Today I am going to focus on a portion of the story of David and Goliath which is found in 1 Samuel 17:29,45-46,49. From what I remember of looking up how tall Goliath was, he was at least 9 feet tall. David on the other hand was not old enough to be in the army at the time.

After having a conversation with King Saul, David was appointed to be the champion of Israel and went out to meet Goliath. David believed the Israelites had a just cause and because of that the Lord was with them and they would be victorious.

Here are some of David's words to Goliath: "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee."

As I read and understand these words it seems to me that David had no doubt he was going to defeat Goliath. His experience and confidence with the use of a sling combined with his faith in God such that he believed he could not lose. It would not surprise me if no thought of loss crossed his mind, only the knowledge that he would defeat Goliath because he was engaged in a just cause in the service of the Lord.

And with the first stone David let fly from his sling, he felled Goliath, and defeated the champion of the Philistines.

From this story it appears it was relatively simple and easy for David. What we must remember is that anything we do that is aligned with the will of God will turn out as God wants it to. That may mean that we decide to do something and in a day it is done or it may mean that it takes us decades to complete. But a simple way to think of it is if we are engaged in a just cause in the service of the Lord then whatever that cause is will be successful.

 I want to discuss Joshua 10:12-14.

Gibeon made peace with the Israelites and this troubled many kings in the region, so they joined together and went to war with Gibeon. The people of Gibeon learned of their preparations and sent word to the Israelites to send aid. And so they came to defend the people of Gibeon and the Lord was with the Israelites and cast great stones from heaven to smite those enemy armies. That in itself was miraculous. 

But then in verses 12 and 13  we read, "12 Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand though still upon Gibeon; and though, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies ... So the Sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day."

I have always been fascinated by this scripture. Can you imagine a day twice as long as it should normally be? And in our day and age we would be able to time it precisely and know exactly how much longer than usual it would be should this ever happen again.

This time when I read these versus I realized that it showed Gods complete control over everything He created. Since we know it is the earth that rotates around the sun we know that even though Joshua worded his command the way he did, it means that the rotation of the earth halted so that it looked as if the sun were stationary in the sky for about a days time.

The command was given by one of God's prophets, Joshua, so we also see that a servant of God can have just as much control as God over everything God created as long as it is the will of God that such a thing should happen. In this case it was the will of God that the day should be extended and that it should appear to everyone that the sun was stationary in the sky instead of appearing to move as it usually does.

May we all live our lives such that we know Gods will as well as Joshua did so that whenever the need arises to do anything great or small we will be ready to.

 I find it interesting how in Numbers 9:15-23 we learn about how a cloud would cover the tabernacle by day and fire by night and when the cloud was removed from the tabernacle they knew it was time to travel and where they found the cloud they knew it was time to pitch their tents and set up the tabernacle again. And it specifically states that it was at the command of the Lord that they journeyed and at the command of the Lord that they pitched their tents.

This is one of the ways, a very physical and clear way, that the Lord taught the Israelites to follow Him, Jesus Christ. And so he guided them during their journeying in the wilderness. I have wondered why nothing so clear is provided for us and amongst this wondering I have perhaps found a reason why not.

In the time of the Israelites there was nothing they knew of that could produce a cloud during the day and fire by night that would behave as this cloud did. Therefore it was more likely that they would conclude it manifest by some supernatural power. One of their greatest difficulties with this could have been deciding if it was manifest through the power of God or the power of the devil.

However, for us these days, we have a third option we know of that could produce such a phenomenon. Technology. And with this knowledge if something like this were to happen I imagine many people would ascribe such a cloud to some technology and not give it much more thought. Very few, if any, people would ascribe such a cloud by day and fire by night to God or to the devil.

