The Book of Mormon, another Testament of Jesus Christ, is the religious history of a people that inhabited the Americas from around 600 BC to 400 AD. It was translated by Joseph Smith from an ancient record by the gift and power of God. As its title indicates, its teachings about Jesus Christ combine with the teachings of the Old and New Testaments to help form the foundation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the nickname “Mormons” comes from its title. In the Book of Mormon, Jesus himself talks about how He no longer requires animal sacrifices. Instead, He requires the sacrifice of a broken heart:

I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.

And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost…

Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin (The Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 9:18-21).

In his new book, Enabled by the Power of Christ, E. Richard Packham describes how a broken heart can bring us to our Savior, Jesus Christ:

One day a number of years ago, I was using an unabridged dictionary to look up the spelling of a particular word. As my finger ran down the column of words, all of a sudden a very familiar term jumped out: broken heart. I could not help but stop and see what Mr. Webster had to contribute to my understanding. One concept proposed that the term meant, “A theological term meaning to be crushed spiritually.” The thought ran through my mind, “What is there in the gospel that would cause us to be crushed spiritually?” Every gospel principle that is taught brings joy and happiness—eternal marriage, the resurrection, the Plan of Sa1vation, and so forth. All of a sudden, the thought filled my being that perhaps as people, we come to understand the profound suffering of the Savior’s Atonement by realizing that we personally contributed to that suffering. We then are “drawn to Christ.” In this realization, it breaks our hearts and brings a contrition of spirit, increasing the commitment to a changed life that can come in no other way. It penetrates us to the point of not wanting to make that great offering of love, an offering made in vain. It produces godly sorrow to the point of breaking our hard hearts, opening ourselves to the commit-ment, and changing our lives to be completely submissive to Him who gave so much…

I obtained permission from Lynn McKinley, a retired professor at BYU, to quote a sacred, personal experience that profoundly describes this process as it happened to him:

Such laboring in the spirit I have never known before. My wife and children were away for an hour or so, visiting her mother, and I was in the house alone. I felt the old familiar earthborn loneliness but was entirely unprepared for that which came. I knelt down beside the couch, began to pray to draw the Spirit to my breast for comfort and relief. But soon I felt an overwhelming power fill my being—not a power of light and exaltation which I wanted and expected, that I’d tasted measurably before at times, but a power that seemed almost to bruise my flesh and crush my spirit with the awful knowledge of my earthly guilt. The shameful vivid memories of sins that I had committed—tore my heart apart as they passed before my eyes and settled in my bosom. I could almost feel the anguish that the Master bore for me there in Gethsemane; the aching sorrow that I felt, to know with burning knowledge every sin I had committed or—God help me—I might yet commit, had of necessity to be absolved by bitter pain within his own pure, perfect, patient body. How the sobs tore through my throat. My spirit groaned with grief. With all the strength in me I bared my soul, confessed as deeply as my consciousness could stretch and still beyond, and plead forgiveness at the feet of him, my Savior and my King. I offered him my life, whatever it was worth to him. He bought it with his blood, the blood that oozed from every pore.

Could such a total commitment come without an awareness of the incomprehensible suffering of the Savior? Truly, a broken heart is the final capstone in the repentance process that provides the commitment, the purging, and the cleansing that allows a knowledge of forgiveness to come. (Enabled by the Power of Christ, by E. Richard Packham. 2008. Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, Inc.)

When we truly allow ourselves to experience the effects of the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, it will break our hearts with a knowledge of our sins. But when our hearts are broken, they can also finally be purged and healed through His marvelous love and power as we turn our lives completely over to Him.

In Humility, Our Savior

In humility, our Savior,

Grant thy Spirit here, we pray,

As we bless the bread and water

In thy name this holy day.

Let me not forget, O Savior,

thou didst bleed and die for me

When thy heart was stilled and broken

On the cross at Calvary.

Fill our hearts with sweet forgiving;

Teach us tolerance and love.

Let our prayers find access to thee

In thy holy courts above.

Then, when we have proven worthy

Of thy sacrifice divine,

Lord, let us regain thy presence;

Let thy glory ’round us shine.

(“In Humility, Our Savior,” by Mabel Jones Gabbott and Roland Prichard, Hymns #172)

Additional Resources:

Jesus Christ is the Way

A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit

Jesus Christ

Hurricanes rage and tsunamis flood, killing people and destroying homes. Dictators oppress their people; destitute children beg in the streets of major cities throughout the world. Loved ones die, and family members suffer. If God is loving, we may ask, why is there suffering in the world?

