Seanette

Read this on 7/29. Alma 19 – The queen summons Ammon. The king is receiving the light of God. King Lamoni revives and testifies that he has seen the Redeemer. All the king’s household, including Ammon, sink to the earth. Abish, a servant woman who was taught the Gospel by her father, assembles the people, who engage in a heated debate about the situation. A man who tries to attack Ammon is struck dead (fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to Mosiah to preserve his sons). The queen is revived and bears her testimony. She revives the king, who begins teaching the Gospel. Some believe, some refuse to. Ammon and the rest of the royal household rise. Many are baptized and the Church is established. Alma 20 – The Lord sends Ammon to Middoni to free his brothers from prison. King Lamoni volunteers to go with him, since he and the king of Middoni are friendly and he wants to help persuade his friend to release Ammon’s brothers. Ammon accepts. They encounter King Lamoni’s father on the way, and King Lamoni explains recent events, including his absence from a family gathering. King Lamoni’s father orders him to kill Ammon and return home with his father, which he refuses to do. The king’s father draws his sword to attack his son and Ammon intervenes. The senior king’s attack on Ammon is unsuccessful and puts Ammon at the advantage, which he uses to compel the senior king to grant the release of Ammon’s brothers and give King Lamoni full autonomy as a ruler. Ammon’s brothers are freed. Alma 21 – Aaron goes to the land of Jerusalem. The Amalekites and Amulonites convince the Lamanites to further harden their hearts . Aaron preaches in the synagogues (which are after the order of Nehor), is rejected, and leaves. He reunites with his brothers and they go to Middoni, where they are imprisoned until they are delivered by Ammon and King Lamoni. They resume preaching and make converts. King Lamoni has synagogues built and declares religious freedom in his land. Ammon preaches to a receptive and zealous people. Alma 22 – Aaron and his brothers go from Middoni to the land of Nephi, where King Lamoni’s father rules. The older king requests that they teach him the Gospel, which they do. Similarly to his son, the king falls to the ground. His queen, believing the missionaries attacked the king, wants to have them killed. The king is revived and teaches his household, who convert. The king has Aaron and his brothers preach to the gathered multitude. There is discussion of territorial division between Nephites and Lamanites. Alma 23 – The king proclaims religious freedom and orders that the missionaries be received and not harmed. Aaron and his brothers travel, preach, and make converts in seven area. The converts take the name of Anti-Nephi-Lehies (hereafter ANLs), and are freed from the curse on the Lamanites. The Amalekites and Amulonites reject the Gospel. Alma 24 – The Amalekites and Amulonites stir the Lamanites up to anger against the ANLs. The king dies, and the new king takes the name Anti-Nephi-Lehi. The ANLs have covenanted not to take up arms to fight, and bury their weapons. Many of them are slain by the Lamanites, but a greater number of Lamanites convert. Section 77 – Explanation of various items mentioned in the book of Revelation. Section 78 – Storehouses are to be established for the poor. The Church is to be independent. The faithful have many blessings waiting for them. Section 79 – Jared Carter is called to preach by the Comforter (Holy Ghost). Section 80 – Stephen Burnette and Eden Smith are called to preach wherever their judgment leads them to go. Moses 7 – Enoch teaches, establishes the City of Zion, and is shown the future of the world. Both God and Enoch grieve over the wicked. Zion is taken up. Moses 8 – Methuselah prophesies, as does Noah. Noah and his sons (and presumably their wives) are the only righteous on the earth.