Wither it be through something physical or something spiritual there will always be some element of belief or faith required on our part. I can imagine it may have been easier for the Israelites to believe it was of divine origin in the beginning but would become harder as the days dragged into weeks and months and then years. 10 years wandering, 20 years wandering, 30 years wandering, and 40 years. In fact they wandered long enough in the wilderness that everyone who witnessed the first time the cloud descended on the tabernacle and became fire by night had died except for three people. In all that time they faithfully followed instead of giving up and wandering off somewhere to build a permanent house or settlement. And its not like they never considered returning to Egypt. But they faithfully followed and it must have required great faith to continue following and wandering for so long.

As a fellow classmate pointed out to me we do have some physical manifestations in our time but they require a spiritual view and faith to understand them for what they are. The two she pointed out are temples and our patriarchal blessings. We must attend the temple or read our patriarchal blessing to feel the spirit and in this way gain a spiritual view of how the Lord uses them to guide us during a very different time than the time of these Israelites. It can be done and must be done and will require faith on our part.

In Exodus 35:4-9 the Israelites were commanded to sacrifice material things for the construction of a tabernacle. It is worded as a commandment to them but in that command are used the words "...whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring..." The Lord wanted them to willingly give of what they had for the construction of a tabernacle.

The Israelites response (found in Exodus 35:20-24) was immediate and many, if not all, brought what they had to offer and sacrificed it for the construction of the tabernacle. In fact they kept giving to the point that in Exodus 36:5-7 Moses commanded them to not bring anymore because they had more than enough to complete the tabernacle according to how the Lord commanded it to be built.

The Israelites had many faults for which we often remember them but in this thing they did very well in being willing to sacrifice what little things of wealth they were able to bring with them from Egypt into the wilderness not knowing how long it would take for them to replenish or replace such things if ever.

We live in a very different time and under circumstances very different from that of those Israelites from long ago. And yet we too are asked and/or commanded by the Lord to sacrifice for the benefit of others. I believe our willingness to give or sacrifice our material things, our money, our talents, and our time help define who we are. And how we feel as we sacrifice also indicates where our heart is on such matters. The Lord wants us to give willingly whether we are commanded to sacrifice or not. 

I would like to think I would willingly sacrifice anything that I was asked to sacrifice but the reality is I don't believe I am at that point yet and I struggle to learn how I can improve my heart and desires concerning such matters to align my willingness more to what the Lord what have it to be.

 I am currently studying the Old Testament of the Bible in a religious course I am taking at BYU-Idaho. This week our assigned study area is Genesis chapters 24-50.

In this post I will focus on Genesis 24:12-15,17-20. Here Abraham sent his servant on a long journey to where Abraham used to live to find a woman for a wife for Abraham's son Isaac. The servant has arrived and is standing beside a well. He offers a prayer to God asking for help in knowing who to pick.

In my life it is rare that my prayers get answered immediately and from what I have heard from others it seems like for them too, most prayers are not answered immediately. I have had a few that were answered immediately in such a way that I knew it was the answer.

In the case of this servant, the scriptures record that before he finished speaking he saw Rebekah coming down to the well. Her actions show him that she is the woman that is to be Isaac's wife. His prayer was answered almost immediately.

I know that our faith filled prayers are powerful and when it is God's will they are answered in the way we believed they would be answered. Our faith and our thoughts align with God's will in such a way that our prayer can be answered as we prayed it and in the time we hoped for. I was taught that before and/or after we pray we should do all we can and not simply utter our prayer and do nothing more and expect our prayer to be answered. Action is required.

The servant of Abraham did what needed to be done by travelling to where Abraham asked him to travel. Then even after he knew he had found the woman who would become Isaac's wife. He spoke with her family and told them how his prayer had been answered but also said he needed to know if they would let Rebekah go with her to be Isaac's wife. He didn't say they had to because of how his prayer was answered. All involved had their freedom to choose and they did. In verse 58 of Genesis Chapter 24 The mother and brother of Rebekah called her and asked her if she would go and she said she would.

The Jaredites Cross The Ocean

In the Book of Mormon in Ether chapter 6 the Jaredites enter into the eight barges which they had built to begin their journey to the Americas.

The Barges They Built

The properties, dimensions, and construction of the barges is described in Ether 2:16 - 17, 20.

