This week’s Come Follow Me lesson includes the story of King Limhi trying to obtain a translation of records they found in the ruins of a perished society. Ammon teaches him about prophets, revelators, and seers. This reminds of Joseph Smith’s significant role in the eternal plan to bringing forth lost scriptures. This sort of coming forth is far more than archeological entertainment; cultures are changed and individual spirits fortified with the results.
Moroni 7:47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Few scriptures provide doctrinal definitions so plainly; and yet, there are three distinct conclusions that may arise from this verse on the definition of charity. Considering the verse in Spanish and Mandarin, the ambiguity remains (as best I’m able to ascertain).
I have seen that as a counselor to two living prophets of God. They are individuals with unique personalities. Yet they seem to share a consistent optimism. When someone raises an alarm about something in the Church, their most frequent response is “Oh, things will work out.” They generally know more about the problem than the people sounding the alarm. - Henry B. Eyring, “A Priceless Heritage of Hope”
The faithful of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a reputation for seeming happy, as was pointed out in BYU President Kevin Worthen’s talk yesterday. He recounted a campus visitor who, passing many students, inquired whether there was some kind of happiness initiative on campus. Julieann Selden, writing for LDSLiving, asked, We are known for our big hearts, bright smiles, and willingness to bring potato salad to anyone in need.
The faithful of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a reputation for seeming happy, as was pointed out in BYU President Kevin Worthen’s talk yesterday. He recounted a campus visitor who, passing many students, inquired whether there was some kind of happiness initiative on campus. Julieann Selden, writing for LDSLiving, asked, We are known for our big hearts, bright smiles, and willingness to bring potato salad to anyone in need.
As part of my Come Follow Me study for 2020 (which is focused on the Book of Mormon), I am converting the pdf of the handbook of Come Follow Me 2020 to orgmode text. I’ve decided to make this effort publicly available at gitlab, here. What? Orgmode is a program within the powerful Emacs text editor and files in Orgmode format are just text, so you can open them in notepad or any other text editor and they will be perfectly readable.
“Jesus wept.” Why would an all-knowing God, master of life and death, who knew the temporary nature of what caused the tears (the death and life of Lazarus), weep? This question is particularly poignant if we believe that tears are a symptom of a problem, and if we are see pain as a compromise while we struggle our way to immortality. There are two major readings of this passage and the event of our God weeping here.
[Matthew 6:34](https://www.lds.org/scriptures/search?lang=eng&query=Matthew 6:34&x=0&y=0) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. [3 Nephi 13:34](https://www.lds.org/scriptures/search?lang=eng&query=3 Nephi 13:34&x=0&y=0) Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof. The crucial difference here is what is sufficient for what.
[Luke 9:62](https://www.lds.org/scriptures/search?lang=eng&query=Luke 9:62&x=0&y=0) And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. This verse is considered at the end of the Come Follow Me lesson for this week. I wondered, when should we decide not to “look back” and yet be quick to repent (turn around)? What does it mean to look back after putting our hand to the plow?
Dating after divorce After seven years of marriage I found myself struggling with the after-math of an unexpected divorce. I was confused, lacking confidence in myself and in women. But, though I was devastated and damaged, I knew that if I didn’t start dating now I might not make that hurdle in the future. I dated around, meeting some who were damaged so severely they might be years before they can trust themselves with a date; others were giddy about our dates and sought midnight parties and late-night bowling alleys, which didn’t quite suit my single-dad life.