Hello friends and neighbors,

It is good to have this opportunity to share a brief message with you.   In the readings for this week (Alma 5-7), Alma the Younger declares a powerful testimony throughout the land of Jesus Christ and the power of repentance and change.  

In Alma 5:14, Alma utters some simple yet profound questions to his people, questions that are every bit as important today for each of us to think about.  He asks “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?”

In a 2009 general conference address, Elder Dale G. Renlund, a former cardiologist, talked about a change of heart (a heart transplant) that has been performed many times since the first successful operation in 1967.  This amazing physical process can “prolong life for years for people who would otherwise die from heart failure.”[i]  However, Elder Renlund explained that as incredible as this procedure is, there is another “ultimate operation” on the heart.  “The ultimate operation is not a physical but a spiritual “mighty change” of heart (i.e. the change that Alma inquired about of his people and to each of us).   Elder Renlund goes on to say “Through the Atonement of Christ and by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, we undergo this ultimate operation, this spiritual change of heart. As a result of our transgressions, our spiritual hearts have become diseased and hardened, making us subject to spiritual death and separation from our Heavenly Father. The Lord explained the operation that we all need: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

Brothers and sisters, I challenge each of us, if we haven’t already done so, to ponder Alma’s questions in our own mind and hearts this upcoming week.  While our transgression may seem small and may even seem insignificant, without a change through the cleansing power of repentance we cannot be as close to our Heavenly Father, His Son, and the Holy Ghost as we would like.  We all need to continually make the necessary adjustments of heart that will lead us closer to and eventually back to our heavenly home.

Have a wonderful week and hopefully we see you soon.

Brother Mark Stewart

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[i] Preserving the Heart’s Mighty Change”  Elder Dale G. Renlund.  October 2009 General Conference.

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Brothers and Sisters, I hope you have had a good week this past week and that you and your family are continuing to do well at this trying time for our country and the world. The Come Follow Me Lesson for this Sunday is Mosiah 29-Alma 4. A couple weeks ago I was feeling down and prayed for ideas for ways I could better serve others through Christlike service at this time. I invite you all to pray and think of ways and opportunities that you can serve both loved ones and those you may not know who may be in need during the coming week.

The story of Captain Gideon, who led a rebellion to liberate his people against wicked King Noah, served as righteous King Limhi’s Chief Captain and then subsequently used the word of God to refute the teachings of an anti-Christ whose name was Nehor in Alma 1:2-9 has always been inspiring to me. Nehor sought to destroy the Church teaching that men and women had no need to repent of their sins but that they would all be saved and have eternal life much as other churches that our founded on worldly teachings and values rather than on the plain and precious truths of the Gospel as taught in the Holy Scriptures, teach today. Nehor’s motivation was the glory of men whereas Gideon’s motivation was the glory of God. Gideon subsequently gave his life in defense of the Gospel, being slain by Nehor. Similarly, as members of the Lord’s Restored Church on Earth we should be willing to consecrate our lives in defense of the Lord’s Church and to do everything we can to establish His Kingdom here on Earth.

In our day, as in times of old, there are many voices inspired by the Adversary, counseling us that the Church, its leaders and its teachings are somehow ‘outdated’ and ‘outmoded’ and must be changed and modified to account for the ever-changing ‘values’ of the world. They teach that we must not merely accept, but praise and take pride in the sins of others and that we must never judge or be critical of those who engage in immoral lifestyle choices no matter how much they are in opposition to Church teachings and no matter how much they set at naught the commandments of the Lord. Others teach that criminal acts of violence and mayhem are justified in furtherance of so-called ‘social justice’ and that the killing of tens of millions of innocent babies in our own country is to be celebrated as an expression of ‘the right to choose.’ Many churches teach that as long as we are ‘born again’ we will automatically be forgiven of all of our sins, no matter how great, that we may commit after we accept Jesus as our personal Savior and that we are saved by grace, not by works. Others teach that there is no Hell and no Devil. This is one of the main tactics the Adversary uses to deceive men and women into committing sin that he doesn’t exist and thus we can all sin with impunity as no one will ever be punished for their crimes against the laws of God, denying the necessity of the Atonement of our beloved Savior Jesus Christ in the process.

