Jacob 6-Words of Mormon

Quotes of the Week:
"When our priorities are out of order, we lose power.  It takes personal revelation every day to help us prioritize and reprioritize and keep at bay the influences of the world that would draw us from what we are to do."

--Julie B. Beck, BYU Women's Conference, 4/29/10

"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. "

--Abraham Lincoln

 Further Reading:

Robert D. Hales, "Prayer," Ensign, 10/04

D. Todd Christofferson, New Era, 10/10

Jairo Mazzagardi, General Conference 10/10

M. Russell Ballard, "O Be Wise," Ensign, 11/06

Julie B. Beck, BYU Women's Conference address, 4/29/10 (click here to be directed to this talk)

Handouts:

Jacob 6:12--O Be Wise, What Can I Say More?

M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, 11/06
We need to thoughtfully allocate our resources of time, income, and energy. I would like to let you in on a little secret. Some of you have already learned it. If you haven’t, it’s time you knew. No matter what your family needs are or your responsibilities in the Church, there is no such thing as “done.” There will always be more we can do. There is always another family matter that needs attention, another lesson to prepare, another interview to conduct, another meeting to attend. We just need to be wise in protecting our health and in following the counsel that President Hinckley has given often to just do the best that we can.

The key, it seems to me, is to know and understand your own capabilities and limitations and then to pace yourself, allocating and prioritizing your time, your attention, and your resources to wisely help others, including your family, in their quest for eternal life.

Wisdom, defined in Webster's New World Thesaurus:

implies the ability to judge and deal with persons, situations, etc. rightly, based on a broad range of knowledge, experience, and understanding.

Jacob 7:2-4--Avoiding Anti-Christs

Ezra Taft Benson, CR, 10/63 p. 16-17
How to avoid being deceived:
1. What do the standard works have to say about it? . . .
2. The second guide is: what do the latter-day Presidents of the Church have to say on the subject--particularly the living President? . . .
3. The third and final test is the Holy Ghost--the test of the Spirit. . . This test can only be fully effective if one's channels of communication with God are clean and virtuous and uncluttered with sin.

Jacob 7--Avoiding the Trap of Sin

Jairo Mazzagardi, General Conference, 10/10
I remembered that a little farther down the path, we would find another post that had already been taken over little by little, almost unnoticed, by the vegetation that grew around it. I imagine that a post would not perceive that, despite its strength, it could be encompassed and destroyed by fragile plants. The post would have thought, “No problem. I am strong and big, and this small plant will do me no harm.”
So as a nearby tree grows bigger, the post does not notice at first; then the post starts enjoying the shade the tree provides. But the tree continues to grow, and it encircles the post with two branches that at first seem fragile but that in time intertwine and surround the post.
Still the post does not realize what is happening.
Soon, in our walk, we found the proverbial post. It had been plucked out from the ground. My little granddaughter looked impressed and asked me, “Grandpa, is this the tree of sin?"
I then explained to her that it was only a symbol, or an example, of how sin gets us.
I don’t know what the effect of our conversation will be on her, but it made me think of the many faces of sin and of how it sneaks into our lives if we allow it to. We must be alert because small choices can bring great consequences, just as going to bed early and waking up early have great consequences. Doctrine and Covenants 88:124 teaches us, “Arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.” Those who go to bed early wake up rested, with the body and mind invigorated and blessed by the Lord because of obedience.
What may appear to be of little importance, such as going to bed late, not praying for a day, skipping fasting, or breaking the Sabbath—such little slips—will make us lose sensitivity little by little, allowing us to do worse things.

Jacob 7:13-20--Signs

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 713-14
Signs are sacred grants of divine favor reserved for the faithful and concerning which the recipients are commanded not to boast.

Jacob 7:19--Second Death

Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 1:288
Second death, what is that? After you have been redeemed from the grave, and come into the presence of God, you will have to stand there to be judged; and if you have done evil, you will be banished everlastingly from His presence--body and spirit united together; this is what is called the second death. Why is it called the second death? Because the first is the dissolution of body and spirit, and the second is . . . a banishment--a becoming dead to the things of righteousness.

Enos 1:1-5--Repentance

John H. Groberg, Heroes from the Book of Mormon, p. 54
After [Enos] had paid the necessary price in effort and sincerity, he received his heart's desire, as recorded in verse 5: "And there came a voice unto me saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed."