Read this on 7/28. Alma 13 – Alma resumes narrating. High priests are chosen for good works and exceeding faith, and are foreordained to their role. Alma discusses the Melchizedek Priesthood. Alma tells the people to repent and that the day of salvation is coming near. More is said that is not recorded. Alma 14 – Some believe, repent, and search the Scriptures. The majority are angry and seek to destroy A&A. They are bound and tried. Zeezrom repents and pleads to be allowed to substitute for A&A in their punishment. He is persecuted for this. A&A are beaten, taunted, and forced to watch as believers and Scriptures are burned. The Spirit tells Alma not to intervene, since the victims of this will be rewarded for their faith and the deeds being committed will witness against the offenders. A&A are imprisoned, where they are deprived of food, water, and clothing. They break the cords binding them, and the prison collapses, killing their tormentors. The people flee from A&A. Alma 15 – A&A go to Sidom and establish the Church there. They find those believers who were driven out of Ammonihah for their faith. Zeezrom is at Sidom, ill with a burning fever from guilt. He asks for A&A, who go to him. When he professes faith, they heal him. Zeezrom is baptized and begins preaching the Gospel. The people of Ammonihah are of the profession of Nehor and do not believe in repentance. A&A go to Zarahemla. Alma 16 – Lamanites destroy the people of Ammonihah. Zoram asks Alma for the Lord’s will regarding the rescue of captives taken into the wilderness. The Lord tells them what the Lamanites will do and gives instructions. He will deliver the captives. Zoram obeys the Lord’s instructions and all captives are recovered. Ammonihah becomes known as the Desolation of Nehors. A&A preach the Gospel, along with many others. The Nephites are temporally equal and have peace. Preachers teach of righteousness and Christ’s coming ministry to the Nephites. Alma 17 – Alma is reunited with the sons of Mosiah, who are still faithful after fourteen years as missionaries to the Lamanites. The sons of Mosiah recount their journeys: they go their separate ways to preach. The Lamanites are wild, indolent, and idolatrous, delighting in murder and robbery. Ammon goes to Ishmael and is taken captive. King Lamoni offers one of his daughters to Ammon, who declines and asks to be a servant of the king. His request is granted. He saves the king’s flocks from scattering and theft at the waters of Sebus, slaying the would-be thieves in the process. Alma 18 – King Lamoni supposes Ammon to be the Great Spirit (the Lamanite term for God). He summons Ammon, who is inspired to know the king’s thoughts. He teaches the king the true Gospel. The king believes, and falls to the ground as if dead. He remains in this condition for two days and two nights. Section 73 – The elders are to continue to preach, while Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon are to complete the translation of the Bible. Section 74 – Explanation of 1 Corinthians 7:14 – believers should not marry unbelievers who are unwilling to have children raised in the Gospel. Little children are sanctified by the Atonement. Section 75 – Faithful elders who preach the Gospel will gain eternal life. We are instructed to pray for the Comforter, which teaches all things. The elders will judge those who reject their message. The Church is to help provide for the families of missionaries (in this time period, missionaries were generally men with wives and children). Section 76 – Meditation on John 5:29 leads to a vision of the degrees of glory. The mysteries of the kingdom will be revealed to the faithful. All shall come forth in one of two resurrections – the resurrection of the just or the resurrection of the unjust (excellent discussion of this in the book Biblical Mormonism, by Richard Hopkins, who explains the four possible outcomes of the two judgments corresponding to the four possible destinations for the spirit after Judgment). Inhabitants of many worlds are begotten children unto the Father through the Atonement of Christ. The respective glories and the sons of perdition are explained. All the faithful may see this vision. Moses 5 – Adam and Eve have children and Adam obediently offers sacrifices. The Gospel is preached from the beginning, even though murder and wickedness spread. Cain loves Satan more than God, and we have the incident of the offerings, in which Abel follows the Lord’s instructions to offer the firstling of his flock, while Cain decides that he will choose what to offer and offers produce. The offering made in obedience is accepted, the offering made in defiance of the Lord’s instructions regarding an acceptable offering is rejected. Cain, angry and rebellious, becomes Perdition. He marries a niece who shares his love for Satan over God. Cain becomes Master Mahan and kills Abel. He is driven forth to become an outcast. God sets a mark on him to keep him from being killed. Several generations later, his descendant Lamech in turn becomes Master Mahan, and kills Irad for revealing the secret given to Cain by Satan. Lamech’s wives denounce him. Moses 6 – Adam and his posterity are literate, having a pure and undefiled language, and keep a book of remembrance. The righteous among Adam’s posterity preach repentance. God calls Enoch as prophet and seer. Enoch preaches the Gospel. The ordinance of baptism has been given from Adam onward.

