to normal now, though. So back to trying to keep up with my scripture reading!

And this morning, reading verses 8-9 reminded me that I'm falling down on the job with my prayers, also. So I need to work harder at that!


And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

2 Nephi, chapter 30-31

Jesus Christ is our example in all things. Though He was perfect, He was still baptized, to show us all that we should do likewise. If we follow the path that He has laid down, we can be with Him one day.

31:20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

2 Nephi, chapter 29

This chapter talks about how people think that there should be no more scripture after the Bible. In verse 8:

Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

A powerful example of this to me is how the Book of Mormon and Isaiah have so many similar passages. These are books that were written far apart in both time and distance, and yet the message is the same. God spoke the same words unto one nation like unto another.

2 Nephi, chapter 28

verses 7-8:
Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

I read verse 7 and felt a little smug. Because after all, I know better than to take that attitude! I know that there is work required in this life and that there is a life to come. But then I moved on to verse 8 and my little bout of smugness collapsed. Because I think I do fall into this category sometimes. You know, just letting little things slide because it's too hard to deal with right now. It's not such a big deal, right? Just a little thing... So this verse was my reminder that the little things are important, too!

2 Nephi, chapter 26-27

So chapter 27 was written around 559 - 545 B.C. yet it contains information about things that happened less than 200 years ago. It talks about how the Book of Mormon will come forth. How there will be three witnesses to the Book of Mormon. How a learned man will look at the records and say "I cannot read it." Amazing that all those years later, this is exactly what came to pass. Or I guess it's not amazing, when you consider that it was all put in place and orchstrated by God, who is unchanging. But from a mortal perspective, it seems pretty incredible!

And I am always so curious about references to the parts of the records that were not translated for us yet. What will they say? When will we get them? How will it be revealed?

2 Nephi, chapter 24-25

Chapter 24 highlights the importance of teaching our children about Christ and the way of salvation.

verse 23: For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

verse 26: And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

2 Nephi, chapter 23

Scary predictions of destruction that will happen at the 2nd coming. Gives me chills to think about it. Having read the Left Behind books, I'm sure I have some misguided images of what all that will be like (they're entertaining, but certainly not doctrinally correct from our church's point of view). But it always makes me think that I would maybe prefer it if the 2nd Coming held off until I could observe from the other side of the veil...

2 Nephi, chapter 22

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

If we trust in the Lord, we don't need to be afraid. He is there to guide and support us. He is our salvation.

My friend Marshel died yesterday. She was always a wonderful person. She was so strong in her faith, in spite of all the trials she went through in her battle with cancer. I know that she trusted in the Lord. He was her strength. And I know that she is with Him now. He has welcomed her home.

Though we are sad that she is gone, she has gone to a better place where she can have joy and freedom from pain at last.

2 Nephi, chapter 20-21

verse 9 "...the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

What a wonderful thing it will be when the whole earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord. When everyone on the earth knows the Lord, it will be such a different place. More peace, less war. More helping, less hurting. More service, less selfishness. More beauty, less ugliness. More love, less hate.

2 Nephi, chapter 16-19

These are more prophetic passages similar to the chapters in Isaiah. As I've said before, I have a hard time with these sometimes. And in these particular chapters, there seems to be a lot of prophecies of trouble and woe. Not that there is not worth in those, certainly, but I really like to find uplifting bits in my scripture study to focus on. It starts my day on an up note. :)

It took a bit of extra reading this morning to find that happy note, but here it is:

2 Nephi 19:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Could there be a more uplifting verse than one talking about the coming of Christ? That happy moment was of such paramount importance to my own salvation; how can I help but rejoice over it? I also love the fact that this verse is part of Handel's Messiah. As I read the verse, I can hear that glorious music in my head. As a matter of fact, I believe that I still have my case of Christmas CDs in my desk drawer from last Christmas. I'm going to put on a little Handel's Messiah right now!

2 Nephi, chapter 14-15

The verse that caught my eye today:

21 Wo unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!

A reminder not to get puffed up and full of ourselves. It's certainly not bad to be wise and prudent, but just because you think that you are wise and prudent, it doesn't mean you truly are. Be humble. Ask the Lord for wisdom and prudent use of that wisdom. Don't let pride make you stumble.

2 Nephi, chapter 13

This chapter reminded me of my days in Young Women. I had a YW leader who lectured us on this chapter at least once a month. This is the chapter that talks about all the ornamentation and fine apparel of the Daughters of Zion...

In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, and cauls, and round tires like the moon;
The chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers;
The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings;
The rings, and nose jewels;
The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins;
The glasses, and the fine linen, and hoods, and the veils.