What happens when the people choose wickedness? In Mosiah 29:27, it warns “And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.” Can anyone of us say that the majority of our people and the people of the world have not chosen wickedness? Church leaders have taught that the righteous judgments of a just God will be poured out upon our nation if our citizens do not repent. The best protection we have as individuals and families against the coming travails prophesied by both ancient and modern-day Prophets is to more strictly abide by the commandments of the Lord and seek to more diligently do His will every day of our lives. We can also find great protection, both spiritual and physical, in keeping the sacred covenants we made with Heavenly Father both when we were baptized, which we renew when we partake of the Sacrament, and in the Holy Temple.

In Alma 2:1-7, it talks about a wicked man named Amlici who led a rebellion against the Nephite government, which was led by righteous leaders committed to the cause of freedom, in an attempt to replace their republican form of government with a monarchy led by him. The scriptures say that Amlici sought to be King to accomplish the desires of Satan to deprive the people of their rights of worship and destroy the Church of God which had been established by Alma the Elder. Thankfully, the majority of the Nephite people voted to preserve their free republic which was then led by the President of the Church, Alma the Younger, support righteous laws and oppose Amlici’s bid to overturn their free system of government.

In Alma 2, we read about how after Amlici was rejected by the people, he was appointed king by his wicked followers and conspired with the Lamanites to join with their armies in an attempt to overthrow the freedom of the land. In Alma 3, it says the Amlicites marked their foreheads with a red mark to distinguish themselves from the righteous Nephites. Here we learn that every person is responsible for his or her individual sins and brings upon them their own punishment if they do not repent and avail themselves of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and that everyone is judged based upon their individual life choices be they good or evil, rather than being held responsible for the sins and transgressors of their ancestors. As the leader of both the Church and government, Alma the Younger led the Nephites in battle and the Lord strengthened the Nephites in answer to their prayers to defeat the much numerically superior combined Lamanite-Amlicite armies. Similarly, even when our life struggles, trials and tribulations seem unsurmountable, if we exercise our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in humble prayer, the Lord will bless us to overcome our trials and tribulations and ease or remove our suffering.

While we do not currently enjoy the blessing of living in a country led by our beloved Prophet today as the Nephites did at that time, we have been instructed by the Lord and modern-day Prophets in D&C 98:10 that we should seek to elect leaders who are “honest, honorable and wise” just as the Nephites did in their time. It reads, “Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil.” In a time of such great wickedness in our own land and the world, the importance of us doing so cannot be overstated. For those of you who might be interested in reading more about the Church’s teachings in this matter, I have attached a copy of a recent talk (included in an email to you) I was asked by the Bishop to give on “Patriotism and the Constitution” last summer.

In Alma 1:19-30 and 4:6-15 we learn that the sin of pride can cause us to fail in our spiritual progress. These scriptures teach us that all men and women are alike and equal before God and that none of us are better than others in His eyes no matter what race, creed or religion and no matter how lowly or impoverished they may be. This is a sacred truth that I believe that it is very important for each and every one of us to understand to see every other person on Earth as a son and daughter of God with equal claim to his tender mercies if they but keep His commandments. No matter how far others may have fallen from keeping God’s laws, they can repent in this life and be cleansed of all sin through the miraculous and incomprehensible power of the Savior’s Atonement. We have also been taught by President Oaks that “some repentance is possible in the Spirit World” enabling those in Spirit Prison to be taught and accept the Gospel and be liberated to go to Paradise and live alongside those who lived righteously here on Earth. As we think of family members who rejected the Gospel in this life and died in their sins, we may exercise hope and faith in Christ that they will repent and accept the Gospel in the Eternal World, perhaps being taught the Gospel by righteous family members. This is further evidence of the boundless and endless mercies of God towards his spirit children in this life and the next.

It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to study the Scriptures and the words of Church leaders so that we might be blessed with the power to discern false teachings and defend the Lord’s Church and His anointed leaders against them just as Captain Gideon did in his time. By so doing, we can strengthen ourselves and our family members against the ever-present threat of personal apostasy which often begins when we are critical of Church leaders or when we choose which of their inspired counsel to accept and reject, pridefully believing that we know better than they do and that we know more than God does and that they are leading us astray on one or more issues or points of doctrine.

