Latest / Scripture Central / Mosiah 18–24 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource

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Mosiah 18–24 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource · Scripture Central

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  Hello there, My name is Tyler Griffin.
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  And I'm Alicia. And this is Scripture Study
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  Insights by Scripture Central. Today Mosiah chapters 18 through
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  24, and I'm so excited to have my my sweet daughter Alicia join
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  me as we work through these chapters today.
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  These are really powerful and important concepts and doctrines
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  that we see coming off of the page and the kind of the the
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  overlay we wanted to use for today's lesson as we work
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  through these verses is this concept of the power of
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  covenants versus the opposite power of bondage.
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  You'll notice with both of these two elements there is a binding
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  that is taking place. The one is a very positive and
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  agency based choice that that we choose to bind ourselves to the
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  Lord and he chooses to bind himself to to us.
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  And he tells us in the Doctrine and Covenants, I, Lord, am bound
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  when you do what I say, but when you do not what I say, you have
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  no promise. So this is a positive binding.
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  And then there's the negative bonds that come from captivity
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  that if we choose to turn our back on the covenants that
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  Christ offers, then we're left with those flaxen cords that the
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  devil has in store for us and waiting for us.
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  You know, that's exactly like the people of Alma that we see
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  here in chapter 18. We see them.
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  They've been in this bondage to King Noah, and they've been
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  living in sin, a spiritual kind of bondage.
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  And we see them make this transition as Alma teaches them,
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  the words of Abenadai and as they choose to make this
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  covenant. And we see a stark contrast
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  between the lives they were living before and and the kind
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  of lives they they lead after. Absolutely.
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  And and when we look at the covenant that they're going to
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  make out there at the waters of baptism, the waters of Mormon, I
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  see those as connecting points touch points with the Savior
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  Jesus Christ in every case. So we we pick those up in verse
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  8. Says, and it came to pass that
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  he said unto them, Behold, here are the waters of Mormon, For
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  thus where they called, and now as your desirous to come into
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  the fold of God, and to be called his people, and they're
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  willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light.
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  So if we pause there, what are the things that that bind them
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  to the Lord? The first thing is he makes it
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  very clear that they have to be willing.
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  That that this covenantal connection with Christ is not,
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  is not done against our will. They are desirous to come into
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  the fold of God, so their desires are to enter this fold
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  as step one. Then Step 2 is that they want to
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  be called His people. Remember, the essence of the
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  covenant given to Abraham and all of the the the great people
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  in the past is I will be your God and you will be my people.
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  So that's the the core of all of these covenantal connections.
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  And he's now saying your desires to be his people, not known as
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  King Noah's people, as your primary identity, but a child of
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  the covenant. This is a this is a profound
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  step that they're taking. It makes me think about what
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  President Nelson has been saying recently about our three primary
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  identifiers as a child of God, a child of the covenant, and a
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  disciple of Jesus Christ. And I think we see that
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  beautifully laid out here in these verses of the baptismal
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  covenant that as we make covenants with God, it helps us
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  realize our our divine identity as children of God.
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  As we make these covenants, we become children of the covenant
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  and a disciple of Jesus Christ. As we are doing these things and
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  fulfilling this covenant, we are becoming like our Savior Jesus
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  Christ. Beautiful.
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  Now, the third, third thing in this list is willing to bear one
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  another's burdens. Now, you already notice there's
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  a pattern here that you're connecting with the Savior,
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  Jesus Christ. You're you're connecting with
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  God, and those connecting points are helping you to become more
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  like them. Meaning these are things that
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  Jesus has perfectly demonstrated.
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  He's the one who showed us what it means to live in the fold of
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  God and to bring others into the fold of God.
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  He's the one who perfectly said to Heavenly Father, I want to be
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  thy Son and thy will be done. He He has embodied this, this
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  second notion of becoming the people of God better than
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  anybody, at perfect proportions, and nobody has borne the burdens
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  of others better or more infinitely then Jesus Christ
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  has. Which now we we go to verse 9.
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  Yeah. And they're willing to mourn
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  with those that mourn. Yeah.
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  And comfort those that stand in need of comfort.
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  And to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things
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  and in all places that you may be in even until death.
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  That you may be redeemed of God and be numbered with those of
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  the first resurrection. That you may have eternal life.
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  Something I find interesting in in these verses is that all of
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  these things turn us outward, kind of like you were saying,
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  with being the perfect example of the Saviour.
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  Right as we do these things. Jesus Christ was the perfect
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  example of mourning with those that mourned, comforting those
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  who needed comforting. And he was the perfect witness
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  of his Father at all times. And I think that there is power
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  in turning outward. There is power in in serving and
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  finding opportunities to to get outside of ourselves and lift
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  others of God's children. You know, we see that's an
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  interesting perspective because if we're not careful, what we'll
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  end up doing is reading verse 8:00 and 9:00 and saying, well,
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  I'm not perfect at any of this, and then it can become
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  discouraging. And we can say, well, I can't, I
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  can't do all of those things perfectly.
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  What's happening there is if you're not careful, you set this
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  bar at perfection and say that's what I have to do.
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  I can't do any one of these things in isolation of Jesus
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  Christ. I have to connect with Christ in
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  order to accomplish anything on that list.
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  And it's not about the event. It's about the process that
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  leads to becoming more like Christ, perfected in Him.
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  Not becoming perfected and then coming to him just doesn't work
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  that way. Yeah, even in verse 10 I like
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  how it says. And now I say unto you, if this
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  be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being
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  baptized in the name of the Lord as a witness before him, that
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  you have entered into a covenant with him?
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  And then this next part that you will serve him and keep His
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  commandments? It's an ongoing process as we as
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  we live this covenant, as we strive every day to become more
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  like our Saviour. And then He promises that He may
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  pour out His Spirit more abundantly upon you.
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  Isn't that beautiful? That you'll always have his
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  spirit to be with you? That he'll pour out his spirit
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  more abundantly upon you? What an amazing gift from him.
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  Because it's the Holy Ghost that helps continually work with us
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  through that process of becoming more like Christ, of coming unto
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  Him. And it's not a one time
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  covenant. It's the think about that.
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  It's the only covenant that you make over and over and over
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  again. And we never make the Sacramento
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  covenant for the dead. It's only for the living.
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  It's for the people living on this earth who are striving to
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  become more like Jesus on this side of the veil.
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  He gives us an opportunity to go to that sacrament table once a
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  week and make a new covenant. Yeah.
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  And I think it's interesting too, to look back at the
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  beginning of this chapter, before Alma begins teaching us
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  about this baptismal covenant and verse one.
