When we are passing through difficulties, what kind of assistance can we expect from God? As Elder Dale G. Renlund has pointed out, we can expect at least three things: Consolation: The prophet Jacob assured his people that God "will console you in your afflictions" (Jacob 3:1).Restoration: At the end of the book of Job, we read, "The Lord gave... Continue Reading →
The Creator
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.John 1:3 The scriptures teach that Jesus Christ created the heavens and the earth under the direction of the Father. "Worlds without number have I created," God told Moses, "...and by the Son I created them" (Moses 1:33). Multiple... Continue Reading →
Marriage
After God created Adam and Eve, He instituted a special relationship, which He characterized in this way: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.Genesis 2:24 Jesus emphasized the sacred nature of this relationship when He rebuked the Pharisees for asking a flippant question about divorce: Have ye not read,... Continue Reading →
John Whitmer, Record-keeper
Why does the Lord ask us to keep written records? One reason is to communicate our experiences to others, including future generations. But another reason is more immediate: the process of writing forces us to think things through more carefully. We learn and we grow as we write. In March 1831, John Whitmer was called... Continue Reading →
Brimstone
When God warned Abraham that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed, Abraham pleaded with Him to spare the righteous. God agreed. If there be ten righteous people in those cities, He promised, I will not destroy them. (See Genesis 18:17-32.) Messengers from God subsequently warned Lot and and his family to leave... Continue Reading →
“Marriage Is Ordained of God”
Immediately after creating Adam and Eve, God established the institution of marriage: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.Genesis 2:24 During His mortal ministry, the Savior quoted that passage and then further emphasized its implications: So then they are no more twain, but one flesh.What therefore God hath joined together, let... Continue Reading →
Pray in Faith
Nephi believed that his prayers were heard and would be answered: For I pray continually for [my people] by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.2 Nephi 33:3 Jacob counseled his people to "pray unto [God]... Continue Reading →
Record-keeping
The first sentence in the Book of Mormon is about the importance of keeping records. Nephi tells us that, because the Lord had blessed him with "goodly parents," who taught him, and because he had been "highly favored of the Lord" in spite of enduring many afflictions, "therefore I make a record of my proceedings... Continue Reading →
“The Pleasing Word of God” – Jacob 2:8, Jacob 3:2
At the beginning of Jacob's second sermon, he expresses sorrow that many innocent people in the congregation will be subjected to a strict call to repentance. He acknowledges the people present, "many of whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate before God. He says that he imagines that they have come to the... Continue Reading →
“A Hundredth Part” – Jacob 3:13
Near the beginning of Nephi's record, he instructed those who would add to the record after him not to "occupy these plates with things which are not of worth" (1 Nephi 6:6). He emphasized that his father had seen and heard and taught many things which could not be included in his record (1 Nephi... Continue Reading →
Book of Mormon Study Notes 