Come Follow Me Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 1-7 (Sept. 16-22) Don't Miss This

hey there I'm Dave Butler I'm Grace Freeman welcome to don't miss this our weekly scripture study class so happy that you're here if you're new we go through the scriptures bit by bit and point out things we think you don't want to miss so we're starting the book of third Nei today this year we're in the Book of Mormon and we follow the come follow me schedule FYI if you don't know what that is that's the schedule of reading for the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints we kind of read a book of scripture per year and it's broken up week by week so that's what we're reading today is the book of third Nei Wich uh it's probably the one of the most endearing books of the Book of Mormon yeah uh Central moment in the Book of Mormon I was just telling a friend of mine yesterday who's sending her son on a mission and she was talking about being in um at his patriarchal blessing and he said something about Nephi and the patriarch asked him well do you know who his father was and he was like nope and she was like uh we live in the city Lehi like right right and I told her I was like that's okay it wasn't until the MTC that I found out that Jesus came to the Americas somebody in my group was like kind of the biggest moment of the whole book or whatever and I was like well surprise so it might be a surprise for everybody but there is included in the book of third Nephi the personal Ministry of the resurrected savior among the people of Nephi and so anyways it's a really exciting book and the lead up to that in today's lesson is actually like full on Netflix drama right like the the good Lord should have been a Netflix writer because he it is a drama like it's like my gracious legit when I read it I was thinking like I was like there's yeah and I was like there's no way like I'm like this is actually crazy yeah and if you like it's easy to just read it it's but when you kind of try and like paint the picture and paint the story of what's happening it's there is a dramatic leadup to the Savior coming which makes me a little bit nervous because of president Benson talking about the Book of Mormon being a pattern for our day and perhaps a pattern of life before the second coming so these chapters if Jesus coming in the Book of Mormon is meant to sort of be a pattern like that it's sort of like woo you know it's like I hope not is what I'm trying to say but then there's also elements that I think we see that we're just like wow so these I mean like I didn't even finish that thought which is like wow I sort of see that in the world that I live in and so today I think some great advice for living in a world that is um scary some good advice for um increasing and encouraging faith in a world that seems to patronize Faith so and and living in a world waiting for Jesus to come yeah yeah right so uh we called today astonish their hearts um you'll see where that comes from it's a big Le it's a big lead everyone can't wait Ed your see all right we start in 3i chapter 1 which um rename it because 3i chapter one really should be called Christmas because that's what it is remember last week's lesson at the end of helan we had Samuel the lonite giving a sign that in five years from now um Jesus is going to be born into this world and there's going to be this sign and the sign was going to be a day and a night and a day with no Darkness meaning the sun would set and it would not get dark all through the night and then the next morning the Sun would rise again that would be the sign that Jesus had been born in this place and as far as the Nephites know this like other world right that Jesus was going to be born in this place called Jerusalem right and then signs of his death but it's crazy he gave a countdown right where he's just like in five years from so brave that is so faithful of him yeah yeah and it makes me wonder you know those countdowns at Christmas the Advent things yeah right so they could have made one a little tear off chain 5 years times 365 like 1500 chocolate no chocolates 1500 chocolates is what you want and so they have been counting down for this day to come and looking forward to with anticipation and you get a verse like this in verse 4 3514 came to pass in the commencement of the 92nd year the Prophecies of the prophets began to be fulfilled more fully for they for there began to be greater signs and greater Miracles wrought among the people um even though it's a about to become scary I think there's a lot of talk about the the last days the days leading up to Jesus's coming as being full of persecution and full of disaster and those kind of things and I think this verse reminds us it's also a time when the prophecies will begin to be fulfilled more fully that there will be greater signs and greater Miracles among the people like I don't want to miss those things that are happening in the days leading up to Jesus as well and then it says that um there are people who are saying well the time is now passed that Samuel the lonite said the five years are up and he didn't come sorry to say you believed in a fairy tale and this is it's actually sort of uh I don't know what the word is like I nobody wants to be duped nobody wants to believe something that's false nobody wants to set their faith in their hope in a in a fairy tale and you really get this spot in the scriptures where it really matters what they believe like ev Everything kind of hangs in the balance here with their belief and and and not even just for themselves but for their lives and for the fact that they're waiting every single day and then you look back on the last five years and they're like well did I just waste my time right like right what did I just do right and and it gets pretty dramatic for them because not only only is it haha you believe in a fairy tale but the non-believers set a date on the calendar and they say if the sign does not come by this day then we'll kill you and everyone who believes and now you're all of a sudden like hold on I I I can't just stand up in church and say this is something I believe in like this it I have to decide if this really is something that I believe because I'm about to lose things for this I'm about to sacrifice for this I'm about I'm right like it's sort of yep and that's it that