We have been repeatedly promised by modern-day Prophets that God will never allow the President of the Church to lead us astray and thus to the extent that we disagree with his counsel we may have a perfect knowledge that it is we who are mistaken and not the Prophet of the Lord. We have been taught by President Ezra Taft Benson and other modern day Prophets that we must become humble and meek before the Lord and abandon all pride so that we may not be deceived. Elder Uchtdorf likened pride to a switch which turns off our spiritual and Priesthood power and our ability to have the Spirit of the Lord to be with us. Without the Holy Spirit, it can be difficult for us to ascertain false doctrine and we can be left more susceptible to being deceived by the Devil into committing sin.

One way that the Adversary tries to lead us astray is by causing us to be offended out of his Church often to pride because of some imagined slight against us by local Church leaders or ward members. If we are not prideful, then we will not be offended by the words or actions of others. We should remember that the organization of the Church is perfect but Church leaders and members are not and that individuals in the Church sometimes make mistakes. The Lord restored His Church to the Earth so that we can perfect ourselves over the course of our lives, one commandment at a time.

As we strive to apply the teachings of this important Book of Mormon lesson into our lives, let us think of ways that we may become more humble, more meek, more Christlike and less prideful in our lives so that we can avoid taking offense and avoid contention and promote peace in our own lives. During the coming week, as we think prayerfully of loved ones, friends and acquaintances to share the Gospel with, let us think of ways we can share our testimonies of the Gospel without appearing judgmental. We can do so by showing our love and compassion for those we share the Gospel with to help ensure they are not offended. I pray that we might do so humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Brother Pyne

Good Morning Friends,

I hope that all of you are safe and well.  It was the highlight of a very difficult week to know that we are getting closer to being able to meet together again.  As I read Mosiah 25:10, I thought of “the immediate goodness of God” that has been present in my life during this pandemic.  I am so grateful for the safety of my family and friends and to have been able to see the hand of God in our lives.  I can’t wait to be able to join with all of you in raising our voices together to give thanks to God for our many blessings.  I guarantee, tears will be shed. 

In Mosiah 26:22, it reads, “For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance.  And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive.”  The concept of Believing in Christ and being Freely Forgiven is precious.    In business terms, we know that nothing is ever free.  There is always a cost associated with an item.  In verse 23, we read, “For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world.”  We know that the price for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ.  It is believing in what Jesus Christ did for us that allows us to redeem forgiveness.  The thoughts that kept running through my mind were, Why is hard for me to freely forgive?  Why am I resistant to believe that people have changed?  Why is it hard for me to forget what others have done to me, when the Lord can forget what I have done to him?

As I read this week, I kept thinking of a talk by Elder Holland, “The Other Prodigal”.  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2002/04/the-other-prodigal?lang= I relate the parable of the Prodigal Son to sin.  I can relate the father in the story to many parents but especially to Alma the Elder and ultimately, our Father in Heaven.  When the Son (all of us) came to himself (an awareness of our transgressions) he returned to the father (plea for repentance).  The father reacted with joy by killing the fatted calf (offering a sacrifice to God in appreciation).  Alma the Elder “rejoiced” (Mosiah 27:20) when Alma the younger was struck dumb.   We know from the scriptures that Heavenly Father is also pleased and weeps when his children return.  The bond between the Father and the Son in my interpretation of the parable is intimate and sacred as the Father (Heavenly Father) knows what the Son (all of us) has done.  He had already sent his son, Jesus Christ, to pay the debts incurred by his Son (all of us).  The Son (all of us), knows what the Father (Heavenly Father) has done to cover his debts and knows he will never be able to repay the Father (Heavenly Father).  The Father (Heavenly Father) knows the heart of the Son (all of us) and freely forgives the Son (all of us).   

Sin isn’t without consequence.  One of those consequences is the effect it has on other people.  I believe this is why we sometimes find it hard to forgive others.  We feel wronged.  We sometimes act like the other brother in the parable.  My favorite passage in the talk by Elder Holland referring to the other brother is this: “This son is not so much angry that the other has come home as he is angry that his parents are so happy about it. Feeling unappreciated and perhaps more than a little self-pity, this dutiful son—and he is wonderfully dutiful—forgets for a moment that he has never had to know filth or despair, fear or self-loathing. He forgets for a moment that every calf on the ranch is already his and so are all the robes in the closet and every ring in the drawer. He forgets for a moment that his faithfulness has been and always will be rewarded.

