Lately I have been reading a book about the Prophet Joseph Smith called Brother Joseph, Seer of a New Dispensation by Richard N. Skousen and W. Cleon Skousen. I've really been enjoying it because I have wanted to know more about the life of Joseph Smith Jr.
One of the things that I was reading about was when Oliver Cowdry became a scribe for Joseph. Together the work of translating the Book of Mormon increased and sped up immensely. I was very interested in how translating worked through revelation. It's not like they held the urim and thumin over the plates and the reformed Egyptian characters appeared as English words (which is kind of what I thought) but that the words would come into their minds as they looked at the characters and through the spirit, they would know and understand the true translation.
Well when Oliver was given the opportunity to try and translate we are not sure if he wasn't able to translate the characters or if he could but through fear lost the gift, kind of like when Peter could initially walk on water towards the Savior but through fear began to sink into the water. Faith and fear cannot co-exist. Later Oliver was told that he would have a chance to help in the translation of the Book of Joseph and the Record of the Brother of Jared, in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, but due to the wickedness of members of the church, they were never translated. The Lord said that when we as members of the church use the scriptures more and appreciate all that we have been given then this condemnation will be lifted from us and we'll receive those scriptures. I've never thought about the fact that we might be missing some valuable scripture and so I started to think how could I help to get those scriptures. The obvious answer and one that takes a lot of work is keeping the inner vessel clean. If I want others to more properly use the scriptures, I should make sure that I am using them. That I teach my children to value them. It takes the whole church, not just the faith of one.
So, I am challenging myself to do a little better, to do a little more, to try a little harder.
President Benson gives an amazing talk about Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon, October General Conference 1988. He talks about lifting the condemnation on the church. He challenges us to spread the joy that we have with others, putting our testimonies in the scriptures and giving them to our friends. Memorizing scriptures and having our youth know scriptures so that when missions are served the spirit can bring to the front of their minds the right things to say then will touch the hearts of those they teach. I can teach my children the scriptures, I can memorize scriptures. I can share the gospel.
One of the things that I was reading about was when Oliver Cowdry became a scribe for Joseph. Together the work of translating the Book of Mormon increased and sped up immensely. I was very interested in how translating worked through revelation. It's not like they held the urim and thumin over the plates and the reformed Egyptian characters appeared as English words (which is kind of what I thought) but that the words would come into their minds as they looked at the characters and through the spirit, they would know and understand the true translation.
Well when Oliver was given the opportunity to try and translate we are not sure if he wasn't able to translate the characters or if he could but through fear lost the gift, kind of like when Peter could initially walk on water towards the Savior but through fear began to sink into the water. Faith and fear cannot co-exist. Later Oliver was told that he would have a chance to help in the translation of the Book of Joseph and the Record of the Brother of Jared, in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, but due to the wickedness of members of the church, they were never translated. The Lord said that when we as members of the church use the scriptures more and appreciate all that we have been given then this condemnation will be lifted from us and we'll receive those scriptures. I've never thought about the fact that we might be missing some valuable scripture and so I started to think how could I help to get those scriptures. The obvious answer and one that takes a lot of work is keeping the inner vessel clean. If I want others to more properly use the scriptures, I should make sure that I am using them. That I teach my children to value them. It takes the whole church, not just the faith of one.
So, I am challenging myself to do a little better, to do a little more, to try a little harder.
President Benson gives an amazing talk about Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon, October General Conference 1988. He talks about lifting the condemnation on the church. He challenges us to spread the joy that we have with others, putting our testimonies in the scriptures and giving them to our friends. Memorizing scriptures and having our youth know scriptures so that when missions are served the spirit can bring to the front of their minds the right things to say then will touch the hearts of those they teach. I can teach my children the scriptures, I can memorize scriptures. I can share the gospel.
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