feeling everything you couldn't even just say yep yeah and I just imagine these people like there it is that sign come I mean that that threat the date on the calendar shows up well even I love to think about like the kids that like looked at their parents and they're like let's give this up like what should what is are we going to do right or the question like do we keep believing yeah because I'm not just losing friends over this one yeah you know and every night I just imagine like the family gathers together on that back porch and the Sun starts to set and they wait and they watch and they watch and all of a sudden it gets dark and they put their kids to bed and I don't know what the conversation between Mom and Dad is that night it's like well maybe tomorrow you know and night after night it's that they sit sit there and they wait and they watch the sunset and it goes dark and it's like maybe tomorrow it's somebody who's living on a promise and living on Hope and they aren't seeing any glimmer of possibility yet it goes dark every single night and and there comes a point where a person starts to wonder when do I give this up when do I stop believing because it's not working and and I don't know if I can hold on to this any longer and especially for people who have kids who say it's not just me that's being impacted it's it's them do I keep holding on to this and I imagine they look to Nephi I think they must they must ask him that question do we keep believing do we keep holding on and Nephi's prayer to the Lord in third Nephi 1 shows you the burden of um not just a believer but of a leader who who's who's told these people hold on it's it's true and and he cries mightily it says in verse 11 to his God in behalf of his people who were about to be destroyed because of their faith and he says can I lead these people he knows the scriptures he knows the stories he knows amanah where everyone was burned for their beliefs he knows aadii and and and he's struggling with this can I lead them into their own destruction and and tell them to hold on to their beliefs and all day long it says in verse 12 he cries mightily unto the Lord I I uh I remember hearing this story that somebody told about the life of Herold bee where a woman came up to him and told him asked him is that metaphorical you know when the scriptures say they cry all day long and his response back to her was my hope is you never have a problem so big it requires you to pray all through the day and all through the night and then he said back to her but I have and this is not a metaphor it's it's weighing so heavily on his heart and I imagine everyone else's night after night after night and that's the thing is that this wasn't just a problem that just affected him right there he was not the only one praying that day I can almost guarantee it and it's interesting because the truth is our problems seem very different than that there's not decrees being sent out and there's not a date with like that's just so like hard for us to Fathom for our personal lives I think most of the time but what I think is so interesting is that I do feel like sometimes we live in those days where we wake up and we think please God I need you to show up today I need today to be the day where what you say really happens today I need you to show up I need you to heal today I need you to bless my life today I need you to fix this problem today like I really really need it to be today and we wake up and that's our morning prayer and then we're driving and that's our driving prayer and when we're waiting for in line at the grocery store that's our waiting in line prayer and it's just eating at us every single day and then every single day the darkness comes and the reality sets in that it didn't work out that day and we live in that pattern over and over and over and maybe it's with mental health and maybe it's with battles that your kids are facing maybe it's waking up and it's just sickness or like any sort of thing that you can just imagine that just comes over and over and you're just waiting and waiting and waiting and I don't think that's the first prayer that Nephi prayed I just really don't that seems impossible to me and I think that makes this story even more impactful that there were prayers before this one where Nephi said please God I need you to show up I need it right this very second and I wonder if for second when the night came and the sunset and the Darkness came is laying in his bed that night he said did you forget about me did you forget about my people are you not answering prayers anymore and then there was this one a prayer that took all day and maybe you're having a moment like that a pray all day type of situation and the answer is so tender that comes and the Lord came unto him the voice of the Lord came unto him and said lift up your head and be of good cheer for behold the time is at hand and on this night shall the sign be given and on the tomorrow come I into the world and the truth is is that that's our little tender Mercy on tomorrow because I think that that's the that's the answer to a prayer that I think God wishes he could give us every day mhm just wait till tomorrow the Sun is going to come up like Annie that's lucky she had at first the sun's going to come up and I will do what I said I will do and there were prayers that I am sure people felt like went unanswered when in all real reality heaven was just counting down the days the answer was coming the Redemption was set that was never a question in heaven and sometimes I think on the nights when the darkness comes back and the prayers feel like they are going unanswered I Wonder If Heaven just wishes they could whisper and say oh just you wait maybe it's going to happen tomorrow yeah the best little tender Mercy ever yeah and and I just think let me put that on this chart which you can't see off camera but I'm going to just put it there everyone and I um that that's something that every one of us is going to hear at some time or Another We're we're all going to hear God say on the tomorrow come I into the world every heartache is going to be healed every question is going to be answered every discrepancy is going to be solved every doubt is going to be washed away every thing unfair about this world is going to be made right eventually all of us are going to have a night when the