Thursday, May 27, 2010

Doctrine and Covenants 3-4

Section Three is what the Lord tells Joseph Smith after Martin Harris loses the one-hundred-sixteen pages. In that section I learn that if we are faithful and keep the commandments of God, He will extend His arm of mercy towards us and support us against the adversary.

Verse ten tells us that God is merciful and it’s my guess that there are people that think God might not be merciful and punish us immediately and forever for what we did wrong, but verse ten says otherwise. Here God is speaking to Joseph Smith but part of the Book of Mormon says to liken all scriptures unto us and that’s what I did. So God says to repent of what we did and we’ll still be chosen and are called again to the work.hearts

Verse 16 tells us of the knowledge of a Savior will come to God’s people. That’s saying that it’s not a rumor or a possibility that he will come, but a KNOWLEDGE, a firm sound truth.

The Lord preserved the plates so that the promises that he made to his people may be fulfilled and that the Lamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers, know of the Lord’s promises and believe the gospel.

Section four talks of how the world is ready for Missionaries to go forth and preach the gospel.

It says that when we are on our missions we should serve God with all our “heart, might, mind and strength.” It also talks of what qualifies us for the work and they are to have “Faith, hope, charity, and love with an eye single to the glory of God.”

Joseph Smith Scripture Mastery report: “After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go , having looked around me and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so when I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such astonishing influence as to bind my tongue that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and I seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, just at the  very moment when I was about to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction –not to an imaginary ruin- but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being. Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.“

**I had a couple of words wrong and a few switched, but I fixed them here and I’m going to work on this part until I have all the words right**

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Doctrine and Covenants 1-2

Section one, verses four and five talk about the voice of warning going to all people “by the mouths my disciples whom I have chosen in these last days.” and no one will keep them from doing so. And I heard somewhere that we are Disciples of Christ and it had me wondering if God was talking about this generation going on missions and spreading the gospel and giving warning to people.

Verse seven says that what God has decreed in this book shall be fulfilled, and that kind of makes me want to further read the Doctrine and Covenants to find out what’s going to happen.

Verses twenty through thirty-three states the purpose of the book… “That faith might increase in the earth; that mine everlasting covenant might be established;” and that the fullness of the gospel might be proclaimed by ordinary people to the entire world including kings and rulers.

God wants everyone to know of his gospel, no matter who you are or what your race and color are. Then it talks of peace being taken away and earth becoming chaotic and I’m going to guess that some people would be pretty scared about that. So I have comfort in what God says that the saints will have divine protection.

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Section two talks of performing ordinances for the dead; When verse two says “and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers,” it makes me think of going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead and that we’re not there because we were forced to, but because we want to be there.  We want to share with our ancestors the happiness that we have in being members of God’s church, having had our sins washed away and having the Spirit to be with us.  It also talks of Elijah bringing the priesthood back to the earth and I’m glad that he did, because if we didn’t have the priesthood we couldn’t perform these temple ordinances for the dead and help bring them to the truth.

Joseph Smith Scripture Mastery report: “And after I had retired to the place where I had previously designed, having looked around me and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began pouring out the desires of my heart to God…”

Monday, May 17, 2010

What am I doing here?

I want to read the Doctrine and Covenants this Summer before Seminary so that I can have a feel for it. I also want to memorize the 5-looooong verses of the Joseph Smith History Scripture Mastery. 
The purpose of this blog is to record my thoughts about what I've read and to report my progress on the Scripture Mastery.

Joseph Smith history S.M. report:
"After I had retired...."