Book of Mormon Central or ScripturePlus should be your first stop - well, after reading the scriptures!- for Come Follow Me thru the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History next month. Yup, NEXT MONTH!
(painting by Walter Rane)
Sunday, December 6, 2020
Come Follow Me 2021 : D&C / Church History
[Just to start with : if you want more, go to Ben Spackman's Facebook page. On Dec 6 he listed a lot more.]
It's a great list.
Short list for me would include:
Saints - all the volumes they've published.
Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism : Bushman
The Heavens Resound : Backman or - shorter and easier read - Joseph Smith's Kirtland : Anderson
The Mormon Experience : Arrington and Bitton
A commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants : 4 volumes : Robinson and Garrett
Two available on the LDS.org site or your phone app :
Joseph Smith's Revelations
Revelations in Context.
So, more than enough for the whole year! Good luck!
Monday, November 2, 2020
Interview on "The Busy Latter-day Saint" Podcast
I was interviewed by Richard Bernard for his weekly podcast, 'The Busy Latter-day Saint.' That interview posted today. When you go to his website (http://thebusylatterdaysaint.com/), you will need to scroll down to a post titled, "My Podcast Is Up and Running." That is where you will find the interview.
He has also posted a link to my PowerPoint on how to use Blue Letter Bible. You will find that higher up on his webpage.
I hope you will enjoy those. Let me know what you think.
Come Follow Me : Book of Mormon : 3 Nephi 26-Mormon 6
Link for Sunday School for Nov. 1
3 Nephi 26-Mormon 6
Saturday, July 18, 2020
Alma 32 from a Woman’s Perspective
Rebecca Holt Stay 17
July 2020
Males and Females have been represented metaphorically as
plants all throughout Jewish and Christian scripture, beginning with Genesis 1
where the herbs bearing seeds and the trees bearing fruit in v.12 are
paralleled with males (who bear seed) and females (who bear fruit) in v.
27.
In Genesis 3, which focuses on the tree of life and the tree
of knowledge of good and evil, the consequence for eating of the tree of knowledge
for women is sorrow and labor in bearing children. For men, the consequence is sorrow and
laboring to bring forth herbs and seeds to feed his family (v. 16-18).
Later in Genesis, the promise of seed – meaning sons and
daughters – is central to the Abrahamic covenant.
In the New Testament, Jesus often spoke to the 12 (all
males) using parables about seeds, often to teach them about growing the
kingdom of God (see parables of the sower, the mustard seed, the field white
and ready to harvest, etc.)
We read a similar parable in Alma 32 about planting a seed
and nurturing it to harvest from the tree of life. Reading it as an extended agricultural
metaphor is a male reading of the parable.
But Alma 32 can also be read very differently, from a female
perspective.
My * comments will alternate with the numbered verses from
Alma 32.
26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect
knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first,
unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
*Knowledge, repeated twice in this verse, is used in the
Bible euphemistically to mean sexual intercourse, as in Genesis 4:1 “And Adam
knew Eve his wife and she conceived.”
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties,
even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea,
even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you,
even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my
words.
*Eve was told in the garden that her DESIRE would be toward
her husband (Gen. 3:16).
28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye
give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true
seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will
resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your
breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within
yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good,
for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my
understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
*Imagine, instead of a garden scene, a woman giving place
that a seed may be planted in her womb.
If it is a good or true seed, and if she does not immediately abort the
child, her breasts will begin to swell, preparing to produce milk. As the
seedling grows for a months, the woman finally feels swelling motions – the movement
of the child within her. This is commonly called ‘quickening.’ With those feelings the previously almost
theoretical child begins to become real to her.
Her body continues to enlarge and her understanding of childbearing is
enlightened.
29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say
unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.
*The child, however, is not yet perfect. In Hebrew, perfect is the word thummim, meaning complete or whole or
finished.
30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and
beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it
swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this
strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I
know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.
31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I
say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.
*The growing child is real and good and carries the genetic
likeness of her parents.
32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it
groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.
*Sadly, some seed is imperfect, physically or genetically
flawed, and the child fails to thrive and dies.
