Mosiah 28-29

The birth of democracy! Okay, I guess I don't know for sure that there weren't other democratic societies before this time, but this is the first you read of it in the Book of Mormon at least. I like the way that Mosiah carefully points out that having a king rule over the land is not bad in itself, it's just that you don't have any guarantee that handing the crown down by rule of succession will result in a string of good kings. And once you have a bad ruler, he/she can drag all the people down too.

With democracy you're not always guaranteed to have the best person leading the country either. People can make bad choices. And of course, not everyone agrees with the choices that are made. If you're in the group whose candidate is not elected, you generally feel that it was a bad choice. But the important thing is that we at least had the opportunity to make our choice. And in a few years down the road, we can make a choice again. In spite of any flaws American democracy may have, we're so lucky to live in a country with this system in place!

Mosiah 27

I love the story of Alma and the sons of Mosiah. They were so wicked and tried to bring down the church, but even they could have a spiritual experience and a change of heart. They changed so much that instead of dragging down the church, they tried to make up for the damage they had previously done and became great missionaries for the church. So much so that "...they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth." (verses 36-37)

Mosiah 26

We had a nice Sharing Time lesson in Primary about repentance. It was simple, as it needed to be for the little kids there, but really hit on all the steps of repentance. I liked watching the little 4 &5 year olds in our class really start to grasp the concepts.

I guess the memory of that lesson is why verses 29 and 30 struck me as especially important today.

29 Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed; and if he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also.

30 Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

How reassuring is it to know that if you confess your sins, you can be forgiven? And especially comforting to me is verse 30, that says God will forgive and forgive and forgive. As many times as we make a mistake, God will continue to forgive. As someone who makes a lot of mistakes, that's very good to hear!