No, he who has virtually everything, and who has in his
hardworking, wonderful way earned it, lacks the one thing that might make him
the complete man of the Lord he nearly is. He has yet to come to the compassion
and mercy, the charitable breadth of vision to see that this is not a rival
returning. It is his brother. As his father pled with him to see, it is one who
was dead and now is alive. It is one who was lost and now is found.”

It is important for us to remember when we feel that we have been wronged by someone, that we too have things that we need forgiveness for.  In that wrongful situation, we may not be the offender but we can have compassion as God does with us.  We can have mercy on the person who has known “filth or despair, fear or self-loathing”.  We can freely forgive so that we can find peace.  This process is how both the offender and the person who has been offended can grow and move on in their own personal journey. 

In Elder Uchtdorf’s talk from this
past general conference, he says: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died so that
our mistakes might not condemn us and forever halt our progress. Because of
Him, we can repent, and our mistakes can become stepping-stones to greater
glory.”  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/54uchtdorf?lang=eng

I am sure that there were times as
Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah went around preaching the gospel that
people remembered them for their past mistakes. 
However, through the Spirit they were able to prove their changed hearts
and convince the people of the truth of their words.  We too may have people in our lives that have
led a different life but are trying to change. 
We can help them by allowing them to grow and progress without our
judgement.  I truly believe that some of
the strongest testimony of truth comes from those who have struggled with a
particular trial.  In Mosiah 27:37, we
read about Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah after their conversion, “And
how blessed are they!  For they did
publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and the did declare unto
the people that the Lord reigneth.”  Not
too bad for a group of young men who had been called the “vilest” of sinners. 

I am so grateful for the Book of
Mormon.  I am so grateful for my Savior,
Jesus Christ and the gift of being Freely Forgiven. 

I hope that you have a wonderful
week.  Keep up with your reading of the
Book of Mormon.  Alma is filled with
great stories to act out as a family, Mighty Super Heroes, a wealth of
Doctrine, and some fantastic battles.  I
can’t wait!!

Sister Rooley

Brothers and Sisters, I hope you have had a good week this past week and that you and your family are feeling well and staying safe! The Come Follow Me Lesson for this Sunday is Mosiah 18-24. This lesson is about the importance of us honoring and keeping sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father. Our beloved Prophet Russell M. Nelson has focused his ministry on helping the Saints understand the importance of making and keeping sacred covenants and keeping on the covenant path. We have been taught that we make sacred covenants when we are baptized, when we partake of the Sacrament and when are endowed with Priesthood power in the Holy Temple and are sealed to our families as part of the New and Everlasting Covenant.

In Mosiah 18, we learn of the account of Alma the Elder and his people. As discussed in a previous lesson, Alma was one of the priests of Noah who was converted unto the Lord by the preachings of the Prophet Abinadi and was subsequently forced to flee for his life after he begged King Noah to spare Abinadi’s life before he began converting others. One wonders whether Abinadi knew that his labors in the vineyard of the Lord would bear fruit and result in the conversion of a future Prophet of the Lord and the restoration of the full organization of the Lord’s Church to the Nephites or whether he died wondering if his labors had been in vain. I believe as a prophet of the Lord, he was shown before he died that his labors would bear great fruit even though like some missionaries who have served, he did not live to see any of those he taught baptized to the Lord.

It appears that Alma the Elder was chosen by the Lord to restore the full organization of His Church in the promised land of the Americas even though the plain and precious truths of the Gospel continued to be taught by King Benjamin and other Nephite leaders who continued to possess the Melchizedek Priesthood in an unbroken line from the time of Nephi. While we are told that Alma was appointed by the wicked King Noah because he was lifted up in the pride of his heart, we have no reason to believe he partook in the same serious sins as did the other priests of Noah as had he done so the Lord would not likely have entrusted him with so great a task as to fully restore and lead His Church on the Earth. On this matter, the Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith taught, “We should take into consideration in the study of the Book of Mormon the fact that it is an abridgment taken from the records or history that had been kept by the prophets among the Nephites. Therefore, many of the details are lacking. While the detail is lacking, the evidence is very clear that the Melchizedek Priesthood was possessed by the Nephites. In the case of Alma and his priesthood, we are left to surmise that he legally and divinely received it before the days of King Noah. We read that Zeniff, the father of Noah, was a righteous man. Alma evidently received the priesthood in the days of Zeniff, and at no time did he fully accept the teachings nor with full purpose follow the counsels and procedure of Noah and his wicked priests…Just at what time Alma received the priesthood is not clearly stated, but we may presume that it occurred before Noah came to the throne. Moreover, we must also conclude that Alma at no time truly entered into the wickedness of this wicked king.” It appears that there were a couple of decades between Alma having to flee into the wilderness when he was still a fairly young man and the time that his people were led back to the land of Zarahemla. It was likely during this period that Alma was fully converted to the Lord and prepared to serve as the first High Priest over the Church in the land of Helam and later over the Church in Zarahemla.

