Week 6: 2 Nephi 28-33

This week is pretty light, not that the content of the readings are any lighter, but the amount is a bit lighter. 

As you search 2 Nephi 28-33, will you pay particular attention to how they prepare you for General Conference next weekend?

It would be really great if you waited to post your comments on these chapters until after General Conference, I would like read how you saw connections between 2 Nephi 28-33 and what you heard in General Conference. 

I know your lives are so very busy, but I hope you will find time to simply ponder what the readings for this week are teaching you. What is the Spirit whispering to you? What do you need to do more of in your life? What do you need to do less of or stop completely? Please take a moment and ponder what you are reading, and feel what the Spirit is encouraging you to do. Your moment of pondering may come as you are walking to class, while you are eating, running, swimming or simply looking out the window near where you are studying for class. 

The Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, even found brief moments in time to ponder. After Jesus learned of the

death of His friend (and relative) John the Baptist, the scriptures state, "When Jesus heard of [John's death], he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart...." (Matt. 14:13). A short time later, after feeding the 5,000, the scriptures report, "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray; and when the evening was come, he was there alone" (Matt. 14:23). 

Please take the time to ponder the things you are studying in the scriptures as well as pondering how they are preparing you to hear from the living prophets and apostles this weekend. 

Week 5: 2 Nephi 17-27 & Basic Doctrines Paper

This week the readings cover 2 Nephi 17-27. 

Good news & bad news: The good news is there is no weekly post due this week...just keep reading. The bad news (which is really not bad news) is that you have the Basic Doctrines paper due next Monday (30 September). No stress, keep it simple!

Here are the guidelines for the Basic Doctrines paper: Select a basic doctrine from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and explore the doctrine through the lens of the Book of Mormon. That is, use only the Book of Mormon to explore one of the basic doctrines of the Church in your paper. It is appropriate to insert your feelings, but please try to approach the paper as if you were explaining the doctrine from the Book of Mormon to a non-member friend. Select a basic doctrine from the following:

•  Godhead
• Plan of Salvation
• Atonement of Jesus Christ
• Dispensation, Apostasy & Restoration
• Prophets & Revelation
• Priesthood & Priesthood Keys
• Ordinances & Covenants
• Marriage & Family
• Commandments

Okay, if you are stressing, stop. The only wrong paper is the paper not completed (unless you decide to write about something else besides what I have asked for...yeash). 

So remember, this paper can be up to three pages, BUT NO MORE, please. All papers should be submitted to me via email (palmersj@ldschurch.org) before Oct. 1. 

Keep it real & stress less.
Bro Palmer

Week Four: 2 Nephi 1-16: Find a Quote This Week!

This week we start 2 Nephi. There are so many things in these chapters, it is difficult to get though them. SO, here is the challenge this week: Rather than sharing your thoughts on something you read, would you please find a quote from a recent General Conference or from a book by one of our Church leaders that helps you better understand or supports a verse in 2 Nephi 1-16? 

As examples and for your edification, here are some notes I keep with verses here & there in 2 Nephi 1-16:

2 Nephi 2:11: Elder Kent F. Richards said, "Opposition is part of Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness. We all encounter enough to bring us to an awareness of our Father's love and of our need for the Savior's help" ("The Atonement Covers All Pain," Apr. 2011 Gen Con).

2 Nephi 2:27-29: President Boyd K. Packer said," "We are free to choose what we will and pick and choose our acts, but we are not free to choose the consequences" ("These Things I Know," Apr. 2013 Gen Con).

2 Nephi 9:7: Elder M. Russell Ballard said, "The irony of the Atonement is that it is infinite and eternal, yet it is applied individually, one person at a time" ("The Atonement and the Value of One Soul," Apr. 2004 Gen Con).

2 Nephi 9:27: President Henry B. Eyring said, "The purifying [power of the Atonement] can come only to those who have faith enough in Jesus Christ to repent of sin, be cleansed through the ordinance of baptism, and make and keep covenants to obey all His commandments" ("O Ye That Embark," Oct. 2008 Gen Con).

2 Nephi 10:3: The Prophet Joseph Smith said, "This generation is as corrupt as the generation of the Jews that crucified Christ; and if He were here today, and should preach the same doctrine He did then, they would put Him to death" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, edited by Joseph Fielding Smith, p. 328).

2 Nephi 12:2-3, 5: President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “As I contemplate [the Conference Center], adjacent to the temple, there comes to mind the great prophetic utterance of Isaiah: [see 2 Ne. 12:2-3, 5]. I believe that prophecy applies to the historic and wonderful Salt Lake Temple. But I believe also that it is related to this magnificent hall. For it is from this pulpit that the law of God shall go forth, together with the word and testimony of the Lord” (“This Great Millennial Year,” Oct. 2000, Gen Con).

2 Nephi 13:17-26: Sister Sheri L. Dew said, "Sisters,...No amount of time in front of the mirror will make you as attractive as having the Holy Ghost with you" ("It is Not Good for Man or Woman to be Alone," Oct. 2000 Gen Con). 

2 Nephi 16:2-6: Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, "Seraphs are angels who reside in the presence of God, giving continual glory, honor, and adoration to Him...In Hebrew the plural of Seraph is Seraphim.... The fact that these holy beings were shown to [Isaiah] as having wings was simply to symbolize their power, to move, to act, etc. as was the case also in visions others received (D&C 77:4)" (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd Ed., 702-703). 

Week 3 Posts: 1 Nephi 17-22

Dear Brothers & Sisters,
This week your post should come from 1 Nephi 17-22. Nothing out of the usual for this week's post, please simply share an scripture and insight you gleaned as you studied these chapters from the Book of Mormon. Here is a thought, however, to guide your reading: President Ezra Taft Benson said of the authors of the

Book of Mormon, “If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, ‘Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, 5; or Ensign, Nov. 1986, 6).

Similarly, Elder L. Tom Perry said, "“Each time we read the book we should probably ask ourselves: ‘Why did these writers choose these particular stories or events to include in the record? What value are they for us today?’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 2005, 5; or Ensign, Nov. 2005, 8).

What was written in the Book of Mormon readings from 1 Nephi 17-22 for you this week?

Be sure to keep up in your readings and posts!
Thanks, Bro Palmer