God Himself has answered these questions in the scriptures. Every moment of every day, He remembers us:

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands… (Isaiah49:15-16)

But still the question remains: if He remembers us and loves us so completely, why does He allow us to suffer?

God loves us, so He sent us to earth to choose between good and evil

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called “The Mormon Church” by the media) teaches that God has a plan for us. In The Pearl of Great Price, which contains ancient writings of Abraham and Moses as well as modern revelation, God explains that we are His work and His glory:

For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (The Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39)

Mortal life is not the beginning of our existence, and it is not the end. As the literal spirit children of God, our Heavenly Father, we lived with Him before we came to earth. We are here because of His loving plan for us to learn, grow, and become more like Him, so that we can have eternal life and experience the fulness of joy that He experiences. To be like Him, we need physical bodies like His, and the opportunity to choose between good and evil. God loves us so much that  He allows the natural processes of the world to go forward so we can fully experience mortal life and the ultimate gift of eternal life. He loves each of His children, even those who choose evil and cause others to suffer. Because He loves us so much, He allows us to suffer at the the hands of others so that we each can experience fully the consequences of choosing good or evil. Because He loves each one of His children so much, He allows everyone to choose good or evil, to make real decisions with real consequences.

In this environment, we are required to act for ourselves and prove to ourselves and to God whether we would keep all of His commandments and overcome sin and opposition…The Father’s desire is to provide all of us with the opportunity to receive a fulness of joy, even the fulness that He possesses in His perfected and glorified state.(Christoffel Golden Jr., Our Father’s Plan, October 2001 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

By choosing to overcome evil and opposition, our natures can eventually become like His, thus allowing us to feel as He feels and live as He lives.

God loves us, so He sent Jesus Christ to atone for us

Because God loves us enough to let us each choose, the choices other people make often cause us pain and suffering. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to provide a way for us to overcome the suffering others may cause us to experience, as well as the suffering we bring upon ourselves though sin. The atonement of Jesus Christ mitigates the effects of sin and suffering in our lives if we learn to choose good by repenting of our sins and keeping His commandments. The gift of the Savior is the greatest evidence of all of God’s love for us:

For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of the Father in the flesh, willingly took upon Him the suffering of all men because of His great love for us. Our Savior, who had committed no sin, suffered beyond our ability to comprehend and died for our sins. In The New Testament and in The Doctrine and Covenants, a book of revelations to modern prophets, Christ describes His love and His sufferings. No greater love could ever be shown (see John 15:13 and Doctrine and Covenants 18:10-13). Jesus Christ’s sufferings in Gethsemane and on the cross paid the price for our sins, on condition of repentance; His resurrection from the dead broke the bands of death and physical suffering for all men. The atonement protects us from being destroyed by the struggles of our lives. Because of our Savior’s sacrifice, we can have our burdens lifted in mortality and return to God to live with Him eternally.

We can personally experience God’s love here on earth

Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can feel the great love God has for us here on earth. Many Christians throughout history can testify of the joy and healing they have felt as they have experienced God’s love. The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, is the modern translation of some records of God’s dealings with an ancient people in the Americas. One story contained in it is the story of Alma the younger, who was the son of the prophet of an ancient people. Alma caused great pain to his father and others by actively going about, seeking to destroy the faith of the Christians who lived during his time. One day while he was traveling with his companions, he experienced a vision similar to Paul’s in which he was commanded to cease his work of destruction. He suddenly realized the terrible harm he had done to his people, and he fell to the ground, unable to move, consumed by despair. For three days he was wracked with torment at the thought of his sins. But at the end of the three days, he remembered the things he had been taught concerning the atonement of Christ. He called upon Jesus Christ for help and for forgiveness:

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy. (The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma 36:18-23)

When we are overwhelmed with sin or despair, we too can call upon our loving Heavenly Father for help. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can feel His great love and be healed. Other Book of Mormon prophets described a Tree of Life, whose fruit represented the love of God. They described God’s love as filling their souls with great joy (1 Nephi 8:12), and being “most precious, …sweet above all that is sweet, and pure above all that is pure,” (Alma 32:42) so that by feasting upon it, they hungered and thirsted no more.

talk more about how we suffer for others’ sins, agency

Additional Resources:

Jesus Christ, Our Savior

Finding Ourselves in Lehi’s Dream

Amazing Grace: Sarah’s Story

Melissa is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormon” woman).