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  He began to teach the words of Abenadai concerning that which
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  was to come, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead and
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  the redemption of the people which was to be brought to pass
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  through the power and sufferings and death of Christ and his
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  resurrection and ascension into heaven.
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  I think that's beautiful, that before he even taught them about
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  the covenant of baptism, he taught them about the divine
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  mission of Jesus Christ, about his role as our Savior and
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  Redeemer and and our need for him, our our desperate need for
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  Him. I think that's beautiful, that
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  in our own lives we as we learn more about Jesus Christ and as
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  we learn about His grace and mercy and strive to become like
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  Him. There is true power in that
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  there. There's an enabling power that
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  allows us to more fully keep these covenants that we make.
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  That's a beautiful insight because the the reality is, as
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  you said there, the more I learn about Jesus, the more I'm able
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  to recognize these attributes that he modelled and
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  demonstrated every single day of his life.
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  And I want to be more like him. But it's hard to become like
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  somebody that you've never met or that you you don't know how
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  they act or how they talk or how they want you to act or talk.
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  And so it's it's a beautiful reminder that one of the ways to
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  keep your covenants and progress on the covenant path
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  strengthening that that connection with Christ is to
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  keep learning of him, to keep spending time as you open up
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  your scriptures each day. Don't just read the the black
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  words on the white page, but use those scripture pages as windows
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  through which or lenses if you will, through which you can
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  better identify and see the Savior Jesus Christ and and
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  identify His attributes, his characteristics, his
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  perfections, and then plead with him through the process of time
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  to become more like Him. So as you, as you prepare this
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  Sunday to go and take the sacrament, it's that beautiful
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  concept of I am going to make a new covenant.
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  I'm going to recommit, and I bring into that relationship all
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  of the imperfection, all of the hurt, all of the struggle, all
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  of the pain, all of the temptation, all of the weakness.
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  And he brings into that relationship in that connecting
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  point all of the perfection, all of the grace, all of the
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  goodness and the power and the love and the knowledge.
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  He brings it in an overflowing abundance to offer to us what a
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  merciful plan for our our progression and for our ultimate
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  happiness and salvation. I don't know how the Lord can be
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  so good and so kind because I look at what He offers to me and
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  I look at what I'm giving to him.
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  How could an infinite, all powerful, all knowing, all
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  glorious God be interested in somebody like me who has so
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  little to add to that relationship?
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  And yet, that's part of what makes God divine is not by
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  looking at people based on what He can get out of them, but
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  looking at us based on what He can put into us in our
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  imperfect, mortal perspective. There are a couple of
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  relationships that that we can think about that would help us
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  better understand what's going on here with the Savior and us
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  in this covenantal connection. It's it's not unlike when when
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  you were born. Alicia is our oldest of five
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  daughters. She's our third child.
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  We have 5 boys, 5 girls, and she's the oldest of the girls.
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  And when Alicia was born, as well as when all of the other
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  children were born, there was this incredible feeling of love
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  that she brought with her from heaven.
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  That the moment I held her in, in my hands, in my arms, she she
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  was instantly one of us. And my heart just reached out
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  and surrounded her. And I would do anything for her.
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  I would give her anything. And yet that little infant, she
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  could give nothing in return. But that wasn't the point.
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  Kiplin and I weren't loving her because of what we could get out
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  of her. We were loving her because of
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  what we could give her and what God had given us through her.
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  This new life. And it's it's beautiful.
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  And the same thing applies for a new convert with a ward or a
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  branch. Hopefully it has that same
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  feeling of here's a new member given to us to become part of
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  our family and to be able to grow together.
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  That person doesn't divide our love or subtract from our our
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  sum total of love. That person actually adds 2 and
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  multiplies our love through the the arithmetic, the way that the
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  Lord does the the multiplication of love in these covenantal
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  families and covenantal relationships.
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  I'm sure you probably saw similar things when you served
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  your mission. Yeah, definitely.
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  As you find yourself in that situation where you're called to
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  serve these people and and you go out and you give your all.
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  And I remember so many times, I would just have this outpouring
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  of love for these people who I had met maybe a week ago, right?
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  And and I would just have this overwhelming love for them.
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  And they weren't doing anything for me necessarily.
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  And I think about all those all those days that my companions
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  and I spent praying for them, pleading for them, planning for
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  them, visiting them, teaching them.
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  And they a lot of time had no idea a lot of what we were doing
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  behind the scenes to to pray for them and to to help them come
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  unto Christ. But I I think there are a few
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  experiences where I felt so much love for others than I did in
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  that time when I wasn't getting anything in return from them.
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  It's a beautiful reflection of the divine, the divine
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  attributes of God, of love. So they they now go into the
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  water, Alma and him are baptized and then he baptizes the the
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  rest of the group. And if you look at the the
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  second page, so so Mosiah 18, verse 15, all the way down to
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  the end of the chapter. What you find here in your in
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  your scripture study is that Alma gives them.
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  Now what do you do once you're baptized?
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  He's going to give a lot of directions.
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  They're going to establish a church call it the Church of God
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  or the Church of Christ. And then in verse 19 he commands
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  them that they should teach nothing, say what were the
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  things which he had taught which had been spoken by the mouth of
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  the holy prophets. I love that because he's
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  reminding us the Lord has a pattern in covenantal
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  communities. He He gives revelation for the
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  Church and then he gives revelation for our lives that
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  President Nelson talked about back in April of 2018, that he
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  speaks to everybody through his prophets, through his holy
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  prophets. But he'll also speak
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  individually within the the, the covering umbrella, so to speak,
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  of those teachings from the prophets.
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  And then he gives this long list in verse 21.
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  And He commanded them that there should be no contention one with
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  another, but that they should look forward with one eye,
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  having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts
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  knit together in unity and in love 1 towards another.
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  And thus he commanded them to preach, and thus they became the
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  children of God. I think that kind of goes back
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  to the idea that we were talking out about before with as we as
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  we make these covenants and keep them and come unto Christ, we
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  are taking upon ourselves those those primary identities that
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  President Nelson has has talked about that he's encouraged us to
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  to adopt that as we strive to live a Christ like life, as we
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  strive to keep our covenants, we will become the children of God
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  and more than just our identity, but in who we are, how we act,
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  the way we live our lives. And I think that is a beautiful
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  truth that these things help us in in our covenantal journey.
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  It's not about the destination of making this covenant, but
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  it's about that process that helps us become like God.
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  That is the purpose of our lives and and I think it's interesting
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  to look, as you read through the rest of this chapter, look for
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  the the covenants that you make in the temple as well.
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  And there are some very interesting things here about
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  consecration and sacrifice and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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  And it's an ongoing process these these covenants.
