I've spent more hours reading The Book of Mormon this year than ever before. One by-product of having to teach something, you absorb the information differently. I've read with the purported purpose of passing along the stories in an interesting and understandable way to teenagers. I've always loved finding snippets in books; quotes that are small but powerful. So...here are just two I like that I'm planning to share with the Seminary kids this week as we wrap up our study of The Book of Mormon:
"I know that God loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." -1st Nephi 11:17
This verse totally reminds me of Liz Walton's perspective when her son-in-law, Clint Layton, died. Chuck and Liz are serving in the Porto Portugal Mission. It felt almost cruel - shouldn't the Walton family be blessed for their missionary service? But, in Liz's email updates from Portugal you could sense that Liz knows what Nephi knew. Liz knows that while they might not understand Clint's untimely death, they know God loves them and that is enough.
I want to encourage the youth to realize that they don't need to have a complete understanding and likely never will. But knowing they are loved by their Heavenly Father is probably the most important piece of knowledge to get them through any trial!
In Helaman 4:26 the people are described as having "become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years."
This verse reminds me of the "slippery slope" phenomenon. The cycle we see over and over in the scriptures, where once people harden their hearts, it doesn't take very long for them to lose the spirit.
No matter how often we see the process both in individuals and in civilizations, we won't be immune to it unless we are steadfast! That soundbite is just a good reminder that a lot can happen, in the space of not many years, if we aren't careful to learn from history!