Relief Society Organized for Mormon Women

Organized in 1842, and consisting of more than 6 million members, the Mormon Relief Society is the oldest and largest women’s organization in the world (Kimball, P. 2011. Examiner). Membership consists of female Latter-day Saints ages 18 and above. It is an organization within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed the “Mormon Church” by the media) dedicated to faith, charity, good works, and the uplifting of women through their divine roles of womanhood and motherhood.

When Joseph Smith, prophet and leader of the early church, organized the Relief Society—the Mormon global organization designed divinely to help serve the needs of the poor and to lift women spiritually—he stated that its purpose was to see to “the relief of the poor, the destitute, the widow and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent purposes.” The accomplishment of this great purpose is dependent upon all the sisters within the Relief Society, and it is by the small deeds performed by each and every one of them on a daily basis that they are able to offer relief and aid those around them.

The welfare of Latter-day Saint women is looked after by pairs of sisters known as Visiting Teachers. I would like to share a personal experience I had with a visiting teacher:

I was immensely blessed by one of these sisters in particular when I was going through a very difficult time. I was pregnant, in a very unhealthy relationship, and had no income. She gave me rides to my appointments with the doctor and to the Bishop’s Storehouse—where I was able to receive food and necessities—and she was a wonderful support as I made the very important decision to put an end to my relationship in favor of safety for my child. Now, I am constantly strengthened by the sisters of the Relief Society and strive to do my best with my own Visiting Teaching, so that I may perhaps be that support and strength that another sister may need in a time of hardship.

Relief Society goes far beyond Sunday meetings, where members are taught about many important principles of the gospel and the history of the Church and its organization. If a Mormon woman’s mission began and ended only within the Relief Society room each Sunday, she would never accomplish what this organization is meant to help her accomplish.

All women are given opportunities to improve their talents, learn from one another, and grow in their capabilities as wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters. Each of them has a unique background and can apply themselves in individualized ways. Each has something to offer one another. Sisters of Relief Society are known for visiting the sick in hospitals and in their homes, providing meals for those in need, performing small acts of kindness and service like helping with housework, groceries, babysitting, etc., and for always striving to improve themselves through hard work, charity, and compassion.

I am honored to be a member of this great organization and only hope that my contributions will have a positive impact on others’ lives so that they might come to know the Savior through me and recognize His hand in all things. Through the sisters of Relief Society, the work of Christ continues on the earth, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or “Mormons”) strive to make the world a better place by bettering themselves and devoting their time and talents to service.

Additional Resources:

Learn more about the history and work of Relief Society.

Mormon Women receive fellowship and unity from the Relief Society.

Learn more about the Relief Society at a local meetinghouse.

Experiencing Living Waters: Jesus Christ Quenches Our Spiritual Thirst

While working as a seminary teacher–a religious youth instructor for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently referred to by the media as the “Mormon Church”)– I heard the analogy that in our fallen state, each of us is like a person stranded in a burning desert, dying of thirst. At the point of complete exhaustion and dehydration, we suddenly notice a pitcher of cold water sitting on top of a sand dune. If we choose to crawl to the water and drink it, we can be saved. In this example, what actually saves us? Is it our own efforts to crawl to the water, or is it the water itself? While our efforts to crawl to the water are necessary and essential, they alone cannot save us. only the water possesses the elements sufficient to sustain life. We can crawl to the ends of the earth, but without the life-saving elements contained in the water, there is no salvation.

My carnal-minded understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ had me crawling like a crazy person but never arriving at the life-saving refreshment only the Savior offers. I was desperately trying to do what I thought was necessary without experiencing that which was sufficient. Carnal-mindedness kept me from believing in Jesus Christ’s almighty power of deliverance. It kept me trying to resolve life’s problems on my own, and it caused me to forsake the fountain of living water. The Lord, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, said, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living water, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

While in mortality, we journey in a distant land. This fallen world is not our home; we are but strangers here. As the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) hymn “O My Father” says, “yet ofttimes a secret something whispered, ‘you’re a stranger here,’ And I felt that I had wandered from a more exalted sphere.”13

On this journey, many of us have lost sight of our dependence on the Savior to direct our way; many of us seek to quench our nagging thirst in ways that will never satisfy or sustain life. Our broken cisterns cannot sustain spiritual life because they contain no living water. They represent our false gods with no life-giving water to offer. We erect these barriers to grace as we seek happiness in and of ourselves and as we cling to vanity and unbelief. These broken cisterns can be anything from our personal aspirations to our man-made philosophies for happiness.