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  Yeah, it's fascinating because nobody would expect a little
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  child, a newborn child, to be able to talk and testify and to
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  express gratitude or or say anything or be able to
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  accomplish anything. And yet sometimes we are
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  impatient with ourselves. In a covenantal progression
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  sense, he says, we'll be called the children of Christ, We
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  become the children of Christ, which means once we've entered
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  into that relationship with him, there is a lot of room for
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  growth and development. But you don't really start that
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  process to the same degree until you've entered into that
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  covenant through the waters of baptism.
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  So people who say, well, I'm not who I need to be, I can't be
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  baptized yet they're missing the point.
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  You begin that connecting covenant or relationship with
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  Christ by entering into that covenant through the waters of
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  baptism. And then you allow the process
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  to grow over time, which is what any child's what what we do with
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  every every child that's ever born.
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  So now King Noah has been frustrated knowing that Alma has
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  been teaching some of his people and they're now turning away
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  from Noah and turning towards the Lord through Alma.
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  And so he sends his army to to destroy them.
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  But Alma was warned. In that very last verse, we find
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  out in verse 35 that there were 450 souls who were with him and
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  they were warned by the Lord, and so they took their tents and
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  their families and departed into the wilderness and they're now
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  gone. So when we get to Chapter 19
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  that that group of soldiers that King Noah had sent out to slay
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  them and stop and think about who were these soldiers on their
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  way to slay their? Friends and family.
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  It's it's unbelievable how far gone and how how bound down Noah
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  has made his people and blinded them in sin.
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  Gideon in verse four he's a strong man he's an enemy to the
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  king he he draws his sword and he swears in his wrath.
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  I'm going to kill King Noah. So this point he goes back to
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  the city. He has a sword fight with King
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  Noah. Noah runs away, climbs upon this
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  tall tower. Gideon chases him.
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  By the time he gets to the top of the tower, Noah is in panic
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  mode because he sees an army coming, and his words are
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  fascinating if you look at the pronouns he uses and and
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  consider what message he's trying to share with Gideon in
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  verse 7. And now the king cried out in
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  the anguish of his soul, saying, Gideon, spare me, for the
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  Lamanites are upon us and they will destroy us.
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  Yeah, they will destroy my people.
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  Makes it sound like he actually cares about his people, doesn't
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  it? Kinda.
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  And so I I love the fact that Mormon jumps in here and he says
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  no, I I don't want any readers of this story to be deceived.
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  So he says. And now the king was not so much
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  concerned about his people as he was about his own life.
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  Nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.
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  So they come down off of the mount, or off of the tower,
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  rather, and you get the group of the Nephites who are now running
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  away from this group of Lamanites, this, this, these
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  soldiers who are coming. And if you stop and consider
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  this for a moment, where would the where would the perfect
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  place be for a character who is a type of Christ in this group?
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  You would picture like a a Captain Moroni putting himself
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  in some of his strongest soldiers here as a buffer
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  between the Lamanite army and the Nephite people.
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  Why describe that group of people right there at the back
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  of the line from, from your perspective, Alicia, who's in
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  that group? Well, if you just think about
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  their running right, this would be the the children, the
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  elderly, and those who aren't really capable of defending
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  themselves. Yeah, so the most defenseless,
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  the first ones to fall in this kind of a a battle are going to
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  be the ones who need the most help.
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  So you would put your strongest soldiers here as a defense to
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  protect them. But we notice where King Noah
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  puts himself verse 9. The king commanded that the
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  people should flee before the Lamanites, and he himself did go
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  before them. So King Noah is out here in
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  front of this group of Nephites, and they did flee into the
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  wilderness with their women and their children.
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  And then something happens in verse 10.
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  And it came to pass that the Lamanites did pursue them, and
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  did overtake them, and began to slay them.
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  When we get this scenario, the Lamanites have now overtaken the
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  Nephites and they've begun to slay them.
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  You can hear that up here. So Noah does the unconscionable
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  he turns to the group and yells out.
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  The king commanded them that all the men should leave their wives
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  and their children and flee before the Lamanites.
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  You'll notice when you're reading scriptures how easy it
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  is to just read the words on the page and just keep going.
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  But if you pause for a moment and picture what would this
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  actually be like in a in a physical setting where you have
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  men with their wives and their children of of varying sizes of
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  families and various ages of children and you've got men who
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  heard King Noah say, leave your wives and children and follow me
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  what that now takes now now if you translate that into real
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  world's human experience now all of a sudden that verse takes on
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  a different depth of of bondage for these people it.
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  Makes me think about that contrast that that you were
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  talking about between Noah as a type of of the devil, right, and
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  and Jesus Christ or kind of that captain no more.
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  And I figure who puts himself in that place of defense.
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  And I think I I myself in in the spiritual scheme of things I am
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  definitely back here. I have so many weaknesses.
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  I am so imperfect. I am in desperate need of saving
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  and and I think that's a beautiful reminder that the
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  Saviour is right there and and as you read this and you and you
• 25:51
  think about what these these families went through as as some
• 25:55
  of them. And I love verse 12, how it says
• 25:57
  And now there were many that would not leave them.
• 26:00
  As we read this, it makes me think back to the the covenants
• 26:03
  before covenants versus bondage, right.
• 26:06
  These these men who did flee with Noah, they were in a kind
• 26:11
  of bondage that I cannot even fathom.
• 26:12
  As you were talking through that scenario, I can't can't imagine
• 26:15
  what that would take to get to the point where you would be
• 26:18
  willing to to leave your your family and your your wife and
• 26:21
  your children. But I think there is a beautiful
• 26:25
  message here that there were many who would not leave them in
• 26:29
  in verse 12, these these fathers and these men had realized, oh,
• 26:35
  this is, this is not who we want to be.
• 26:37
  This is not the kind of life we want to lead.
• 26:39
  And they then took that that role of probably defending and
• 26:43
  protecting and saying, K, what are we going to do?
• 26:45
  Yeah. So the the fascinating
• 26:49
  continuation of the story is what happens out there in the in
• 26:54
  the forest or in the woods. As Noah and his men that have
• 27:00
  chosen to follow him and abandoned their families,
• 27:04
  they're following him under the guise or under the promise of
• 27:08
  I'm going to help save you. And the reality is, is yeah, he
• 27:14
  did encourage them to save themselves and to not worry
• 27:20
  about other people. Earlier on at least you talked
• 27:22
  about how covenants cause us to turn outward.