Lord will say on the tomorrow come I into the world we can anticipate that we can look forward to that and I love that he says at the end of 13 to show you and the world I will fulfill all that I've spoken by the holy prophets I will keep every single promise and and and the scene moves on and it's just as it's tramatic like why did the Lord pick an end of the day sign so true could we not have a morning one and I think it's so interesting that he still had to go to sleep that night and wake up 100% And all of the people who didn't have the Lord speaking to them that night didn't know it was coming the next day yeah and it just so happened this is what I'm saying Netflix uh season finale why was the day on the day you know because what I'm trying to say is the Lord the Lord could have chose the day before what why does it have to land on the very very day that it's happening why we have to be so dramatic you know plus Mary would have appreciated it not having to go to Bethlehem why not have the baby a week earlier while we're in Nazareth with her mom instead of the donkey ride and the full ends and everything it's just on both sides of the world it's so dramatic you know and and he's just born into this um just this broken dramatic intense uh situation I think as a sign and a way to say that's what I came to and that's what I came to fix and there they are kneeling in the courtyard with swords over their heads is the way I picture it and imagine it as the Sun is setting and just it's just going down like it does so slow and right as it dips below the Horizon this time it starts to get brighter and it says that um it just shocks the people and because it was a sign um that he will fulfill all of his promises on this night every Old Testament age Prophet who prophesied that Jesus would come into the world that that prophecy was fulfilled on that night not just Samuels but but all of them and they all knew that this was that this was the day that that would happen and and and um and I think what's interesting is that verse um 23 oh or 20 I want to read 20 came to pass all things every wit according to the words of the prophets one of the places I love to go in Israel is um near where Jesus's Temple used to be and remember he makes that prophecy that none of these stones will be left like unturned right they'll all they'll all fall down and at that time it was a Marvel of the ancient world it was that was an impossible prophecy to fulfill some of those stones weighed hundreds of tons it's like there's no way that those are going to topple and right there right there right there um in that spot you can walk among broken stones that toppled the the big ones and I love walking among them and just thinking that God's fulfills his promises and and every time I walk among them I think to myself what other promises has he made that I'm praying day and night about and the Sun is setting and it's getting dark that I hold on to hope there's a story that helps people hold on to hope and it changes everything for them can you imagine on this day the birth of Jesus set the people free on this day the birth of Jesus saved their lives and they're going to mark it on the calendar and in fact they're going to change their time system and they're going to start counting time based off of this one singular moment when God God saved Our Lives when the birth of a baby delivered us and and saved us literally and every year they're going to mark it on the calendar and they're going to celebrate it and they're going to sing songs and they're going to give gifts and they're going to make cookies because this is the day on the calendar when we were rescued when we were set free and it's so interesting to me that it doesn't just talk about that every wi once it talks about it again in 25 and it says that one job or TI should not pass away till it should all be fulfilled every single way and I can't help but think that maybe that's a promise and if you don't know like those jot and tis are like Hebrew like little like they're like little like almost apostrophe Little Dot things where he's just like I promise those phrases that got written out the promises even the little commas that's someone could forget about yeah easily every part of those promises are going to be fulfilled and I love that I wonder if that's something because obviously if he felt like he needed to write that down not even once but twice I wonder if that's something that really meant a lot to him and especially for me I love to think that that made Jesus someone worth waiting for they had just gone through probably the most crazy five years even before that of their entire lives especially even maybe just this week probably the most scariest week of their entire lives and at the end I think they probably said this was worth waiting for he is worth waiting for that's so awesome I feel like that's a theme of third Nephi because even like the next 's lesson and all throughout here we keep seeing and maybe Mark that every time it reminds you that God every time it talks about F the holy prophets fulfilled the holy prophets anything that's that's a line that says God keeps his promises and God has made a promise to everyone listening or watching this and and these stories are meant to give you hope in the proom prises that God has made that he really will fulfill every single one of them now what's interesting in this next chapter is I three years later is chapter 2 which is not that long no and it's astonishing how quickly a heart can turn because a scene this dramatic feels like that's going to leave an imprint on my heart until the end of time well and you'd be like no one could deny that that happened no one can like make that up right you all saw it yes and yet um they do and we're going to we're going to get into a people that will almost fully turn against the Lord in within three years but then within 30 like completely turned against him is what you're going to see and there's something I think really instructive at the beginning of um third Nephi chapter 2 and this is something I've kind of thought quite a lot about and this is what the verses say in the beginning of chapter 2 and it came to pass thus passed away the 90 and fifth year also and the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard and they began to be less and less astonished at a sign or