Notes from 1 Nephi 19-21

For Friday's discussion we read 1 Nephi 19-21, which includes the first time that Nephi quotes Isaiah in the Book of Mormon.

Nephi begins by talking about the records he is making and why they are important. Then he relates the account of the ministry of Christ on the earth and his crucifixion by the Jews. This would be followed by the fires and tempests in the Americas and the eventual dispersion of the Jews.

Nephi then begins addressing the eventual physical and spiritual gathering of the House of Israel. Nephi says that he quotes Isaiah to "fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer" (19:23), and that he likens Isaiah to his people that they "may have hope" (19:24) in the mission of Christ.

In Chapter 20, Nephi quotes Isaiah who is speaking as the Lord. The Lord states that He has revealed the plan of salvation to His people so that they would know it was His work and not the work of men. He admonishes the people to leave Babylon and Chaldea- symbols of the wickedness of the world. The Lord tells the people to follow His commandments and in this they will have peace.

In Chapter 21, Isaiah continues speaking as the Lord and relates how Christ was chosen from the beginning to be the Messiah to both the Jew and the Gentile. And in the last days the House of Israel will begin to be gathered from the four corners of the earth, because the Lord has not forgotten His covenant with the House of Israel. This gathering will begin with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon from the Gentiles to the Jews and will continue as the House of Israel gathers both physically- the Jews returning to the land of Israel- and spiritually- as missionary work spreads across the earth and people are converted to the truth.  

Next week (November 25th, 2011) we will NOT be meeting due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Instead we will reconvene on December 2nd to discuss 1 Nephi Chapter 22 and 2 Nephi Chapter 1. Once again, I can't remember who I asked to bring the snack, so if it was you, please leave a comment and let me know. Otherwise, I will just assume I forgot to ask and bring something myself :) Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I look forward to seeing you again in December!

Notes from 1 Nephi 17-18

So its nap time at my house and I'm trying to pound out blog posts as fast as I can whilst I am technically "on break". I don't think I am going to try to recap all that we said anymore because frankly, I've been getting so caught up in our conversations that I never remember to take notes. But I do want to continue to post any additional resources that were used or mentioned during our meetings.

Anyway, today we discussed chapters 17 and 18 where Nephi builds a ship, his brothers give him a hard time, they set sail for the promised land, his brothers give him a hard time, and eventually they make it to the promised land alive and well, DESPITE Nephi's brothers giving him a hard time!

During our conversations Amy mentioned a link that she had sent me earlier in the week to help me with my little computer/food addiction, and I wanted you all to be able to read it as well. You can find it HERE.

Rachel also mentioned a talk by Julie B. Beck called Mothers Who Know. I had never read it before so I thought I would put it on here for anyone else who wanted to see what she had to say. You can find her talk HERE.

Also, I just want to say Thank You to everyone who comes to our little club. My life has been blessed by your testimonies and friendship more than you will ever know and I am so grateful to be able to sit with so many incredible women each week and discuss the gospel.

Next week we will be discussing 1 Nephi Chapters 19, 20, and 21. Nicole will be bringing the snack and I will bring my DVD player again so if you have a great movie that you think will keep the kids distracted while we are chatting, please bring it! See you all next Friday at 9am in the Gym!

Notes from 1 Nephi 14-16

On Friday the 4th, we discussed the chapters in 1 Nephi that wrapped up Nephi's vision with the Angel, had Nephi's explanation to his brothers of the tree of life, and told the story of Nephi breaking his bow.

One of my favorite discussions from the day was about how Nephi must have felt after breaking his bow. I mean, think about it! He never really did anything wrong and when he accidentally brakes his bow, his siblings want to KILL him and his father, who has ALWAYS been on his side, is upset with him. Yet instead of feeling abandoned and alone, or giving up, Nephi takes the opportunity to teach his family and his father about faith. And he does it in a very respectful way.

I don't know about you, but I think if I were in that situation I would have had an explosion of pride! I would be rubbing everyone elses' mistakes in their faces and trying to defend myself. I certainly wouldn't have gotten back up, made a new bow, and asked for guidance from my father! And although I think me and Nephi would have fought a lot if we were siblings because of his tendency to scold, I'm going to give him mad props for sticking to his guns in this situation. Go Nephi!

