Faith to Trust in the Unimaginable

In the final talk of the Saturday Afternoon Session of the most recent General Conference, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke of how God sometimes uses trials and hardships to bring about unimaginable blessings. This is possible because God has a greater perspective than we do. He knows how events are going to play out, and He knows what will ultimately work out best for everyone, even if it seems very bad for a lot of people here and now. Between His "all's well that ends well" attitude and His knowledge that all will, eventually, end well, God can have confidence that everything will be alright, even when that doesn't seem possible to us. Yet, if we have faith in God and in His goodness and miracles and the blessings of eternity, we can have that confidence as well. While we're experiencing trials, it can be difficult to imagine how any good could come from them, but we don't need to be able to imagine it. We just need to trust God and follow His plan for us. His plans can be unfathomable, and they often involve a certain amount of hardship, but He knows that they all work out in the end, and if we trust Him enough, so will we.

Fatal Faithfulness

Tonight, we read Moroni 1, in which Moroni describes why he was hiding. The Lamanites were putting to death every Nephite they could find who would not deny the Christ, and Moroni refused to deny the Christ, so he hid from the Lamanites to save his life.

This is an amazing amount of faithfulness. In theory, it'd be easy enough to lie to the Lamanites so you could continue to live and worship God in secret, but that's really not the best choice, eternally. Survival is almost meaningless. We are mortal beings, who are doomed to die, regardless of our choices, and we are eternal beings, who will live on long after our deaths. Death means almost nothing to us. Meanwhile, dishonesty and unfaithfulness as sins that would stain our immortal souls. When given the choice between death and denying the faith, those with an eternal perspective would choose death.

So, Moroni chose to be faithful rather than to lie to continue living. It was a bold, insightful choice, motivated by an amazing amount of faith. It just goes to show what kind of man Moroni was. He was prepared to be faithful to the end, even if his faithfulness meant his end. He was willing to die rather than deny his faith, and I'm sure that, when he died, he knew that he had made the right decision.

"The Greatest of All Cultures"

I'm currently taking an Intercultural Communications class. In this class, we are taught to avoid the vice of Ethnocentrism, the belief that one's own culture is better than all others. I largely agree with this teaching. There are good and bad parts in nearly all cultures, and with no consensus on which aspects are good and bad, it makes sense to reserve judgment. To each their own. Live and let live. And yet, despite the world's lack of consensus on this subject, there yet remains an objective, moral reality. There are laws of Goodness and Justice that exists, regardless of personal beliefs or cultural standards. And with that objective morality, we can measure the cultures of the world to determine which culture is the best or "most good" culture.

Elder William K. Jackson of the Seventy persuasively contended that "the greatest of all cultures" is The Culture of Christ. Naturally, the culture that is most good is the one that was taught and practiced by The One who is most good. Elder Jackson described various aspects of this culture, citing many of the practices and principles we follow in the Gospel. Essentially, while each person is free to choose how they live, the best way to live is to live like Jesus Christ. Granted, this doesn't mean that we should belittle anyone else. Being judgmental is not an aspect of the culture of Christ. Rather, it means that we should try to incorporate this gospel culture into every aspect of our lives. We should use gospel standards, not to condemn others, but to improve ourselves. I recommend reviewing Elder Jackson's description of the culture of Christ and identifying one aspect of that culture to more fully adopt. Personally, I'm going to work on Faith and Obedience. As Elder Jackson said, the culture of Christ "is a culture of faith and obedience. Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of our culture, and obedience to His teachings and commandments is the outcome. These give rise to self-mastery." I would like to master myself and gain the blessings that come through faith and obedience, so these are the principles I'll focus on. I hope you choose one or two principles of gospel culture to work on as well.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is an excellent set of standards to live by. No, more than that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the best set of standards to live by, and the culture of Christ is the best way to live. I hope that we all choose to more fully follow those standards and to more fully live by the culture of Christ.

