What I liked in 1 Nephi 4

Last night's reading (yes, I'm still a day behind) was 1 Ne 4. Once again, here's my list of neat things(which picks up with yesterday's):

1. 1 Ne 4:1-38 — continues the set of three examples from chapter 3
2. 1 Ne 4:19-21 — A neat parallel to Gen 27.
3. 1 Ne 4:32-38 — the absolute adherance to oaths

In my last post I talked about two examples: doing things our way, and doing them the world's way. In this chapter, we see that the best way to get results when trying to do the Lord's work is to do it His way. It only makes sense, doesn't it.

The parallel I mentioned above is also pretty striking. Laban was the keeper of the plates, but when he failed to live up to that responsibility he was replaced in that role. If we're not living up to the responsibilities of our callings, that may be our fate as well — hopefully not as drastically as was Laban.

1 Nephi 5 - Nagging Doubts

It never ceases to bring me to some point of self evaluation when I read 1 Nephi 5:3

3: . . . My mother complained against my father

Here they were, sending their children off on a mission from God, and Sariah (Lehi's wife and the mother of Nephi) is regretting the decision to let them go on such a dangerous errand. I can not count the number of times that I've complained about serving others (at church or otherwise) - but I'm sure that God knows how many times.

After I see the benefits (that everything came together, that the goal was accomplished, that no one was injured, physically or emotionally) then I understand more why we were to do things in a certain way and how great it was from the beginning.

8: And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded . . . [us to do this] . . . yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected . . . [us in our adventures] . . . and given [us] power whereby [we] could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded [us] And after this manner of language did she speak.
9: And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.

Why can't I seem to let go of nagging doubts and worry before and during events and regrets afterwards? I would enjoy life better.
Plan something? Yes.
Do my best? Yes.
Worry that it won't be wonderful, safe, and then afterwards loved by all? - - It's just not worth it, it takes all the joy out of it.

Someday, when I'm all grown up, (soon, I hope,) I'll be able to put these things in God's hands and carry on. Then when I read this chapter I'll no longer feel the pains of regret that I complained when there wasn't a reason to.

1 Nephi 4 - Lost and Found/Trust

I'm always impressed by two parts in this chapter,
one is the way Nephi is able to follow the Spirit into a city the size of a modern metropolis in the dark and he doesn't get lost in location or in what to do next;
the other is that Zoram trusts them not to kill him later, and they trust him not to rat them out to the highest bidder all because they take an oath.

When faced with an unknown situation, I am not always the first to hit my knees and ask for help. But I do know that it works. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints every person who joins the church through baptism and lives worthily may accept a 'call' to some voluntary work. Usually the bishop, or one of his counselor's, pray about and receive inspiration as to who the Lord wants to serve in a position, or a 'calling'. They invite you to serve in this calling until the Lord has need of you elsewhere. Sometimes a calling is one that you have some experience in, but more often than not, it is completely new territory. People often say that the reason they are called to a position is because THEY need to learn those skills the most, not because they're the greatest at it. Like the time I was asked be the pianist - I hadn't had lessons since I was in elementary school. The time I was asked to be the Emergency Preparedness Co-ordinator for our area, I hadn't put my own food storage in order yet. Or currently, as the Scout Master of the 11 year old boys - I'm allergic to almost everything out-of-doors and I have a fear of creepy crawlies. In the six months that I have had this calling, I've worn through more pants kneeling in prayer than in meandering in the woods - I still feel a bit lost, sometimes literally, but I'm beginning to find my way.

As for oaths . . .

