zil2

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.

(I was teasing - laboratory in US English (LABruhtory), but laboratory in British English (luhBORatree.) I once heard Patrick Stewart speaking the way he did growing up - whatever language it was, it sure wasn't English! Could not understand a single syllable.

Brits are always stressing the wrong things......

And just to clarify, I wasn't accusing @Just_A_Guy of trying to sound impressive, though, he often sounds impressive. I wasn't even accusing you of trying to sound like a lawyer (though in hindsight, I should have!) - it's just that JAG occasionally uses big, rarely-used words. Think of it as a compliment in the form of a poorly executed joke.

Just teasing, dude, just teasing. Though when I went to the dictionary to confirm I knew what this word meant, the definition was, and I quote: "exculpatory" - and google's answer was "Did you mean: define exculpatory" Though to be honest, I think disculpatory fits better - even if Firefox can't figure out that it's a word! :/

Next week's thread (for Monday, aka tomorrow for @askandanswer) is here:

Are you trying to be @Just_A_Guy now!? Disculpatory. :SMH:

Please see the Book of Mormon Reading Group thread for details (and discussion of 1 Nephi 1 - 5). Our goal is to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. I'll make a new post before each Monday so that it's ready to go - weeks go from Monday to Sunday for our purposes. This week's schedule: Oct 16 Mosiah 15 Monday Oct 17 Mosiah 18 Tuesday Oct 18 Mosiah 21 Wednesday Oct 19 Mosiah 23 Thursday Oct 20 Mosiah 26 Friday Oct 21 Mosiah 27 Saturday Oct 22 Mosiah 29 Sunday Last Week: Book of Mormon Reading Group: 09 Oct - 15 Oct 2023 (Words of Mormon 1 - Mosiah 13) Thread Index

Personally, I think every ward should have a brass and percussion section just for hymns like this - and bagpipes for when we sing "Praise to the Man" (apparently there is no YT version with bagpipes - just a snare drum ). Oh, and we have "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in our hymnal, too. (But not "Dixie's Land", so, I guess that says something about the civil war... Or maybe just about the lyrics of the two songs... I wonder if the Saints in the SE US ever sing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (without anyone getting hit).)

So did I, as a teenager. Now I can't bear 60 seconds of it.

That one's still in our hymnal and is sung now and then. This is the first I've heard of the other - probably because, ya know, American... No knights here... (Unless you count Knight Rider, but we're all trying to pretend that never happened.)

My theory: Joseph Smith (or the people of his time) had no word for whatever this material was, so rather than giving him a translation for what 21st century humans call this stuff, the Lord just gave Joseph a transliteration of the word. (This is my theory for animals and plants as well.) Some metal-history genius might be able to figure out what it was, though a lot of assumption about location is likely required... Or maybe the Nephites used all the ziff to extinction (so to speak) and modern man is just out of luck...

Mosiah 10 Be wise in preparing yourself and your family and home against physical or spiritual attack. The virtues of work. Rely on the Lord. v12+: Interesting how the Lamanite version of events differs from the Nephite version. v17: Don't teach your children to hate, murder, steal, etc. Mosiah 11 It's interesting to me how often parents who appear to be righteous end up with rebellious and wicked children (in B of M stories). If nothing else, we should use these examples to quell our tendency to blame parents for their children's behavior - they may be to blame for some, but it certainly seems they're not to blame for all of it, and heaven knows the difference. v2: If the desires of your heart are contrary to the commandments of God, plead for God to change the desires of your heart. (And do what you can toward that end.) v3: Ah, here's that 1/5th tax. v5: In my experience, when the new boss "cleans house" (replaces nearly everyone in short order), he's a bad boss. v6: IMO, it doesn't matter whether it's the people doing the taxing or the people living off the taxes, government-supported laziness is a very, very bad thing. (For that matter, a job that pays you to do nothing is a very, very bad thing. Use your time to find actual work!) v7: Ah, the lies of politicians... Well, Noah is just a good example of what not to do, regardless of who or where you are. Love God instead of all that other stuff... (Easier said than done.) v19: Pride goeth before the fall... This is a repeating theme in the Book of Mormon. The Lord abandons you as soon as you decide you're the one who's got all the power. v20: It's interesting to note how quickly, and apparently easily, (many of) the people abandoned righteousness. This is why we are told over and over to study the scriptures and pray daily, to attend Church meetings, to serve and minister, and everything else - it's really easy to go the other way. v21: Enemies don't have to be people. Enemies can be temptations, sin, weakness, etc.. Repent, so the Lord doesn't leave you to contend with such things alone. v24: Repent early and often, so the Lord isn't slow to hear you and doesn't leave you to be "smitten" by your enemies. Abinadi was a brave fellow. v28-29: How easily we get upset with people who point out our passive descent into hell...

After some research, it's not the number of pages. When they made the 2013 changes, they intentionally kept the page count and content of each page the same as the 1981 version so that people with old and new versions wouldn't struggle with what page to turn to (if page number was referenced in a class, for example). Some minor text changes were made in 2013 (see here, and here). There used to be a download showing the changes, but I can't find it now. Anywho, given the pagination consistency, I'd guess the size change amounts to: thinner paper, fewer blank and / or reference pages, possibly the thickness of the cover material, and removing the images.

I'm just glad you stopped before you got to: @zil2 is a person. (No she isn't.) (I was starting to get worried. I think. Maybe I wasn't. I feel reality spinning out of control...)

Yet another reason I stay in Salt Lake County. (I'm sure they're here somewhere, but I've never seen one here.) Klaw is grateful (or would be, if he knew different) that there are no fleas here. I've only ever seen dead possums (maybe) in Oklahoma - it's hard to distinguish road-kill possum from from road-kill armadillo when traveling at 65+ miles per hour. (I did once see a scorpion crossing the road down there - in the suburbs. I'm staying put!)

There are actually a few places in the Book of Mormon that talk about how the Lord brings about great things "by small and simple [things or means]". So there may have been some of that mixed in there, too.

Or to put it another way: "But memory fades so quickly, and time is the greatest liar of all." -- Will Wight, Bloodline

"pig" does not. Swine occurs twice: once in 3 Nephi 14:6 when Christ teaches not to cast your pearls before swine and again in Ether 9:18 as one of the types of cattle they had in abundance during a time of righteousness.

Perhaps question the sanity (or clarity, or scripture-citation-accuracy) of the 19-20 year-old missionary...

The word "mustard" does not appear in the Book of Mormon - I have a PDF copy for doing faster and more confident simple searches like that. So they must have been talking about the New Testament "faith as a grain of mustard seed". There is another seed and tree analogy coming up, but that's in Alma. It always seemed that way to me too. Yes, exactly!

Note to self: Buy that sword you always wanted. If anyone questions your decision, say, "Possums," and nod your head as if this were the wisest statement ever spoken. Do you have any former Harvard researchers living nearby?