In our search for that which can satisfy our parched spirits, Satan may present fulfillment in the false god of self. This broken cistern will impede us from coming to our Savior and experiencing life in Jesus Christ.

For some of us, the modern god of self beckons us with programs for self-development, fulfillment, and achievement. We may feel that the next goal or the next diet will finally satisfy that for which we deeply thirst. Perhaps our personal ambitions or our hunger for personal achievement become the barriers that keep us from taking Christ’s yoke upon us and relying wholly upon Him. Maybe our hearts are set on the next bonus check, the incentive trip, or even the next promotion. Maybe it’s a certain income, an award, or an academic degree. For others it might be the showplace home, the new car, or the dream vacation. None of these things in and of themselves are evil, but when our hearts are set solely upon them, they become our gods and deprive us of living water.

As we continue on our wilderness journey toward realizing the privilege of beholding our Savior’s face, we will experience an emptying or hollowing process. Spencer J. Condie, an LDS Church leader, said, “ofttimes we must hollow our lives before the Lord can hallow them. . . . Emptiness precedes the fulness.”14

Rather than hallowing us and leading us to the deeper levels of humility, these false gods fill us with pride and self-centeredness. They are distractions from the hallowing process, and they will deter us from experiencing Jesus Christ. They will keep us living far below our spiritual privileges as they prohibit us from surrendering our lives to Christ. They will keep us from “com[ing] boldly to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16) and claiming the gifts and privileges the Lord is eager to grant us.

Our broken cisterns will never allow us the experience of coming directly to our Savior, that He may receive us into the arms of His love and quench our thirst with living water. His invitation to each of us is this: “Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely” (Alma 5:34).

We are all invited to come and partake freely of all our Savior has to offer. No one is forbidden. There is no other way.

Source:

R. Brown, Experiencing Living Waters: Jesus Christ Quenches Our Spiritual Thirst, (Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, Inc., 2009, pp 45-92.

Additional Resources:

Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon; Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Learn more about Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for us from an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called the “Mormon Church” by friends of other faith).

Learn what you can do to Come Unto Jesus Christ.

Notes

1. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New york: HarperCollins, 2001), 165.

2. Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, 181.

3. Robert L. Millet, Alive In Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997),112.

4. Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 71.

5. Colleen C. Harrison, He Did Deliver Me From Bondage, 8.

6. Don Colbert, M.D., Deadly Emotions (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 9.

7. Ibid., 20.

8. Ibid., 46.

9. Ibid., 101.

10. Shayne M. Bowen, “The Atonement Can Clean, Reclaim, and Sanctify our Lives,” Ensign, Nov. 2006.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. “O My Father,” Hymns, no. 292.

14. Spencer J. Condie, The Song of Redeeming Love, 1–2.

We are not left alone on this earth. Jesus Christ was sent to this earth to give us the strength to overcome challenges, problems, and sin. To overcome sin. He asks us to look to Him with faith that He knows what is best for us. There is a pathway that the Lord Jesus Christ has provided for us so that we might be able to find peace in this life and eternal life in the next life. He has given us the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord prospers all those who follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. In The Book of Mormon, a record of the teachings of Jesus Christ that God gave to the ancient inhabitants of the American continent, it says:

And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

In the Holy Bible Jesus Christ said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another (John 13:34).” I have found that some of my greatest joys in life come from serving other people. As I try to show the love for others as the Savior did for me, He blesses me with peace, and He helps me love others even more. I know that true happiness only comes to those who seek to love and serve God and all His children. Listen to these words of a modern day apostle of Jesus Christ.

Additional Resources:

Get a free copy of the Holy Bible.

Read a modern apostles words on becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ at the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church”).

Learn about how a belief in Jesus Christ can help you.

