Wednesday September 18, 2013

Institute

1 Nephi 19 – 2 Nephi 3

19:18

 18 And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people, that perhaps I might persuade them that they would ^aremember the Lord their Redeemer.

Have the plates so that they could remember the Lord their redeemer

We remember the Lord when we gather together to read the scriptures

We learn better by hearing stories and example rather than having it given to us directly

Scriptures show us how to live the principles

Scripture stories teach us better

Much like the parables – they were taught for people to understand better

19:23

 23 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the ^abooks of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet ^bIsaiah; for I did ^cliken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our ^dprofit and learning.

What are some ways we can liken the scriptures to ourselves?

Try and put yourself in the position – how would you react, what would you feel?

When we’re put out of our comfort zone that is when we improve and respond as we truly are

If you’re not paddling, you’re going backwards – we have to be constantly moving

    Service can help you get out of your comfort zone

    Going on a mission

    Trying something new

    Going to school

    Marriage

    Moving out

“You’ll never learn if you never leave the nest”

    Helping with missionary work

    Be ready to answer questions

“Read the scripture as if the Lord were speaking to us in a personal manner.”

P. 43 Manuel – questions

    What significance does this particular event or principle have for me today?

Isaish is hard for anyone to understand – we have to try

1 Nephi 20:10

 10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of ^aaffliction.

A lot of people fall when they meet a trial

    EX: addictions, drugs, illnesses, financial, school, death

Refined – place metal through fire, then beat out the impurities

Furnace of affliction – the fire burns off all the impurities and the pure stuff sinks to the bottom

We get many chances if we don’t make it through the trial the first time

We have a God of many chances – he doesn’t give up on us

P. 45 – Elder Hales

    ‘Constant, intense pain is a great consecrating purifier that humbles us and draws us closer to God’s Spirit.’

    “What dost Thou want me to learn from these experiences?”

    ‘[The] purifying process of testing [is] to be endured in the Lord’s time and in the Lord’s own way.’

Most of our trials were chosen for us – which is comforting

       – some we inflict on ourselves

Your eyes change when you’re in pain

1 Nephi 19:23

1 Nephi 21: 6-13 – Symbls that represent the Savior’s love for us

6 And he said: It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the ^atribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a ^blight to the ^cGentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.

 7 Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nations abhorreth, to servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful.

 8 Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee ^amy servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

 9 That thou mayest say to the ^aprisoners: Go forth; to them that sit in ^bdarkness: Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their ^cpastures shall be in all high places.

 10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

 11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my ^ahighwaysshall be exalted.

 12 And then, O house of Israel, behold, ^athese shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

 13 ^aSing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and ^bbreak 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^cafflicted.

    - Give thee for a light

    - Mercy upon his afflicted

    -

V. 14-17

14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

 15 For can a ^awoman forget her sucking child, that she should not have ^bcompassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may ^cforget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the ^apalms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

 17 Thy children shall make haste against thy destroyers; and they that made thee ^awaste shall go forth of thee.

    - we are in graven upon the palms of his hands

22: 1-2 How can we understand the words of Isais? By the voice of the spirit

22:3 should these propiechies be considered temporal or spiritual? Both

22: ? Where will Israel be scattered? All over

22: 5 Why will Israel be scattered? They harden their hearts against the Holy one of Israels

22: 6-8, 12 What does he mean when he prophesizes that Israel will someday be nursed by the Gentiles? ‘will bring them out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together’

22:14 what will happen to those who fight against Israel? ‘All that fight against Zion [Israel] shall be destroyed’

22: 13, 16 How will the great and abominable church be destroyed? ‘They shall war among themselves and suffer the wrath of God’

The Great and abominable church is all others

22:17 How will the Lord ensure that the righteous do not parish because of the wicked? ‘He will preserve the righteous by His power,  … even unto the destruction of their enemies’

22:20-21 Who is the prophet like unto Moses who would be raised up by the Lord? ‘The Holy One of Israel’

22:24-26 How will Satan be bound during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ? ‘Because of the righteousness of His people, Satan has no power … and the Holy One of Israel reigneth’

“When Satan is bound in a single home, the millennium has begun in that home” (Teaching of Spencer W. 

Kimball, 172

Chapter 7

2 Nephi 1

Book “1776”

Book “The 7 or 8 miracles that saved America”

Book “Bulletproof Washington”

The American Revolution

2 Nephi 2

      The Creation, The Fall, The Atonement

God plans everything ahead of time

Why was the Fall necessary for the Plan?

     We wouldn’t be here

     We had to know good from evil

     To multiply and replenish the earth

There was one plan presented – not two – and an alternate proposal

Lucifer and Michael (separate sides)

Jehova – unchanging

The Fall was good

After the Fall came the Atonement

       The problem solver for everything

The Fall – the 2/3ds vrs the 1/3

Page 51 – underlined Atonement

What do we to do to take full advantage of the atonement?

      It is INFINITE

      “I came not into the world to condemn man, but to save it” – scripture John 3:16 – 17

Things to act and things to be acted upon

2 Nephi 2: 26-27 – act yourself

Don’t let people make decisions for you

If you’re just sitting in the water, the water is acting for you

Christ is there with you every step of the way when things get hard

When we’re in the depths of despair the Lord comes and carries you

   ‘Eat; The journey is too hard for you,’

We are to act, not just be acted upon

We have the power to act and to choose on how to react to specific situations

Be grateful for people when they teach you

People can’t make us feel a certain way – it’s up to us to choose what we feel

No one can make you anything – angry, offended, sad – you choose to be those things

You can choose what to do with the emotion

You can choose how you deal with things

Acted upon usually have negative outcomes – you have to act to have an happy outcome

How can you be someone who acts, instead of being acted upon?

