Tag: The Book of Mormon

What I Know

Posted on by docena

My husband was sustained as the bishop of a new ward this past Sunday. For our first Sunday, he asked that I share my testimony in sacrament meeting. I’ve never shared my testimony as the bishop’s wife before and while a bishop, including my husband, and his family are not perfect, there is an expectation of behavior and belief. I’ve thought a lot this week about my testimony. Recently due to questions from family members and friends concerning the restored gospel and our prophet, I’ve questioned my own beliefs and had frequent doubts. While there is so much I don’t know and understand, there are some things I do know.

God is my Heavenly Father and He loves me. My earliest memory of this was when I was a child, sometime before I was eight years old. I was in bed at night and my dad was at a church meeting. A feeling of despair came over me, an almost tangible heavy darkness in my room. When my dad came home, I asked him for a blessing or to pray. I can’t remember which. He did what I asked and the darkness lifted. I had faith in my father. I knew he loved me, and I knew he could dispel the darkness. I now know that was because of the power of the priesthood. My earthly father’s love and power were a manifestation of my Heavenly Father’s love and power.

Jesus Christ is my Savior and because of His atonement, I can be cleansed of my sins and succored in my trials. I was praying for one of my children, crying in despair, and into my mind came the words, “Your child is in my hands” along with the image of the Savior’s open hands with the marks from the cross. I was taught that I am not my child’s Savior, to have faith in the Savior, and that Jesus Christ’s atonement was for me and my child.

Joseph Smith was a prophet. He translated The Book of Mormon and restored the gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days. I just finished reading Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Bushman. There are pieces of church history that are uncomfortable, but Joseph Smith was able to accomplish more in his lifetime than seems humanly possible. And it wasn’t possible on his own. Learning more about Joseph Smith makes me appreciate his life and sacrifice and reminds me that the Lord can use my efforts to do great things.

I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real because of the personal revelation I receive through the Holy Ghost. Moroni, a prophet in The Book of Mormon, taught, “I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6). When I was a child, I relied on the faith of my parents. They loved me and I felt good when I attended church, read my scriptures, and prayed. Much of my obedience was out of duty to my parents whom I loved and the culture of the church. As I began to receive consistent revelation of my own and I acted on that revelation, I saw the results of my faith and my faith increased. That still meant I needed to act in faith and then see what happened, but I had many experiences to remind me that I would be blessed when I acted in faith. One of those experiences was when I had the thought in the temple that I should start a book club in my new neighborhood. I resisted, but when I finally acted in faith, the eventual results were better than I imagined. I have come to love the women in my book club and am enriched every time we get together. I refer to this experience often to strengthen my faith. As the Stake Young Women’s Camp Director this past summer, I was reminded by the Spirit that as I did the Lord’s will concerning the book club, He made more of it than I could make on my own and that the same thing would happen with camp. On Sunday after my husband was set apart as the bishop, a member of the Stake Presidency asked if being the director for Young Women’s camp this past summer has helped me with my husband becoming the bishop. The answer is Yes! As I’ve had fear and doubts about how this would all work out and how members would feel about the changes and how all the callings would be filled and how my husband would be able to be the bishop during tax season, I’ve been reminded by the Spirit again and again of the miracles, personal revelation, and strength I received as the director of camp because of my willingness to do the Lord’s will. This is the Lord’s work!

I know that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet. In April 2018, President Nelson said, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation” (“Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our Lives”). That prophecy has been fulfilled for me. There is so much confusion, so much doubt, so much information and misinformation, that if I did not study my scriptures and pray daily and act on personal revelation, I would not survive spiritually.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Building a Foundation on Jesus Christ with Meaningful Family Scripture Study: Or my answer for my brother, Spencer Roundy

Posted on by docena

Much of our property in Garden Valley is on a steep hillside. We had dirt moved to clear a larger flat area to park and eventually build. We thought moving the dirt wouldn’t take much time with the right equipment, but underneath the pine needles and dirt, there were huge rocks. The one in the picture is about the size of a small car. While it took more time to move the rocks, we were able to extend the flat area with a strong foundation of more rocks.

My favorite scripture is from Helaman, “And now…remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12). Jesus Christ is our sure foundation. One of the ways to develop a foundation built on Jesus Christ is through family scripture study. During our Roundy family Zoom while discussing family traditions that help us build on the foundation of Jesus Christ, my brother, Spencer, asked how we have meaningful family scripture study. He jokingly said I could answer his question through a post on my website. Challenge accepted.

I think that many of us think we are failing at some imagined standard of meaningful family scripture study, so I wanted to know what others are really doing. I asked my amazing running friends about their family scripture studies. In that group is the wife of a bishop who has eight children, the wife of a Stake Presidency member who has six children and coaches cross country, a mother of ten children who does a weekly gospel podcast with friends, and a mother of five children who designs homes. I admire each of these women and often seek advice and support from them. None of our scripture studies are the same. Here’s our typical scripture studies in our current situations.

Two teenage children left at home: Read about five verses each in The Book of Mormon right before bed, mostly on weeknights. Sometimes the oldest child misses depending on what is going on.

Four teenage children left at home: Read a few verses each from The Book of Mormon in the morning around 6:30 am as they are trying to eat and get ready for school.