Enos 1:4--Fervent Prayer

Harold B. Lee, Improvement Era, 10/66, 898
"Imagine anybody praying all night and all day." I replied, "My dear sister, I hope you never have to come to a time where you have a problem so great that you have to so humble yourself. I have; I have prayed all day and all night and all the next day and all the next night, not always on my knees but praying constantly for a blessing that I needed most."

Omni

From K. Douglas Bassett, Doctrinal Insights to the Book of Mormon
The small plates of Nephi were to contain the religious history of the Nephite people. . . . The fact that the writings of five men occupy such a small segment as the book of Omni would indicate this was a period of great apostasy--thus there were no new prophecies or religious teachings to be added to the record.

Omni 1:12-19

Most Latter-day Saints refer to the people of Zarahemla as the "Mulekites," although the word Mulekite does not appear a single time in the Book of Mormon. . . . Inasmuch as only descendants of Judah could serve as the rulers of the kingdom of Judah, Mulek and his descendants were of the tribe of Judah, Mulek and his descendants were of the tribe Judah. . . . The people of Zarahemla left Jerusalem within about twelve years of each other, and evidently spoke the same language then, yet about four hundred years later their descendants could not even understand each other.

Omni 1:20-22

The Book of Mormon does not specifically state when Coriantumr lived with the people of Zarahemla, but it would have to be sometime after 589 BC and before about 200 BC (when Mosiah and his group first came into the land of Zarahemla). The twentieth verse of Omni tells of a large stone that was brought to Mosiah and which contained an account of Coriantumr. However, this does not necessarily indicate that Coriantumr was still alive in the days of Mosiah; his stay of "nine moons" among the people of Zarahemla could have occurred decades or even centuries before the time of Mosiah.

Jacob 1-5

Quote of the week:

"Pride is the great stumbling block of Zion.  I repeat:  Pride is the great stumbling block of Zion."

Ezra Taft Benson, April 1989

"In a sense, pride is the original sin, for before the foundations of this earth, pride felled Lucifer, a son of the morning “who was in authority in the presence of God.” If pride can corrupt one as capable and promising as this, should we not examine our own souls as well?"

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2010

Further reading:

Romans 11:17-24

Dean L. Larsen, Conference Report, 10/87

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Pride and the Priesthood," General Conference 10/10

Ezra Taft Benson, "Pride," Ensign 5/89

Handouts:

Jacob 1:15--Pride Cycle Begins

M. Russell Ballard, “Learning the Lessons of the Past,” Ensign, May 2009, 31–34

Time and again we see the cycle of righteousness followed by wickedness. Similarly, the Book of Mormon records that ancient civilizations of this continent followed exactly the same pattern: righteousness followed by prosperity, followed by material comforts, followed by greed, followed by pride, followed by wickedness and a collapse of morality until the people brought calamities upon themselves sufficient to stir them up to humility, repentance, and change.

Jacob 1:19,22--Magnifying Callings

Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, 5/06
The Prophet Joseph Smith was once asked, "Brother Joseph, you frequently urge that we magnify our callings.  What does this mean?"  He is said to have replied, "To magnify a calling is to hold it up in dignity and importance, that the light of heaven may shine through one's performance to the gaze of other men.  An elder magnifies his calling when he learns what his duties as an elder are and then performs them.

Jacob 2:17--It Grieveth Me

Jeffrey R. Holland, “Place No More for the Enemy of My Soul,” Ensign, May 2010, 44–46

With that stark introduction to my message today—one it is challenging for me to give—I feel much like Jacob of old, who said, “It grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech … before … many … whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate.”  But bold we need to be. Perhaps it was the father in me or maybe the grandfather, but the tears in those young women’s eyes brought tears to mine and Sister Holland’s, and the questions they asked left me asking, “Why is there so much moral decay around us, and why are so many individuals and families, including some in the Church, falling victim to it, being tragically scarred by it?”

Jacob 4:14--Looking Beyond the Mark

Dean L. Larsen, Ensign, 11/87
They were apparently afflicted with a pseudosophistication and a snobbishness that gave them a  false sense of superiority over those who came among them with the Lord's words of plainness. . . . The must have reveled in speculative and theoretical matters that obscured for them the fundamental spiritual truths. . . . There are other ways in which many of us often look beyond the mark.  Sometimes we focus too much of our attention and energy upon our temporal wants, not only to entertain ourselves and gratify our physical appetites, but also to gain recognition, position, and power.  We can become so consumed by the pursuit of these things that we sacrifice the sweetness and enduring peace of mind that are found in spiritual well-being, in well-nurtured family relationships, and in the love and respect of friends and associates.

