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Perfect! (Except I don't know whether Gideon was a captain of the guard or just some dude sick of the king - the text never said - to my recollection.)

Mosiah 22 Better to escape captivity by peaceful means than by violence. Mosiah 23 Now we go back in time to when Alma fled from King Noah (flashback in the Limhi flashback). v1: The Lord leads Alma and his people away from King Noah (my guess is because Noah would have killed them). But (v25+) not from the Lamanites (my guess is because the Lamanites only wanted to enslave them, and the Lord wished to try the faith of Alma and his people - v21). v9+: Repentance, even if "sore", is worth it. As soon as you become aware of sin, repent. v9-13: A wicked leader causes a great deal of harm. Choose leaders wisely. v13: "...trust no man to be a king over you." Perhaps another reason to allow the Lamanite bondage - to hammer home the fact that they don't want a king / dictator. v14-19: It seems that a righteous people need only spiritual leadership. v21-22: Yes, sometimes the Lord will cause or allow trials specifically to test your patience and faith (and perhaps other virtues). So do as v22 counsels whenever you find yourself tested. (also v27+) v23-24: Trials can also increase faith. v36+: Never trust the word of someone who says they're going to do the opposite of what they've always done... v39: Traitors make good (by which I mean awful) dictators.

They got together and had a son?

Mosiah 19 Lots of this chapter demonstrates the tendencies of people (individuals and groups). Mosiah 20 In chapter 19, Noah and his people can't be bothered to watch or be prepared for the Lamanites (too busy being wicked, I guess). In this chapter, Limhi and his people are the opposite. I think this lesson scales from an individual level through family, community, and up to nation. And I think it scales across types of threats: attacking army, enslaving nation, wicked government, enslaving ideas, spiritual attack, etc. The lesson seems all too relevant to our modern world. The gospel of Jesus Christ really is the solution to all problems. Mosiah 21 The consequences of wickedness (yours and others') can follow long after repentance. v6+: We see repeatedly in the Book of Mormon that the Lord will not support those who start the war - even if it's to escape from an unjust captivity or burden. The only exception would be if the Lord is the one to say "go to war" (though I'm not sure we ever see that here - the Lord always leads the captives away). v13+: There is no escape from the requirement to be humble. Better to choose it and rely on the Lord than to have it drilled into you... v33-34: It seems they did have a formal idea of a church - that they had to be baptized into it and organized under authority. v36: In a way, this should be all our study - to deliver ourselves from Satan's bondage. Mormon seems to toggle back and forth between direct quotes from the plates he's abridging, his own narrative summation of those plates, and his own commentary on the spiritual lessons to be gleaned. If you can remember that what you're reading is Mormon's abridgement, that can help you to spot where he switches between the three. FWIW.

Short and to the point.

You know you haven't had breakfast yet when you see bacon everywhere...

Welcome to Third Hour, @misfit!

Well, you know how those crazy Mormons can party into the wee hours....

Mosiah 16 v3: A lifetime of behavior turns you into a type of person. The notion of deathbed (or post-mortal) repentance is (in almost every case) denying reality. So spend your lifetime becoming a better type of person. v6: "...speaking of things to come as though they had already come..." - You can do this when the "things" are promises of God - God never fails to deliver. Mosiah 17 v11-12: Why mobs are such an awful thing. Why the people with whom you associate closely are so important. Why you should love God above all and not fear men... v15-19: Neither the believers nor the wicked get away unscathed (so to speak). Clearly, "unscathed" isn't critical to God's plan for anyone. Mosiah 18 v3: We should remember that just because a group of people (nation, culture, etc.) seem like they wouldn't be receptive to the word of God, doesn't mean there aren't individuals within that group who would be receptive. v8-10, v13: Essentially the baptismal covenant. It's always seemed strange to me that there aren't any formal "you covenant to do X and God promises y" words as part of baptism. v19-20: Good advice for any gospel teacher. v21+: Good counsel to any follower of Christ.