Six children left at home (one young adult, two teenagers, three elementary-aged children): Read around 6:15 am from the Doctrine and Covenants following along with the Come Follow Me lesson. One of the teenage children misses scripture study because he leaves for early-morning seminary. Sometimes the youngest is still in bed.

Five children at home (two young adults, three teenagers): Read the Doctrine and Covenants section from the Come Follow Me lesson about two nights a week with a longer lesson on Sundays. Encourage all family members to read The Book of Mormon on their own.

One teenage child left at home (that’s our family): Read two pages of The Book of Mormon around 6:20 am before the bus comes and while I’m trying to make a simple breakfast.

Most of my friends including myself don’t have meaningful discussions during family scripture study. Some of us have switched between morning and evening scripture study. Our family is more consistent with early morning study and our children are more docile then. During the summer we had scripture study before bed but often forgot.

I am the oldest of six children, and I remember having scripture study consistently during the school year early in the morning. My mom made sure we got up. My dad contributed with insightful comments. I remember that for a while we learned a hymn. Since I was the first to leave home, I didn’t see how scripture study changed over time in my family. We’ve had to adjust as our children have gone to school at different times and had different activities and jobs. We’ve had times where we memorized scriptures and The Family Proclamation. But mostly we’ve consistently read a couple of pages every week day from The Book of Mormon.

I’ve often wished we had more in depth discussions, more sharing, more teaching. My brother said that when they try to have more meaningful family scripture study, their children have tantrums and get up and leave. He doesn’t want to force them. A few years ago, I was frustrated with the gap between what I thought our study should be like and what was happening. We had a family council. My family jokes that I should just tell them what I want them to do, not ask them. But this time I did ask. I’d been learning more about how family councils should work. I expressed that I wanted us to learn more. We discussed options. I presented some ideas and what my children decided on worked out much better than what I suggested. They decided that after reading our two pages, one person would share what they learned from their personal scripture study. That worked really well for a while.

I now think that having consistent family scripture study is meaningful family scripture study. That through our consistency, we emphasize the importance to our children of the scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I wrongly assumed that this consistent scripture study would guarantee that my children would not struggle. Now is when I need to rely on my faith that those consistent family scripture studies have built a foundation for myself and my children. Elder Steven R. Bangerter said, “I believe that it is less a question of whether our children are ‘getting it’ in the midst of our teaching, such as while striving to read the scriptures or to have family home evening or to attend Mutual and other Church meetings. It is less a question of whether in those moments they are understanding the importance of those activities and more a question of whether we, as parents, are exercising faith enough to follow the Lord’s counsel to diligently live, teach, exhort, and set forth expectations that are inspired by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is an effort driven by our faith—our belief that one day the seeds sown in their youth will take root and begin to sprout and grow” (“Laying the Foundation of a Great Work,” October 2018 General Conference).

Spencer, thank you for asking a meaningful question. Running friends, thank you for your examples and faithfulness. Mom and Dad, thank you for years of consistent and meaningful family scripture study that laid a foundation for my testimony and a knowledge of where to turn for questions.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2017-01-003-spiritual-whirlwinds?lang=eng

Peace: Let God Prevail

Posted on by docena

My son in high school is taking Eastern Geographical Perspectives. They spent one class period learning about Christianity and another learning about Islam. My son shared with me that Islam means submission to God. He made the connection between the word Islam and the word Israel that our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, recently shared. One of the Hebraic meanings of the word Israel is “let God prevail” (“Let God Prevail,” President Russell M. Nelson, Liahona, May 2021). I believe that repentance is the way we submit to God, the way we let God prevail.

In my scripture study this past week, I read about Alma, the prophet, calling the people of Ammonihah to repentance. He reminds them that God delivered their people out of Jerusalem, saved them from famine, sickness, “and all manner of diseases of every kind” and if they “transgress contrary to the light and knowledge which they…have…and rebel against [the Lord], they will “utterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth” (Alma 9:21, 23, 24). I particularly noticed the part about being saved from sickness and diseases. This past week two friends of mine lost parents to COVID. I’ve wondered like many others about God’s plan with this pandemic. Did these two people die because their mission on earth was finished. Did they die because they are needed in the Spirit world to further the work of the Lord there? Did they die simply because their bodies are mortal and disease kills some? I thought about all the people who have suffered with illness and death of loved ones over the past year-and-a-half and wondered if we are not being saved from this disease because we’ve transgressed. As soon as I had the thought, my heart rejected that individuals were dying or not dying because of their personal transgressions. Today in church two prayers were offered asking for the pandemic to be taken away from us. So I’ve been pondering if God is calling us to repentance through this pandemic. Then I thought about the meaning of repentance. I used to think that repentance was only admitting I made a mistake or sinned. I now understand that to repent means to turn to God. Repentance is giving my heart and mind to God and asking what I need to do to be closer to Him. Repentance is submitting to God, letting God prevail. I don’t know God’s plan with this pandemic, but I do know that He wants us to turn to Him. He wants us instead of blaming and accusing each other, to come to Him in prayer and ask for our hearts to be softened, ask what we can do to serve one another, ask how we can let Him prevail in our lives. Then will the pandemic be taken away? I don’t know. I do know that as Alma preached to the people in Gideon, that we “should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things [we] stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things [we] do receive” and then “the peace of God [will] rest upon [us]” (Alma 7:23, 27).

We all need peace, peace in Christ.