"16 ...And they were small, and they were light upon the water, even like unto the lightness of a fowl upon the water.
17 And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish."
"20 ...make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air..."

The Journey To The Americas

In Ether 2:23 the Lord informed the Jaredites that they were not to take fire with them. For light they have two stones (Ether 3:1,6) per barge that give light because the lord touched them. Final preparations to depart and their departure are recorded in Ether 6:4-5

"4 And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them - and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God.
5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind."

This journey lasted three hundred and forty and four days according to Ether 6:11.

A few thoughts I have had about this journey are as follows. It seems to me they very likely had to practice some form of composting on their vessels to keep the stench of their waste down and because they were in constant motion they may have had little or no opportunity to open the door and discharge waste.

Furthermore along with the food they must have had enough water for the entire journey or a method of converting sea water to drinking water for them and all the animals that were with them.

The barges had no steering so they were completely dependent upon the Lord to get them where they needed to go and keep the eight barges together such that when they landed they were all together. This must have required great faith on their part. And if there were any who lacked faith once the journey had begun, it was too late and they were stuck for the remainder of the journey since they had no way to control where they went.

The light in their barges from the stones prepared by the Lord I view as a symbol of the light of the gospel shining upon them for the entire journey.

There is no record if they knew how long the journey would take and their main indicator would have been if the Lord had told them exactly how much food to take with them. If that is not the case then I doubt they knew how long it would take. In any case the amount of food remaining toward the end of the journey would be dramatically less than when they started after consuming food for over three hundred days. Again this would test their faith that they would arrive at the promised land before their supplies ran out.

They shed tears of joy (Ether 6:12) before the Lord upon setting foot on the promised land.

Three Nephite Disciples Will Not Taste Of Death

In 3 Nephi 28 there is recorded an  extraordinary event which I will portray here.

Jesus, robed in white, is talking with his twelve disciples and asks them "What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?" I will here focus on the three disciples who did not immediately give Jesus their answer and so in verse 4 Jesus repeats the same question. When they still don't reply Jesus tells them he knows their thoughts and tells them what they want and grants it unto them.

They wanted to continue to bring souls to Jesus until his second coming. This would mean they would have to not die. They knew the implications of this. What I suspect they didn't realize is everything else that would come with such a request. The experienced a change that meant they would not taste of death until Christs second coming.

What they were granted that they may not have realized would be granted is that they would no longer suffer pain nor sorrows except for the sorrow for the sins of others. This means no more broken bones for them, no more getting sick, and quite likely no more aging.

Furthermore Jesus told them Satan could no longer tempt them. From that moment on, most, if not all of their mortal test ended. They saw marvelous things in heaven which they could not tell others.

They could not be burned, prisons could not hold them, wild beasts would not hurt them, pits they were thrown into could not hold them, and in fine all manner of ways people could and would use to bind them or punish them would no longer work against them.

Jesus Blesses The Nephite Children

I am going to use visualization and hope that you can see in your mind the great and wondrous events found in the Book of Mormon in the 3rd book of Nephi in the 17th chapter in verses 11 thru 25.

First I will set up the scene based on these verses and others. There were about 2,500 people - men, women, and children (3 Nephi 17:25)  gathered around the temple in Bountiful (3 Nephi 11:1) when our resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, descended from heaven and instructed them and organized His church among them (3 Nephi 11 -16). I imagine it is in the late afternoon or early evening and Jesus tells them to go to their homes to prepare their minds for what he will teach them tomorrow when He comes again. The people wanted Him to stay longer and so he does and He heals their sick.

Now he turns his attention to their children.

Jesus commanded that their little children be brought. So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him. Infants were placed at his feet, looking up at him. Toddlers set down all around him and they sat quietly, reverently, and looked upon Jesus, older siblings sat still too. None spoke, none cried. So powerful must have been the spirit to create such a scene. The parents withdrew. Hundreds of children gathered round Jesus, some likely had just been healed by him.