We call this miscarriage. Upwards
of 1/5th of all noticed pregnancies end in miscarriage.
33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment,
and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye
must needs know that the seed is good.
34 And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your
knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because
you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know
that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened,
and your mind doth begin to expand.
*If the seed is good, it implants itself into the newly
formed placenta, the good earth from which the new fruit will grow. Picture the veins and arteries in the
placenta as the roots, the umbilical cord as the trunk which carries nutrients
to the child, the ripening fruit.
35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it
is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible,
therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted
this light is your knowledge perfect?
36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside
your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye
might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.
37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say:
Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up,
and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care
it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.
*As the child grows, it needs nourishment. Mom needs to eat plenty of healthy food, take
pre-natal vitamins and visit her midwife or OB regularly.
38 But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its
nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun
cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck
it up and cast it out.
39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither
is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your
ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have
the fruit thereof.
*But if the mother neglects the child within, if she tries
to stay slim and not gain weight, if she smokes, drinks alcohol, or takes
addictive drugs, then the child begins to wither (results include death from
failure to thrive, fetal alcohol syndrome, etc. with triple the normal risk of
stillbirth).
*Or, even worse, the mother may choose to pluck up the fruit
and cast it out. We call that
abortion. Most abortions today are not
necessary, are not because malformation of the child or a threat to the health
of the mother, but are performed because the parents themselves are
barren. They have no living faith that
even an unplanned child could be a great blessing.
40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking
forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the
fruit of the tree of life.
41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as
it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience,
looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall
be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.
*But if the mother continues to nourish the child within
with great patience – consider that the final month of pregnancy can seem like
a year of discomfort – then, she, the woman as the Tree of Life (see Proverbs
3:18 “She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her”) finally bears
fruit. Nephi saw this in his vision of
the Tree of Life (see 1 Nephi 11: 4, 8. 13, 15, 18-20).
42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your
patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold,
by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is
sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea,
and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until
ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
*The fruit of that tree, the perfect newborn baby, is
precious, sweet, and pure. Birthing a
child may be the closest any human comes to reenacting the Atonement of
Christ. Each birth brings forgiveness,
innocence and new beginnings. A parent’s baby hunger is finally satisfied as
the child feasts at the mother’s breast.
43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your
faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the
tree to bring forth fruit unto you.
*All it takes to reap the rewards of your efforts is faith,
diligence, patience, long-suffering (think of 20 hours of labor) and waiting
(think of parents with fertility issues and the years they may wait for children). But have faith: it is so worth it.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Easter Week / PALM Sunday
Easter week activity from my daughter, Karen
Quarantine craft #41: Holy Week handprints. I thought this would be a fun way to get the girls to think about Easter this week. The days are as follows
Palm Sunday-hand makes a palm leaf
Monday cleansing the temple-sacrificial dove
Tuesday teaching in the temple “love the Lord thy God and love thy neighbor as thyself” - heart
Spy Wednesday Judas agrees to betray Jesus - hand with 30 pieces of silver
Maundy Thursday Last Supper and washing feet - feet and water
Good Friday crucifixion - hands pierced
Holy Saturday - crosses and tomb, but the sun will rise
Easter Sunday - resurrected Jesus
Friday, February 28, 2020
2020 BYU Church History Symposium : March 12 and 13
2020 BYU Church History Symposium
Visions and Visionaries: Joseph Smith in Comparative Contexts
Thursday and Friday, March 12–13, 2020
Opening Sessions at 9:00 a.m.
March 12 at BYU Conference Center and March 13 at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, then the Church Office Building auditorium in Salt Lake City
Learn more at the RSC website Here
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Robert Alter lectures now available to watch online
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Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Eldin Ricks : Wide Margin Book of Mormon : I have an extra copy.
This 30 year old binder filled with booklets with wide margins for notes is available. Shipping it would cost at least $15 so if you live near, you might want to just come pick it up.
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UPDATE : this has been claimed. Sorry.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Our granddaughter was born Tuesday!