By Keith Lionel Brown, convert  to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church”), currently serving as the Ward Mission Leader in the Annapolis Maryland Ward

The Holy Ghost usually communicates with us quietly. His influence is often referred to as a “still small voice” (see 1 Kings 19:9–12; Helaman 5:30; D&C 85:6). President Boyd K. Packer, a modern apostle of Jesus Christ, explained: “The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. … While we speak of ‘listening’ to the whisperings of the Spirit, most often one describes a spiritual prompting by saying, ‘I had a feeling …’” He continued: “This voice of the Spirit speaks gently, prompting you what to do or what to say, or it may caution or warn you” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 77; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 60).

The gift of the Holy Ghost is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. Through the Holy Ghost we may gain a testimony that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that His Church has been restored in its fullness upon the earth today.

In The Book of Mormon, in 2 Nephi 32:5, we are taught, “For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way (that way is baptism), and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

This precious gift from our Heavenly Father can also bring peace to our hearts and an understanding of the things of God. In the New Testament of the Bible, in 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 we read:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

I conclude my remarks with the words of Elder Bruce R. McConkie, a late member of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who taught:

There is nothing as important as having the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Those who first receive this endowment and then remain in tune with this member of the Eternal Godhead will receive a peace and a comfort that passeth all understanding; they will be guided and preserved in ways that are miraculous; they will be instructed until they receive all truth; they will sanctify their souls so as to dwell spotless before the Sinless One in His Everlasting Kingdom. (A New Witness For The Articles Of Faith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985, p. 253.)

I add my personal witness and testimony that I know these things are true and leave these thoughts with you humbly in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

By Sadie C., member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and student at Brigham Young University (BYU).

Answers To Prayers: The Power of God’s Word

As I read through Moses chapter one, a book of ancient scripture within a volume called The Pearl of Great Price, thinking about the relationship between Moses and God, I couldn’t help but think of a personal experience I had earlier this week. I had found myself in a state of confusion and frustration that had no cure but to call upon the Lord. This semester began differently for me than semesters past. I was a senior in high school when I picked my major, and I have loved it ever since. Lately, however, I have begun to question my choice. I have wondered whether I really love what I am doing, or if I am even capable of doing it. I spent the first week of school switching classes and exploring options.

While I was a bit confused at the thought of what I wanted to do, I still felt under control and as though I had a handle on the situation. Unfortunately, all of that seemed to change overnight. From one day to the next I felt as though my sense of clarity had been lost, and all aspects of my future seemed blurred. I made my way through the day in a haze of confusion and frustration.

For quite sometime I had been praying and fasting for answers to personal questions. I had been feeling as though everything was going well, and that the Lord was telling me that I had been making good decisions that He approved of. On this day, however, I felt as though the answers to my prayers were completely flipped. I came home that night feeling completely betrayed. In less than 24 hours I had been led to believe that all of my hopes and dreams of the past two years were in vain. As I was getting into bed, completely ready to fall asleep, I decided to take a quick read through my patriarchal blessing (special blessings given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) to help guide them in their lives).

As I read through the blessings promised to me, I realized what my problem had been throughout the day. It was only when I was faced with the council and advice of sources other than my Father in Heaven that I found myself in doubt. I thought of Moses telling Satan that he received his strength from God, and that Satan needed to depart. I realized that I had done the opposite. While I may not have been faced with the words of Satan, I was still putting my trust in the wrong places.

As I continued to read through my blessing, I was reminded more of Moses. The Lord said unto him, “I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end…” I realized that God has his own timetable, and that I need to trust God and His timing. I may desire the answers to all of my questions now, but I know that the Lord has a greater plan. Later in the chapter, the Lord confides in Moses that he has “a work” for Moses to perform. I could clearly see in my blessing the work that the Lord had for me. I was reminded that the Lord knows my situation, he knows my strengths and weaknesses, and He knows what will make me happiest. I just have to remember to seek Him, and to trust God always.

Additional Resources:

We can know God’s will for us through prayer. Learn more at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church“)

Find a local meetinghouse today!

The Bible is the word of God. Request your free copy today!

By Elisa T., member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and student at Brigham Young University (BYU).

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) I appreciate the things I’ve gained from reading the first chapter in the Book of Moses, a book of modern revelation compiled in a volume known as The Pearl Great Price. In Moses’ conversation with God he learns four key principles about his relationship to God that strengthens me personally and helps me better understand my relationship to God.