When I was in my 20s and working my first real job and "rich", I thought it would be cool (or sophisticated or something) to get a fountain pen. (I was in Moscow at the time and got the fountain pen in Vienna - a Waterman.) I enjoyed it, but something went wrong with it, and this being the stone age, I put it in the box and forgot about it until around October of 2015 when YouTube began, for reasons I could not imagine1, "suggesting" that I watch fountain pen review videos. They showed up over and over and over. And one day I said, "How does one yammer on for 20 minutes about a fountain pen?" So I watched the video. When it was over, I watched about a billion others, investigated pen and ink prices, looked for paper, and in January of 2016 ordered a fountain pen and a bunch of ink. The pen arrived in early February and I don't think I had written more than two sentences with it before I ordered a second, identical one (so I could fill it with a different color of ink). It's possible I went a little crazy after that. Eventually the pen phase calmed down and I entered my ink and paper phase. The paper phase is mostly settled (though they are still making new papers now and then), but I don't think the ink phase will ever end - love me some variety! And yes, eventually, I figured out what was wrong with my first pen, fixed it, and still have it today. 1Seriously, I didn't use the internet for investigating writing implements - I'd long since settled on the UNIBall Deluxe Micro (rollerball) and wasn't about to be swayed...

Litter G:

Litter G:

Mosiah 14 Well, I don't think this one really needs any comments beyond: follow Christ, repent, be grateful for the unspeakable gift he is. Mosiah 15 v5: We, too, must learn to subject our flesh to our spirit and to God. v9+: heed the prophets. v14-17: We too, upon conversion, are called to "publish peace". v26: Do not willfully rebel!

Thank heaven!

The music is beautiful. Too bad the lyrics aren't. I can't believe a bishop allowed the song to be sung - you'd think he would read all the lyrics before hand...

Hooray! It's @person0! I hope you'll stick around for a while. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's missed your contributions.

Yes, but I was very surprised that he picked it up in the monitor - where he's watched videos before - and he's always ignored reflections in the mirror. I had one cat that would admire herself in the mirror. All the others ignored reflections, but seemed to understand - like if I moved my hand to touch them, they would look back and up at my hand after seeing the hand move in the mirror. Anywho, I was proud of my little boy for figuring out that he was seeing out the window in reflection.

The Bayer Process...

Klaw was lying here between me and the keyboard, facing toward the monitors. The window is behind me. From some angles, you can clearly see outside via the reflection in the monitors. Someone jogged past my house. Klaw saw it in the monitor and immediately got up and looked over my shoulder out the window! I'm a proud Meowmy.

See here for the inspiration...

Mosiah 12 I think we see two principles in this story (Abinadi's teachings): First, the Lord will not destroy you without giving you ample time to repent. (So, repent early and often.) Second, the Lord will send a prophet even if He knows that only one person (Alma, in this case) will be converted by the prophet's words. (I think even without the first principle, the Lord would have sent Abinadi just for Alma.) To extend this: when needed, the Lord will do things just for you; and what the Lord does for other reasons can also be for you. (And to take it even further, if you will open your heart to the Spirit, the Spirit can enable you to see or hear or learn things that your "natural man" would never learn, regardless of whatever other reasons may exist for the things you see or hear.) v9-12: It seems to me these people are taking glee in the thought of Abinadi being punished by the king. Lesson in reverse: even if you have to be part of bringing someone to true justice, don't take glee in the thought of their destruction. It's just a sad thing all around. v15: Again with pride in one's own invincibility. Don't make this mistake. "There but for the grace of God..." Mosiah 13 v10 & v31: The Lord often works by "types and shadows". We would do well to learn to recognize them and understand their meanings. v32: You must also not harden your heart. I take this to mean you must be humble, willing to accept correction. v29: "...a very strict law..." Funny story (probably told it before, but why not again). When my brothers and I were teenagers, we lived in upstate New York and there was one shower / tub in the house. Therefore, to get ready for school (and Dad for work) required whoever was first to start awfully early in the morning. This led to squabbling over who had to get up first. So Mom and Dad created a rotating schedule so we'd take turns being the first to get up. They called this the "Law of Moses Shower Schedule". It was printed and hung on the bulletin board next to the phone in the kitchen. One summer we drove to Utah to see family and Mom and Dad got a single adult from the ward to house and pet sit. Said single adult had a non-member friend over for dinner one night. This friend looked around the kitchen while dinner was being prepared and came across the "Law of Moses Shower Schedule". Friend then interrogated the single adult as to what bizarre things Mormons did in the shower. Meanwhile, the bird feeder I installed on Friday has sprouted birds as of this morning! Klaw has been enjoying watching the feathery show out the window! Hooray. Hopefully no more, "Stop typing, Meowmy!" during scripture study... But apparently I need to clean the windows...

He's interpreting it in light of the restored gospel, which gives added meaning to the various symbols and characters. As I recall, E. Bednar is suggesting this was a cultural norm - that even the original (presumably wealthy) invitees would have been given such attire.

This recent General Conference talk may interest you: Put On Thy Strength, O Zion by Elder Bednar.