32 And it came to pass that I spake with him, that if he would hearken unto my words, as the Lord liveth, and as I live, even so that if he would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life.
33 And I spake unto him, even with an OATH, that he need not fear; that he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us.
34 And I also spake unto him, saying: Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; and shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord? Therefore, if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father thou shalt have place with us.
35 And it came to pass that Zoram did take courage at the words which I spake. Now Zoram was the name of the servant; and he promised that he would go down into the wilderness unto our father. Yea, and he also made an OATH unto us that he would tarry with us from that time forth.
36 Now we were desirous that he should tarry with us for this cause, that the Jews might not know concerning our flight into the wilderness, lest they should pursue us and destroy us.
37 And it came to pass that when Zoram had made an OATH unto us, our fears did cease concerning him.
(emphasis added)

And you think the scenes on today's TV shows are intense - this is a live or die moment. Their conversation is without a 'free phone call.' 'Do you feel lucky?' They are putting their lives in each others hands and there is no "bad-boy, bad-boy 'desert police' " - even if there were, who's payroll do you think they'd be on anyway?

To think a man's word would be all it took. I wish that were the case today, I have trouble making a cash deposit into my own bank account without providing my full name, address, phone number and weight at birth. And if you think Zoram is a guy just out for his own agenda - personal freedom - think again, he certainly proves otherwise in upcoming chapters. . . read on!

1 Nephi 3 - Stepping into the Unknown

My earliest memories of reading The Book of Mormon with my parents and siblings all center around Nephi and his courage to do what was right and his faith that God would come through even when stepping into unknown territory. Nephi tells his father,

7: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

I wanted to be like that, for my younger brothers and sisters, for my friends, and later for my husband and children.
I remember a Sunday school lesson about a child who was bringing a lunch to their father. The father was working down in a deep well. When the child arrived, they asked if they could come down there in the hole and see what it was that dad had been up to all day. The father gave his consent and then told the child to jump into his awaiting arms. The father could clearly see the child, but the child could only see shadows. Then after some reassuring words, the child made the 'leap of faith' and the father caught them safely in his strong arms.

I think about the times that our family has had to take one step into the dark. Like when we moved to the East Coast. We were just about to sign papers on a house near our street in Portland, Oregon when our landlord asked if we were interested in buying the rental home we were in. We said we'd like to sleep on it. The next day, out of the blue, my husband, Patrick, was laid off. As a manager at the company, he had been told that after the holiday break they should prepare their staff for some lay offs. The way he figures it, he prepared them, by being the first one out onto the plank and setting the example.

We went to the temple the next day to pray about what we should do. Afterwards, we talked about where it was we'd be willing to go and if there were any strong feelings or impressions about where. Both of us simultaneously mentioned Boston. Neither of us had lived there, but Patrick's parents were last stationed by the military in nearby Rhode Island. So, we went again to the temple, this time with the express purpose of getting an answer about the Boston area.

If you're not familiar with temples in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we go the first time in life to participate in a special ceremony for ourselves; after that, we return to perform the same ceremony on behalf of those in our family tree. We believe that in the life beyond, those who did not have an opportunity to perform these ordinances for themselves can then choose whether or not to accept this work, as we perform the sacred acts and make promises our thoughts are on the Savior, Jesus Christ, and on our covenants that we have made. At the end of this 'work' we may take time to reflect on current needs of others and ourselves while in the unhurried and peaceful atmosphere of the temple and it's grounds.

We both left the temple feeling as though we were already in the Boston temple, although there wasn't one in New England at the time. Within two weeks we had hosted good-bye parties for the kids, packed the house and arranged for transportation for ourselves and our things and were headed into the greater Boston area. Pat had spent every spare moment hunting remotely for work, yet there was no word from anyone. We left, leaping into the dark and hoping that He would catch us.

Our travel arrangements took only one day, but by the time we arrived, there was a job interview scheduled the first morning we would be there. Our timetable was so tight, that Pat had to drop us off at a hotel in the middle of 'no-where' and head straight there. He got the job, we found a house, two years later we attended the Boston Temple dedication with new found friends we had helped teach the gospel to, and we found reassurance that if -

we go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded . . . that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

day4

... finally the sprit tells nephi to kill laban and take the plates (and zoram {labans servant} comes to)

day 3

so in this chapter nephi laman sam lemuel go back to jerusalem to get the plates the try talking they try money and finally they try ... stay tuned

What I liked in 1 Nephi 3

Last night we read 1 Nephi 3, and it was late enough that I put off blogging about it until this morning. I did take some notes though, so hopefully I'm not leaving too much out.