• 27:25
  The more we become like Jesus, the more outward and concerned
• 27:28
  about other people we become. Noah shows us this opposite of
• 27:33
  the more we become like the devil, the more inward we become
• 27:37
  turned, and the more concerned about our own safety, our own
• 27:41
  possessions, our own pleasures, regardless of what other people
• 27:46
  might be experiencing. And so you can picture this
• 27:50
  moment out in the the the forest when they realize, OK, we're
• 27:57
  we're safe, The Lamanites aren't going to catch up to us.
• 28:02
  And then that, that as they catch their breath and as the
• 28:06
  reality of what they've done starts to distill upon their
• 28:09
  soul as they realize I'm safe from what?
• 28:16
  I'm safe from physical death. But I have just lost everything.
• 28:20
  I I can't go back to my home. My family is has probably been
• 28:26
  murdered based on their perspective, probably been
• 28:29
  killed. I have nothing left.
• 28:33
  Brothers and sisters. This is one of the realities on
• 28:36
  the covenant path. Breaking covenants and losing
• 28:41
  those lasting relationships with family and with God.
• 28:45
  It's worth fighting for those things and they've they've let
• 28:48
  go of them. So at this point, the
• 28:51
  realization hitting them, they turn to King Noah, and they
• 28:53
  recognize you're the real enemy here.
• 28:57
  You didn't save us, you used us to save you.
• 29:03
  And ironically, they end up burning him at the stake.
• 29:08
  So Noah doesn't even get what he had ultimately desired.
• 29:12
  When you bind yourself by the the flaxen cords of the devil,
• 29:18
  there's no promise. There's no there's no lasting
• 29:21
  reward. He binds you and leads you to
• 29:25
  ultimate death. For some, that comes soon, for
• 29:29
  some, that comes later, but it it leads to to a bad end, at
• 29:34
  which point these men now come back.
• 29:41
  So now these men come back from this place, wherever they've
• 29:45
  been to where they had left their families to be killed,
• 29:50
  thinking they're going to find their their, the bodies of their
• 29:56
  their loved ones. But they're not there.
• 29:59
  Gideon has now come back from the city, and he meets them
• 30:02
  here. And he says, oh, by the way, our
• 30:05
  fair daughters were able to stop the the advance of the
• 30:08
  Lamanites. We're now in bondage.
• 30:11
  We're now their servants or slaves.
• 30:12
  We have to give them a 50% tribute of everything we we own
• 30:16
  and everything we produce. But your families are safe, and
• 30:20
  I love that they rejoiced exceedingly that their that
• 30:24
  their families hadn't been destroyed.
• 30:28
  And so they now get to go home. The part of the story that
• 30:34
  Mosaic Chapter 19 doesn't cover is what happens once they get
• 30:41
  home. I don't know about you, Alicia,
• 30:44
  but what do you think Mom's reaction might be?
• 30:47
  What do you think all the kids might say to their dad walking
• 30:51
  into that setting? What would you say?
• 30:54
  I don't know. I can't really imagine you doing
• 30:57
  that, but I can't even fathom. But I I don't know that they
• 31:02
  would have wanted them back necessarily, after being
• 31:05
  abandoned in their moment of of greatest need, of greatest
• 31:09
  desperation to to be willing to give all of give all that up and
• 31:13
  to go save yourself. I I can't imagine that they it
• 31:16
  would have been a warm welcome home at least.
• 31:19
  Brothers and sisters, this is a this is an important point.
• 31:22
  Sometimes we speak of the role of Jesus Christ in our life or
• 31:27
  in our covenant connection as the the one who is willing to
• 31:32
  forgive us when we do wrong, which is absolutely true.
• 31:37
  But he's so much more than that. He does all of that in
• 31:42
  abundance, this mercy and this willingness to forgive and and
• 31:46
  help us overcome our weakness. These men need the infinite
• 31:51
  mercy and grace of Jesus Christ through His infinite atonement.
• 31:54
  Now more than any other point in their life would be my guess.
• 31:58
  But can I also just suggest to you that those children and
• 32:02
  those wives and those mothers and those others who were
• 32:06
  abandoned, they need the infinite mercy and grace and
• 32:13
  love of the Atonement of of the Saviour through His Infinite
• 32:17
  Atonement, now more than ever before as well, just for a
• 32:22
  completely different reason. They don't need to be forgiven,
• 32:26
  They need to be healed. They need to be given power to
• 32:30
  forgive, beyond human capacity alone to forgive.
• 32:37
  From my view, both groups, this entire set of people all need
• 32:43
  the infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ now more than ever
• 32:45
  before, just for different reasons.
• 32:47
  So if you've been hurt, don't try to fix the hurt yourself.
• 32:54
  Turn to the Savior. If you've hurt people, don't try
• 32:58
  to fix it yourself, turn to the Savior.
• 33:01
  It's it's this beautiful chapter showing that need, as well as
• 33:06
  any other chapter that I know in scripture of of our complete
• 33:10
  dependence on the Savior, which now begins this interesting
• 33:15
  phase of two groups of people. We get Limhi's people who are in
• 33:24
  bondage, and we get Alma's people who at the end of this
• 33:29
  story are going to end up in bondage.
• 33:32
  Limhi's group is going to be enslaved or in bondage to the
• 33:37
  Lamanites for somewhere between 23 and 24 years.
• 33:42
  This is a long what. When you read chapter 2021 it,
• 33:47
  it makes it feel like it's happening very quickly.
• 33:50
  What's fascinating here, Alicia, is that this bondage that
• 33:55
  they're in is the equivalence of your entire lifetime. 23 years
• 34:00
  is a long time to go through these struggles.
• 34:04
  It isn't. It isn't just a short issue.
• 34:08
  So as we jump over to chapter 21, you see that these
• 34:15
  descriptors of what their bondage was like starting in
• 34:18
  verse 5. And now the afflictions of the
• 34:21
  Nephites were great, and there was no way that they could
• 34:25
  deliver themselves out of their hands, for the Lamanites had to
• 34:28
  surrounded them on every side. So what are some of the keywords
• 34:33
  that you see in in that verse that you just read?
• 34:38
  I find it interesting that in in the middle there it says there
• 34:41
  was no way they could deliver themselves.
• 34:45
  I I find that interesting and and pretty relatable actually.
• 34:48
  I I find myself in situations all the time where there is no
• 34:52
  way I can deliver myself and yet I try and I fail and I think, I
• 34:59
  think we all find ourselves in this situation.
• 35:01
  But I think there's a beautiful lesson that we can learn as we
• 35:05
  as we see this as a a reflection of our own lives.
• 35:08
  Sometimes I think I find myself in this situation where I am
• 35:11
  surrounded on every side with things in all areas of my life.