wonder from heaven and they began to be Harden their hearts and blind in their minds and they began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen imagining up some vain thing in their hearts that it was wrought by men or by the power of the devil to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again to lead them away to believe that this was a foolish and a vain thing I want you to notice how often the heart is mentioned in those beginning verses and this also seems to be a theme in Helman and third Nephi as well this the importance of the heart there's a question in the journal that talks about how how did Satan do this in a threeyear time period and um I I made a little list so if you're listening on the podcast you are not seeing it but I put it up on here but I'm taking things from third Nephi chapter 2 1-2 and it says Satan caused them to forget and to be less and less astonished and to disbelieve and to harden their hearts and to imagine up that it was some vain thing and I think this is really instructive because this is showing us that Satan is after people's hearts and when he's after people's minds it's only because the mind can be a gateway to the heart and why I think that's instructive is because then the solution is going to be people's hearts that our job is not to convince people's minds but it's to capture people's hearts and as we talk about I I have a a kind of a a Mentor who doesn't know me who's a pastor in New York City and I just love the way that he teaches and he told this story about starting this church in New York City in a really Progressive and a really educated city and his wife gave him some advice and her advice was really simple and then she just said um don't do anything dumb you know when you go there and he started to think about it and started toy try and decide what do I do and and and the thing you might think is oh be super intellectual which again um has its place as long as it leads to people's hearts and he knew his job was to capture people's hearts um show them the story the world gives you and then give a better one in Jesus and as we think about um my role as a disciple how do I how do I win people over that I care about that I love I I think that this verse even those verses talk about Satan we just take the opposite so I took the opposite of every one of those and he causes people to forget I want to say remind people remind people of the things that they've seen and the things that they've experienced less and less astonished I want to say astonish people then capture people's hearts they start to disbelieve well give them some something else to believe in not just like in get give them show people the Wonder and the Majesty of of of Jesus revealed and and and show them the beauty of a life of Faith they've got to be captured by people are captured in their hearts and and this the hard Hearts well he gratitude I think is the thing that softens hearts the most but it's gratitude for the great things God is doing like you're setting their hearts on something bigger on something more wonderful on something that just that they can and I love that he says they imagined up some vain story The I I love that Satan uses the imagination okay great then let's use the imagination also and let's and let's teach a better version of the story they say oh people made that up no no no let's give a better story here about a God in heaven who could do anything any time anywhere and all he does is is for the good of his children that he's ever watchful of and always watching over and I just think that this part in scripture teaches us something really important about our role in a time when faith is under attack that it can be and should include a discussion of the things in the mind convince people's minds but don't forget that our work is to capture people's hearts like I I I I want to say you know like am I am I making sense here yeah like yeah well and I think something that I love is that I think this chapter even just the beginning we're only two verses in everyone so don't be afraid of that but we're two verses in and you can see how hard Satan is willing to fight for someone's heart mhm and that has not stopped after thousands and thousands of years Satan hasn't gotten tired of that job in fact I think he is continually fighting just as hard for people's hearts and what I love about all of the scriptures this chapter included and life in general is that the harder Satan fights God fights two times harder yeah and three times and more and more and more and I think that as much as we look around and we want to say yeah Satan's really good at capturing our hearts I think that that is God's specialty is knowing how to capture a heart and I think the biggest thrill of my life is when God gives me a chance to help him win someone's heart over yeah and I think that is the joy of life and that's the joy of community and I think that's why he cares so much about those two Commandments loving God and loving people because that he knows he knows the value of heart and he says you know what actually I think that your heart will be more one over when you help someone else's heart be one over too yeah it's just magic yeah right and I think we need to like think more about that we need to think about like what do people care about what do they let's like we have a really good story the story of Jesus and the story of of the restoration of truth about Jesus is a great story so let's teach the Wonder and the majesty and the beauty of that story like well and you teach that differently if you know you're going after someone's heart not their mind right the way you interact with people will be different the things you bring up will be different one thing that I think will be the most different is that you will probably go into more conversations with a listening ear than a talking mouth you cannot win over someone's heart without hearing what's going on in it and it's really easy when you're trying to win over someone's mind to not care what they're saying right there's just so many differences in how we will treat each other if we know that that we are all trying to have our hearts one over by God right so thanks to the devil for showing us like what really works on people you know so true I just doesn't that make sense I always think that I'm like of course the devil