In Mosiah 18:8-10, it says when the people of Alma were baptized unto the Lord, they made a covenant with God to “serve Him and keep his commandments” just as all of us did when we were baptized into the Church. As members of the Lord’s Church we also covenant to stand as witnesses of God. This means that we covenant to live righteously, share the Gospel with others and defend and uphold the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who attempt to disparage the Lord’s Church, His anointed leaders including both general officers and local leaders and Church doctrine and policies as revealed to us by Church leaders. The Lord Jesus Christ taught us that one of the best ways we can serve God is by helping and serving others and thereby blessing their lives and serving as instruments of God in helping to answer their prayers. We can also comfort others help bear and lighten one another’s burdens, trials and tribulations. If we do so and endure to the end in righteousness, the Lord promises us in verse 9 that we will be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection and that we will have eternal life, which is the greatest of all gifts that can be bestowed upon His children. He also promises that He will pour out His Spirit more abundantly upon us in verse 10.

I am sure that during your lives and perhaps even during the past two months of the pandemic we can all think of experiences where the Lord has answered our prayers through others or helped them bear our burdens as we have strived to keep the Lord’s commandments and kept our sacred covenants. I have been humbled and amazed at how frequently and how quickly the Lord has answered my prayers to bless members of my family over the past several weeks as we have been in need of His blessings and I am so grateful for those blessings as I know the Savior is the author of all good and that no blessing comes to us save by Him. Every time the Lord answers our prayers and we grow stronger in righteousness, the Lord increases our faith in Him, which is a gift to the faithful, and thereby increases our ability to have our prayers answered in the future. In Doctrine and Covenants 20:37, it says that we make ourselves worthy to be baptized by humbling ourselves before god and demonstrating that we have broken hearts and contrite spirits, repented of all our sins, with a willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ having a determination to serve him until the end of our lives. Once baptized and becoming members of the Lord’s Church, we renew our sacred covenants of baptism by partaking worthily of the Sacrament and thereby receiving a new a remission of our sins.

In Mosiah 18:17-31, it describes the commandments the Lord gave His people through the Prophet Alma to help them become united as members of His Church. We are taught that Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are united and one in purpose and the Lord has commanded us to be united as one in purpose as well. One of the best ways we can be united is to avoid contention especially in our families and in our homes. My daughter Kathryn who returned from serving her mission in Santiago Chile recently told me that she has been amazed by the spirit of peace and complete lack of contention which she has observed in her homes since she returned from her mission. This has been one of the great blessings which our family has enjoyed since the pandemic began as have turned to the Lord for comfort and relief and sought to more fully yield ourselves unto Him and His holy will. In addition to ministering spiritually to those in need, we can also bless others by striving to be more generous in our fast offerings which ward leaders used to provide assistance to ward members in need.

In Mosiah 21 it talks about the people of King Limhi and, later in Mosiah 23 the people of Alma, being in bondage to the Lamanites and how they knew there was no way they could be delivered except by divine intervention. As they humbled themselves before the Lord in prayer, the Lord made their burdens light until He eventually, in Mosiah Chapters 22 and 24, delivered both peoples from bondage and led them to reunite with their brethren in the land of Zarahemla. In like fashion, many of us have been in spiritual bondage to sin and have been unable to break our chains of sin without sincere repentance which is only possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ forgiving us and though the Savior strengthening us to overcome our sins. Here we learn that often, the Lord often blesses us on His own timetable and not on our own as a test of our faith and to enable us to expend more effort to grow spiritually.