This time around, I'd like to share three and a half things (the last one will be continued in tonight's reading):

1. 1 Ne 3:5 — More about murmuring, again, it's Laman and Lemuel murmuring because they really don't understand what's going on.
2. 1 Ne 3:6 — This time, we read that Nephi is favored of the Lord because he doesn't murmer against Him.
3. 1 Ne 3:7 — This one's too good not to quote -
   
   And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I ^awill go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no ^bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall ^cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.
4. 1 Ne 3:11-4:38 — This section contains three examples of trying to accomplish the Lord's work.
   

Since only the first two (failed) examples (in item 4) occur in chapter three, I'll talk about them in this post and the other in my next post:

1. 1 Ne 3:11-14 — Nephi and his brothers try to do things on their own (Laman trying to talk Laban into giving them the Brass Plates), it doesn't work.
2. 1 Ne 3:16-27 — Nephi and his brothers try to do things the world's way (they gather up all their treasures and try to buy the Brass Plates); again, it doesn't work.

Leaving the third example isn't much of a cliff-hanger, but it's all I've got. See you tomorrow for the exciting conclusion.

1 Nephi 2 - A Dream Come True

It may not have been a 'dream vacation' for the whole family, but I can relate to what Lehi's kids and wife must have been going through.

2 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.
3 And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him.

As a child our family moved in answer to prayers, visions, and dreams of where the Lord wanted our family. With every announcement of a move there the typical reactions portrayed by Lehi's family. Denial, fear, misplaced anger, rationalization, hope, and , for most of us - most of the time, acceptance. I'll share one of the dozen or so moves I remember as a child. We were living in my dad's family home down in Southern California (his parents had passed away). We tried to sell it and move into a new housing development in a place called Mira Loma, then, a new city developing outside of the Los Angeles region. In a real estate market that is normally thriving, ours wasn't getting any offers. As a family, we prayed and fasted about it. We decided to give up our bid on a house in the development and that very day our house sold. Wow! Now where do we live. As a kid, this idea of being homeless was worrisome. So we prayed again. My mom, Sharon, had a 'dream'. This is the first one I remember her telling us kids. We lived in a home near the beach, but there were evergreens there. We all had a good laugh, anyone from LA knows that only palm trees grow on beaches. Next thing we knew, my dad was accepted for his hospital residency in Northern California along the coast of McKinleyville. First thing we did when we arrived was to scope our the beach, 'And what to my wondering eyes should appear' but evergreen trees on the beach. After searching hopelessly for 6 weeks and living out of a hotel room, we found a house available on Sharon Road.
This wasn't the first or last time we were blessed by moving on a 'wing and a prayer'. So it came as no surprise to my husband and I to feel inspired to move and to feel free to follow this inspiration. My husband and I have packed up and moved 24 times in our 18 years of marriage. So, as a wife, I feel for Sariah who went out for a quick trip to the wilderness and spent 8 years in the desert, crossed an ocean, and died in a foreign place. It may not be a dream vacation, but it is certainly a dream come true.

Five Things I liked in 1 Ne 2

As you can see today we read the second chapter of First Nephi as a family. I picked out five things that I really liked:

1. 1 Ne 2:3 — Lehi was obedient to the Lord.
2. 1 Ne 2:7 — Lehi and his family were observant even though they were travelling, even though it was hard.
   
3. 1 Ne 2:8-11 — Lehi found (and took) opportunities to teach his family in the things they did and the places they were.
   
4. 1 Ne 2:12 — A great description of why we murmer.
5. 1 Ne 2:16-17 — A pattern that helps explain why missionary work (evangelism) is so important to me.

