Last updated on June 18th, 2024 at 05:56 pm
June 9, 2024
Here is the best thing I heard (What?), saw (Eye.), and read (Read.) this week, as well as the best idea (💡) I developed.
What?
followHim Podcast – Mosiah 29 – Alma 4 – Dr. Nate Williams:
- [Dr. Nate Williams] “Now I know personally the Book of Mormon has answered a lot of my personal priority questions that have stretched me sometimes, or even called me to repentance. I’ve developed a list of about ten questions as I’ve looked over this block, and I was wondering if we could use those to guide us in our discussion today.” (I added these questions as notes in my digital scriptures on churchofjesuschrist.org. Here are the ten questions and the verses in which I added the notes.)
- “Why would Mormon be interested in concluding the Book of Mosiah with a lengthy assertion of King Mosiah’s letter, which primarily describes the need for political transition from kings, the monarchy, to judges? Why end such an inspiring book with this letter describing political reform from three kings that have served the last 40 years to now the transition to the reign of the judges?” (Mosiah 29:10-11)
- “Why might Mosiah 29, 19 through 20 possibly be considered one of the most important passages in scripture?” (Mosiah 29:19-20)
- “What does Nehor do or teach that would cause him to be labeled an Antichrist?” (Alma 1:2)
- “What makes Nehor’s rival religion such a danger or threat to the safety of Nephite society? Why are they so concerned about what this is introducing among the people that it could even lead to their destruction?” (Alma 1:3-5)
- “What do we learn about Alma, or about Mormon and the use of Alma’s words, from the two times he has Alma directly speak in this one chapter?” (The other time is in Alma 2:30; Alma chapters 1-3 were originally one chapter before modern chapter breaks were inserted) (Alma 1:12-24)
- “How is the order of Nehor different from the Holy Order of God?” (Alma 1:16)
- “How do I read the Amlici narrative, chapters 2 through 3 differently, if I connect it with Nehor? It appears they were originally part of one chapter. The author, Mormon, wanted us to lump them all together, even though we might look at them as three different chapters.” (Alma 2:1-2)
- “What do I learn about the curses of God from the Amlicite experience? (Alma 3:4)
- “How do we best measure success, progress or spirituality in the Church of Jesus Christ? Are there outward indications that are better than others? Or are there any outward indications of progress that were really making a difference in people’s lives that would help somehow be a tangible outward measurement of how we’re doing with inward spirituality, inward commitment, inward growth, inward coming unto Christ?” (Alma 4:4)
- “What does it look like for the church to fail? What are some of those distinguishing characteristics of a failing church?” (Alma 4:6)
Eye.
“I Trained like Steph Curry for 50 Days to Improve my Shooting” (YouTube):
- My 8-year-old son and I enjoyed watching this video. We learned Steph Curry’s five points for good shooting mechanics:
- Shoot from the ground up: Make sure all ten toes are pointed at the net with knees bent in an athletic stance.
- Lead with your lower body: Get the bulk of power from your legs.
- Hand positioning: Let the ball rest on the pads of your fingertips with a bit of space between the ball and your palm.
- Where to aim: Lock your eyes on the hooks that connect the net to the rim.
- Release: Finish your shot with your elbow over your eye. At the top of your release, have a gooseneck-looking followthrough.
Read.
God and the Spider (a 9-year-old girl shared this story in primary last Sunday, and it captivated the attention of our rambunctious senior primary – I asked her dad for a copy of the story):
- “God can use anything He chooses to help us in times of need because He knows just what our needs are. We may wonder how a little spider can help, but with trust in God, that little spider can be a big help.
“During World War 1, a United States marine was separated from his unit. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades and could not see them anywhere.
“Alone in the hills, he heard some enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for a place to hide, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of those caves. He was safe for the moment, but shortly he realized that once the enemy soldiers who were looking for him climbed up the ridge, they would quickly search all of the caves, and they would be sure to find him.
“As he waited, he prayed, ‘Lord, if it be Your will, please protect me. I accept whatever is your will though, because I love You and trust You. Amen.’
“After praying, he lay quietly, listening to the enemy beginning to draw close. He thought, ‘Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one.’ Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy soldiers who were searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.
“‘Ha,’ he laughed to himself. ‘What I need is a brick wall, and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor.’
“As the enemy drew closer, he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. ‘Lord, forgive me,’ prayed the young man. ‘I had forgotten that in You a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall.'”
💡
It was not Alma the Elder’s testimony of prophets (such as Abinadi) nor the Church (of which he was the high priest) that changed the trajectory of Alma the Younger’s life. It was his testimony of Jesus Christ.
- Hear what else I had to say about this in General Conference Applied season 3 episode 8.
Additional Content
Next Newsletter (June 16, 2024 – The Spoken Word, a family book club, and thoughts on discipleship)