In these chapters, we learn about how God can help and bless us in the midst of our trials and deliver us from tribulation. Please think of ways the Lord has eased your burdens in your lives and helped you overcome afflictions and share them and your testimonies with your family members along with the gratitude you have felt to God during Home Church this Sunday. We have been taught that that Lord Jesus Christ not only bore all of our sins but had all of our tribulations that we have experienced in our lives heaped upon his shoulders that He would better know how to succor us in our tribulations. I testify that I know through personal experience that the Lord will lighten our burdens and answer our prayers in this time of trouble if we but ask our Heavenly Father and exercise our faith that He will answer our prayers.

In preparation for next week’s lesson as you read Mosiah 25-28, I urge you to think about family members or those close to you who may have strayed from the Gospel and then pray for insights how you might help those friends and family members to return to full fellowship in the Church. Many claim they are “spiritual, but not religious” and reject the need for participation in the Church claiming that they have a personal relationship with God and do not need to attend Church. Yet as Elder Christofferson has taught the Lord Jesus Christ founded His Church on Earth and has taught us the need for the Church and Priesthood Authority to provide us with the saving ordinances without which we would be unable to return to live with our Heavenly Parents.

As we continue to struggle with being unable to gather and attend Church or attend the Temple regularly, I am so very grateful for the privilege and opportunity to share my testimony and spiritual insights with you as a Gospel Doctrine teacher and pray that the Lord will continue to bless you and your families in all that you do and answer your prayers for relief.

Brother Pyne

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters!  I hope that you have enjoyed your readings this week.   

As I thought of what to write this morning, I couldn’t help but draw a correlation between Mothers (Yes, it is Mother’s Day, even in Quarantine) and Abinadi.  Prophets are sent to warn people of their sins.  Mothers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Sisters, Aunts, Grandmas, Neighbors, all women) are sent to help nurture their children and guide them to the correct paths of life.   Abinadi and Mothers have to say harsh things to their audience at times and it is often not well received.  Abinadi and Mothers teach of Jesus Christ.  Abinadi and Mothers know the scriptures and have the doctrine written in their hearts.  We should all be grateful for the “Mothers” that have been a part of our lives, who have helped, and are continuing to help us become who we should be.  

I wish that we could discuss these scripture passages together.  I would love to hear the insight that you have gained from your life experience.  I have listed some of my favorite topics and my notes from this week’s lesson.  I hope that you had some great discussions in your families this week.  

Mosiah 12:19-37. Mosiah 13:11 – Practice what you Preach.  Why is it so hard for us as mortals to do what we know and have been taught?  As a child and a parent, this is one of the hardest, most gut wrenching, soul searching, joyful topics that I have ever experienced.  I know that as a child of a wonderful mother, it has been hard for my mom to watch me make choices that she knew were against what I knew to be right.  I know that as a parent, I have spent many tearful hours, days, months, years praying for my children to have a change of heart.  We teach the doctrine in our homes but how do we make sure that we follow the doctrine ourselves and subsequently get our children to follow the doctrine?  Mosiah 12:27 teaches, “Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise.”  Mosiah 13:11, “And now I read unto you the remainder of the commandments of God, for I perceive that they are not written in your hearts”. 

Mosiah 14 – Jesus Christ – Characteristics.  Abinadi uses references found in Isaiah to teach about Jesus Christ.  The priests should have been familiar with these scriptures.  Verse 3, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”  Verse 5, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Verse 12, “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”   

Mosiah 15:8-9, Mosiah 16:6-15 – Intercession – Justice – Mercy.  Intercession means the action of intervening on behalf of another.  The lesson recommended this video from a talk from Elder Holland and it makes me cry every time I watch it.  “Where Justice Love and Mercy Meet”   

https://mediasrv.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-services/GA/size/5279626962001/720/404/997181

I cannot tell you how many times I have jumped from my figurative mountain ledges only to find the Savior there, holding me and keeping me from falling.  “We may not know we cannot tell what pains he had to bear, but we believe it was for us he hung and suffered there.”  There is a Green Hill Far Away, 194 