All the adults knelt, making a second circle around Jesus. Jesus is at the center, encircled by the children, who are encircled by their kneeling parents. Jesus knelt. He prayed unto the Father.

The testimony the people gave of this prayer is as follows:

"16 ... The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;
17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father."

After this pray, Jesus arose. The joy the multitude felt overcame them to the point they were all laying on the ground. Jesus bade them arise and they did. Jesus wept for joy.

Then Jesus took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed for them. I imagine Jesus smiling as he held each infant in his arms and blessed each one. Likewise as he held each toddler, and each little child. So important are the children that he spent individual time with each one. There must have been more than one hundred.

And with joy, Jesus wept again. Tears streaming down his checks and around his smile.

Then he said, "Behold your little ones."

The heavens opened above them and hundreds of angels descended as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.

There are a few ways to visualize this scene, one that I came upon, is that there is one ring of fire encircling all the children with the angels on the inside of that ring and Jesus in the center. The angels ministered unto them by lifting the infants into their arms, as well as the toddlers. They may have given hugs to the toddlers and little children, taken their hands, either walking beside the children hand in hand while teaching them the gospel and/or they could have set them in their laps to teach them or sat facing them moving their hands and arms as they taught them important truths. Resurrected beings (having only received their perfect bodies hours or minutes before arriving) with a white light around them brighter than the noon day sun and a circle of orange fire around this group between them and their parents but a fire that did not block what was happening from view.

And I wonder if some of these were Lehi, Nephi, Sam, Jacob, Joseph, Abinadi, Captain Moroni, both Alma's, Sariah, and others of the Nephites from times past. Wouldn't that have been something for them to be the angels that ministered unto the Nephite children.

I testify that Jesus did truly visit the Nephites after his Resurrection and he and angels ministered unto the Nephites little children. Not every word in this post is true as some of it is what I envisioned this event to be, however, every word of this event as found in 3 Nephi 17:11-25 is true and much of those words are quoted herein. May they help you to understand this scriptural event better.

How Captain Moroni Communicated With The Godhead

I find it very interesting that we don't have any record showing Captain Moroni talking with a member of the Godhead similar to how we see Nephi talk with the Holy Ghost or Enos talking with the Lord. And yet, Captain Moroni got answers from God. He understood them and took appropriate action.

In Alma 43:16 we have the first mention of Moroni being the captain of all the armies of the Nephites and in verse 17 it mentions that he was only 25 years old. The use of the word only too me implies that it was unusual for a 25 year old to be in charge of all the armies of the Nephites.

In Alma 43:19-20 we read that Moroni had prepared his soldiers with breastplates, arm-shields, shields to defend their heads, and wearing thick clothing and that the Lamanite army only wore loincloths. This in itself demonstrates Moroni's ability to think and implement new ways to protect and defend the Nephites. It is my opinion that Moroni received inspiration that he should prepare his soldiers this way. He did this after the last dissenters went to the Lamanites and before the current Lamanite army arrived. The Lamanites who had Nephite dissenters leading them had no idea the Nephite army would be wearing armor and because of this they retreated rather than fight.

Captain Moroni stayed in tune with spiritual matters as well as temporal matters both are demonstrated by the following two scriptures found in the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 43.

"1 And now it came to pass that the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them. And Alma, also, himself, could not rest, and he also went forth."

"23 But it came to pass, as soon as they had departed into the wilderness Moroni sent spies into the wilderness to watch their camp; and Moroni, also, knowing of the prophecies of Alma, sent certain men unto him desiring him that he should inquire of the Lord whither the armies of the Nephites should go to defend themselves against the Lamanites."

Moroni had faith that if he sent someone to ask Alma where the Nephite army should go to defend the Nephites that Alma would give him the answer. Moroni had no doubt he would get an answer and so he did get it. Furthermore, Alma was on a mission to preach the gospel and yet there is no mention of Moroni's men having trouble finding him. Too me this means that Moroni knew where Alma was. He was smart enough to know he might need Alma's help and so made sure he knew where in all the cities of the Nephites Alma was or most likely would be. He didn't have time to make mistakes as the armies of the Lamanites were already on the move to where they would try and attack next.