The pattern in verses 16 and 17 is probably worth breaking out:

1. (implied) We hear the gospel (or a specific gospel teaching).
2. We desire to learn for ourselves.
   
3. We pray to know the truth.
4. We receive and answer by the Spirit.
5. We then obey what we've learned (see also 1 Ne 2:3 in point 1 above).
6. We testify to others of the truth we've learned.

I really love reading the Book of Mormon, both by myself and as a family. Even though our reading time can be filled with jokes, interruptions, and strange tangents (hey, you try reading something every night with two teenagers) it is an enriching and important part of my evenings.

day 2

favorite scripture : 1 nephi 2:15 "And my father dwelt in a tent.". I think that this will be a fun time reading through the book of mormon. So far there has already been jokes, tears, and punctuation.

Glory to God in the Highest

While we visited Europe this summer, we spent a day and a half in Heidelberg (where I lived as a kid). This sign is on a church along the pedestrian only market area in the old town.

A Record to Play Over and Over Again.

It's really great to see our family start reading The Book of Mormon again. The first time we read it as a family we read only a verse or two at a time and then explained each part at the children's level of understanding and within their attention span. It took 8-10 years. The next time we read it all in about 2 1/2 years. We finished in time to read it with our new ward in Kent, WA where there was a tradition of reading through it in one month's time every August.
We were only able to read it in a month by reading it out loud about 8-10 pages every morning and night . . . Good thing my husband was out of work at the time, it took about an hour for each reading. By the next August we had read The Book of Mormon again and yet the ward decided to read the New Testament in a month. We did this, but the results didn't yield quite the same feeling. We read it once again, this time we tried reading parts of it in Spanish on Saturdays. If you do this, and are not very accurate in your pronunciation of the Spanish language, as we are not, I suggest you use the CD's. This helped tremendously. We stayed in the Kent ward one more year and read it again with them in a month . . . the great feelings associated in reading The Book of Mormon all the way through in such a short period of time returned.
The following year we read The Book of Mormon 'backwards' starting with the last book, Moroni, reading it from start to finish, then moving onto the next to the last book, Ether, etc. This was a nice twist, kind of like the joke about playing country music backwards, everybody came and went and instead of ending with blood and carnage and only one faithful saint left alive - there was this little family of faithful members Lehi and his wife Sariah, and their faithful kids Nephi, Jacob, Joseph, and their friend, Zoram. Sobering to think that we have a little family of faithful followers right now - yet what will our posterity be like if we don't pass along a burning testimony of the gospel to future generations. We ended this version the summer that Gordon B. Hinckley asked us to read The Book of Mormon by Christmas. To our delight, our new ward (Provo, UT) also reads The Book of Mormon annually. The Relief Society does it every year ending with a Christmas brunch and testimony meeting (for everyone in the ward who reads it), which was great to attend as a family. The youth in this ward also have a Book of Mormon marathon where they read it/hear it during a 24 hours YM/YW overnight activity. This being our first year they asked us to participate and so I did what I do best, theatre. At their request, we enacted two parts of The Book of Mormon (Abinadi in King Noah's Court) and (Jesus Christ's visit to the Americas) while it was being read out of the scriptures.
This last year we have also picked up The Book of Mormon in German, Das Buch Mormon. If you've ever seen "Other Side of Heaven" or read the great stories of early church missionaries' experiences with the gift of tongues, it really does work. As an additional treat we went on a once in a life time journey to Germany (Patrick lived there twice during his youth). It was a great opportunity to put our new knowledge into practice.
So now we are reading and blogging, another goal that we've always wanted to do with our kids. . . this being the last year we are all together. (Next year our eldest of two, is planning to move out of the home headed for college life and start her own traditions with reading The Book of Mormon.) I hope this year's blogging gives her a cumulative and tangible record of our family's testimony of The Book of Mormon.

Reading Together

This week we've been reading the front-matter and started First Nephi (tonight, we read 1 Ne 1). Reading together and trying to keep everyone engaged can be a challenge.