All I could think about as I read was the endless lessons we had on the evils of vanity - she was really VERY concerned about this topic. Even when the lesson was on something else, she would segue back into this. Sadly, the effect it mostly had is that my best friend and I always left those lectures with an urge to go get a piercing or jewelry or something... just in rebellion about the very strict viewpoint! :)

2 Nephi, chapter 12

I confess, I have a hard time with the Isaiah chapters. The language is difficult to wade through, everything is couched in imagery and metaphors. I always feel like saying: "Just come out and SAY it why don't you!"

For example, verse 22, which says: "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?" Not exactly straightforward.

Still, I plow through and get the gist of things, even if I don't understand all the imagery and metaphors. And thank goodness for the chapter summaries at the top of the page to help clarify things! Thanks to that help, I know that verse 22 is part of the verses talking about how "The proud and wicked shall be brought low at the Second Coming."

2 Nephi, chapter 11

This is a short chapter, but uplifting to me just because of the imagery of the beautiful language...

"my soul delighteth in his words"

"my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ"

"my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord"

"my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy"

"my soul delighteth in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish"

"whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men"

2 Nephi, chapter 10

verse 23: Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.

We have been given the gift of free agency. We can choose for ourselves whether to follow the commandments from God and our prophets, or whether to go our own way. It's important to remember, though, that when we make a choice, we are also choosing the consquences. Making correct choices leads to eternal life, while poor choices carry a consqequence of everlasting death.

2 Nephi, chapter 9

It's been a crazy week and I slacked off on my scripture reading. Picture me crawling back onto the wagon this morning...

A couple of things caught my attention today. First, the chapter talks a lot about resurrection, which made me think about the sweet and simple faith of my children. They know about resurrection - as much as they can understand at their ages - and will bring it up frequently. If they see something on TV or hear about someone who has died, Haley will often make comments about "That's sad, but at least he will be resurrected!" Or something similar. And a couple of weeks ago on the way to church Haley and Preston were asking us and discussing what age they would be when they were resurrected. Wonderful to hear their take on things!

Also, verse 51 says "Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth..." Always a good reminder to economize, and think before I buy!!

2 Nephi, chapter 6-8

verse 7: Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

When you listen to the Lord and are doing what you know you should do, you should not be concerned with what the world may think of you or what others may say.

2 Nephi, chapter 5

At the beginning of the chapter, Nephi writes about a few of the things that his brothers are saying as they murmur against him. Then in verse 4, he says:

"Now I do not write upon these plates all the words which they murmured against me..."

When someone murmurs against us or does us wrong, don't we usually want to tell every single word and every little thing they did? We want to prove to everyone we tell just how badly we have been treated. We treasure up the wrongs against us. We hold them close and nurse our grievances.

Instead, we need to take Nephi's example. He summed it all up succinctly (again in verse 4):

"But it sufficeth me to say, that they did seek to take away my life."

And that's enough for him. He then takes the Lord's advice to take his family and go. And then he moves on with his life. He doesn't spend his time dwelling on all the things his brothers did. e doesn't spent his time feeling hurt and abused and telling his story to everyone to get them on his side. He doesn't plot revenge against them for their bad treatment. He just moves on.

2 Nephi, chapter 3-4

In chapter 4, Nephi talks about how he feels unworthy and weak at times. If even a great prophet like Nephi can have these troubles and doubts, no wonder I have troubles! I just need to follow Nephi's example and trust in the Lord.

verse 34: O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever.

I had a seminary teacher in high school who wrote a song based on this chapter. He called it Nephi's Psalm. It's beautiful. And always brings me warm memories of listening to Brother Kunz sing to us in seminary.

If you want to hear the song: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2346697/nephis_psalm/

2 Nephi, chapter 2

Two verses stood out to me in this chapter.

verse 11: "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, ... righteousness could not be brought to pass"

It reminds me that there is a purpose to all the roadblocks that we encounter in life. We have to encounter the roadblocks and overcome them in order to progress and become better and more righteous.

verse 25: Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Men are that they might have joy... what a great thing! We are here to learn and progress and to be happy! We may be working to overcome roadblocks in our life, we may be trying to constantly get better, but we should also be trying to be happy. Men are that they might have joy... we are meant to be happy!

2 Nephi, chapter 1

verse 15: But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

In the arms of His love. What a wonderful thought.

This phrase is repeated several times in various scriptures, and every time I read it, I have such a warm and wonderful feeling. In times of trouble, I re-read the scriptures that refer to the arms of His love and I can almost feel the warm hug comforting me.

Rather than one favorite scripture, I have this phrase from the scriptures that is my favorite. I just love the feelings I get when I picture myself encircled in the arms of His love.

1 Nephi, Chapter 22

Verse 31: "...Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day. And thus it is. Amen."

A beautiful promise. If we are doing our best to obey the commandments and endure to the end, we will be saved. And because the promise comes from God, we can know that He will keep His end of the bargain no matter what. It's up to us to keep our end of the deal.