Baby Ellen Lynn Summerstay arrived yesterday on Jan 21, 2020
9 lbs 6.6 ounces
20.5 inches
Lynn is after her maternal grandmother and also after the wonderful gestational surrogate's middle name, Amanda Lynn, and her middle name was after her mother, Lynn, who was friends with Ellen's grandmother, so she combines all of these people to be named after.
Our surrogate is doing well.
9 lbs 6.6 ounces
20.5 inches
Lynn is after her maternal grandmother and also after the wonderful gestational surrogate's middle name, Amanda Lynn, and her middle name was after her mother, Lynn, who was friends with Ellen's grandmother, so she combines all of these people to be named after.
Our surrogate is doing well.
Robert Alter at BYU next week
A general, public lecture sponsored by the Maxwell Institute, will feature Robert Alter addressing the subject "The Challenge of Translating the Bible." Wednesday, January 29, 7 pm Varsity Theater in the Wilk.
Robert Alter will also be delivering an ANES lecture on Thursday, January 30, at 11:00 in the HBLee Library Auditorium. He will be speaking on “The Art of Biblical Narrative,” reprising for us the topic of his original 1981 book, The Art of Biblical Narrative, which won the National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Thought. We have a bigger venue for this lecture than usual, so please spread this information
Friday, January 10, 2020
ScripturePlus
ScripturePlus is now available for Android!!!
Book of Mormon Central is doing some great work: take advantage of the resources they are putting at your fingertips for FREE!
Look for ScripturePlus (all one word) at your Apple app store or, if you have Android, at Google Play.
FREE
Book of Mormon Central is doing some great work: take advantage of the resources they are putting at your fingertips for FREE!
Look for ScripturePlus (all one word) at your Apple app store or, if you have Android, at Google Play.
FREE
Sunday, January 5, 2020
CFM Week 1: Book of Mormon Introduction
I taught CFM Week 1: Intro to the Book of Mormon today.
I started by mentioning that the Title Page is scripture and we talked about some of the covenants mentioned in the BoM. I then quoted 1 Nephi 2: 20-21
20 And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye (Nephi) shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.
21 And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they (Laman and Lemuel) shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.
I noted that this is sometimes summarized as : If you are righteous, you will prosper; if you are wicked, you will be cut off.
Which is a restatement of the covenant offered to Israel at Sinai : Leviticus 26.
Genealogy back to Joseph of Egypt
Much of our current Old Testament up to the writings of Jeremiah, but also writings that never made it in to the bible of Judah.
I think that when the boys returned with the plates from Jerusalem, Lehi read the Psalms, beginning with Ps 1, 2 and 3.
I started by mentioning that the Title Page is scripture and we talked about some of the covenants mentioned in the BoM. I then quoted 1 Nephi 2: 20-21
20 And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye (Nephi) shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.
21 And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they (Laman and Lemuel) shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.
I noted that this is sometimes summarized as : If you are righteous, you will prosper; if you are wicked, you will be cut off.
Which is a restatement of the covenant offered to Israel at Sinai : Leviticus 26.
Leviticus 26:1 . . . I am the Lord your God.
2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I
am the Lord.
3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and
do them;
4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her
increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. . . .
6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make
you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword
go through your land.
7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall
before you by the sword.
9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply
you, and establish my
covenant with you.
11 And I set
my tabernacle among you:. . .
12 And I
will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
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14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all
these commandments;
15 . . . but that ye
break my covenant:
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over
you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and
cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies
shall eat it.
17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain
before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee
when none pursueth you. . . .
21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken
unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob
you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and
your high ways shall be
desolate. . . .
25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of
my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you;
and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, . . . :
and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied (famine).
30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your
images, and cast your carcases
upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your
sanctuaries unto desolation,
and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
32 And I will bring the land into desolation: . . .
Covenant Curse: Famine,
pestilence and the sword; carcases will lie on the ground; land made desolate;
cut off from the presence of the LORD
Watch for this covenant throughout the Book of Mormon.
Next we discussed the various plates, using visual aids: here is my outline to talk about the various plates. (Good Luck!)