Unchangeable Laws

In his talk, The Exquisite Gift of the Son, Elder Matthew S. Holland of the Seventy reminded us of a fact that I find fascinating: even God Himself cannot change the laws of justice. To quote Elder Holland, "at some point the full, excruciating guilt of every sin we commit must be felt. Justice demands it, and God Himself cannot change it."

In my opinion, this has some interesting implications. First of all, God is not actually omnipotent. There are some things that God cannot do. And secondly, if God cannot change the laws of justice, that, to me, suggests that He didn't write them. My guess is that these laws existed long before God did, and are probably immutable, eternal laws of reality. God gained His position partly through His understanding and application of these laws, and He sends us messages through His prophets in order to pass on that understanding, so we can join God in understanding and applying the laws of the universe in the same ways He does.

Granted, a good deal of that is speculation on my part, but it seems rather certain that God cannot change the laws of Justice, and if even God Himself cannot change them, I think it's safe to say that they are utterly unchangeable.

A Good Thanksgiving

Tonight, I just want to say that I'm thankful that we were able to have a small, quiet, good Thanksgiving with my immediate household, with the parade and dog show playing in the background. It was a humbler Thanksgiving this year, but I kind of like that. Things don't have to be grand or great to be Good. Flowers are good, no matter how small they are. Acts of kindness are good, no matter how quiet they are. Something doesn't need to be spectacular in order to be special. A thing doesn't have to be great to be Good. We had a Good Thanksgiving this year, and I'm thankful for that.

How to Withstand Calamities

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, spoke of the seven years of plenty and famine in Egypt, reminding us that, because the Pharaoh heeded the prophetic warning, even when the famine came, "There Was Bread." Naturally, Bishop Waddell's main message was that we should do the same. As we read in the Book of Ether this week, we read about King Coriantumr, who failed to heed a prophetic warning, and subsequently watched all his people get killed in a terrible war, leaving himself the sole survivor of his entire civilization. Blessings follow when we listen ot the prophets and heed their teachings, and curses follow when we don't. This is because God speaks to us through His prophets to tell us how we can obtain blessings and avoid curses. As in Pharaoh's case, God knows when calamities will befall, and He knows what we must do to prepare for them.

Calamities are a natural, necessary, unavoidable aspect of mortality, but while we can't avoid such calamities, we can mitigate their effects, and we do that best by heeding the warnings of the Prophets. Coriantumr didn't, and his people were slaughtered. Pharaoh did, and his people thrived. I know which example I would rather follow.

Not Too Early

Today, while I did some computering, I listened to Handel's Messiah. It was nice to listen to such lovely, seasonal music, even if it is a few days early. There's a nice spirit in that music, and I'm glad I took the opportunity to listen to it. I know it's not after Thanksgiving yet, but I don't think it's too early to start getting into the spirit of Christmas.

Temporal Losses, Eternal Gains

Elder Gerrit W. Gong spoke of a family who, because of their religion, were having trouble making positive connections in their neighborhood. "One night," Elder Gong said, "the family felt their prayers were answered, though in a very unexpected way. Their house caught fire and burned to the ground. But something else happened. The fire softened their neighbors’ hearts." Elder Gong went on to say that blessings are often manifest in trials.

Truly, for those with faithful hearts and eyes to see, the Lord’s tender mercies are manifest amidst life’s challenges. Faithfully met challenges and sacrifice do bring the blessings of heaven. In this mortality, we may lose or wait for some things for a time, but in the end we will find what matters most. That is His promise.

I'm grateful to know that God always gives us something better than what He takes from us. The losses are temporal; the gains are eternal. Thanks to that family's housefire, they were able to make deep and lasting connections to their neighbors, blessing both the family and their neighbors. Was losing their house worth it? It's hard to say, but I can say this: God is always more than fair with His children. If He asks us to give up anything, it's only ever so He can offer us something greater. So, when we face trials and challenges, we should look for the blessings that God is trying to offer us and perhaps console ourselves with the knowledge that God's eternal blessings are worth far more than that which is temporally lost. 