1 Nephi, Chapter 21

I have always liked verse 13, just because I find the language beautiful:

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.


And on a somewhat unrelated note... today I'm feeling very glad that I started my scripture-reading blog. Keeping up with my scripture study has always been something I struggle with. I have so much going on that this is something that always seems to fall by the wayside with me. I will make a committment to myself that I'm going to do better and I will read, but then other things in life seem to take over and before I know it, I've fallen way behind. Then I end up just giving up on it. But with the blog, I feel like I have some accountability. I can't just stop, because I have this record of what I'm reading. If I stop, it will be in the record that I just gave up. So even when life takes over and I miss some days, I have incentive to get back and start again. Hooray for blogging for helping me stay on track!

1 Nephi, Chapter 20

If you look at the chapter heading for chapter 20, you'll see that it instructs you to compare Isaiah 48. After reading both of those chapters I was really struck by the fact that they are so similar. A lot of the wording is almost exactly the same - and I imagine some of the differences are because of translation from the original language.

So here are these two chapters - revelations given to two different prophets, in two different parts of the world, hundreds of years apart (Isaiah is thought to have been written somewhere in the 800s B.C. and this part of 1 Nephi was around 570 - 590 B.C.). And yet they are almost identical.

To me, this illustrates the unchanging nature of God. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. All other things may change and pass away, but God will remain.

1 Nephi, Chapter 19

This is the chapter that inspired my blog title. :)

In verse 23, Nephi instructs us to "liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning." That is what I attempt to do each do I blog by finding something with a personal meaning for me in what I have read. When I do this, I get so much more out of my scripture reading. Without this goal, I tend to skim through the chapter just for the sake of having read it. I don't always get a lot out of it because I'm not TRYING to get something out of it.

When I have the goal of finding something that relates to me personally in what I've read, I have to pay more attention to what I'm reading. I have to think about what I've read. So far, this blog is helping me meet my goal of getting more out of my scripture reading.

1 Nephi, Chapter 18

Well, with all that went on with my family in the last week and a half, I really fell down on my scripture reading. But back on track this week...

The thing I noticed today is really not a great scriptural insight, just something that I like to notice as I read the Book of Mormon. In chapter 18, I think it's the first time that you see the little asterisk that directs you to the bottom of the page where they give you the year. In this case about 589 B.C.

When I read the Book of Mormon, I always enjoy watching those dates and seeing them count down as it gets closer to the birth of Christ. It's just always a little exciting to me to read about the events of that time and see what's going on as His birth comes closer and closer.

1 Nephi, Chapter 17

What I pulled from this chapter is that the commandments of God must be fulfilled and if we will just follow Him and do as he asks, He will provide a way.

There are many times that I think that I cannot do what the Lord has asked... it's just too hard, I don't have the time, I don't have the energy or the resources. But if I just follow Him and do my best, He will help me find a way to do what I should do.

1 Nephi, Chapter 16

Haven't you always been curious what the Liahona looked like exactly? I have a picture in my own head, but I wonder how close it is to reality.

That's not really my scriptural pondering for the day, just something that came to mind as I was reading. ;)


But my thought to consider for today is about Laman and Lemuel. At the beginning of the chapter they humble themselves and are walking in righteousness, but by the end they are right back to being hardhearted and disobedient. I know a lot of times when I've read this story or talked about it in classes, everyone kind of shakes their head over Laman and Lemuel and wonders how they could go through this cycle again and again. But today it struck me that I go through that cycle again and again also. Maybe not to the extremes of Laman and Lemuel, but still.

I have things that I struggle to believe and to obey and sometimes I do really well and do all that I should be doing. Other times I fall down and feel hardhearted until I have to repent and start the cycle over again. And again. And again.

So I guess my lesson for today is to not be so judgemental of Laman and Lemuel when I read their stories. And to not be judgemental of people that I encounter in my everyday life... I may not approve of some of the things they do, but there's no telling where they are in this cycle. Given time, they may be the ones to help me when I fall down to the bottom of the cycle.

1 Nephi, Chapter 14-15

There is a lot of profound content in these two chapters. They talk about Nephi's visions of all that will come to pass in the world and discuss the meaning of the symbols in the tree of life vision. Very important things.

And yet, as I was reading today, none of those things struck me the way one single verse did.

verse 8: "And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?"

In this particular case, he's talking to his brothers who are trying to puzzle out the tree of life vision. But to me, it suddenly hit me that this is a question we should be asking every day. Each time we hit a roadblock or have a question or a worry... Have ye inquired of the Lord? Have you let Him help as you try to decide what is best? Have you turned to Him for advice or comfort?

I know that too often I forget that He is there for us in every little thing as well as the big things. I need to remember more often that whenever I have a concern or a problem, I should inquire of the Lord to help me find my way or just for comfort as I work through something.

