2 Nephi 1

Good afternoon! I hope you are all feeling productive today and have shaken the Monday slums away. This week marks the halfway point in the semester here at BYU. Since I have only gotten us through 1 Nephi, I think I am going to speed things up in the next few weeks. Or I might just continue posting stuff even after the semester is over....I haven't decided. Anyway, while I think about that, I want you guys to think about 2 Nephi chapter 1. This is basically a continuation of 1 Nephi, so it's gonna have some good stuff! It begins with Lehi prophesying to his family members. At this point, he is very old and frail so these are some of his last words to his posterity. In verse 13 he asks the unrighteous to "shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound" and in verse 23 we read, "Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains by which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust." These verses sound a little scary, but in all honesty I love them. Before I talk about these verses, I want to start with a personal story. Up until recently, I felt like repentance was a harsh and hard process. Whenever I learned about it in a lesson or a talk, I just always thought it sounded kinda scary. Maybe I'm the only one with a little bit of pride in my personality, but it's hard for me to admit when I'm wrong. Saying sorry to my parents is hard enough, so saying sorry to my Heavenly Father just seemed like it would be harder. One day I was pondering over this and asked Heavenly Father if I could understand repentance better. I turned to the scriptures and verses like these helped me understand something I never thought about before. 2 Nephi chapter 32 verses 8 and 9 tell us that the "evil spirit teacheth a man not to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray." Nephi goes on to say, "ye must pray always..." Now replace the word "pray" with the word "repent." Heavenly Father wants to hear from us! Whether we are praying out of gratitude or praying because we have to say sorry, He wants to hear it! He has eternal, all encompassing love for you. For me. For your children. For every single person on Earth. Repentance can be hard because it requires us to humble ourselves and admit to a wrongdoing, but our Father in Heaven doesn't want to see us suffer. He wants us to learn from our mistakes, pick up and keep moving forward. Now, back to the verses in chapter 1. I like the phrase "shake off the chains." Whether you are sitting in a chair reading this or standing in your kitchen, just do a little shake. Not hard, right? The gospel makes getting rid of sin simple, but Satan is the one that makes it seems hard. He tells us we don't deserve to be forgiven, or that the process is too difficult to begin. I am here to testify that if we take the first step, our Heavenly Father is more than willing to help us along the way. So, "arise from the dust" and remember that Heavenly Father loves you. YOU! His way doesn't always seem like the easy way, but I guarantee that in the end it will be. He will "pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" if you arise, shine and sparkle the way you were made to.
This is one of my favorite talks of all time. I mean, of all time. Seriously so good, and of course it's by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: It Is Never Too Late

The last chapter of 1 Nephi!

Is it snowing where you live? It's snowing where I live. I still haven't gotten used to it. I would describe it as a blizzard, but most Utahns would call it a "light flurry." So while I am cooped up in my dorm room I thought I'd write my second post for the week (back to back posts, I know, wild). So we are ending 1 Nephi today. I have gotten through 1 Nephi probably a million times, but then my scripture reading habits start to fade and the rest of the Book of Mormon gets a little dusty....but not this time! Stick with me guys, be proud we've finished a whole book in a book! This chapter discusses the last days and what will happen to the Gentiles, Israel, the righteous and the wicked. We are the Gentiles and it is our job to preach the gospel to Israel like....now. In verse 7 we read, "And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles..." now on to verse 8, "And after out seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed..." This "marvelous work" is the restoration of the gospel and all the events that led up to it which helped it occur, like Christopher Columbus finding America and the Constitution including the freedom of religion in it. As the chapter goes on Nephi tells of the blessings the righteous will receive and the punishments the wicked will receive. As Nephi talks about wars and famines and people perishing, it sounds like a scary event doesn't it? As soon as I began thinking this, I read the first line of verse 22, "And the righteous need not fear..." It is such a comfort to know that if I am righteous I will prosper and be blessed in the end. Living the gospel doesn't always seem easy in the world we live in today. The world tells us that it's okay to party and drink and smoke. They tell us that mother's don't really need to take care of their kids because a successful career is really important. They tell us our standards on marriage are way too strict. Do not let your guard down because the world tells you to. Remember your standards and goals at all times! What is your goal? A temple marriage, to be sealed with your family forever, to obtain eternal life. I love this promise, "the righteous need not fear." We are not alone in this world and when we endure to the end, we will certainly not be alone in the very last days. I don't know if we are allowed to have a favorite apostle, but if we are my favorite is Elder Jeffery R. Holland :) His talks are absolutely amazing. In the last General Conference he said, "You never check your religion at the door. Not ever." I hope that we can all make an effort to really live out this phrase, because it is so, so important.