Hoping vs Having Hope

Ether 12:4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

I find this verse interesting because of the way it uses the word "Hope." Usually, hope is considered a flighty thing, like "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow" or "I hope my favorite candidate and/or marble racing team wins the next election and/or marble race," but that's not the way the scriptures use hope. In the scriptures, hope isn't something someone does; it's something someone has. For example, I have hope that everything will work out alright in the end. Having hope in something is far more certain than hoping for it is. In scripture, hope is sure and steadfast and strong enough to anchor us to the truth of the gospel. I don't hope that everything will be okay. I have hope that it will.

The Surest Way to Find Joy

In his talk, Finding Joy in Christ, President Steven J. Lund, the Young Men General President, taught us something remarkable: The surest way to find joy. He said, "[T]he surest way to find joy in this life is to join Christ in helping others."

This is an incredible truth. People have been searching for the secret to true happiness for ages, yet here it is: Help Others. It hardly seems possible that something so profound as the surest way to find joy could be something so simple, yet it rings true.

When we join Christ in helping others, God blesses us with joy, so if we want joy (and who doesn't?), the surest way to get it is to join Christ in serving others.

A Long or Good Life

In his talk, Sustainable Societies, Elder D. Todd Christofferson quoted Wall Street Journal Editor-at-large Gerard Baker, who wrote, "While we may all want to know the secret to a long life, I often feel we’d be better off devoting more time to figuring out what makes a good life, whatever span we’re allotted."

None of us really know how long we have. Anyone could die at any time for a myriad of medical and/or accident-related reasons, no matter how healthy they are or try to be. Besides, even if we could guarantee a long life, what would we do with it? The amount of time we have may not be as important (eternally, at least) as how we spend it. A person who only lives 20 years, but who spends most of those years in service to others probably lives a more fulfilling life than someone who lives a hundred years, but lives only for themselves. A long life would be nice, but all mortals die eventually anyway. Ensuring that our lives are long isn't as important as ensuring that our lives are good.

So, whether I live for centuries or die within days, I'm going to try to spend my remaining time doing and being good. I don't necessarily want to live a long life; I want to live a good one. Granted, one can have both, which is definitely preferable, but given the choice of a long or good life, I'd rather live a good life than a long one.

Infinite Knowledge and Love

I am slowly coming to realize that this month is about two-thirds over, and I haven't blogged about this month's Conference talks yet. I should get on that, but right now, I'm just way too tired to do that. In the meantime, I just want to share a note I took during Gerrit W. Gong's talk: "Sometimes, in our darkest moments, we learn that God knows and loves us better than we know and love ourselves."

I don't know if he said that, or if I inferred it from stuff he said, or if I just made it up, and I'm too tired to look it up right now, but I think it's true. He has a more full perspective than we do, and He has more love than we do. I fully believe that God knows and loves everyone more than they know and/or love themselves. No one has more knowledge or love than God does.

In a way, that's kind of comforting. I'm glad that God knows us better than anyone, and loves us better than anyone anyway. It's good to know that someone can have a perfect knowledge of us and still have an infinite amount of love for us. I'm thankful for that. 

Growing Good

I have been assigned the task of writing a paper about "the world's nicest prison," a prison that seeks to reform prisoners, not by punishing the evil out of them, but by teaching them how to be good. I think that's extremely wholesome. The world needs more good in it, and not just less evil. Merely destroying evil is positive in some ways, but negative in others. It's also good to promote and nurture that which is good.

No person is pure evil. There is some good in everyone. I admire those who seek to find the good in people and who help that good to grow.

Seeking and Seeing Signs

After the brother of Jared saw the finger of the Lord, he made a rather bold request. The Lord asked the brother of Jared if he saw any more than His finger, "And he answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me." Ether 3:10

I don't know if I'd have the guts to make a request like that. I know that the Lord grants blessings and can do miracles, but He rarely shows people signs, especially not a sign like that. Usually, the Lord requires us to walk by faith, so He doesn't give us clear, obvious signs.

Yet, the brother of Jared was a special case. He already had great faith, and he had shown his faith by being able to see the Lord's finger. And, once he had seen the Lord's finger, that was already about as clear a sign as seeing the Lord Himself.