Mosiah 17: 2,4 – Alma was a descendant of Nephi.  Alma wrote the words of Abinadi.  “Abinadi’s willingness to die for his testimony of the Savior was a result of his willingness to live for it.”  The story of Abinadi is sung in Primary and is highlighted by Abinadi’s death for the cause of righteousness.  However, my favorite part of this story is Alma.  Alma should have been taught the words of Nephi.  Somewhere down the family line or maybe it was in Alma’s own life choices, Alma strayed from correct teachings.  However, God knew Alma.  God knew where Alma was.  God placed people in Alma’s life that would help him remember the truth.  I look at the things that Alma had to overcome and change in his life, the strength of his own personal testimony, the lessons of his past, the unique gifts he had in education and writing, the contacts that he had acquired, and marvel that God took all of these things and used it for a great good.  Alma became a strong spiritual leader who was perfectly suited for his time and his family.   

There is also a great lesson in journal keeping found in the story of Abinadi.  If it were not for Alma writing down the words of Abinadi, we would have never known of this great prophet. 

Sister Melissa Rooley

Our ward has created over 300 masks!!

Brothers and Sisters, the Come Follow Me Lesson for this Sunday is Mosiah 7-10. I hope you have enjoyed reading these Book of Mormon chapters as much as I have. These chapters tell the story of how King Mosiah asked Ammon to lead a search party to find the Nephites led by King Zeniff who had left to try to return to inhabit the land of their first inheritance, the land of Nephi. This city had served as the Capitol of the Nephite nation until the greater number of the Nephites who were wicked in the land of Nephi were destroyed by the Lamanites around 279 BC as noted in the Book of Omni 5-7 after Mosiah was warned by the Lord to flee in Omni 12-13 with as many righteous Nephites as would come with him. They were led to find the Mulekites in Zarahemla whether they united with the Mulekites. Ammon was successful in finding the people of Limhi after being lost in the wilderness for forty days. Subsequently, after the people of Limhi were led by the Lord to flee from captivity, Nephi became the capitol city of the Lamanites.

I loved this lesson because as it states in Mosiah 7:14-33, if we turn to the Lord, trust him and serve Him, He will deliver us. This lesson applies to our day and time when many of us are praying for deliverance from the harmful effects of the pandemic with our Churches and Temples closed, the missionaries restricted from proselyting with some of our family members sickened and suffering from the virus and many jobs lost, making it more difficult for us to provide for our families. When I heard that the chapels and Temples were being closed my heart sank, but I knew it was the Lord’s will at this time. During General Conference, the Prophet and other Apostles provided us with a message of hope promising that this pandemic will prove temporary and that someday in the not so distant future the Temples will be re-opened and the work of the Lord in saving the dead will recommence. How I have missed going to the Lord’s House and look forward to that day!

When I was a thirteen year old boy I attended a Regional Conference in southern California presided over by President Hinckley whose talk was entitled “Look to God and Live.”(Alma 37:47). This counsel seems even more important to me today. Throughout scriptural history, the Lord has sent pestilences to chasten His children and encourage them to return to Him. In this way, we can see the Lord’s love and tender mercies for the people of our nation and the world in this pandemic as he is giving His children another opportunity to repent and turn back to Him before He pours out His righteous judgments upon them. When this pandemic began, I sought diligently to receive the peace of the Spirit and have since received it by being more diligent in my scripture studies and other commandments of the Lord. Just as in Mosiah 9-10, when King Zeniff prayed for strength to defend themselves against Lamanite aggression, so can we be strengthened to face the trials and tribulations we face today and once strengthened we can strengthen, minister and uplift one another. Just as the people of Zeniff were physically and spiritually prepared to defend themselves against Lamanite attacks so we as members of the Lord’s Restored Church on Earth have been taught to physically and spiritually prepare ourselves for the coming trials including by having a one-year supply of food to safeguard us against future famine and economic distress.

President Nelson saw that the time would soon come when our Churches would be closed and so he instructed us to hold home Church as individuals and families to prepare us for this difficult time. Over the last several weeks as we have convened home Church meetings with our family members, I have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost even stronger than I have when I attended ward and stake meetings in the Chapel. I am guessing that many of you have had spiritual reawakenings since this pandemic began two months ago as I have and that your testimonies have been strengthened thereby.