It is quite likely that strategies he used came from hours of pondering and that because of this and his righteousness many ideas came to him through inspiration. And thus in this occasion he was ready to use a strategy to surround the Lamanites and defeat them.

After they left Moroni did not sit around idly waiting for the Lamanites to come again. Again I believe he was inspired on how to build defenses around the cities and through much pondering based on the above mentioned battle he had a pretty good idea that the Lamanites would retreat after seeing the new defenses and so the second place he figured they would go he prepared better than the first.

Here are segments of Alma chapter 48 that describe some of the new defenses and how the Lamanites reacted.

"4 ...the Nephites had dug up a ridge of earth round about them, which was so high that the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them that they might take effect, neither could they come upon them save it was by their place of entrance."

In verse 6 we read that the Lamanites had a numerous army and had copied the Nephites and were now wearing armor just like the Nephites. And so the Lamanites had thought they would be able to do whatever they wanted.

"7 But behold, to their uttermost astonishment, they (the Nephites) were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni."

It is possible that Moroni had access to records that may have described fortifications and army and tactics but that assumes that such was brought by Lehi and his family when they left Jerusalem. I believe any such record, such as the brass plates and/or the plates of Nephi, simply talked about such things without giving detail about how they were made and the Lamanites were unlikely to know anything about that unless Laman or Lemuel had bothered to tell them which they probably did not.

And so the armies of the Lamanites retreated when they saw how Moroni had fortified the city of Ammonihah. It must not have occurred to the Lamanites that Moroni would expend the same amount if not more effort to prepare all the Nephite cities with the same fortifications and so the Lamanites went to the next city they thought would be easy to take, the city of Noah.

Moroni, in addition to making the fortifications at Noah better than at Ammonihah did something else to help this city. He stationed Lehi to command all the soldiers in the city of Noah. In verse 16 -17 we see the wisdom in this.

"16 And behold, Moroni had appointed Lehi to be chief captain over the men of that city; and it was that same Lehi who fought with the Lamanites in the valley on the east of the river Sidon."

"17 And now behold it came to pass, that when the Lamanites had found that Lehi commanded the city they were again disappointed for they feared Lehi exceedingly..."

This act demoralized the Lamanites and at the same time bolstered the courage of the troops in the city of Noah. Obviously the Lamanites that Moroni allowed to leave with an oath of peace after the battle in the valley near the river Sidon had not only spoken about Moroni but also Lehi. And the Nephites in the city of Noah would surely know that they were commanded by a leader, Lehi, who had fought and defeated a huge Lamanite army. They knew he would do the same again.

All of the above examples to me show and go beyond the words in the scriptures that describe Moroni. These things show that Captain Moroni trusted in the Lord, he knew how to get answers when he needed them, and he never hesitated to use the information once he got it. On numerous occasions Captain Moroni received inspiration and he even sought Alma, the prophet, for help in getting knowledge to help him defend the Nephites. I would be perfectly happy with such means of communication which I do get from time to time, if I could always understand such divine messages.

Pondering The Scriptures

I find it very interesting that some of the greatest revelations come while a person is pondering something that is of interest to them.

One example is Nephi after he listened to his father Lehi tell about his vision of the tree of live. In 1 Nephi 10:17 this is how Nephi described his reaction:

"17 And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God - and the Son of God was the Messiah who should come - I Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children of men."

Here Nephi makes it clear that it is through the power of the Holy Ghost that he can learn these things. Too me, this also means that you, I, and all here on the earth can learn these things through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Nephi has already had some wonderful spiritual experiences up to this point. I wonder if he had any idea what was going to happen next. He doesn't seem surprised at the next events or if he was surprised he simply didn't write that he was. In 1 Nephi 11:1-3 we read:

"1 For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot.
2 And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou?
3 And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw."

