Insights

Before I started running a certain message came to me through several different methods. It was that we have to push our bodies further than what we think they can do to show our bodies what they can really do. Having said that, it is important to do this carefully because we don’t want to push hard enough to cause injury, but it was an intriguing thought and I decided I needed to step up my workouts and start running. So I started a c25k program. The first day I ran 1.5 minutes, coming up short by 30 seconds, but the second day I ran all 2 minutes. And so it went, each day showing my body it could do more and more.

Sunday we were talking about trials (Mountains to Climb, by Henry B Eyring) and the thought occurred to me that Heavenly Father knows us intimately and He knows our potential. Trials are how He pushes us to show us that we can do more and be more. As we grow through our trails we aren’t proving anything to Heavenly Father. We are proving to ourselves that we are what He thinks we are. There have been many, many times in my life when I have thought that Heavenly Father thinks more of me than I think of myself…and I’m right. He really does, and He cares enough to help me see myself through His eyes.

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A couple weeks ago we were reading the last chapter of Ether, and recently we saw the Manti Pageant. I was struck by how similar Mormon and Coriantumr felt. Mormon was a righteous man, but probably felt very disheartened, frustrated, pained and anguished by the fact that he couldn't get the people to listen and they were being destroyed. Coriantumr started out wicked, but repented. I imagine he felt the same feelings as Mormon, with an added measure of guilt and regret. I feel the same things only to a lesser degree in our day.

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One great lesson we get from Alma is the importance of burying our "weapons of rebellion." The story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi people is a dramatic example of it. They needed to bury their swords and never take them up again because if they compromised even the slightest they would be on the road to destruction. If they said, "We can do it this time to defend ourselves" it would have been easier the next time and the time after that. 
My brother was a good example of this in my life. He gave up the drugs and was clean for 3 years, but ultimately he started compromising. "Oh, drinking coffee isn't that bad." "The guys are smoking. Just one won't hurt." And before we knew it he picked up his drug habit where he left off and he lost the battle. 
I think of myself. How does this apply? Can I really give up my sin one day and take it back up the next? How does that affect my future goals of eternal life?

 

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In Sunday School the teacher had us read Alma 31:5 and asked what evidence Alma and the sons of Mosiah had that the word was stronger and more influential than the sword. The answers were interesting, but what impressed me the most was that these men in particular had seen how the word was stronger than the sword first hand. They had gone around persecuting the church until an angel appeared to them and told them to stop. The "word" was preached to them (again) and it changed their lives. 

In Relief Society the teacher talked about Ammon and his brothers as missionaries. She brought out the fact that they were prepared by studying the scriptures (so we should study to be prepared for missionary moments) and they loved the people (so we should love our neighbors before we try to teach them.) Both were excellent points. What impressed me as we talked was the fact that these men were with Alma when the angel appeared. Through that experience they repented and truly felt the love of God in their lives, and they had a deep desire to share God's love with everyone. That's what made them such successful missionaries.