• 35:15
  And whether it's school or work or family or personal challenges
• 35:19
  that I'm going through, I think it's very relatable to to learn
• 35:23
  from the from Lumhai and his people and what they do and and
• 35:28
  what they don't do. See, that's the biggest issue
• 35:31
  there is because here they have this problem and they've
• 35:34
  identified that we're surrounded on every, every side there.
• 35:38
  There's no way we can break out of this the bands of this, this
• 35:43
  bondage that we find ourselves in.
• 35:45
  And so the the fascinating thing is, is instead of turning
• 35:50
  heavenward, what do they do? They're going to turn
• 35:55
  horizontal. So in verse 6, they're going to
• 35:58
  go and murmur with the king because of their afflictions and
• 36:01
  they desire to go to battle Once again, they they've determined
• 36:06
  there's no way we can deliver ourselves out of bondage.
• 36:08
  So what are we going to do? We're going to complain to the
• 36:10
  king and plead with him to let us go to battle and try to
• 36:12
  deliver ourselves. So much for the no way that that
• 36:17
  we can do this. And their complaints get so big
• 36:21
  that he finally says, OK, you can do according to your
• 36:23
  desires. So attempt number one is in
• 36:26
  verse seven. They gathered themselves
• 36:28
  together and put on their armor and went forth against the
• 36:30
  Lamanites to drive them out of their land.
• 36:32
  We are going to solve our problem our self.
• 36:36
  Well, it says the Lamanites did beat them and drove them back
• 36:41
  and slew many of them. So what just happened to our
• 36:45
  bondage? Came even tighter.
• 36:48
  So now the Lamanites are going to tighten the bends of that
• 36:54
  bondage. They're going to be even
• 36:56
  harsher, more cruel in the way they treat you, but they're
• 37:01
  still going to demand that you pay their 50% tax.
• 37:03
  And maybe they might even up that a little bit.
• 37:06
  But you've got fewer men working the the soil, taking care of the
• 37:10
  animals, building buildings. And you've got these women and
• 37:14
  children who are mourning and lamenting for the loss of their
• 37:18
  husbands, their sons, and the daughters mourning the loss of
• 37:21
  their fathers. They're never coming home again.
• 37:24
  So what do they do? Verse 11.
• 37:28
  And it came to pass that their continual cries did stir up the
• 37:31
  remainder of the people of Limhi to anger against the Lamanites,
• 37:35
  and they went again to battle. But they were driven back again,
• 37:39
  suffering much loss. So this time they're fueled by
• 37:44
  much anger as they go in, in hatred and rage.
• 37:50
  And they lost. Again.
• 37:53
  Conviction and and degree of certainty aren't going to
• 37:59
  guarantee a victory in any setting.
• 38:03
  And these people were convinced that that we're we're upset
• 38:07
  enough and we're strong enough we can do this, and it just made
• 38:11
  their bondage worse. So now they're even more
• 38:15
  constricted in that binding slavery that they found
• 38:21
  themselves. So what did they do?
• 38:23
  Verse 12? Yeah, they went again even the
• 38:25
  third time and suffered in the like manner.
• 38:28
  And those that were not slain returned again to the city of
• 38:31
  Nephi. Now do you remember back in
• 38:35
  Mosiah chapter 12, when a Benedict told them that they
• 38:38
  will be brought into bondage and then he gave them only one
• 38:42
  conditional prophecy. You will be brought into
• 38:45
  bondage. And he says, once you're in
• 38:47
  bondage, accept you, repent, you will be utterly destroyed.
• 38:52
  They are in the process of becoming utterly destroyed and
• 38:56
  it would have continued had they not done something differently.
• 39:02
  I love verse 13 and 14. And they did humble themselves
• 39:06
  even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of
• 39:09
  bondage, submitting themselves to be smitten and to be driven
• 39:13
  to and fro and burdened according to the desires of
• 39:16
  their enemies. And and then I love verse 14, it
• 39:20
  says, And they did humble themselves.
• 39:22
  We already read that they humble themselves.
• 39:24
  But there's something different about this one.
• 39:26
  And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility.
• 39:30
  And they did cry mightily to God.
• 39:32
  Yet even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he
• 39:37
  would deliver them out of their afflictions.
• 39:40
  I think there's there's an interesting contrast here.
• 39:42
  There is a difference between simply humbling ourselves and
• 39:47
  and it kind of sounds in this verse like they're giving up,
• 39:49
  they're they're just OK, whatever, we'll just go along
• 39:52
  with it. But verse 14 and they did humble
• 39:55
  themselves and cry mightily to God that he would deliver them.
• 40:00
  They have reached the point where they recognize that there
• 40:03
  is no physical way for them as as a people to deliver
• 40:07
  themselves. And it's this turning point for
• 40:10
  them where they recognize their need to turn heaven more, their
• 40:13
  need for God to be their deliverer.
• 40:16
  I love that. And so God doesn't deliver them
• 40:20
  from within. He sends the help from Zarahemla
• 40:24
  in the form of Ammon and the 15 strong men.
• 40:28
  So again, timing here is important.
• 40:30
  They've been in this bondage for 2324 years.
• 40:33
  And finally, when they turn heavenward and they repent and
• 40:38
  they're humble and meek and submissive, not just before the
• 40:42
  people, but before God. Then and only then does God send
• 40:47
  the rescue party from Zarahemla under the direction of King
• 40:52
  Josiah the 2nd to say, hey, it's been 7580 years since we saw
• 40:57
  those people go and see how they're doing.
• 41:00
  And the timing is beautiful because now Ammon shows up with
• 41:05
  these men and you get this, this beautiful interchange where
• 41:11
  these people realize, oh, there is hope for me.
• 41:17
  Because some of you or some of your loved ones might be at a
• 41:19
  point where you've lived similar to this, this struggle that limb
• 41:25
  High and his people have faced, where you've become more and
• 41:29
  more and more constricted and bound by the flesh or by
• 41:35
  temptation or by addiction. And if we're not careful, we can
• 41:38
  start to think, OK, there really is no way I will ever be
• 41:42
  delivered. But if if that person or that
• 41:46
  family will turn heavenward and say we need help, we can't do
• 41:52
  this on our own. I can't release myself from this
• 41:55
  bondage. Then the Lord will send help it
• 41:59
  make. It may take a little while.
• 42:01
  He it tells us He was slow to hear their cries in verse 15.
• 42:06
  Nevertheless, the Lord did hear their cries, and He began to
• 42:10
  soften the hearts. Lame.
• 42:11
  So it's again this process. Don't expect an event of being
• 42:16
  released from bondage. It takes time.
• 42:19
  It took a lot of years to get into it.