Read this on 7/28. Alma 7 – Alma tells of Christ’s coming, not very far in the future. He was told by the Spirit to cry repentance. He describes Christ’s birth, mortal ministry, and Atonement. The repentant who are baptized and keep the commandments gain eternal life. Nothing unclean can be received in the kingdom of God. We are to have faith, hope, and charity. We are to be humble, patient, prayerful, and diligent in keeping the commandments. Alma 8 – Alma goes home to Zarahemla for a time, then travels to Melek, where he preaches and baptizes. He goes to Ammonihah, where he is rejected. He departs for the city of Aaron. An angel appears, comforts him, and commands him to return to Ammonihah to cry repentance. He obeys. He approaches Amulek for a meal. Amulek says an angel told him Alma was on his way and to receive him, which Amulek does. Alma stays with Amulek for a time, as the people grow more wicked. Alma and Amulek (hereafter A&A) preach, and efforts to imprison or kill them fail. Alma 9 – The people of Ammonihah are stubborn and stiff-necked. Alma commands repentance, and reviews Lehi’s ministry. The Lamanites will fare better than the people of Ammonihah if they do not repent, since the Lamanites act in ignorance due to the traditions of their fathers. The Nephites will be destroyed by the Lamanites for rebellion against God. The Lord sends prophets to convince people to repent and escape destruction. Alma speaks of the coming of Christ, who will redeem the faithful. The people are angry and try unsuccessfully to imprison him. Alma 10 – Amulek is now speaking. He tells of his ancestry, and says that he knew the ways of God but would not know (meaning he rebelled against the knowledge he had of God). He tells of the angel who commanded him to minister to Alma. Local lawyers, led by Zeezrom, seek to trap A&A with words, not knowing that Amulek is given knowledge of their plan by inspiration. Amulek confronts them with his knowledge of their scheming. The prayers of the righteous save the people from destruction. Unrighteous lawyers and judges (the government of that society) lead the people into destruction. Alma 11 – The Nephite monetary system and the way judges are paid is detailed. The judges stir up contention to make more work for themselves, thus increasing their income. Zeezrom tries to bribe Amulek to deny God. Amulek refuses, and tells Zeezrom he knows there was no intent to pay up even if Amulek had accepted the offer. As Amulek and Zeezrom converse, Zeezrom tries to twist Amulek’s words to turn public opinion against him. Amulek discusses Christ’s coming and Resurrection, and the resurrection of all. Alma 12 – Alma tells Zeezrom his plan was inspired by Satan. Zeezrom begins sincere inquiry. Only the faithful can understand the mysteries of God. Alma speaks of Judgment. Antionah questions the resurrection, citing Adam and Eve having been barred from access to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Alma explains about temporal death and the plan of redemption. He calls for repentance. Section 69 – John Whitmer is to travel with Oliver Cowdery, who is carrying Church funds and Scriptures that are to be printed. He is to continue his duties as Church historian and to preach. Section 70 – Stewards are appointed to publish revelations (this was to be the Book of Commandments). Appointed stewards are worthy of their hire, meaning they are to be provided for by the Church for their labors. The Saints are to be temporally equal. Section 71 – Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon are to go forth and preach. Enemies of the Church shall be confounded. Section 72 – Discussion of the appointment and duties of bishops. Moses 3 – Spiritual Creation preceded the physical Creation. The Garden of Eden is set up, Adam and Eve are married and placed there. God explains to them about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Moses 4 – Satan’s rebellion and fall are described. Satan uses a mixture of truth and lies to beguile Eve, and she eats of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam chooses to do likewise so that he can stay with Eve and obey the command to multiply and replenish the earth. They try to hide from God, who calls them to account for their actions. Adam passes responsibility to Eve, who passes it to the serpent (Satan). Satan is cursed with enmity between him and the seed of the woman (referring to Christ), with description of the respective damage each will do to the other. Eve is told of the suffering of childbirth and Adam is given authority over her. The earth is cursed, and Adam must toil to support his family. They are given coats of skins and cast out of the Garden. A guard is placed at the Tree of Life to keep them from partaking of it and living forever in sin.