The Lord begins the conversation by telling Moses about his infinite nature. The Lord defines himself as endless. Through this dialogue Moses learns the stability that he can find in his relationship with the Lord. This realization is extremely comforting for us in mortality. Our lives seem to be in constant motion. Change is simply unavoidable, but as we cultivate a relationship of trust in God we bring into our lives the only thing we can be sure will be constant.

In verse four the Lord defines His relationship to Moses: “Thou art my son.” I love that the Lord speaks directly so that there can be no error. Moses is His son. That too can be applied to us. We are His children. This knowledge becomes a powerful tool to Moses later when he is confronted with the adversary. In verse thirteen Moses questions the adversary’s power, “Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God.”

The Lord then deepens His relationship with Moses by giving Moses stewardship and a work to do. What an honor to be trusted by the Lord to help! The most incredible thing to me is that the Lord doesn’t come up with some chore to keep Moses busy, but rather He allows Moses to help with the Lord’s own work. We can sense that Moses understands this privilege when he later in verse thirty-six begins to refer to himself while talking to the Lord as “thy servant.” In my life, I can’t think of anything that has brought me greater joy than the times that I have felt this type of relationship with the Lord.

Through his experience in conversing with the Lord, Moses learns that his relationship with the Lord is one of open communication. In verse eighteen he says, “I will not cease to call upon God, I have other things to require of him.” And then in verse twenty he does just that as he trusts in God and calls upon Him when he begins to fear and sees the bitterness of hell. This is the aspect of my relationship with God that I am trying to strengthen right now. I noticed that it was Moses’ natural response to turn to the Lord with his questions or concerns, which isn’t always my response, but I have noticed that the more I turn to the Lord throughout the day it is becoming more of a natural response for me to turn to the Lord.

Additional Resources:

Learn more about God and His nature.

Find a local meetinghouse and learn more about God.

Emily Spencer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormon woman”), freelance writer, concert artist, sacred choral music arranger, and mother of four.

I was once asked in an interview if I had a role model for the ideal “Mormon woman” (female member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  “What exactly is meant by ‘ideal Mormon woman’?” I asked.  “Does such a prototype really even exist?”  The discussion that followed was an intriguing one, because it hadn’t been too long before that, that I’d pined for female role models in my own life – ones that were iconic, prophetic, visionary – and mused not only about this elusive “ideal Mormon woman,” but more broadly about “ideal women” in general.  What exactly was considered “ideal,” according to whose standards, and why?

Around this same time, I sat in a Gospel Doctrine class (one of the Sunday school classes offered to adult members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nicknamed “Mormons“) where the topic of the day happened to be Nephi’s vision of the Tree of Life from the Book of Mormon, a book regarded by Latter-day Saints to be a volume of scripture witnessing alongside the Bible of the divinity of Jesus Christ.  I’d read the account what seemed like a thousand times, and so, admittedly, I felt my interest wane as the instructor guided the class through its verses.  The passage, found in the early chapters of the Book of Mormon, details how Nephi, the son of the prophet Lehi and himself a prophet, desired to behold and understand the interpretation of a dream his father had had regarding a glorious tree whose fruit was “most sweet, above all that [he] ever before tasted” and that “filled [his] soul with exceedingly great joy” (1 Nephi 8:10-12).

Nephi’s desire was granted, and he found himself “caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain,” where his own visionary experience followed (1 Nephi 11:1).  The Spirit accompanied him, acting as a sort of “tour guide,” highlighting and explaining salient elements of the dream in order for Nephi to understand its meaning.  It is a beautiful account, indeed, yet my mind drifted.  I found myself wondering especially about Nephi’s wife.  What transcendent visions could have been hers; had she had her own mountain heights to ascend?  ..If it had not been her lot to haul water, or scrub vessels in the creek?  Or, if she did in fact have them, how would we ever know?  Considering her time and culture, would her writings have even been seen fit for inclusion in any existing body of canon?  Was she even literate?

Lost in my thoughts, I skimmed the familiar verses, apart from the class discussion going on around me.  As I sat there, a striking epiphany quite suddenly began to emerge in my mind – a perspective I’d never considered before, and one that hit me with great force.  Here was Nephi, having been whisked up to a mountain top, where the Creator of the Universe had at his command a vast array of powerful and stunning cosmic demonstrations with which to instruct his pupil – a pupil who happened to be a prophet.  How would God choose to distill perhaps the most important concept of all – the nature of His love – upon one of his most elect servants?  What astounding object lesson would He employ?  In the passage, 1 Nephi chapter 11, the Spirit shows Nephi a virgin “most beautiful and fair above all other virgins” and asks him, “Knowest thou the condescension of God?”  Nephi answers, “I know that He loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.”  Then the Spirit explains, “Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.”  Then Nephi looks and beholds “the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.”