would look at what God's doing and what God's doing well and try to mimic it yeah which I think teaches us a lot about both of them it's like oh if he's doing that he's probably trying to copy it yeah I wonder if I could find this so fast and then um I don't know if I can but I want to just see if I can because there was this um it's uh let's see you trying to typ that talk at the same time you need to take it like rebooted right then yeah it's like glitching or whatever she's like good okay it was this uh Christian Author and she was talking about the same thing like we live in a world where people are kind of turning against faith and religion it's not just this is not just a Latter-Day Saint issue this is like a worldwide and she made this list and she says I'll tell you what's not working shaming and demonizing and badgering and ostracizing and patronizing they don't work to bring people to Jesus but do what does work is courage and Whimsy and blessing and and the way we posture oursel like there are some things that work and some things that don't and I think that's a really really important for us to like consider and and think about what won Your Heart Right yeah it's just really cool that's a really cool like I I just I I just don't know many people stay because they say this makes sense in my mind only yeah and there's some cases where that is but I just you know that's great if that works for you then that works for you right right um and chapter 3 I think continues that and four together in third nevi I think there's some great lessons that we can learn here about chapter 3 starts off with this like really this is the Netflix drama yeah a letter from the the gadan robbers they're back they're back again and the leader of them Gideon High writes this letter to the chief judge of the Nephites and just in the beginning of chapter 3 you can capture the tone like this tone has not gone away there is still a tone against people of Faith phrases like this I know you're M maintaining that which you suppose is right in verse two verse three it seems a Pity to me that You' be so foolish and So Vain to suppose like he just keeps using these really passive aggressive patronizing words about being a believer that what you think that would you've convinced yourself is correct and right and I feel like there is an that still patronizing underlying tone that we'll hear and encounter sometimes about being a person of faith and I think sometimes you're like it is hard to live in this world I've heard plenty of parents talk about it's kind of scary to feel try and hold on to your faith and have your kids hold on to their faith have your friends and neighbors hold on to their faith in a world like this well and I think even this line speaks so much to that because I think it's the craziest part of the letter in verse number nine when he says I'm part of the secret society and the society and The Works thereof I know to be good and there of ancient date like he's like I didn't just make this up like it's been through the past and it's good like I know it I've experienced it and I'm like isn't that so true right now and life that we're going through that there's so many things that are like no no no you don't understand like I know my way is good right I know that it works like it's proven itself in history and it's interesting that like those are the same words that a Believer could use yes that's why it's so scared to me when I read I was like oh someone could stand up in SAC meeting and say I know this to be good if and it's been around yeah and it's been around for years and years and years you know and I think one part of that that's really interesting to me that I did in my scriptures was num uh in nine I circled the word Works um because after Works come fruits and so one great way if you're just kind of like well how could anyone know how could anyone know which one was actually good I would say look at the fruits look at the fruits of what happens with this belief system and look at the fruits of what happens with this belief system and what you'll find in these chapters is that the work of the gadat and robbers the fruits of it is destruction corn down murder hatred and and you can make a list and then you look at the fruits of of the nephite people and the lamanites who who are together in a group and you look at the fruits of believing the things that they believe I just think it's really important as as we consider what is true and what is good I would say the best way to do that is try it out and look at the fruits the question is does it work does it actually work and the gadan way ends up destroying people and destroying Society so that scared me for a minute where I was like golly no wonder people are so confused because like you could you could just anyone can say the same things and it's like all right what's the fruits right what is it what try it out does it actually work and and I love in three and four and you can do your own study of this and we can just give you this this again here's a list of verses and they all come from three and four if you're listening on the podcast by the way and you want these lists they're on the app we always upload whatever's on the screen that you may not be able to see onto the app but but you could just jump in to chapter 3 and chapter four and what do I do in a world where faith is assaulted what do I do in this time where I'm waiting for Jesus and it feels like it's not working what do I do when I'm nervous about losing my kids losing my friends losing my own faith and I and this is and you see something that works here among these people and so there's a lot of verses in here that you can like learn from here's a couple um that I think are are helpful and we can go through these kind of fast um I love that in chapter 3 after he gets this letter starting in verse 11 leonius he's like whoa that was pretty bold but but he knows where he stands um he just immed and he sticks with it right in verse 11 he was just like no you're wrong that's not right I I've lived this life you're calling wrong and like I was just saying and I've seen the fruits of it and so in 12 and this also is a helpful thing he doesn't listen to it because like a cancer it can grow it can it can be um doubt um can be infect infectious is that right the word when you can like pass it to