Did Nephi have any idea that he would see and talk with the Holy Ghost? I suspect he did not. In any case he actually saw and learned more than his father Lehi since there is no record of the Holy Ghost appearing to Lehi nor as far as I know to anyone else.

From this and other scriptural accounts I have learned that one of the keys to receiving revelations from God, or to put it in other words, one way to receive marvelous messages is to ponder upon something that is important to you.

I wonder how long and how intense were the desires of Nephi. I have pondered many things related to the gospel and to Jesus and yet have not had so wondrous an experience. I know that such things can happen to me but don't expect them to. In fact I would be quite satisfied to simply understand answers to my prayers more often even if those answers were simple impressions. But, since such simple ways of answering my prayers don't come this drives me forward to learn more about how to get clearer communications coming from the Godhead to me.

Mighty Change In Your Heart

I enjoy very much the words of Alma the younger found in the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 5. I've often read and pondered upon his words. Here I will share some of my favorite versus from this chapter.

First, verse 14:

"14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"

Have you spiritually been born of God? This question is strongly linked to another question in this verse. Have you experienced this mighty change in your hearts? Every person who is spiritually born of God will experience a mighty change of heart. The change is so great that this person will have no more desire to do evil but to only do good continually.

It does not mean the person is perfect and will never make mistakes. It doesn't even mean that others observing their actions won't see actions that appear to be evil in nature.

I will use an example from my imperfect life to illustrate this point. I am divorced. My children's mom asks me for favors that I am not comfortable with because there are certain things about her and me that have not changed. One of those is that when we are together we end up arguing about one thing or another. It isn't that I want to argue but I have to say something when she tries to do something that I don't agree with. I am not trying to hurt her, not to do evil to her, although I quite likely am, and to an observer some of my decisions may seem cruel, vengeful, and evil. So, I tend to avoid talking with her and interacting with her because I believe it is best to avoid arguments.

One specific example is she asked if she could come over to my house on the 25th of December so that she can chat with our oldest son Willem via Skype. She says she does not have Internet at her place. I told her no because I know there will be arguments and/or she will say things about a lack of cleanliness in my house and try to engage me in conversations of how to raise our children. I am past wanting to hear her comments about things she does not approve of. In all my experience nothing I ever did was good enough for her. Our views on raising our children are diametrically different. And so I told her no because our children, and myself, and her don't need all of those problems. I do not deny her this chance out of malice nor with the intent to deprive her of the opportunity of talking with Willem. We only get two per year during his two year mission. People who don't know the entire situation might see me as being mean. I even suggested to her that she could go to McDonalds or somewhere else where free WiFi is available and use her lap top.

Because I know I have no desire to do evil to her or to anyone else for that matter that I have been born of God and have experienced a mighty change of heart.

The question in the middle of this verse is very interesting. Alma asks, Have ye received his image in your countenances? I believe that there are those that are observant enough that they can tell the difference between someone who has been born of God and those that have not. I am not one of those people, at least not that I know of. I have read stories and heard about people who said they could tell their was something different about a certain person. I believe what they notice is the image of God in the countenance of the person they observe to be different in a good way. I believe I have this countenance and because I do have it and have had it for a long time this is the reason people often remember my name when I don't remember them and this is also the reason I can easily befriend almost any child. The children can tell, always.

Then with verse 26 Alma asks another interesting question.

"26 And now behold, I say unto you my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"

He asks can you feel this now. I think this question refers not only to the song of redeeming love but also about the change of heart. This tells me that this change of heart should remain with us always and also that this change of heart can be lost and so we must carefully ensure that we never lose this change of heart.

The Book of Enos in the Book of Mormon (Perfect Communication With Godhead)

In the Book of Mormon is found in the Book of Enos the powerful example of Enos communicating with Jesus Christ. I have studied a lot over the past few months. This week in Pathway the reading assignment included the Book of Enos. Here are things I have understood from Enos during this time and including this week.

