I interviewed Rhiannon Merril about what she has been learning in Book of Mormon this semester. She said she's seen a lot of the pride cycle, and how dangerous it is, since it always destroys righteous civilizations. She said people don't even recognize they're in the pride cycle. She's also learned that Christ instituted His covenants and ordinances in ancient days; the things we have now are not just modern revelation. She said that the prophecies that we have now are kind of like clarifications for what was in the Book of Mormon. She also realized that everything in our church is in the Book of Mormon, that's it's not all modern revelation.
I think one of the main things that we can take from Rhiannon's comments is to stay away from the pride cycle. It is the downfall of every righteous civilization in the Book of Mormon and the Bible, so it can easily be our downfall in our imperfect and unrighteous world. If we do get caught in it, we need to realize we are in the cycle and get out as quickly as possible before we get too far in and can't get out.
We should also realize that the laws we have today have been the same for thousands of years, and that a lot of them are nothing new. The Book of Mormon was truly written for us, because it has many warnings for us to heed in these latter days. We should search these words diligently to guard ourselves from Satan, so that we will be able to return to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Journey of Faith: The New World
I watched the video Journey of Faith: The New World. Once again, I was definitely tired and fell alseep through some of it, but the video was totally awesome. I thought it was really interesting and made me realize some things that I guess I just hadn't fully thought about before. I always knew that the Aztecs and Mayas had been decended from the Lamanites, but I didn't actually think that they were them, that they actually built and lived in the famous cities that we always hear about in Central America. It kind of blows your mind a little bit, and just makes the Book of Mormon seem even more real. I know that I don't always register the fact that what we're reading actually happened, that I'm not just reading some story. The archeological proof like this just makes it all come to life.
I think it's kind of cool how they can approximate the location of all of the peoples from the Book of Mormon that lived in Central America based on the way they describe the shape of the land in the scriptures. Although we don't know for sure where exactly everyone was during the time of the Book of Mormon, we do know the general location.
One of the coolest things on the video was when they were talking about the time periods of the peaks of certain civilizations, and how they perfectly corresponded with the time of the peaks of certain Book of Mormon peoples. All of the things that have been discovered about the people in Central America at the time of the Book of Mormon are almost perfectly in sinc with what it says in the Book of Mormon.
One of the things they talked about was the importance of temples for the people of the Book of Mormon, and the fact that the pyramids we have come to know in Central America were the temples for the inhabitants of the Book of Mormon. I like that one of the people being interviewed said that there was no way Joseph Smith, living in the time that he did with the little amount of education that he had, would have been able to make this stuff up and be so accurate. It just confirms the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
I think it's kind of cool how they can approximate the location of all of the peoples from the Book of Mormon that lived in Central America based on the way they describe the shape of the land in the scriptures. Although we don't know for sure where exactly everyone was during the time of the Book of Mormon, we do know the general location.
One of the coolest things on the video was when they were talking about the time periods of the peaks of certain civilizations, and how they perfectly corresponded with the time of the peaks of certain Book of Mormon peoples. All of the things that have been discovered about the people in Central America at the time of the Book of Mormon are almost perfectly in sinc with what it says in the Book of Mormon.
One of the things they talked about was the importance of temples for the people of the Book of Mormon, and the fact that the pyramids we have come to know in Central America were the temples for the inhabitants of the Book of Mormon. I like that one of the people being interviewed said that there was no way Joseph Smith, living in the time that he did with the little amount of education that he had, would have been able to make this stuff up and be so accurate. It just confirms the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Power of Fasting
God has commanded people in the scriptures to fast. I have a testimony about the power of fasting.
When I was nine, I had my first real experience with it. We were visiting my grandparents in Arizona, and we had brought our dog with us. He ended up getting a very deadly sickness called parvo, which usually kills most dogs that get it. I was sad, because I didn't want him to die, and so my dad suggested that I fast all day the next day to try and heal him. I did just that; I drank liquids, but I went a full day without eating any food. As a nine year old, that is pretty awesome. My dog ended up recovering from the disease, and this was my first really strong experience with fasting.
A few years later, our cat got hurt really, really bad. My brothers and I were distraught, because my parents said that he was probably going to have to be put down, and we loved our cat. After my parents left to go to the vet with our cat, my brothers and I all prayed for our cat that he would be able to be healed. After the prayer, while my parents were still gone, I felt a burning in my chest, and I realized what it was, and I told my brothers that I thought everything was going to be alright. Sure enough, my parents came home and told us that although it would cost a lot of money, they would be able to do surgery for our cat and save him. The surgery was done, but a week or two later his wound ended up getting infected. Once again, we fasted for our pet that he would be able to be healed, and he was.
I know that fasting is a powerful thing. It has saved many of my pets from death, and I hope that I will be able to keep this testimony and be able to have a purpose when I fast on fast Sundays. Even Christ fasted, and He is our greatest example. I encourage everyone, even myself, to fast with a purpose, so that it won't be in vain, and that if God wills it, our prayers when we fast will be answered. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
When I was nine, I had my first real experience with it. We were visiting my grandparents in Arizona, and we had brought our dog with us. He ended up getting a very deadly sickness called parvo, which usually kills most dogs that get it. I was sad, because I didn't want him to die, and so my dad suggested that I fast all day the next day to try and heal him. I did just that; I drank liquids, but I went a full day without eating any food. As a nine year old, that is pretty awesome. My dog ended up recovering from the disease, and this was my first really strong experience with fasting.
A few years later, our cat got hurt really, really bad. My brothers and I were distraught, because my parents said that he was probably going to have to be put down, and we loved our cat. After my parents left to go to the vet with our cat, my brothers and I all prayed for our cat that he would be able to be healed. After the prayer, while my parents were still gone, I felt a burning in my chest, and I realized what it was, and I told my brothers that I thought everything was going to be alright. Sure enough, my parents came home and told us that although it would cost a lot of money, they would be able to do surgery for our cat and save him. The surgery was done, but a week or two later his wound ended up getting infected. Once again, we fasted for our pet that he would be able to be healed, and he was.
I know that fasting is a powerful thing. It has saved many of my pets from death, and I hope that I will be able to keep this testimony and be able to have a purpose when I fast on fast Sundays. Even Christ fasted, and He is our greatest example. I encourage everyone, even myself, to fast with a purpose, so that it won't be in vain, and that if God wills it, our prayers when we fast will be answered. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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