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.
At Conference, a big theme was that no matter what the laws of man are, we need to uphold ourselves to the higher laws of God. Even though a sin is looked kindly upon by the world, it is still sin and we cannot do it. That we can compare to the last verses in 2 Nephi 33, where Nephi gives his testimony of his words and invites all to believe and come unto Christ. But he makes it clear that the standards of God will not be changed and warns all that if they do not follow his counsel, they will be judged to condemnation, and he will not see them again. Therefore, no matter what the other voices or opinions may say, we should always follow the counsels of the Lord.
ReplyDeletePerfect, thanks.
DeleteOne of the main take aways from Conference Saturday afternoon was that we, all people, must make a conscience effort to do our missionary work. We must work together along side the full time missionaries. In the Book of Mormon, specifically the books of Nephi, God commanded that Nephi teach his people of His gospel. It was a time of trials and challenges that tried Nephi's family. However, Nephi followed the Lord's commandments and taught his people. We are in a time when the gospel can be spread all over the world, but even though we have lds.org and commercials and full time missionaries, each one of us must work to being people the gospel. It is our duty. If we are doing our duties, we need to keep doing them. If we aren't, we need to start now.
ReplyDeleteLove the thought and want to give you credit...but who is "Soba Travo?"
DeleteThere was a talk in the Sunday session of Conference where the speaker taught that there is a difference between having a testimony and being converted. The speaker taught that one can have a testimony and know that the doctrine is true, but not be living the principles, thus not being truly converted. 2 Nephi 31:13 emphasizes this principle, saying that we need to "follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent." I think this is one of the greatest lessons I learned from this past conference and this week's reading. We all know what we should do, the hard part is doing it, in spite of temptations and mortal weaknesses. If we do as Nephi says and try our hardest to follow the Son, then we can receive a remission of our sins and truly be converted. If we act, then we can find strength from the enabling power of the Atonement to do things we couldn't do on our own. I know this principle to be true. I know that we can be truly converted by applying the teachings of Jesus Christ into our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteGreat, thank you!
DeleteIn my mission we used 2. Nep 31 a lot. It is such an awesome chapter. it was nice to read it again. I really developed a love for the Book of Mormon.I had a cool experience at conference. between sessions i saw a sister missionary who is a Temple square missionary. she was in my Ward while she waited for her visa. She told me that once during a District meeting i bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon. She has told countless people about that experience. It made the whole trip worth it to know that even if i felt like i was not being a good missionary after my mission that i was still helping people feel the love of God. especially from the Book of Mormon. It brought back the feelings of the mission. the love of God. It is hard to explain but that conversation with that Sister was really such a gift from my Father in Heaven. (not the sister herself but the content!) i felt the spirit more at that moment then i had in a long while.
ReplyDeleteOne theme or repeated point in the conference was the need of constant spiritual nourishment through reading the scriptures, saying prayers, and going to Church to renew covenants and maintain the Spirit in our lives. Now these are principles that are almost always highlighted. Even Nephi outlines these basic "seminary answer" principles in 2 Nephi 32. ". . . [F]east upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (v.3). "[P]ray 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 . . .(v.9). I can't remember exactly who said it, but it stood out to me. He said something like, "You will be surprised by the personal strength you receive by studying the scriptures daily." This hit me because it seems like such a small thing to do, but personally I greatly benefit and see great blessings from reading the scriptures daily. It was so difficult to help people have the faith that something so simple could yield such amazing results on the mission, however the people who did it, saw the blessings in their families. It is something I resolve to do throughout my life.
ReplyDeleteI add my personal testimony to the power of the word as found in the Standard Works. I have never gone too far wrong when I study the scriptures daily, the Lord always brings me back through the power of His word.
DeleteIn the Priesthood session, Elder Gérald Claussé spoke about the difficulty in relocating his family from western Europe to Salt Lake City after being called as a General Authority. He stated that despite uprooting his life and travelling to a new place, he was thankful for welcoming latter-day saints who now live around the world.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of 2 Nephi 29. In the last two verses, Nephi states that in the last days Jews and Nephites will exchange scripture and words as they both become united under Christ. I see this prophecy fulfilled in light of Elder Claussé's words.
Austin and I get General Conference a week later in China, so we will complete the papers (doctrine and mid-term) after we finish the sessions tomorrow. They will be a companionship effort.
Thanks. Love, Bill and Austin
Thanks, guys! Keep up the good work and I am looking forward to reading your papers.
DeleteWhat really stood out to me this conference was the emphasis on personal responsibility. Many apostles spoke about doing our home teaching, being responsible for our actions, and Bednar even spoke about temporal responsibility. The Lord expects us to take care of ourselves and be responsible, he doesn't however mean we have to do it alone. Just like the council given in 2 Ne 32:5, "For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." The Lord has given us the holy Ghost to help us know and do the things he expects of us.
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