    ‘What would Jesus do?’

    Get out of yourself

    Try and get out and help others

    Make decisions before you get into situation

Find something good about everybody around you

Try and be more like the Savior

Assignment

For my Religious class this week I had to find my favorite talk from the most recent General Conference. At first I was loathe to do it - how could I pick my favorite talk? It seemed impossible. Then, earlier this evening, while at Institute, my teacher (Sister Stacey) let me look through her Ensign, where all the talks are published. I picked one from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. The talk that I chose was random. However, as I sat here, typing up my paper tonight, I realized how close to home it was. While writing it I realized what an impact it's message has had on me and my own life. I would strongly recommend reading the talk before continuing to read my own paper on it. The paper had to be at least 500 words - I manged 1,184 in less than 45 minutes.


(Quick Notes: sorry for the last paragraph. I know it's long, but it's a story.)

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/the-hope-of-gods-light

The title of the talk is, "The Hope of God's Light".

The talk that I chose from last General Conference was President Uchtdorf’s talk, “The Hope Of God”. It was the first talk in the fourth session on Sunday morning. In it he outlines that while life may be dark and have many trials it is our goal to overcome those times. We are here to overcome the doubt and fear that might arise in our lives during moments of trial or weakness. He also talks about how we need to feel that we are not alone in this world to faces its many challenges alone. There are always people there to help us on our way; likewise, we are here to help others to make it through their own dark, frightening tunnels and back into the light. Most importantly, we are here to feel loved. We need to know that there are people who love us in this life, those who will be there for us when things go astray or wrong. Feeling loved is one of the biggest points that he outlines in his talk.

In his talk, President Uchtdorf divides it into sections; the first one is labeled “A Room Filled with Darkness”. I think that this applies to everyone’s life. We all have rooms hidden away in our lives that are full of all the hurt and suffering that we’ve been through. It also holds all the disappointments that we’ve faced; the doubts we may have had about ourselves and the fears that once held us in dark rapture. We need to know that those dark rooms can be filled with light and love again. Those are only brief, passing moments in our lives. How we choose to cope and learn from them is how we brighten the room and banish the darkness from our lives. The gospel of the church gives us that hope, love, joy and understanding. It’s the brightest light we can fill our rooms with. When we begin to fill our room with light we need to keep that light burning bright. This often means forgiving those who were once unforgivable. In order for us to move on, we need to let go of the grip the past may have on our lives and move forward. When we do this we add another bright light to our room’s arsenal. We need to know that the darkness is still out there – that it does exist, but we do not have to dwell there. We know that the light exists and that is where we should choose to dwell. He talks of how the healing process begins when we move away from the darkness and towards the light, the hope of something brighter in our lives.

The next section in his talk is entitled “Light Cleaveth Unto Light”. In it he describes how only good things can come from good things, or as he put it, “Light unto light”. No darkness can seep in when we have our lights burning brightly before us. He tells us that, if we are in the dark, we must actively search out the light and come to know it. Sitting around, “waiting for someone to flip a switch”, rarely happens. If we want our lives to change, we have to actively seek out that change and embrace it. He then outlines a plan to help us open our eyes to the hope of God’s light.

“Light Overcomes Darkness,” is the next section outlined. He speaks about how we all makes mistakes, forget things, falter in our paths and stumble. When these things begin to happen we need to turn towards the light and rely on its guidance to bring us out of the dark. No matter what happens, the light will always overcome the darkness. No matter how deep things might be, or how hurt and angry we are, if we place our faith and trust in the Lord we will overcome that darkness and live in the light.

The final section in his talk, “Come to the Light” is just what it is. While we might feel, and even be enveloped in darkness we need to know that the light is always there. He invites us to seek openly for the Lord and His light. When we find him, through study and prayer, we will have a warm and brilliant light that will continually surround us.

What I learned from this is that we need to continually overcome the darkness and the burdens that might leave us breathless in our trials. Those trials are fleeting moments in our lives. When we overcome them and enter into the light we will be able to live in the light and love of our Heavenly Father.

In my own life I’ve faced many struggles and trials. Each day I pray to Heavenly Father to help me endure and make it through. Last month I was visiting Salt Lake City for the first time. I arrived Saturday evening at midnight. I was feeling sick already, but I prayed to Heavenly Father that, if I had to be extremely sick, let me be sick on Monday. I had an interview on Wednesday and needed at least Tuesday to try and find the location of the interview. But most importantly, I prayed to be sick on Monday because I needed to be at church on Sunday. I had to make it through the three-hour block and back to my hotel without getting sick. If he would let me make it through my plane ride and through church on Sunday, I would gladly be sick on Monday. I made it safely to Salt Lake on Saturday. Sunday morning I was feeling ill, but I got into the city. I was able to walk around Temple Square on a perfect Easter Sunday and take pictures of the Temple. I was able to find my sister and we were able to go to church together. That night, I thanked Heavenly Father for letting me attend my meetings, and especially to see and visit the Temple. I went to sleep, content that the day had gone well. I woke up Monday morning at eight a.m., feeling sick to my stomach! My prayers had been answered. I was able to make it to Utah, make it to church, and get sick, then have time to recover before my interview. Through the trial of Monday I prayed that Heavenly Father would keep me close as I endured the pain I was in. Later on, while visiting the Temple Bookstore I found a card with the poem, “The Footprints” written on one side and a picture of the Savior on the other. It stunned me, because each time I face a trial, I think of how the Lord is holding me in his arms while walking down the road. I know that each time I feel like the darkness is winning, all I have to do is remember that this isn’t a time of darkness. This is a time when the Lord is holding me in his arms, safe from the raging storm around me.