Come Follow Me with Sam

 Welcome to the first blog post for 2021 Come Follow Me!!!!!!!!!!!! 2021 is the Doctrine and Covenants. I'm going to take some time below to introduce the Doctrine and Covenants and then we will break down D&C 1. I am reading through the D&C with commentary by Hyrum M. Smith (Not to be confused with Hyrum Smith, Joseph Smith's brother) and Janne Sjodahl (heretoafter refered to HnJ), so you will see me referencing their commentary. They originally compiled the notes in 1913-1916 but the copy I have is a revised edition that was printed later. Introduction to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints Many of my readers are already members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. Many are Converts or not members yet with varying knowledge. I recently came across a world religions book that I thought did a fair job until I got to the section on 'Mormonism'. I couldn't believe what he was saying! I'm not going to go through that here, but wow, ...

 Congratulations! We made it! It is the end of the Book of Mormon! After learning so much from Mormon and Moroni, I feel the sacred nature of this last chapter. Moroni brings together so many ideas so fast, that this is really a crown jewel of a most miraculous work. The forgotten verse in Moroni's ask We all know Moroni 10 vs 4-5. ask God if these things are true and He will tell you by the power of the Holy Ghost. Well, Moroni gives some clues in vs 3 on how this is to be accomplished. Notice that in both the old scripture mastery and the new come follow me manual, vs 3 is included in the set. Let's break it down 3 Behold, I would exhort you - Moroni really cares about what he is about to ask you to do that when ye shall read these things, - He knows you, and that these things will come to you. if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them - This is a reminder that God was the one who inspired the prophets, preserved the writings, protecting them to this day, then sent t...

 Welcome to Come Follow Me with Sam! These next chapters show the core of certain experiences Moroni had, his relationship to his civilization and the church. He lays out some of the fundamentals of Christianity in such a simple way that people can understand. I ask every true Christian to read these and see if they are not the true teaching of Christ, and I ask every non-Christian to read these things and ask if they are not the true teaching of life. Moroni 7 I am going to do my best to deep dive Moroni 7 because I think we read past it way too much. It can be roughly broken into 4 interconnected sections that teach how someone can truly be a disciple of Christ through faith, hope, and charity. Remember that Moroni (actually Mormon, since this is just his words) is speaking to those who have already been baptized and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, so these words are written specifically for that audience. If you don't know the Gift of the Holy Ghost yet, this...

 Welcome to Come follow me with Sam! Moroni finds he has a little more time and so he chooses first to reiterate and specifically explain and testify of the order that Christ set forth among the Nephites and Lamanites. I find it so fascinating that this was what was important to him for us to know. I think he wanted us to understand that the order under which we are is the same order under which Christ Himself established his church. This gives a certain understanding of the holiness of which we partake. You cannot escape from the darkness in your own heart The Lamanites were driven by anger, hate, and fear to war upon their enemies. They destroyed the Nephite civilization utterly. But they couldn't destroy the anger, hate, and fear and so they fell upon one another. Their wars became exceedingly fierce. But, as you guessed, the war isn't going to solve anything either. Until you work into yourself a heart of peace, there is nowhere to turn. The simple triple connection Moroni ...

 Welcome to Come Follow Me with Sam! Guess what! Not even a month ago we read about the complete collapse of the Nephite civilization! Now we hit the Jaredite one as well! These are the chapters we learn about Ether, his ministry, his warnings, and the final days of the Jaredites. We also get a fascinating in-the-moment play-by-play discourse on faith from Moroni, and likely what he thought would be his very last words in the record. Chapter 12 is difficult because it deserves more time than a blog post. It deserves its own book. I have highlighted certain parts of it, and I hope you use this as a stepping stone to read and learn more. If only Moroni could tell us Why was Ether so inspired among a generation on the brink of destruction? I don't know, but something strikes Moroni about the fact that someone in the Jaredite civilization was in tune and powerful in word and able to hear. If you listen closely you can feel a terrible agony with Moroni in this chapter (12). He is seeing...

 Welcome to come follow me with Sam! In six chapters, we are going to go through the good the bad and the ugly of the Jaredite civilization. Hold on to your hats. They did not cease to praise the Lord I mentioned this scene in the last blog post. When Lehi was lost in the darkness, when Nephi was bound and finally untied, when The Anti-Nephi-Lehies were deciding how to escape their enemies, when Moroni asks us in just a few chapters to ask if these things are true, the common denominator is that they all thank the Lord according to His mercies. This is the way. The Problem with kings The Nephites and Jaredites both struggle with kings. The Nephites develop a way to rule without kings. The success of this system was certainly superior when contrasted with what happened with King Noah, but also had its challenges, or rather, the people still ended up in wickedness despite the advantages of this system. It looks like the Jaredites ran into the same problem, but they couldn't come up w...