The good news is that, at this typing on 8/5, I am current on the reading and note-taking (pen and spiral notebook), I’m just way behind on typing up and posting notes. After my laptop’s power cord stopped working on the 17th (and got fixed that day. Many thanks to a kind and skilled DH who knows how to do these things!), I hit another motivation bog-down, so actually did this reading on the 27th. Alma 1 – Nehor introduces priestcraft and teaches eternal life for all, regardless of what they do. Gideon (who helped deliver the people of Limhi from bondage, and is now an old man) preaches correct doctrine to Nehor, who responds by killing him. Nehor is taken to Alma for judgment and is sentenced to death for this murder. He acknowledges that he taught falsehood and is executed. Followers of Nehor begin to persecute the Church. Pride (here we go again) leads to contention. Many apostatize or are excommunicated for their actions. The Church gets its act together and achieves unity. The needy are cared for and the Church prospers. Those outside the Church do not experience this prosperity. Alma 2 – Amlici, who is a follower of Nehor, seeks to become king. The majority of the people reject him, but he does have a group of followers who make him king anyway, and choose to become Amlicites (rather than be Nephites). The Amlicites seek war with the Nephites and join with the Lamanites. In battle, Alma kills Amlici, and the Nephites are victorious. Alma 3 – In fulfillment of prophecy, the Amlicites mark themselves with paint on their faces as the Lamanites do, but do not follow the Lamanite custom of shaving their heads. There is discussion of the curse on the Lamanites, placed to discourage the Nephites from intermarrying with them. All who are cursed bring condemnation upon themselves by their actions. The Lamanites again attack the Nephites, but are unsuccessful. Alma 4 – Many are brought to remembrance of God by affliction and join the Church. Pride surfaces again (I’ve lost count of the number of times this happens in the Book of Mormon!), as do related iniquities, causing a stumbling-block to unbelievers. Alma chooses to devote himself to ministry and Nephihah is chosen as chief judge. Alma 5 – Alma begins preaching, and reviews his father’s activities as leader of the Church. He preaches of conversion and spiritual rebirth, and calls his listeners to repentance and humility. The Lord invites all to come to Him. Good works come from those who hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow Him, while evil works come from those who follow the devil. Alma bears testimony of revelation from the Holy Spirit and speaks of Christ’s coming. He calls for those who would follow Christ to come out from among the wicked and receive an inheritance at Christ’s right hand. Alma 6 – Alma ordains priests and elders. The repentant are baptized, while Church members who are prideful and unrepentant are excommunicated. Alma goes to the valley of Gideon to preach. Section 65 – The keys of God’s kingdom are committed to man on earth. The Gospel will fill the earth. The kingdom of heaven will join the kingdom of God on earth in the Millennium. Section 66 – The everlasting covenant is the fulness of the Gospel. Faithful service brings eternal life. Section 67 – The Lord hears prayers. In response to the elders quibbling about the language of the revelations that have been given, the Lord challenges the wisest among them to duplicate the least of those revelations given via the Prophet Joseph Smith. We are to continue in patience until we are perfected. Section 68 – Words of the elders when moved upon by the Holy Ghost are Scripture. The Lord is with His servants and will stand by them. Selection of bishops is discussed. Parents are to teach the Gospel to their children. We are to keep the Sabbath and not be idle or covetous of worldly things. Moses 1 – God appears to the transfigured Moses. Moses has his confrontation with Satan, noting that he can interact with Satan in his natural state without being transfigured. Satan is banished by the power of God. Mention is made that this incident will not be known among the children of men because of wickedness. Moses is shown other inhabited worlds God created and is told he will only be given further information about this world. God’s work and glory is to bring forth the immortality and eternal life of man. Moses is told that many of his words will be removed from his writings, and will be restored by one like him. Moses 2 – Creation.

I think you did the conversion backward.

As a survivor of sexual abuse by a pedophile relative (my now-deceased father), I'm grateful to you for valuing the victims and giving them/us loyalty and support instead of telling the kids to deal with it while falling all over yourself to keep from hurting the offender's feelings by actually calling evil what it is.

Thanks, Pam. I was just going to urge everyone who's interested to join the fun. :)

I'd worry about dust blowing all over white stuff. How do you prevent that? (Just curiosity. I live in the middle of a good-size city, and a clothesline is not an option.)