• 42:20
  Yeah, in verse 16 even says, and it came to pass that they began
• 42:23
  to prosper by degrees in the land.
• 42:26
  I think sometimes we expect for this immediate deliverance an
• 42:29
  Angel to come down, wipe the entire Lamanite army out who's
• 42:33
  surrounding them. But I think often times, at
• 42:36
  least in my life, it happens more like this by degrees, where
• 42:41
  it's it's that process, right, that refining journey to become
• 42:46
  like the saviour. I love that.
• 42:47
  So now once Ammon does show up and limb high hears oh the
• 42:53
  Nephite nation hasn't been destroyed because they were
• 42:56
  concerned when they had been in bondage.
• 42:58
  One of the things they had done was sent some men to look for
• 43:03
  the land of Zarah Hamlet, and they missed it.
• 43:05
  They somehow walked through the land of Zarahemel because none
• 43:08
  of them have ever been there. This is a couple generations
• 43:11
  removed from the group that came down, and they found instead the
• 43:15
  land of desolation up north. And they found 24 plates of the
• 43:18
  this Jaredite civilization that they had assumed worth any
• 43:21
  fights. And they realized, oh, there is
• 43:24
  hope for our deliverance. And they start sharing some of
• 43:28
  the stories. And I love what he what Limhai
• 43:31
  shares with Ammon in verse 31 and 32.
• 43:34
  He says, yeah, they did mourn for their departure.
• 43:37
  Speaking of Alma's people who had left 2324 years ago, they
• 43:43
  knew not whether they had fled. Now they would have gladly
• 43:46
  joined them, joined with them. For they themselves had entered
• 43:51
  into a covenant with God to serve him and keep his
• 43:54
  commandments. And now, since the coming of
• 43:57
  Ammon King Lim, I had also entered into a covenant with God
• 44:02
  and also many of his people to serve him and keep his
• 44:05
  commandments. And yet so it says they've
• 44:07
  entered into this covenant. We want thee to be our God.
• 44:11
  We want to be thy people, and yet they're lacking something,
• 44:15
  and that something is what they most desire.
• 44:18
  Now it says verse 33. It came to pass the king limb
• 44:22
  high, and many of his people were desirous to be baptized,
• 44:26
  but there was none in the lamb that had authority from God.
• 44:29
  And Ammon declined doing this thing, considering himself an
• 44:31
  unworthy servant. So they've made a covenant, but
• 44:35
  they want that outward witness, that outward show that we talked
• 44:39
  about back in chapter 18 through the waters of baptism, that it
• 44:43
  completes, that covenant covenants are made, but they
• 44:48
  have to be solidified or ratified or made effectual by
• 44:55
  the ordinances that God has provided.
• 44:58
  And in this case, it's the baptism ordinance.
• 45:02
  What a difference it would have made in my mission if I had
• 45:05
  better understood this doctrine that I'm not trying to get
• 45:08
  people just to get into the baptismal font.
• 45:12
  I'm trying to actually get people to make a covenant with
• 45:16
  God, to serve him, and to to do all those things we talked about
• 45:21
  in chapter 18. And then, as an outward show of
• 45:24
  that inward covenant and connection with Christ, they now
• 45:29
  desire to be baptized. I would no longer have needed to
• 45:32
  to try to persuade anyone to get baptized, because if they truly
• 45:37
  understood this covenant, they would have been the ones
• 45:40
  pleading to be allowed to perform that ordinance in a
• 45:46
  baptismal font to complete that witness of that inward covenant
• 45:51
  that they had made. I love all this covenantal
• 45:54
  language that we see here at the end of chapter 21.
• 45:58
  And I think it's beautiful to see the the contrast between the
• 46:01
  people of Limhi and the people of Alma and the people both both
• 46:05
  peoples have made this covenant. But we see that the people of
• 46:08
  Alma have have been baptized, they've they've done this
• 46:11
  ordinance and I think we see a difference here in in the
• 46:16
  unfolding of their story. Absolutely.
• 46:18
  So the the the irony here is, is as this group is released from
• 46:24
  bondage and they end up going back to Zarahemla with the help
• 46:28
  of Ammon, the guards get lost one day into the the journey of
• 46:34
  following them and they're disoriented and they end up
• 46:37
  finding Amylon and the 24 Lamanite daughters who they had
• 46:42
  stolen years before. And they now start wandering and
• 46:47
  they come out of the the forest and they see the city of Helum
• 46:53
  where Alma and his people are and the people who are out
• 46:57
  working in the fields in chapter 23, they they aren't even in
• 47:01
  bondage yet before they come running to the Prophet saying Oh
• 47:07
  no we're in trouble what do we do?
• 47:10
  And I love, I love this pattern. When you go to the Prophet, he's
• 47:16
  not going to build you up in a sense of anxiety.
• 47:19
  He's going to calm down those anxieties and and calm those
• 47:23
  troubled hearts and and silence those fears.
• 47:27
  So, so let's look at Alma's response to these people who are
• 47:30
  coming. And by the way, they haven't
• 47:32
  even fallen into bondage yet. It's it's coming.
• 47:34
  The army's coming. But verse 27 and 28.
• 47:38
  But Alma went forth and stood among them, and exhorted them,
• 47:41
  that they should not be frightened, but that they should
• 47:43
  remember the Lord their God, and he would deliver them.
• 47:47
  Therefore they hushed their fears and began to cry into the
• 47:50
  Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites, that
• 47:53
  they would spare them and their wives and their children.
• 47:57
  So what? What contrast you see in this
• 47:59
  story with what we just talked about of 2324 years of trying to
• 48:03
  deliver ourselves from bondage. Well I find it interesting like
• 48:07
  you mentioned that their their first response is to run to the
• 48:10
  Prophet and and receive his counsel and I think the same is
• 48:15
  very true for our day. When we find ourselves in these
• 48:18
  situations like the people of Alma our first response should
• 48:23
  be to run to the prophet. The prophet is called of God he
• 48:26
  sees things that we cannot and and the Lord's apostles as well
• 48:30
  they are his mouthpiece here on the earth and I think there is
• 48:33
  such peace and safety that comes as we follow them in verse 28 it
• 48:37
  says and they hushed their fears.
• 48:39
  I love that that that sense of of security and safety and
• 48:42
  peace. And I know for me as I have, as
• 48:46
  I have listened to the words of the prophets and tried to do the
• 48:49
  things that that President Nelson has invited us to do.
• 48:52
  I have felt that that peace, that hushing of of any fears I I
• 48:56
  might have. And there's true true security
• 48:58
  and peace in doing that. And in turning heaven were
• 49:01
  turning to the Lord instead of to my own meager ability to to
• 49:07
  save myself or to to help myself out of these situations.