In Mosiah 8:5-12, it states that while a small group of Limhi’s people were searching for the land of Zarahemla they found the plates containing a record of the Jaredites which we now know as the Book of Ether. The Jaredites had been led away from the Tower of Babel before the Lord confounded their languages. The Book of Ether gave a history of the Prophets of their time and the destructions that came upon their people because they apostatized and were disobedient to God’s promise which he gave them in Ether 2:12 which says “Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.” Similarly, there has been a curse proclaimed upon the Lord that if the inhabitants of the America’s reject the God of this land and do wickedly they will be destroyed, as were the Jaredites and Nephites, in the Lord’s due time after the righteous have been gathered from among them.

As it says in Mosiah 8:12-19, one of the greatest ways the Lord has shown His perfect love for us in our time is by giving us modern-day prophets, Seers and revelators. He has told us that the Prophet will never lead us astray and if we but heed the counsel of the Prophet in all things and live righteously and virtuously, we will find greater protection for ourselves and our families in this troubling time. The job of a Prophet is to testify of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, to exhort us to keep the Lord’s commandments and to warn us of the Lord’s righteous judgments if we do not repent of our sins. The Prophet holds all the keys not only for the governance of the Church and its members but for the Kingdom of God on Earth which we have been promised will gradually be restored and which will grow to encompass all the world after the Lord’s Second Coming, which will bring an end to all nations and usher in the Glorious Day of the Millennium. I testify that President Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s living Prophet on the Earth today and that he leads and guides the Lord’s Church in furtherance of the Savior’s Heavenly direction.

In a talk entitled “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our Lives,” our beloved Prophet, President Russell M, Nelson proclaimed, “The time is coming when those who do not obey the Lord will be separated from those who do (see Doctrine and Covenants 86:1–7). Our safest insurance is to continue to be worthy of admission to His holy house. The greatest gift you could give to the Lord is to keep yourself unspotted from the world, worthy to attend His holy house. His gift to you will be the peace and security of knowing that you are worthy to meet Him, whenever that time comes. Even at a time when the Temples are closed, there is great protection, safety and peace in righteous living and obedience to the Lord’s commandments.

In D&C 86:1-7, the Lord explains the parable of the wheat and the tares. We are told that the field is the world ripe for harvest. The tares symbolize the wicked and the wheat symbolizes the righteous. The Lord commands that the field not be burned until the wheat (righteous) has been gathered among them. This is the doctrine of the gathering. Many times in the Scriptures, the righteous have been physically gathered and physically separated from the wicked prior to His righteous judgments being poured out upon them. Some examples of this were Lot and his family being led out of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lehi and his family and the Mulekites being led away from Jerusalem before it was destroyed around 600 BC, and Mosiah and the righteous Nephites being led away from the wicked Nephites around 279 BC. In His talk, the Prophet also underscored the importance of having a strong testimony and staying close to the Spirit in order to ensure we are spiritually prepared to survive what’s coming. He stated: “If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation…In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”

Brothers and sisters, if the Prophet were to ask us tomorrow to quit our jobs and leave our homes and flee to the mountains or rural areas to flee for safety from the coming storm as he has in times past, would we react as the Prophets Lehi and Nephi did and be obedient without hesitation or would we be like Laman and Lemuel and mock the Prophet for being a visionary man and say the Lord cannot destroy this great nation because we are too strong and therefore refuse the Prophetic call to gather. I pray that we would all be willing to sacrifice our earthly possessions to prove ourselves obedient to the Prophet no matter how hard it might be. Now is the time for us to learn to be obedient to the Prophet when it is easy so that when it is hard we will be able to protect and safeguard our families against the destructions which have been prophesied in the Holy Scriptures before the Lord’s Second Coming which Church leaders have suggested will occur in our lifetimes in the not so distant future.

As it says in Mosiah 10:11-17, our choices truly influence generations. If we remain strong in our testimony of the Gospel, then our children and Grandchildren will likely follow our righteous examples. Similarly, if we fall away from the Church or try to pick and choose which commandments and which Prophetic counsels to obey and which to ignore, our children and their children will likely do likewise as it was with the descendants of Laman and Lemuel. The choice is ours. As President Monson taught, “decisions determine destiny.” May God bless you all during this trying time! I look forward to teaching Gospel Doctrine again when our chapels re-open again.

Brother Pyne