Anyway, we had a great time together and are excited for next week. If you are planning to join us, we will be discussing 1 Nephi Chapters 17 and 18 and I will be bringing a breakfast-ish snack for all of us to enjoy! Hope to see you there! (Friday, November 11th, 9:00 am in the Cultural hall.)

Notes from 1 Nephi 7-13

So I haven't been awesome at updating the blog with our notes, but not because the group hasn't been awesome! In fact, the BoM Brunch club is often the highlight of my week. Anyway, because I waited so long to update I don't remember every great point that was made but I do know we've talked a lot about the characters in the BoM and what they must have felt as they took this miraculous journey.

Many of our thoughts have also gone toward parenting and how to teach righteously without producing Laman and Lemuels. We've also talked a lot about the "Mists of Darkness" (temptations) and the "Great and Spacious Building" (Pride and vain imaginations) and how we struggle daily to fight off our own temptations (i.e. internet, chocolate) and ignore our personal vain imaginations (i.e. the media, body image).

This last week we even got to discuss our thoughts about the "Great and Abominable Church" and what we thought it was. The conversations have all been fascinating and have even produced a little after hours studying in other resources. Thus, I would like to share a few links here that have been shared during the book club:

This link was provided by Amy and provides some great information about parenting in righteousness: http://lds.org/manual/a-parents-guide/chapter-2-principles-for-teaching-children?lang=eng

This link was provided by Stephanie and has some fantastic History on the Bible: http://byutv.org/show/123d4a82-3d47-488e-beda-2496a5a1ff2c

Amy also pointed out that much of the October Ensign discusses the things we've been studying this month. Here is a link to the online Ensign: http://lds.org/ensign/2011/10?lang=eng

And just for fun, here is another link from Amy that has recipes for the muffins she made a couple weeks ago: http://thecookingdilemma.blogspot.com/2011/10/three-recipes-for-muffins.html

Next week (October 28, 2011) we will NOT be meeting due to some VERY busy schedules. However, we will still be planning to meet up at the church on November 4th, at 9 am to discuss 1 Nephi 14-16. Ummmm... and I don't remember who volunteered to do the snack so if it is you, could you leave a comment letting me know? That way I won't get nervous and bake a bunch of "just in case" cookies! See you in November!

Notes from 1 Nephi 4-6

On Friday we got to discuss the chapters where Nephi slays Laban and gets the brass plates, Lehi finds out he is a descendant of Joseph in Egypt, and where Nephi explains his purpose in writing on his own plates.

Chapter 4 started out with Nephi baring his testimony to his brothers after they had whined again about their task and Laban's strength (despite seeing and being spoken to by an angel!) Two points came up when we were reading his reply to his brothers. One was that it was pretty amazing for Nephi to answer his brothers with a testimony of God rather than defensiveness or anger.  Later on in chapter 5 we see the same thing when Lehi speaks to Sariah. She is worried about her sons and her faith seems to be shaken. Instead of chastening his wife, Lehi bares his testimony to her of the greatness of God and reassures her that their sons will be OK.

I thought both of these examples were a great lesson in communication, especially in marriage or family relationships when it is important not to burn bridges. We should try to follow the examples of Nephi and Lehi and remember our God when things seem hopeless. Which brings me to the second thing we talked about. When Nephi started talking to his brothers he said "Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even his tens of thousands?" This reminded me of a quote that I had read recently that said "Do not tell your God how big your storm is. Tell your storm how big your God is!" What a powerful sentiment. How often do we kneel in prayer to tell God how hard our lives and trials are, when we should instead, turn to our troubles and tell them that they can't bring us down because our God is more powerful than they are! And that is exactly what Nephi did when he spoke to his brothers.

During our conversation we also talked a lot about Sariah and the difficult situation she was put in when she had to leave her home and then send her sons into enemy territory, about the oaths between Nephi and Zoram, and a LOT about the state of mind Nephi must have been in when he realized he had to kill Laban to obtain the plates. There was so much emotion in these chapters that there was an endless stream of thoughts that we wanted to share with each other! :)

Anyway, we wrapped things up by talking about chapter 6 and how Nephi had wanted to use the plates to write the things of God and share them with people in our day. What a blessing to all of us that he was willing to take the time to write down and preserve these things so that we can all benefit from them today. I can't wait to keep reading more!

Next week on 10/07/11 we will be meeting in the gym at the church and will discuss 1 Nephi Chapters 7-9. Amy will be bringing the treat and we will have a great time! See you guys then!