somebody contagious right and infectious right and he's just like I I I'm not going to listen um to what you're saying I'm not going to let that like bother me um there's other things they gather it says in one place together like you this one's a huge Gathering chure of like find the people which I think is really interesting because right before that he says gather yourselves with us that's in verse number seven he's like we won't treat then yeah the bad guy he's like become one of us be our Brethren and I think if you're standing all by yourself humans crave Gathering we want to be a part of something and I think it's so interesting that in his head the the good guy he like all of a sudden had this moment that he's like if they're sending this letter to me that's what they're telling my people is come gather yourselves you can be a part of our group and I love that his like rebuttal to that was I need to gather my people I need to make sure that we are together and I just think that's such a good lesson that in the middle of like when the world seems so scary or you're worried of like even your kids and you're like wait like well who are my kids hanging out with and what are they doing and what about like who am I hanging out with and what are the groups that we're doing I think it's such a good lesson to say what are you doing like what are you doing in your life right now to gather with good people yeah what are you doing in your life to gather with people that you know will keep you safe and live a life that you want to live yeah because just as much as like fear can be super contagious so can hope and so can belief and so can Faith right and so that you're seeing them do that um they're looking inward for 15 they're repenting they're just they're turning back to the lord they're reaching out to the Lord you see over and over and over again a couple other things that I think in here are cool are um that they um it talks about the things that they've stored up and I love that idea of storing up right not just physically but storing up um experiences right and storing up memories of Faith right I just love that they're and that's something that you see they kind of do a comparison between the robbers and the Nephites that all gathered together in verse did I just make that up 18 18 and 19 of chapter 4 and I do think that's something so interesting that in verse 19 it's talking about the robbers and they the scantiness of Provisions among them that they were just running out of stuff and I do think that's such a good lesson to think of like do I have enough on the days when it gets really hard and I don't feel like I'm going to survive I can say oh no wait I actually already built myself up for this moment I'm okay I have enough in me already right right it's that principle you keep seeing like that seven years of plenty right where I'm just storing up for um who uh who gave that um uh talk in general conference I think it was Sister Wright where she talked about when her moment came like a a diagnosis came and she was like we' stored up Faith we'd stored up worship we'd stored up praise we'd stored up Wonder right and we lived off of it because times like that like that happen and you were going to say something about those last ones yeah because I think it's so interesting that um they're kind of going through like battles throughout this whole entire chapter of chapter 4 and um the robbers come up to them and they're all gathered together and it's so interesting what happens in verse number eight because it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites when they they saw the appearance of the army of Gideon hi whoa had fallen to the Earth and did lift their cries to their Lord that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies and to me that truly sounds like a prayer of desperation that they got down on their knees and they said please like we cannot do this we cannot do this without you that is going to truly be impossible so please please Lord can you show up in this Mo In This Moment which I think it's also really good advice M if you find yourself in a moment of fear pray that's what that verse says to me if you find yourself in a place of desperation drop to your knce immediately that's the coolest thing about that verse immediately drop to your niece right it's like I I'm so afraid pray and I just I remember Elder rasband teaching that um in teaching was like speak the name of Jesus there's power in it if you find yourself in a dark and desperate situation just calling on his name name will bring light and power into the situation and I and I I love that verse for that reason well and it's the fact that that was before the battle started they were down on their knees the second they saw a threat coming which I think is really powerful that you do not need to wait until the battle begins to ask for help that the minute you see danger coming you can get down on your knees and you can say I'm afraid of what might come next and I don't know what the outcome's going to be and maybe it's not going to be as bad as I thought but I'm so scared right now so can you help me and I think that is super interesting but what I think is crazier and can I add this thought and I'm so sorry I just want to say there's something about that connected with repentance which is they C they were at kind of up against the wall a little bit and there are times in our lives where we're thinking okay I need an extra measure of help here I need an extra measure of advice and guidance and sanctification and so for this period of my life I'm going to like really make sure I'm putting myself in a position to feel and be guided and helped and directed by the spirit of the Lord and I think that there's something about those connected with each other too so cool okay sorry um only just three columns of scriptures away like legit on the other exact same place on the other side of the page in verse number 30 um you're going to hear these same people give a very different prayer and this time the battles are already been one and they came out conquerors and it was a miracle and they were so excited and um this time it is a prayer of rejoicing and they gather together with one voice and they talk about how the god of Abraham and the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob he really did protect this