I don't recommend mixing loads, unless you're CERTAIN that there's nothing in there that's going to bleed color all over white stuff. Slightly side note: last time I bought more garments, I said something to the sister helping me about how hard a time I have with keeping them as white as they should be. One useful piece of advice was to NOT use the high setting on the dryer. Use a lower setting for synthetics. Seems to be working.

She? does seem to enjoy doing that. Seriously, I probably did have multiple tabs open, but really can't figure out how scrolling to the quick-reply for the smoking thread had me posting said reply in another tab.

Dunno if my checking account will cooperate. Nice fresh-baked brownies, perhaps?

Dravin, you're right, and I have NO clue how that post got mislocated! Any chance some kind and wonderful and wise and brilliant moderator could move it for me? (Did I lay it on thick enough, or is bribery called for? )

Thought you guys were "all in one accord".

Which is also logically inconsistent if what is needed for salvation is to declare acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior, as I was taught.Considering that I hit teachings of this sort in several evangelical churches (including both Assemblies of God and Baptist) in the same geographical area and in quite a bit of evangelical writing, I can't quite convince myself that yours is really the majority view, given that the majority of what I've heard from the evangelical POV contradicts your statement. It would also help if evangelical authors and preachers did not willfully misrepresent LDS teachings on grace (yes, we recognize that we can't be saved without it. We do believe obedience to the best of our ability is needed, but do not deny the necessity of grace, as so many evangelical anti-Mormon ministries persist in falsely stating we do).

Smarter, I got your message, and you should have the file by e-mail by now.

Workers are always right there if you need them. MIL has sometimes commented they can be TOO helpful for her, but that hasn't been an issue for me.

I'm doing the Perla de Gran Precio myself (with dictionary!), in the challenge reading. Considering that a toddler in a Spanish-speaking family probably has as good a grip on the language as I do , I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but do seem to be getting the gist of the material.I had an established pattern before the current challenge of a chapter a day each in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants (this year), and continued that. The challenge reading is a separate study. I don't always follow footnotes, just if something strikes me as worth pursuing.

And once again, you're claiming as a standard evangelical position things that do not match what I was taught in evangelical churches. What is claimed to be the official position (especially among anti-Mormon writers who claim to be experts on "correct" evangelical doctrine) is that once you've said those magic words, what you do doesn't matter, and that actually trying to do good somehow "rejects" or "negates" Christ's sacrifice. What I was taught is that obedience and trying to do good constitutes trying to save oneself. (Incidentally, how do you reconcile the "always saved" POV with the claim that someone who has said those magic words, then becomes LDS, loses said "salvation"?)

I spent some time in the evangelical sector myself. To me, it just doesn't make sense that Jesus gave us commands (see the Sermon on the Mount, among other examples) if obedience were unimportant. I just don't see Him going to the trouble of giving commandments just to hear Himself talk. If obedience and how we live were really unimportant, then someone like a serial murderer, after spending his life wallowing in evil, could say the right magic words (aka the "Sinner's Prayer") while in the execution chamber, and be whisked up to heaven, while someone who'd never heard of Christ but lived a good, moral life devoted to selfless service of others gets tortured for eternity for not having said those magic words.

Looks like we're messaging past each other . Anyone who wants the Excel file, either see the file area on Watchmen on the Tower (might require a free signup) or PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send it. I can also convert the file to other formats if you need that.

Can't see how to attach a file in e-mail via the board. If you're the Pam I know on Facebook, I'll see if I can send it by FB. Update: couldn't find a way to do it on FB, either. I do have it uploaded to Watchmen on the Tower. Alternately, see your private messages for my e-mail address, and when I have yours, I'll e-mail it that way.

I've got an Excel spreadsheet put together. Usually, it's about 6-7 chapters/day, subject to trying to break at the ends of books if I could do it. I wanted to get that posted now, the challenge to start 8/10 (one week from tomorrow), so fine-tuning can happen. Pam, how do I get that out to interested people?

Well, starting in late September, I believe there's a challenge being discussed to do the Old Testament in 100 days (which would be about 9 chapters/day).

I've heard less plausible theories. There is no doubt in my mind God has a sense of humor. Seen a platypus lately?