I loved reading Joseph Smith's testimony last night. It's such a powerful couple of pages. I get chills everytime I read it. A few years ago we lived close enough to Palmyra, New York, that we were able to visit the places where these events occurred, which helped put a 'face' on the whole thing.

I've also been reading the new Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball book. Since I'm working with the Young Men, I don't get to attend the Elders Quorum classes using this and I have to take some extra time to keep up. As a convert, I really liked the section about his focus on missionary work while serving as President of the Church in the chapter on hisLife and Ministry.

The Book Of Mormon- Week One

When reading the Book of Mormon this first week I've been impressed by the ability to read along in different ways. All the time understanding what we were reading.

the bom

Hey I am reading the Book of Mormon chapter by chapter, and blogging about it too... yeah. Keep watching or would that be reading any way keep reading and see what comes up.

1 Nephi 1 - Of Goodly Parents & Mercy

It wasn't until I was a parent myself, that I realized Nephi made this statement about "being born of goodly-parents" after he was already a dad. So, I feel less pressure to have my kids walking around spurting compliments like this one.
I really loved what the newest apostle said about the 'Tender Mercies of the Lord' (Conference Report from October 2004). Nephi states it in verse 20, "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."
I cannot count the times that our family has been shown the 'tender mercies of the Lord' in delivering us. Whether from the storm tossed seas outside our beach front window during the Nor'Easter of 2001, or being lost, locked out, injured, sick, hungry, broke, etc. the Lord has seen fit to spare us and let us live to tell the tale, that Jesus is the Savior of the World.

Title Page, Witnesses, and Introduction

Don't skip the prelude! Last year at this time I had just finished writing, directing, and starring in a theatrical production of "Christmas with the Smiths". I don't think my testimony of Joseph Smith will ever be the same. After reading thousands of pages of Church History, personal journals, and eye-witness accounts of his time, I have come to feel that the prophet Joseph Smith is more human and more real than I ever before imagined.
So, as I read the Title page, the Witnesses testimony, and the Introduction, I see them as though they were events that were happening or being recorded afresh. The angel Moroni's "instruction and intelligence" during the "interviews" with Joseph Smith each year were not just kept to himself, but you find out by reading from his Mother's writings that young Joseph shared these things with his family in the evenings to pass the time.
You wonder if the Witnesses were afraid to sign their names to the document, or were they more fearful of the consequences if they let down the powers of heaven that allowed them to see what they did.
Even Joseph Smith's testimony comes alive when he states: "I soon found out the reason why I had received such strict charges to keep them safe, and why it was that the messenger had said that when I had done what was required at my hand, he would call for them. For no sooner was it known that I had them, than the most strenuous exertions were used to get them from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose." Just leaving the place where he obtained the plates and getting back to his wife who awaited him with horse and wagon in the middle of the night, Joseph was attacked by assailants. But the miracles were not only in the escapes from constant danger. To me the miracles were in the ways the plates could be taken and given again on at least two occasions to keep them safe until, as Joseph says, "by the wisdom of God, they remained safe in my hands, until I had accomplished by them what was required at my hand."

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I'm making a quick change in how I run this blog, and what it's for. I'm inviting my wife and kids to join me as we write about our experiences studying the scriptures this year. Since I'll be blogging more often, I may find the impetus to start blogging some more LDS specific stuff as well.

Tower of Babel

Ping Pong Pairing (or something remotely like it)

Spent some time last night ping pong pairing with a friend in St Louis. (We're working on a not quite secret project — the Dryer Fluff release of checkr, think lint for Ruby.) He'd write a test, then I'd implement the code to make it work. I'd write a test, and he'd make the code pass. Back and forth over several quick (and a couple of longer) iterations. It was a great way to code. It would have been nice to be colocated with him though, being a couple thousand miles apart is a bit of an impediment to real pairing.

The other cool thing was touching base with zenspider and Eric Hodel on some ParseTree issues while they were at the seattle.rb hacking night.