• 49:10
  So, so practically speaking, Alicia, I think this is this is
• 49:14
  one of those incredible places of scripture where we can see
• 49:18
  this pattern of when I find myself in bondage or knowing
• 49:25
  that there's trouble coming and I'm overwhelmed by it and I feel
• 49:30
  small and insignificant and incapable or unworthy, whatever,
• 49:33
  whatever the situation may be, and I realize I'm in trouble.
• 49:37
  I need help. This is a beautiful principle
• 49:41
  that you've you've just walked us through of turn to the Lord
• 49:46
  through a a a study of his prophet's words both in
• 49:53
  scripture and in general Conference.
• 49:56
  What an amazing thing today or tomorrow or this week or this
• 50:00
  month when you when you feel a sense of panic or a sense of
• 50:05
  anxiety building or your blood pressure is going up, 'cause you
• 50:08
  don't know what to do in a particular situation.
• 50:11
  Instead of following this pattern over here of trying to
• 50:16
  fix it yourself. What an amazing invitation to
• 50:21
  instead say, Oh no, I don't know what to do.
• 50:24
  And open up your scriptures. Read them with a prayerful heart
• 50:29
  or turn on a general conference talk in in your earbud.
• 50:34
  Or read the Liahona. Read some of the words of the
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  living prophets, not just reading them randomly but
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  reading them intentionally, saying I have this problem
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  coming, Lord, help me, deliver me, save me.
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  And then read the scriptures and the words of the living prophets
• 50:53
  and just watch as the Lord hushes your fears as he
• 50:58
  strengthens you. It doesn't mean that you're
• 51:01
  you're not going to fall into certain kinds of bondage.
• 51:04
  This people was, was brought into that bondage and Amylon was
• 51:09
  put in charge of them. And even while they're serving
• 51:13
  in that period of bondage, it's a different kind of bondage than
• 51:17
  what we saw with King Limhai's people.
• 51:20
  It it feels different. I think another interesting
• 51:23
  thing on this point is at the end of verse 27, Alma exhorts
• 51:29
  them not to be frightened but that they should remember the
• 51:33
  Lord their God that he would deliver them.
• 51:35
  I think that is the role of the prophets to teach of Jesus
• 51:40
  Christ and and teach us about that deliverance.
• 51:43
  And as we look for Jesus Christ in the words of the prophets
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  like you said in the scriptures or in general conference, that
• 51:49
  is where that sense of peace comes from.
• 51:51
  It is from our Savior Jesus Christ and and His words, His
• 51:55
  teachings and His His salvation. Yeah, you know, the older I've
• 51:59
  gotten, the more I have appreciated the blessing of
• 52:03
  living profits, the more as I'm driving to work or back.
• 52:08
  I turn off the radio and I turn on the profits.
• 52:12
  I listen to general conference way more frequently than I ever
• 52:16
  did. I study those words in print way
• 52:18
  more than I ever did. And I find that life is somehow
• 52:23
  less binding. It's it's less filled with
• 52:28
  anxiety and despair. I feel more of the Savior's hope
• 52:33
  through the words of of His appointed leaders that speak to
• 52:37
  us. And as I engage more with
• 52:39
  scriptures intentionally in those in those same contexts,
• 52:43
  which now brings us to chapter 24, when they are in bondage,
• 52:46
  what do you do? They show you this beautiful
• 52:49
  pattern. So we read here in chapter 24
• 52:51
  that Amulon and his group of Lamanites come and the people of
• 52:56
  Alma are put into bondage. And so the it's pretty bad
• 53:02
  afflictions. And they verse 10 tells us they
• 53:05
  cried mightily to God and then Amulon tells them you can't we
• 53:10
  will put you to death if you pray to God.
• 53:12
  So they stop praying outwardly, but they keep praying in their
• 53:17
  heart. And two of my favorite verses of
• 53:21
  all scripture come here in verse 13 and 14 because they are so
• 53:27
  relevant to anybody who finds themselves in a in a difficult
• 53:31
  trying situation or setting. Verse 13 says, And it came to
• 53:35
  pass that the voice of the Lord came unto them in their
• 53:39
  affliction, saying, Lift up your heads, and be of good comfort.
• 53:43
  For I know of the covenant which you have made unto me, and
• 53:46
  deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens
• 53:50
  which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot
• 53:53
  feel them upon your backs, even while you were in bondage.
• 53:56
  And this will I do, that you may stand as witnesses for me
• 54:00
  hereafter, and that you may know of a surety that I, the Lord
• 54:04
  God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
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  I love every word in verse 13 and 14 because each each
• 54:17
  sentence is a sermon. You'll notice he didn't say I'm
• 54:21
  going to prevent you from having to be in bondage.
• 54:24
  He says I'll visit you in your afflictions and I'll deliver you
• 54:28
  out of your bondage. But in the meantime, until that
• 54:31
  deliverance happens, I'm going to ease the burdens.
• 54:35
  And then you get the word that repeated multiple times in verse
• 54:39
  14. If you add the word so in front
• 54:42
  of the word that it becomes even more applicable to our situation
• 54:47
  today, I will ease the burdens which are put upon your
• 54:50
  shoulders so that even you cannot feel up upon your backs.
• 54:55
  Now that bondage, those burdens, may take completely different
• 55:00
  forms for different people in your family, or your
• 55:03
  neighborhood or your ward, or your stake.
• 55:06
  But the principle remains the same.
• 55:08
  For some, that bondage might feel like caring for a child
• 55:12
  with special needs. For another, that that burden
• 55:16
  might be caring for a loved one in in failing health or aging
• 55:22
  parents or an aging spouse. For others, that bondage might
• 55:26
  be losing employment and not being able to provide for a
• 55:29
  family and thinking, What is wrong with me?
• 55:33
  How am I? How am I supposed to survive
• 55:36
  this? And how am I supposed to take
• 55:37
  care of my family And it's this heavy burden for others.
• 55:41
  It might be a an addiction. There are so many forms that
• 55:47
  this bondage can take. But the promise is the same.
• 55:51
  If we've connected with God, if we've turned to the Lord early
• 55:55
  and often, his promises, he'll he'll ease those burdens.
• 56:00
  And this will I do so that you may stand as witnesses of for me
• 56:05
  hereafter. Remember the stand as a witness
• 56:08
  in the baptismal covenant. Part of the standing of a
• 56:11
  witness is to show God's goodness in our bondage.