Dallin H. Oaks, "Be Wise,"  BYU-I Devotional, 11/7/06
Some persons write General Authorities asking when we will be returning to Missouri or how we should plan to build up the New Jerusalem.  Others want to know details about the Celestial Kingdom, such as the position of a person who lives a good life but never ever marries.
I don't know the answers to any of these questions.  What I do know is that persons worrying about such things are probably neglecting to seek a firmer understanding and a better practice of the basic principles of the gospel that have been given to them with words of plainness by the scriptures and by the servants of the Lord.
If we neglect the words of plainness and look beyond the mark, we are starting down a path that often leads to a loss of commitment and sometimes to a loss of faith.  There is enough difficulty in following the words of plainness, without reaching out for things we have not been given and probably cannot understand.

Jacob 4:15-18--The Four Cornerstones of the Restored Gospel

Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 2/04

. . . the chief cornerstone, whom we recognize and honor as the Lord Jesus Christ.  The second is the vision given the Prophet Joseph Smith when the Father and the Son appeared to him.  The third is the Book of Mormon, which speaks as a voice from the dust with the words of ancient prophets declaring the divinity and reality of the Savior of mankind.  The fourth is the priesthood with all of its powers and authority, whereby men act in the name of God in administering the affairs of His kingdom.

Jacob 4:18--Anxiety

Boyd K. Packer, CR, 4/78
It was meant to be that life would be a challenge.  To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is normal.  Teach our members that if they have a good, miserable day once in a while, or several in a row, to stand steady and face them.  Things will straighten out.

K. Douglas Bassett, The Barber's Song, p. 126
Here was a prophet, in the temple, preaching the doctrines of the kingdom, and he was concerned about losing the Spirit over something as simple as anxiety.  Even the worthy prophet Jacob could not be sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit when anxiety was a part of his life.

Jacob 5

Joseph Fielding Smith

. . .  take a few minutes at some convenient time and sit down and just read carefully every word in the fifth chapter of the Book of Jacob. . . . No greater parable was ever recorded. . . . That was written by the inspiration of the Almighty. . . . When you read that chapter through if you cannot say in your soul, "this is absolutely a revelation from God," then there is something wrong with you.

Truman G. Madsen, "The Olive Press: A Symbol of Christ," in The Allegory of the Olive Tree, p. 2
One Jewish legend identifies the tree of life as the olive tree, and with good reason.  The olive tree is an evergreen, not a deciduous tree. Its leaves do not seasonally fade nor fall.  Through scorching heat and winter cold they are continually rejuvenated.  Without cultivation the olive is a wild, unruly, easily corrupted tree.  Only after long, patient cultivating, usually eight to ten years, does it begin to yield fruit.  Long after that, new shoots often come forth from apparently dead roots. [The appearance of gnarled trunks gives] the impression of travail--of ancient life and renewing life.

Jacob 5:41,47,49--God as Parent

Jeffrey R. Holland, Heroes from the Book of Mormon, p. 37
There is much more here than simply the unraveling of convoluted Israelite history.  Of greater significance in this allegory is the benevolent view of God that it provides.  He is portrayed here as one who repeatedly, painstakingly, endlessly tries to save the work of His hands and in moments of greatest disappointment holds His head in His hands and weeps, "What could I have done more for my vineyard?"  This allegory is a declaration of divine love, of God's unceasing effort as a father laboring on behalf of His children.

This long parable does outline Israel's history, but soon enough the attentive reader senses a much more personal story coming from the printed page--the grief and the godly pain of a father anguishing over the needless destruction of His family.

Jacob 5--Roots (covenants, promises, word of God)

Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, 11/78
It seems that some [Latter-day Saints] among us have this same problem; they want bountiful harvest--both spiritual and temporal--without developing the root system that will yield them.  There are far too few who are willing to pay the price, in discipline and work, to cultivate hardy roots."

General Conference Fall 2010

NO CLASS NEXT WEEK.  CLASS WILL RESUME OCTOBER 21

Quote of the week:

"Let [this conference] be the guide to [your] walk and talk during the next six months.  These are the important matters the Lord sees fit to reveal to this people in this day."

--Harold B. Lee, April 1946

To help Ana Smith and her family, you can either contact Bishop Mel Galbraith at 962-1742

or the account is at Wells Fargo

Miguel Alcantar #9475701646