There were two parts to this week's lesson that really stuck out to me. The first is about Enos and his faith that could not be shaken and I spoke of this in my weekly newsletter a little bit. I have included the video I mentioned at the bottom of this post--it's fascinating and even though it has absolutely nothing to do with faith, it serves as a great object lesson for me.
The second part that I really loved is learning about how Mormon made the abridgement that brought the small plates of Nephi together with the rest of the record. It's a bit of a strange transition, but that's probably because of the part that is missing from the lost 116 pages.
The lost pages teach me a lot about how Heavenly Father knows the beginning from the end, and even in my weaknesses, sins and mistakes, He will bring about His eternal purposes. Not one, but two different prophets were told to include these records, and even though neither of them were told why, they obeyed. There is a strong lesson in that for me.
I always enjoy the Follow Him podcast each week and I recommend listening to or watching it every week just because it can be so inspirational. It's a big commitment because of time, so I know for some it isn't possible to fit the full two hours in...
However, this section of Part 2 this week, to me, was EXCEPTIONALLY insightful and I really enjoyed it. The guest, Gerrit Dirkmaat is telling the story of the lost 116 pages and how it relates to the Words of Mormon and Mormon's abridgement. The entire episode is worth listening to, but if you don't have time for the entire thing, start this video at the 33:51 and listen through to the end.
And if you don't even have time for that, here is my favorite part of this episode from Gerrit Dirkmaat:
All the way back to 600 years before Christ, Nephi is inspired by God to make another set of plates. You fast-forward to almost 400 years after Christ, and Mormon is inspired to take that second record and to put it with this larger work that he's done. And neither one of them is given any explanation about why.
We, as rational creatures, desperately want to know the why for everything. But the reality is, having faith means stepping into that darkness, because you know the person who's calling you is the Savior. Knowing the voice, you step forward. And it doesn't make sense, and it doesn't equal out, and maybe it seems contrary to everything that we want to do.
We see prophets all the time get told to teach and to do things, and they don't even know why. If prophets themselves don't have all of the answers, how could we possibly expect to have them all? I'm so grateful that God has called prophets so that I am not left rudderless to try to figure everything out on my own. I know that revelation to the church, to the world, only comes from one place: it comes to the prophet that God has given the keys to that revelation.
So when I have a great question about, "How are things going to go? Should I do this? Should I do that?" I don't have to come up with the answer myself. I can hear what President Nelson has to say, and then that can become my answer.
As I give up my carnal desires to follow a prophet of God, this incredible two millennia in the making, Jesus knows more than 2000 years later Joseph's going to sin and that people are going to steal those pages because of his sin and he's going to prepare a way that we still have the Book of Mormon.
But we just sit back and think for a minute: we are all of the time feeling lost and lonely and worried, and, "I just don't know if God really recognizes me," this is the same God who planned more than 2000 years in advance for a sin Joseph was going to commit so that we would all still have the words of Nephi.
Once again I enjoyed this doodle video from Ponderfun that walks through these chapters!
This is one of the videos recommended in the manual to go with this lesson, and I love the challenge of trying to find things we can do in our own homes to bring the Spirit into our families and homes. We never know when a small thing we do can have a bigger impact on someone else.
I love the idea shared by Enos of his prayer being as though he were wrestling. When I can truly give myself completely over to the Spirit, that is when the answers come, but it can be difficult for me to do.
I love this quote by President Eyring in his talk, "Where is the Pavilion?":
"Our feelings of separation from God will diminish as we become more childlike before Him.
That is not easy in a world where the opinions of other human beings can have such an effect on our motives.
But it will help us recognize this truth: God is close to us and aware of us and never hides from His faithful children. Sometimes our insistence on acting according to our own timetable can obscure [God's] will for us."
When we're humble, "we [listen to God] when we feel and pray, 'Thy will be done' and 'in Thine own time"
You can read the full talk here: Henry B. Erying, "Where Is the Pavilion?"
This is the video I spoke of in my weekly newsletter about Japan's earthquake preparedness. I love it because it's interesting and educational. There is no religious perspective in the video, and faith is never mentioned, but it got me thinking about those things anyway. It reminds me of how important it is to build my foundation on the stable rock foundation of Jesus Christ and learn to have faith that is unshaken.