• 56:16
  And then he says, And that ye may know of a surety that I, the
• 56:20
  Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
• 56:27
  I can't even begin to number the times in my life when I have
• 56:33
  felt overwhelmed. When I felt outclassed, I felt
• 56:38
  unworthy. I felt like I can't do this and
• 56:42
  I pour my heart out to God, Please save me, please deliver
• 56:46
  me. And somehow, over time, things
• 56:50
  just happened to work out. They don't.
• 56:53
  It's usually not instantaneous, but they just work out.
• 56:58
  I find this story really. Relatable.
• 57:01
  And I think, I think a lot of us do in in different stages of our
• 57:05
  lives. The this particular story, this
• 57:08
  block of scripture was really meaningful to me on my mission
• 57:13
  for the first few months, I was really, really homesick.
• 57:18
  I remember waking up each morning with just this pit in my
• 57:22
  stomach. I was nauseous.
• 57:24
  I had a hard time sleeping. I was anxious.
• 57:27
  And I remember those months, those first 3-4 months of my
• 57:32
  mission were the longest months of my entire life.
• 57:36
  And I remember waking up each day saying I don't know if I can
• 57:39
  do this again. I don't know if I can do another
• 57:40
  day of of missionary work. I don't understand the language.
• 57:44
  I was speaking Spanish in South Carolina and I felt so
• 57:48
  inadequate. And I remember feeling so
• 57:50
  overwhelmed. I remember filling this.
• 57:53
  I could not deliver myself like the people of of Alma.
• 57:56
  I it was out of my control. There was nothing I could do and
• 58:00
  I remember during those months. Some of the most heartfelt
• 58:08
  prayers. That I have ever offered, and I
• 58:12
  remember the feeling of peace that came.
• 58:17
  It wasn't the homesickness didn't go away.
• 58:19
  I was. I was still homesick.
• 58:21
  It was still hard. I still didn't speak the
• 58:23
  language all of a sudden. But there was a peace and there
• 58:27
  was a strength that allowed me to endure.
• 58:31
  And and I like this part here where it says that the burdens
• 58:35
  were eased and they weren't taken away.
• 58:39
  The people of Alma were still in bondage.
• 58:42
  But I testified that those burdens that we face, those
• 58:46
  burdens that we experienced, can be eased as we turn to our
• 58:50
  Savior Jesus Christ. He is the only way.
• 58:53
  During those months as I dove into the scriptures like I never
• 58:57
  had before, I'm looking for some sense of peace and comfort and
• 59:01
  strength. I learned who my Savior was
• 59:04
  during those months and it made it holy ground.
• 59:08
  Those those months are sacred. It was a sacred time for me in
• 59:12
  coming to know who Jesus Christ was.
• 59:15
  Not just who who are the Savior of the world was, but who my
• 59:19
  personal Redeemer was, what that looked like in my life.
• 59:23
  And and I love that this promise is sure.
• 59:26
  This promise was given to the people of Alma.
• 59:28
  And it is given to us that as we turn to the Lord, as we let God
• 59:33
  prevail like President Nelson has has encouraged us, as we
• 59:36
  turn to Him, those burdens will be lightened and we will be
• 59:39
  strengthened like it says in verse 15 that we can bear those
• 59:42
  burdens. So whatever it is, whatever you
• 59:45
  are going through, as you learn of Jesus Christ, as you turn to
• 59:49
  Him, your burdens can be lightened.
• 59:51
  You can come unto him and have that strength.
• 59:55
  I'll I'll never forget that time.
• 59:58
  Alicia, when you were out, our whole family was pleading with
• 1:00:03
  God to pour out his richest blessings upon you and to take
• 1:00:07
  away this this struggle. And he didn't take it away.
• 1:00:11
  And here I was as as your Father, pleading with Heavenly
• 1:00:15
  Father, saying, what? What are you doing to to our
• 1:00:19
  daughter? Why aren't you making this
• 1:00:21
  easier? And I didn't get a a distinct
• 1:00:24
  answer, I I didn't get an Angel coming and telling me I got this
• 1:00:28
  calm reassurance that God knows what he's doing.
• 1:00:34
  And the perspective, in hindsight, was Alicia needed to
• 1:00:39
  pass through that so that she could, for the rest of her life
• 1:00:43
  stand as a more firm witness of God's goodness, his mercy, and
• 1:00:48
  His grace. That was a refining fire for
• 1:00:51
  her. I'm probably not the last one
• 1:00:54
  you'll face in this life, but it prepared you for for your
• 1:00:57
  future, and it helped the entire family.
• 1:01:01
  We were all blessed because of that, that furnace of affliction
• 1:01:06
  through which she passed. And we we worked with her and
• 1:01:10
  fasted with her and pled with God with her throughout that
• 1:01:15
  process. And it was beautiful, which I I
• 1:01:18
  love. The the conclusion here in verse
• 1:01:20
  21 and 22 when he says that they were released from bondage, and
• 1:01:25
  they start going to Zara, Hemla. And in the valley of Alma they
• 1:01:29
  poured out their thanks to God, because he had been merciful
• 1:01:33
  unto them, and eased their burdens.
• 1:01:34
  And I did delivered them out of bondage, For they were in
• 1:01:38
  bondage, and none could deliver them, except it were the Lord
• 1:01:40
  their God. And they gave thanks to God the
• 1:01:44
  all their men and all their women and all their children
• 1:01:46
  that could speak, lifted their voices in in the praises of
• 1:01:49
  their God. What a beautiful way to end this
• 1:01:53
  set of scriptures of turning our voices collectively heavenward,
• 1:02:00
  counting our many blessings, seeing the many experiences
• 1:02:04
  through which God has delivered us.
• 1:02:08
  The the deliverance is through Christ, through His prophets, to
• 1:02:13
  bring us to safety and to ease those burdens even as we're
• 1:02:17
  going through them. And what a beautiful place to
• 1:02:20
  start by thanking Him right now. Not waiting for tonight, not
• 1:02:25
  waiting for next week, not waiting for some event in the
• 1:02:29
  future, but turning heavenward and thanking him now for His
• 1:02:33
  goodness and His grace. I want to testify of that truth
• 1:02:37
  that. Our deliverance comes through
• 1:02:39
  Jesus Christ. That is where true peace and
• 1:02:42
  strength and comfort comes from as we strive to become like Him
• 1:02:47
  and make these covenants with God.
• 1:02:49
  These covenants are our connecting point with Him as we
• 1:02:53
  strive to live those covenants every day of our lives as we
• 1:02:56
  wake up each morning and strive to become like Him.
• 1:03:00
  That is where that sense of peace comes from, and I want to
• 1:03:04
  testify of that. And we say these things in the
• 1:03:08
  name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
• 1:03:10
  Amen. Know that you're.
• 1:03:12
  Loved.