Supplimental Reading for Nephi 4-6

Here's just a few quick notes to ponder while discussing these chapters. First, we see again Nephi using an oath commonly found amoung middle eastern peoples. After Zoram finds out the Nephi is not Laban, he tries to run away. He is caught by Nephi but continues to struggle until Nephi says "as the Lord liveth, and as I live...we would spare his life".

Once again Nephi swears by both his life and the Lords. And this seemingly simple phrase calms Zoram and convinces him to listen to Nephi and ultimately go with him. This is because of the emphasis and power placed on this type of oath. No one in that time would have considered breaking such a solemn covenant, and that idea has persisted through to our times. Hugh Nibly stated that "Hardly will an Arab break his oath, even if his life be in jeopardy, for there is nothing stronger, and nothing more sacred than the oath among the nomads."

One other note concerns the brass plates. We all know that the Lord, and consequently Lehi and Nephi, thought the brass plates were important. This is because the plates contained their religious teachings and prophecies from Adam to their current time. It also contained the Law of Moses and the 5 books of Moses, which were some of the most important scriptures to the Jewish people. Further, the plates recorded genealogy the Lehi's ancestors. When we look at the effect the plates had on the Nephites, we can see how their teaching were able to stay in line with the doctrines of the gospel and their language was preserved. This contrasts with the Mulekites, who left Jerusalem about 11 years after Lehi, but did not have access to any scripture. When the 2 civilizations eventually came together, the Mulekites had lost their language, religion, and civilization. It's amazing just what having the scriptures will do for a people!!

Notes from 1 Nephi 1-3

Once again, I was carried away in our conversations at the book club meeting and forgot to take notes. But I will do my best to recall some of the things we talked about.

One of the things that really stood out to me was when Nephi opened the book by stating that he was "born of goodly parents." I've read that line a hundred times but it wasn't until now that it occurred to me that that means Laman and Lemuel were ALSO born of goodly parents, yet we know they chose to take a much different path in life. One of the ladies pointed out that Nephi also said he had "been highly favored of the Lord" and that he "had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God." She related that to the gifts of the Spirit, which is something I'd never thought of before. It makes a lot of sense too if you think about the different paths the brothers all chose. It was also pointed out that Sam was probably blessed with the gift of believing in other's testimonies. That was made evident in 1 Nephi 2:17.

Another interesting thing we noticed in these chapters was that when Heavenly Father wanted Lehi to see the fate of Jerusalem as well as the greatness of God, he gave him a book to read. We are also given books to learn more about God in our day. (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) I continued the conversation with my husband after the book club and we had a thought: If all we take with us from this life is our knowledge, feelings, and personality, then wouldn't it make sense that "having the veil lifted" doesn't mean we will know ALL things, but instead, that we will remember all the things we had done and learned in our pre-mortal and mortal existences? And perhaps, when we enter the next life expecting to learn the answers to the questions that plagued us in this life, we will simply be directed to a giant library of books where we can actually learn ALL things! (Obviously, none of this is doctrine, just us speculating.)

During our meeting we also talked about the tendency of characters in the Book of Mormon to turn to murder to solve their problems (i.e. the people in Jerusalem sought to take away Lehi's life when he preached to them, and Laman and Lemuel sought to take away Nephi's life whenever he did anything that made them mad.) It seemed really crazy at first that a person would ever see murder as a solution, but when you really think about it, we still have those feelings today (i.e. I sometimes feel like we should use capital punishment on people who molest and rape children) the difference is we've been given enough light and knowledge to know that that is not an acceptable or Christlike way to solve our issues, and killing in and of itself has become very socially unacceptable.

One of my favorite things that we talked about during our time together was Nephi's reaction to the information given him from his father, versus the reaction of his brothers. When you read 1 Nephi 2:16 Nephi says that the Lord "softened his heart". This suggests that he was also struggling with the words of his father. The difference came when he chose to pray for clarification and understanding instead of brooding  and becoming angry about how crazy his father may have sounded.

Anyway, we talked about a lot of fun stuff and had a great time together talking about the gospel and eating yummy fruit and dip!

Next week we will be discussing 1 Nephi 4-6 and Stephanie has volunteered to bring a snack. Also, we will be meeting in the cultural hall (gym) of the Woodridge Ward Building. See you Friday at 9:00 am!