STP

 Thanks to all the STP that help clean the church. We had plenty of volunteers and were able to  complete the projects. We wont have the assignment again til March 2021.

Prophets

Some years ago I was listening to the Old Testament while commuting to work. I really enjoyed it and I learned quite a bit. There was one story that I keep thinking back to and wondered why we dont talk about it, as I think it is very meaningful.

While the children of Isreal were wondering in the wilderness a group came to Moses and told him "Hey we are tired of wondering in the wilderness and we want to make our own decisions. So could you give us the priesthood and we will make our own thing." Pretty brave right! Well Mose didn't respond to them. He went to their nieghbors and told them they needed to move their camps back away from these people. As soon as they did the desert opened up and swallow them. Guess they got their answer.

I went back to try and figure out what we are trying to be told her and there wasnt anything obvious. So to try and understand this you have to ask the questions. Who was blessed by following the word of the prophet. Many of the lessons in the scriptures are left unexplained. You have to connect the dots.

I think the story of Zenniff is similair. He and his family get home sick and decide to go back to the land of first inheritance that Nephi and his family fled because of the Lamanites. So basically they are leaving the prophet and the scripture and go to a place where they will not have the protection of a prophet.

There story has some similairites to the people of King Benjamin except they weren't as successful. They were paying the Laminites half of eveything they had. King Benjamin protected his kingdom and brought peace to them. It got so bad for the people of Zenniff that they thought it would be better to go back to their family and be their servants.

Interesting connection here. That is what the prodigal son thought. But you say Bro B that was written century laters and shouldn't be connected. But I say no the same supreme being that directed the writings fo these words would have wanted us to make this connection. The story of Zenniff is another telling of the prodigal son.  We are also being taught the importants of prophets and scriptures. They didnt have scripture, they found scriptures but couldnt translate them. They needed a seer to do that.

Prophets and the writings of prophets are very important.

King Benjamin

I really am interested in all of your observations. Here are a few questions to prompt a discussion.

What did King Benjamin do to cause his people to love him so much and be so obedient?

What is your favorite teaching from his talk?

Why is he so important to us?

Please leave comments for everyone to read! Thanks!

Smaller plates of Nephi

Before we jump into Mosiah and the rest of the Book of Mormon, I want just to wrap things up with what we have done so far. Remember that what we have been studying are not the words of Mormon. Those were on the 116 pages that were lost and so we have been studying the writings of various prophets including Nephi. These words come from a different set of plates that both Nephi and Mormon were told to include. I have been wondering if we had the lost pages would they be the same. I can't help but think that we are fortunate to have the words as written by Nephi. There is an incredible amount of information in those pages. More then I think are in any other Old Testament book. We know more about what is going to happen. We have very precise detail of many important historical events. We need to not take this for granted. The world does not have this information. It is unique to us. I think it is interesting that Mormon adds an additional witness of these writing. He tells us in the Words of Mormon that he himself has witness the destruction of his people and then he says that his son will probably see the complete destruction. This was prophesied by Nephi. I think there is another interesting pattern in these writing. Nephi was told that the Brass Plates were very important. They would help them maintain their faith and their religion. I think these stories point out another component that is equally important and that is living prophets. Men that are schooled in the ways of the Lord and are spiritually sensitive to God. They are the very glue that keeps everything working. A big thank you to Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni, Mormon and of course Moroni!

Chaparral Ward Gospel Doctrine Class

Hello everyone! I hope all is well! I have missed our classes and I am hoping that we will be back together soon. I am looking forward to what can happen with this blog. I am looking forward to hear from you all and sharing ideas and impressions.

I want this to be a community effort. I will post my thoughts and impressions and I would love to hear back from all of you. This will help us stay current with our assignments.

Thanks !

Bro. B