people and they he showed up when they needed protection and they say hosana to the most high God and they did cry blessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty to the most high God which is such a different prayer than just 20 verses before that and um I think there's a really good lesson in that and it reminded me of earlier this year I went to Mexico for spring break and it was a dream it was like the best week ever and there was a moment when I was in Mexico and we were on our way to dinner and we were going to be late but the sun was setting so perfectly over the water and we were walking on the beach on the ocean to get to dinner and um we wor some nonstop and so we just had our swimsuits on and we just threw clothes over so we could hurry and go to dinner cuz we were running late and on our way to dinner we like looked at the ocean and I was like I have never wanted to swim more in my entire life I was like we don't even have to eat dinner I was like all starve tonight I don't even care and we hurried and just ran in the ocean we were swimming in the ocean it was the most beautiful night in my entire life and I remember saying a prayer that night and just thinking this is what God wanted life to feel like this is what he wanted me to experience here and it was just pure peace and happiness and joy and it was exactly one week later that um I found out that my dad had cancer and I remember that night I went to the temple all by myself in the parking lot and it was so late and um that night I prayed a very different prayer than the one a week before that in Mexico and um that night I remember saying God I don't think this is what you wanted me to experience on Earth this is not the same thing as Mexico and the beach and swimming in pink water because the sunset was so pretty like this is not what life was supposed to be like and I just remember so clearly the spirit saying yes it is this is exactly what life is supposed to be like and um I think that that was not an accident in my life that that was just one week later because the truth is is that those were two very different prayers and both have dramatically shaped my relationship with God m and I cannot help but think probably the same thing for these people on two separate pages and two very very different prayers but how beautiful that we have a god that is willing to listen to us on the very best of our days and the very worst of our days and that he looks down and he says you're going to experience a lot in life the very highest of highs and the Very lowest of lows and that he has chosen to never abandon us for either and it doesn't matter what our prayer sounds like if it's a prayer of rejoicing or if it's a prayer of desperation he is the type of dad that will show up for both and I love that lesson in 354 and I think that's just what it means in chapter 5 as we get there to be a a disciple of of Jesus Christ right where this is what this awesome spot in the middle of all of this right Mormon stops because Mormon's the narrator here right Mormon kind of stops the story that he's telling and he's just like you guys whoo almost like we have we have to have an intermission because we've been on a a really emotional roller coaster starting in 35 chapter 1 right yeah of feeling like a god who's abandoned us and then saved us last minute and then patronize for our faith and being attacked and gathering together and feeling the Community of Faith and being saved again and then being scared and then being resc you know and it's just like oh my goodness gracious right this is your heart can't really yeah I can't I just can't you know and it's like what what a what a um snapshot of what life is like and Mormon almost has to stop and say the beginning of this chapter five he just talks about that Christ had come and and there and many signs and they knew therefore they they forsook all their sins in verse three and I love that idea because they found something better they found something better than what the world what the devil had to offer they found a better story and Mormon almost stops to say saying right yeah well and my favorite thing is that it kind of describes the story almost it's like it feels like too good to be true which is so crazy like it doesn't feel like verse 8 should fit into chapter 5 and it's going to say this and there had many things transpired which in the eyes of some would be great and marvelous nevertheless they cannot all be written in this book yay this this book cannot contain even a hundredth part of what was done among so many people in the space of 20 and5 years that is crazy that this just happened in 25 years first of all and second of all the fact that he looks back and he says I consider that to be great and marvelous and you don't even have a glimpse of the goodness that has happened you don't have a glimpse of the moments that God showed up we don't have enough words we don't have enough Pages this is not going to work out for us to write it down because it has been that incredible and isn't that the life you want to sign up for that you can look back and say I don't even have enough words for the last 25 years of my life to be able to adequately say the goodness that has happened the Miracles that I have witnessed the crazy miraculous wonderful things that I have seen and I think it's so interesting because then you hear that and you automatically like your heart wants that life you like I want to sign up for that I want the next 25 years of my life to sound like that he already has won me over and then he just has like this little pause and he's like okay by the way I'm Mormon and I was named after the place that Alma showed up and baptized all of these people and it almost is just like this reference randomly back to mosiah 18 to a group of people specifically who started with Elma one man who made an incredible difference and then a group of people people that walked away and saw more miracles than they could have ever imagined places became beautiful that were once treacherous because of the relationship with God that they had disciples through and through and then it leads up to the verse that we know so well behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ the son of God I've been called of him to declare his word among his people that they might have everlasting life and I wonder