After losing the 116 pages, Joseph began translating where he had left off in Mormon's abridgement of the large plates of Lehi/Nephi.
Then the spirit told him to now translate the small plates of Nephi which contained more sacred writings covering the same time period as the lost 116 pages.
These plates begin with in the first year of the reign of King Zedekiah, so we went back and talked about the history of the northern kingdom of Israel, where Lehi and Ishmael's ancestors lived (tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh). How the words of Isaiah prompted their grandparents to leave their lands in the north and travel as refugees to Jerusalem, which saved their lives. Then Babylon attacks and occupies Judah and Jerusalem, removing and killing the king, taking 1000's into captivity and putting a puppet king, Zedekiah, on the throne. So when the Book of Mormon opens in 1 Nephi, Judah is an occupied country, with Babylonian soldiers on the street corners.
Deuteronomy found in Temple in days of Josiah (when Lehi was a young man), who institutes reforms in religious belief and practice, replacing the older Israelite religion.
Lehi escapes Jerusalem then sends his sons back to get the brass plates. I didn't have brass plates, only a brass bowl, so what was in there?
Genealogy back to Joseph of Egypt
Much of our current Old Testament up to the writings of Jeremiah, but also writings that never made it in to the bible of Judah.
I think that when the boys returned with the plates from Jerusalem, Lehi read the Psalms, beginning with Ps 1, 2 and 3.
Psalm 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalm 2: . . . 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Notice any ideas or themes that occur in Lehi's dreams?
Psalm 3 describes exactly what Lehi just experienced in Jerusalem:
Psalm 3 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.
2 Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.
3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
4 I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.
5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
7 Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
The Hebrew word for Cheek Bone is LEHI.
Then there are the other 2/3 of the plates, which are sealed.
Wouldn't we love to read them?
Then there are the other 2/3 of the plates, which are sealed.
Wouldn't we love to read them?
CFM: I Nephi 1-7
Some very interesting archeological parallels with this part of the Book of Mormon are posted at
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Intro to the Book of Mormon : Videos available.
Hello! A new year of Come Follow Me. Here are about 3 hours worth of videos for the first week's lesson on the Title Page and Introduction to the Book of Mormon. Enjoy
LDS.org (or whatever we call it now) Book of Mormon videos : These NEW videos were made
to assist in your study of the Book of Mormon: they begin in 1 Nephi 1 and will
continue thru the whole book.
Book of Mormon Central
Tips to improve your study of the Book of Mormon this year :
https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/4-tips-and-resources-for-getting-the-most-out-of-your-come-follow-me-book-of-mormon-scripture
The Title Page. A
video narrated by President Nelson https://www.facebook.com/bookofmormoncentral/videos/827589137668989/
The Story of the Book of Mormon: The Plates of Mormon Title page: https://youtu.be/T_GErTonAFg
hat is the Book of Mormon? (the Introduction Narrated) https://youtu.be/VfWx071CCXA
Joseph Smith’s personal history and testimony of the Book of
Mormon : https://youtu.be/ofIvfB7DYKQ
Come Follow Me Lesson Videos
We have begun a new video series with BYU instructors Taylor
Halverson and Tyler Griffin. In these two videos, they review the Title Page,
Introduction, and the testimonies of the Three and Eight Witnesses.
Title page: https://youtu.be/jCEmdvzGMdA
Intro to the Testimonies of the Witnesses : https://youtu.be/YfBFhEkkXCo
Evidences of the Book of Mormon
Evidence for the existence of the Gold Plates : https://youtu.be/Mm-AXJNXiB8
See also this blog post : https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/watch-new-video-on-evidence-for-book-of-mormon-plates which gives all the footnote sources for
the claims in the video so you can check them out yourself.
Evidence for the translation process of the Book of Mormon :
https://youtu.be/4LdR7BoI6F0
See also
this blog post : https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/watch-book-of-mormon-translation-evidence which gives all the footnote sources for the
claims in the video so you can check them out yourself.
Book of Mormon Translation Timeline: a 1 ½ hour video of a
John Welch presentation at Neal A Maxwell Institute : https://youtu.be/RT4bF3g4yHA
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