I am particularly interested in Enos' experience because I am working to improve my understanding of answers to my prayers and other messages from the Godhead. While I don't expect to have an experience like Enos I also don't rule out the possibility.

I will start with Enos 1:1-4

"1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man - for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord - and blessed be the name of my God for it -
2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.
3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forest; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.
4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplications for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens."

Among the things I learn from this is that Enos had a good father who taught him about Jesus Christ. At this time he was reflecting upon things his father had taught him and his sins. Enos felt a great weight because of his sins. It seems to me that these sins were not of the nature of him persecuting the righteous but more of the kind that kept him from a joy he earnestly desired and lacked. His sins were unsettling him as his mind dwelled upon them and this had become so great that he felt a need to do something about them.

Remembering what he was taught he kneeled down and prayed. It is here that I visualize his actions and as I do I see a man praying as the sun goes over him and sets. I fail to see him pause for anything. This tells me that in addition to praying he was very likely fasting.

The next verse becomes very interesting.

"5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed."

What interests me so much is how Enos progressed from his sinful state to be blessed to hear Jesus speaking to him. I wish we had the words of his prayer. In any case I believe that his fasting helped to prepare him.

As I read more I see that Enos had a conversation with Jesus.

"6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?
8 And he said unto me: Because of they faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. ..."

There is much more to be learned by studying his various conversations with Jesus. But I will end now with this one which clarifies how the above communication took place.

"10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold the voice of the Lord came into my mind again..."

Here we learn that Enos was hearing Jesus speak to him in his mind. I am convinced this was not him having a conversation with himself as if he were two people as sometimes people do. Enos in fact conversed with Jesus, hearing his voice in his head. I seek to understand how much faith played a role in this and how much if any fasting did and anything else that brought him to this pivital moment in his life. I believe that understanding this could improve my understanding of communications from the Godhead.

What else do you think helped Enos to have the experiences he had?

Purpose Of This Blog

The purpose of this blog is to learn truths about God, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, the gospel, and the things written in the scriptures. I make it public to share what I learn with others and to include others of similar beliefs so that they can learn and contribute with me.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Often referred to as Mormons or LDS. I accept the Bible (I use the King James Version), the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as scriptures and will quote from them. I also accept the words of latter-day prophets, apostles, and other general authorities as containing the word of God to us in our day. I know that there are other sources of truth which include other ancient records and personal revelation that is available.

I have the gift of the Holy Ghost and have years of practice discerning when He is confirming truths to me. I always feel such confirmation when reading or listening to the above mentioned scriptures. Truths that are shared here that come from other sources the Holy Ghost will also confirm to me. This then will be my guide as I post to this blog.

There are those who do not share my beliefs and while I will do my best to respect the beliefs of others I will not have my blog posts here become a place of contention nor allow comments that can destroy the beliefs of others. As such if I feel a contribution impedes my efforts to learn and share I will delete it. I will delete contributions that contain links. This is a place to share what you know and have learned not what others have placed on the Internet. Nor is it a place for self promotion.

If you are sharing specific scriptures please site the book, chapter, and verse and the source where it came from. If any who read it or want to confirm what is there they can search the web. No link should be posted.

Here are some examples of comments that I will delete:

If you comment that Jesus Christ was not the son of God I will delete that. This is not the place to debate this. I know he is the son of God. Here on these posts I intend to discuss his attributes and get to know Him better.

If you say that God does not exist I will delete that comment. This is not the place to discuss that. I know that He does exist.

Comments that put down the Church I am a member of, or its doctrines and policies, or the latter-day prophets will be deleted. This is not the place for those disaffected from the Church to post your anger or frustrations. I have learned for myself that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true and was restored by God through the prophet Joseph Smith.

In this blog I intend to post questions about doctrine, principles, and possibly policies of the Church. This is not because I am trying to disprove any of them but because I am seeking to understand them better and at the time I post them I do not understand them to my satisfaction.

I welcome all seekers of truth to join me here as we learn together the mysteries of God.