Mosiah 27- Alma 7

As my first semester with my schooling comes to an end, I can honestly say that I've learned a lot about our prophets in the Book of Mormon.

This week we read Mosiah 27- Alma 7.  My quest to read and understand the scriptures is still a big challenge, for me but I keep pushing on.

In this scripture block, I read how Alma the Younger and King Mosiah's sons started out wicked but how they were able to take advantage of the power of the atonement.  Once they did this they were able to partake of the fruit of happiness and wanted to share this with the Lamanites.  For me, this act of kindness displayed how Christlike they became by wanting to save their enemies.

I'm constantly reminded of how simple and beautiful this gospel truly is.  As King Mosiah was ready to crown one of his sons as the successor, none of his sons wanted to serve as the next king for fear that there would be contention among their people which would result in much wars and shedding of bloods.  Instead, they opted to go on a mission to the Lamanites.  I've learned so much from their humility and love and wonder how can I become better like the Alma the Younger and the sons of King Mosiah.  Because none of the sons took the succeeding seat they moved the ruling to a  seat of judges.

Alma was the chief judge of Zarahemla and leader of the Church.  One of his first challenges was to judge Nehor who was an evil man who taught false doctrines and practiced priestcraft.  "priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion" (2 Nephi 26: 29).  He taught that all priest and teachers should be popular with the people.  Also that the people should pay them for their preaching rather than working to support themselves. 

I can't imagine how imagine living in this day and time.  I think of how we have our own versions of Nehor's in our day today but how we have so much information at our fingertip, that we could easily identify a person who's not being honest.  The people of these days would have to be very faithful and obedient to receive promptings to help guide them. 

As I read more and more about these prophets and their experiences, I am grateful for their testimonies, leadership and the records they kept that help prepare us in these latter days to make better decisions to try and become worthy members of this true church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

What I learned about 1 Nephi 15-22

Recently, I've enrolled in an online class in search of a higher education and to learn more about the scriptures.  Of course, all roads lead me to a Christian based school.  I'm older and wiser, so I'm able to concentrate a little more and learning this time around seems more fun.  As a way for me to express my feelings about the things I've learned (and it was one of the options as an assignment), I've decided to blog about it.  Since I'm not as savvy as the other bloggers I follow, I'll use this as a way to express myself and to keep track of my learning. 

This week I studied 1 Nephi 15-22.  This would conclude the book of Nephi.  

In chapter 15, Nephi returns to his father's tent after he was whisked away in spirit to witness what his father saw.  When he returns, he sees his brothers arguing as they try to interpret their father’s dream, however they could not.  Nephi then replies “Have ye not inquired of the Lord? (1 Nephi 15:8)  He breaks it down for them in layman’s terms where they could understand it. 

Tree= Tree of Life,

Rod of Iron= Word of God, if hold fast to it, we will never perish

River of Water= Filthiness, it separates the wicked from righteous

In chapter 16, Lehi’s 4 sons and Zoram take Ishmael’s daughters as wives, Lehi receives a Liahona (compass like gadget which works based on diligence and faith) outside of his tent door which leads them to the more “fertile” parts of the wilderness and Nephi and his brothers journey into the wilderness to get food for their families.  Somehow they all end up with decommissioned bows.  Nephi’s steel bow breaks and the others lost their springs. They start to argue with one another and the blaming game starts.  They return home many nights with nothing which has Nephi inquiring of the Lord for direction.  He makes a bow out of wood, makes arrows and even a sling shot with stones.  Nephi asks Lehi where he should go and Lehi asks the Lord.  Lehi is chastened because he was among the group murmuring because they had no food.  The Lord then tells them where to go and they are back on the road to eating and receiving directions and guidance.  Ishmael passes away during their journey and they bury him in Nahom.  They start to blame Lehi for their father’s death and the situation they’re in and threaten to go back to Jerusalem.  Laman and Lemuel also join in and volunteer to kill their dad and Nephi.  They say Nephi just volunteered his self to become a king and ruler over them and mock him in a way stating that he’s a con artist who makes them do things that he wants them to do.  Once again, the Lord “chastens them exceedingly” (1 Nephi 15: 39) and they repent and He blesses them with food.

In chapter 17, the women bear children, they eat their raw and after 8 years of journeying in the wilderness, the group reach the seashore which they called Bountiful because of all the fruit.  The Lord commands Nephi to build a ship to carry their families across the waters to the Promised Land.  The Lord told him where to go to find ore to make tools and how to build fire with 2 stones and blowing mechanism out of animal skin and he made their food sweet that they did not need to cook it.  He promised to bless and lead them to the Promised Land as long as they kept his commandments.  As Nephi started to build the ship, his brothers began to complain as they did not want to help him since they didn’t believe he could build a ship.  Nephi has the Spirit of God with him and goes through the list of things that Lord has manifested in their situation and other situations, like Moses, to get his point across.  He holds his hand to them and gives them a shock to manifest his power and they finally believe him.

In chapter 18, they finish building the ship and the Lord commands them to go into the ship and sail to the Promised Land.  With much preparation, they bring honey, meat, fruit and seeds.  In this chapter we learn that Lehi has 2 more sons in the wilderness, Jacob and Joseph.  When they get on the ship after so many days, Nephi’s brothers, Ishmael’s sons and their wives start party.  Their dancing, singing and being rude.  When Nephi sees this he gets scared and tells them that the Lord will get angry with them for this type of behavior.  Laman and Lemuel tie him, again stating that they don’t want their younger brother ruling over them and the compass stops working.  A storm starts brewing and they’re scared because they don’t where to steer the ship.  However, their pride gets the best of them and they don’t free Nephi.  Finally, they encounter a violent storm which they manifested as the Lord punishing them for tying up Nephi so they untie him.  Once this was done, the compassed starting working again and it led them to the promised land.  Here they set up their tents, planted their seeds and had abundance of food of every kind from the seeds they planted, to the animals of the land and all types of gold, silver and copper.

In chapter 19, prepares 2 plates to record 1) a genealogy of his people and 2) the wars and contentions and destruction's of his people.  He instructs his people that these recordings should be kept and continued long after he is gone.  He talks about how the angel shared that the Savior will come 600 years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem.  He reads and studies the plates and the prophecies among them and shares them with his families.  How wicked people are that they do not believe that the Savior is among them, so they torment him, whip him, hit him and spit on him.  Yet, He suffers it all because he loves us.  He talks about Zenock, Neum and Zenos who were prophets from the Old Testament that recorded among these brass plates and also testified of the Savior’s life and his ministry.  They also saw the destruction of Nephi’s people in Jerusalem.

In chapters 20-21, the Book of Mormon Student Manual translated these 2 chapters for me so that I could understand them:

1 Nephi 20 (Isaiah 48) is about “them”—the Jews in Jerusalem.> The Lord showed the Jews to Isaiah—1 Nephi 20 (Isaiah 48).


1 Nephi 21 (Isaiah 49) is about “us”—the Nephites in America.> The Lord showed the Nephites to Isaiah—1 Nephi 21 (Isaiah 49).
These chapters are far more advanced and I find myself reading them and pondering them more.

Last but not least, chapter 22.  This chapter held the most meaning to me because it talks about the latter days, today.  It talks about the mighty nation and marvelous work among the Gentiles would be the United States and the gospel being restored which would be Joseph Smith.

I testify that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I can't wait to read chapters 20-22 over again and really study them.