if he set all those words up up on purpose so that he could look back and say you know what I want to be a part of the group of people that has experienced the last 25 years and looks back and says you know what that was marvelous to me that was so incredible I want to be like the place that I was named after a place that is known as a like miraculous place when it began as a dump that is who I want to be and isn't that what a disciple is someone who started out as just someone completely ordinary and maybe not all that particularly qualified and just trying to just simply make it through and turned in to someone they couldn't have even believed someone that witnessed things better and greater and more Grand than anything they could have ever imagined in their life that's what happened at the Waters of Mormon that's what happened to the people in verse 8 that is what happens when you live the life of a disciple you see it with Peter who was just in fisherman the most boring job in the whole Entre enre world that then got to like it's fine you guys it's a little boring sorry and then and then turn into to see like the most miraculous things and walk on water and that is why verse 13 is so powerful a testament that it does not matter where you're beginning accepting the invitation to become a disciple means joining that group of people and saying you know what I want to live a life that I look back and say is marvelous and great and that's what our worksheet is oh and our word and our word so surprise um the word is called which we should might as well just do this right now yeah and what I love so much is that that's your invitation to live that type of life right to experience that type of change to see those Miracles and the marvelousness of it all you're called to it you're called that you get to accept that if you want and I think that such an interesting thing that all of these seem like invitations to point or designate to summon into service a summon from heaven and isn't that true that God is just Whispering that invitation to us yeah to a better life yeah to a better story no one live like how many people lived through this and would never have called it marvelous right right but with God you just can yeah right it reminds me of something that my friend taught me in Uganda when we were looking at a situation that seemed pretty pretty bleak and he says and and that's the Majesty of God as he puts a smile on a face in any circumstance and it's just that's this is what you're seeing right I love you brought up Peter because he's a disciple who said to Jesus when Jesus said to to to the people he's like are you going to go away when a lot of people left and they're like where are we going to go you have the words of eternal life I would pick a life with you over a life with anybody anywhere anytime and that's what that's what Mormon is saying 100% I will I want to follow him I want to pattern my life after him because when I do I see wonder I see Majesty I see Miracles no matter what the circumstances of this world are and I loved it instantly in this verse and especially in the next one even he creates this group of people and he first starts the people that have experienced that last 25 years and then he references Alma and the people that lived through mosiah 18 and the Waters of Mormon and then he claims himself and he says I am a disciple and then in verse 14 it says you know what according to the will of God that the prayers of those who have gone hence who were the holy ones the the like group of disciples this like class of people that call themselves disciples I think sometimes s it seems so magnificent and so like I don't know if I can claim being a disciple but isn't it so cool when you look at the entirety of their stories that most of those people just started out completely average it was not until they accepted the calling that their life became miraculous which means there is room for people like you and people like me yeah that just get to say you know what I want to try that out I want to be a part of the next 25 years with God and I think that the best way to learn about discipleship is to look at those who call themselves disciples those in scripture those in our lives and that's what the work she is this week is looking through and saying okay who are the people that I would call disciples and maybe you even want to write down what they would teach you about the life of a disciple and so the worksheet just goes through and it's disciples from scripture disciples in my family disciples who have mentored me and disciples among my friends and how cool to look back and say those are my whole ones that is the group who has gone before me that will teach me what it looks like to live the life of a disciple and remind me that I can yeah and a people who've brought Jesus into their stories right a another word for disciples an apprentice someone was just like I want to follow your pattern of living and your pattern of of facing problems in this world and facing good times in this world like I'm looking to you to show me how to live my life in the best way possible and just it's just fun to look at their stories and I think it's this cool the way that this chapter ends where Mormon says I've seen with my own eyes things in verse 17 and 20 I have reason to bless my God and I just think it' also be cool to take a time to just answer that question what is what reasons do you have what things have you seen that you have to bless your God to praise His name to say don't you love they keep bringing back like um like Abraham the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob like we're seeing that God that we read about how awesome he was we're seeing him alive and well in my life um also and then one last thought I love the very ending verses of chapter 5 they keep saying and surely shall he and 26 and then shall those words are future tense words which means you're experiencing the majesty and the beauty of of a life as a disciple of Christ right now and there's a promise inherent in those words that there is still more to come and that's so exciting to even consider so okay and speaking of good to come next week next week is um is when Jesus will will come in the book warrant so so exciting and what and maybe in real life too oh please please we love it we can't wait see you next week