1 Nephi, Chapter 12-13

I read chapter 12 and just couldn't find anything uplifting to ponder in that chapter today. There's a lot of talk about wars and contention and other dark things. So I moved on and read chapter 13 as well. After a few more dark passages came the light that I was looking for.

Verse 36 says "...if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be."

If we hang on through the dark and depressing times and endure unto the end, we will be lifted up and have peace and great joy!

1 Nephi, Chapter 11

This chapter is where Nephi sees the vision that his father saw... he not only sees the rod of iron and the tree of life, but also many other things that have been and will be.

I can't imagine how overwhelming it must have been to see this vision. It brings home to me that Nephi was truly a prophet of God to be able to see all these things, make sense of them, and then be able to write about them for us to read and learn from all this time later.

1 Nephi, Chapter 10

18 For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever... I like the reminder that God is unchanging.

To me this means that His promises are also unchanging... no matter what, if we keep our end of the promise, God will keep His.

1 Nephi, Chapter 9

5 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not.

6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.


A reminder to me that sometimes we don't know why we're supposed to do the things the Lord asks us to do. But because the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning, He has a purpose and knows why we should do these things we ask. We need to have faith to do as we should do - in time, we will be able to see the Lord's purpose.

1 Nephi, Chapter 8

Having grown up in the church, I have of course heard Lehi's dream about the tree of life many times. I kind of started skimming through this chapter, because I know the story of this vision. But as I was reading, my attention was caught by something that I haven't really thought much about before. Verse 21 says that there are "numberless concourses" of people starting out on the path to the tree. I can't even picture what a huge throng that would be. So many people starting out on the right path.

But along the way there are so many distractions that pull people away one by one, until by the end, the number of people actually making it to the tree is much smaller.

There are so many distractions in life that pull us away from what we should be doing. We need to pay close attention to where we are walking to be sure we are still on the path, gripping the iron rod.

1 Nephi, Chapter 6-7

In Chapter 7, Laman & Lemuel and some of Ishmael's family rebel against Nephi and Lehi. And I know that it was wrong of them, and it was certainly wrong of them to try and kill Nephi, but at the same time, I feel some sympathy for them.

If you think about it, all of these people had a very comfortable life in Jerusalem. And suddenly that was all jerked away from them. Suddenly they found themselves living in the wilderness, doing without all the comforts and entertainments they were used to. It must have been very difficult to deal with. When I picture how I would feel in this situation, I think I would feel rebellious, too!

In spite of all they did to Nephi in the course of their rebellion, he forgave them freely, with great hopes that they would stay on the right path. A great example of how we should behave towards those who wrong us!

1 Nephi, Chapter 5

This chapter talks a little about Lehi's geneology and how his lineage was recorded on the plates of brass. It's a reminder to me about the importance of doing my geneology research. I actually really enjoy researching my geneology. For a couple of months last year, Aaron and I were both really into it and spent hours each night researching. We found quite a few family names that needed temple work done and took those names to the temple.

I need to get back to spending time on my geneology research. I'm going to try and find one night a week that I could work on further research.

I also need to make a committment to get to the temple more often. We still have some temple cards for some family members who need to have endowments and/or sealings done and are just waiting on us. I need to get on the ball!

1 Nephi, Chapter 4

verse 34: Surely the Lord has commanded us to do this thing; and shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?

Just a good reminder that we should listen to the Lord and do as we are told!

1 Nephi, Chapter 3

1 Nephi 3:6 - "...thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured."

Something I need to remember more often is not to murmur... not just in about the gospel or church, but about life in general. I try to avoid this because I would rather be positive than negative. I have noticed that when I spend time with people who always look at the negative side or who are always complaining, it makes me unhappy. The bad attitude rubs off on me. I start to do the same thing. And that makes me even more unhappy. So if I can avoid murmuring, I'll be happier overall.

1 Nephi, Chapter 2

Lehi had wealth and property and probably a very comfortable life until the Lord commanded him to go into the wilderness. And he did it. He didn't argue or negotiate or plead for more time to get ready. He just left everything behind and went with his family into the wilderness.

What an incredible example of obedience. The Lord spoke and he obeyed.

Starting with the Book of Mormon - 1 Nephi, Chapter 1

Probably one of the most recognized phrases in the church is the opening to this book: "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents..."

I want my children to be able to say that they were born of goodly parents. To me, that means that I need to be working to improve myself. Doing more to be a good mother, a good church member, and a good person overall.


A 2nd thing that struck me... Nephi talks about how he is making an account of the proceedings in his days. This reminds me of the importance of keeping journals for posterity. My blogs may be a non-traditional journaling method, but it works for me. I use them to make an account of the proceedings of my days!