Prior to his vision, Nephi had “sat pondering in [his] heart,” wondering about the possible interpretations of the tree.  These questions apparently weighed on his mind a great deal, as the text suggests he’d devoted some time to their reflection.  In spite of this, enough uncertainty remained that he ultimately went to the Lord , Jesus Christ, for definitive answers.  After having given Nephi the opportunity to observe this sweet and simple scene of a mother holding her child, the angel asks him the culminating question, and the very question that initiated Nephi’s quest in the first place, bringing him full-circle:  “Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?”  This time, Nephi knows, and he knows instantly, requiring no time at all to ruminate.  He beholds Mary bearing her precious baby in her arms, and declares: “Yea, it is the love of God….” (v. 22).

My heart swelled as I sat in that classroom and contemplated this exchange.  So this is how God teaches a prophet about the nature of His love!  I had just been wallowing in my dismay over the seeming inequity of Nephi’s wife’s comparatively lackluster mission (and the fact that we don’t even know her name!) when my Heavenly Father enlightened my mind and showed me that, even with the entire universe as his classroom, it was through the most simple and most fundamental act of womanhood and nurture that his own mission could most clearly and potently be exemplified.  And it was modeled through a role in which I currently found myself!  Loving and caring for little ones – obviously important, but unglamorous and easily lumped in by the world with the other seemingly pedestrian tasks of day-to-day living – was in fact the summative symbol of God’s love for humankind!

To whom did the Lord point when this ancient American prophet, Nephi, needed a model?  When Nephi needed the key to the dream’s interpretation?  Not to figures adorned in glory, wielding might, courageously striking down foes.  Not to riveting orators or captivating statesmen.  Not to men or women with dazzling intellectual acuity, stunning beauty, or accolades streaming endlessly from their names.  God’s own mission, nature, and character – his ideal – was demonstrated through a quiet, one-to-one act – one which expressed tenderness, compassion, love unfailing, and without attachment to any public display or acknowledgement.  It was also portrayed through a role we can all relate to, as all of us have been nurtured by our own mothers, are parents ourselves, or have the opportunity to nurture those around us in some capacity.

I’ve reflected on that experience many times since.  I think there were several things my Father in Heaven intended me to glean in that moment of introspection that day.  I think He wanted me to know that the greatest hero of all, Jesus Christ, He who possessed “no form nor comeliness; …no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2), beholds every act, knows every sincere desire, and esteems every noble endeavor, even when they aren’t widely known or extolled.  I think He wanted me to know that all, “black and white, bond and free, male and female…are alike unto God,” and the Savior and that “He denieth none,” that “He inviteth them all to come unto Him and partake of his goodness” (2 Nephi 26:33).  I think He wanted me to know that His love, the most joyous to be had, would not be found in striving after the ideals held up by others, but instead by embracing the ideals held up by Him, Our Redeemer.  I think He wanted me to know that what He cares about far more than what I have accomplished is if my heart has been transformed – if I am prepared to subjugate the ever-beckoning cause of self in order to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (Modern Revelation: Doctrine and Covenants 81:5).  I think He wanted me to know that His love, “the most desirable above all things” and “the most joyous to the soul” (1 Nephi 11:22-23) is far more accessible than I might have imagined, and that the opportunities to partake of it abundantly were right under my nose, to be had at any time or place.

Upon having partaken of the precious fruit, Lehi declared his very first impulse: “I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also” (1 Nephi 8:12).  As we are filled with the love of our Father and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we are moved upon to in turn shed that love upon others; in so doing, we discover that sharing is, in fact, partaking – a gift that is always multiplied but never divided.  So goes the Lord’s one, eternal round, as he ceaselessly works to make sanctified creatures of each one of us.  Herein is his ideal accomplished, which in the end is what makes us “ideal”:  through the love of Christ purified, through receiving, through giving, He makes us his own.

Addition Resources:

Learn more about the role of Mormon women and families.

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