So, the Lord gave the brother of Jared about as clear a sign as He has ever given anyone, but only after the brother of Jared had seen such a sign by proving that he didn't need to see a sign at all.

So, if I want to see a sign from God, I should follow the example of the brother of Jared and exercise enough faith to demonstrate that I don't need to see a sign. Probably the best way to get a sign is to show the Lord that you don't need one.

Share Joy

I didn't accomplish a whole lot today, but, at one point, I made someone smile, and I think that counts for something. Whatever else you do today, try to help someone feel happier. It feels good to make someone feel better. In a world where social media makes it easy to share anger and misery, try to share joy instead. It's better.

The Jaredites' Journey, and Ours

The lesson manual for this week suggests that we "may find spiritual insights if [we] compare the Jaredites’ voyage across the ocean to [our] journey through mortality," but in my experience, those insights may be a mix of encouraging and disheartening. From what I've read, the Jaredites had a pretty rough journey. Their water-tight barges were buried under mountain waves, attacked by whales and sea monsters, and driven by terrible tempests and fierce winds. Yet, whenever they were buried under the waves, the Lord brought them forth out of the water again; the sea monsters and whales couldn't break them; and the fierce winds continually blew them to the Promised Land, which they eventually reached, safe and sound. It was a rough journey, but they were delivered, protected, continually comforted by the light of the Lord, and eventually carried over into the Promised Land. Their journey was rough, but it ended well. Ours will be and can be, too.

We, too, will have to endure a rough crossing, but if we follow the example of the Jaredites in praising the Lord and putting our faith in Him, we, too, will be led to our Promised Land, the Celestial Kingdom.

I'm not sure I'm thrilled about the prospect of experiencing a journey like that of the Jaredites, but it's a little too late to decide that now. We're already in the barges, and there's nothing but mountain waves and sea monsters in every direction. The only questions now are whether we'll seek the Lord's protection from the mountain waves and sea monsters and where we'll end up when we finally hit land. I want to land in a good place, and I want to get there safely. To that end, I will sing the Lord's praises and let His fierce winds drive me toward the Promised Land.

"Who Am I?" - A Child of God

This afternoon, as I was cleaning the church, I listened to 89.7 KLOVE. The songs on that radio channel aren't all doctrinally sound, but they are often uplifting. As I was cleaning the bathrooms, one song in particularly stood out to me, with a refrain of "Who am I to be loved by You?" And what I loved most about this song was that I have an answer to that question. We are children of God. He loves us, in spite of everything, because we are His children.

The song mentions "bad decisions" and how God knows us, perhaps a little too well: "You see the best and the worst in me." But even after seeing us at our worst and bearing the brunt of our "bad decisions," God loves us. As the song says, "somehow you really love who I really am," but from what I know, the "somehow" is pretty clear, because "who [we] really [are]" is children of God.

Just as earthly parents can love their children, despite everything, so too can our Heavenly Father love us, despite everything. We may sometimes feel like "no one should ever love [us] like [God does]," but God does love us, and He will always love us, no matter what, because we are His children.

Talking and Listening

This afternoon, for a few moments, I managed to have a conversation with God. This wasn't a situation where I said a prayer and then got a response, and that was it. This was a full, back-and-forth conversation. When it happened, I noted that it had been a while since the last time it happened, and I realized that, up until that moment, there had been a lot of noise in my life. Physical sounds can be distracting, as can mental and emotional noise. I find that I hear God best when I'm somewhere quiet and relatively at peace. I should try to cultivate those moments more frequently so I can connect with God more often. I don't want to feel like I'm talking into a void, and I don't want His messages to me to fall on deaf ears. I want to have more moments like this afternoon, where I can both talk and listen to God.

Good Thoughts

Ether 4:12 And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me....

I find this fact reassuring. I sometimes wonder which of my thoughts and impressions are inspired and which of my thoughts and impressions are just my own thoughts and ideas, but maybe I don't need to worry about that. Maybe I don't need to know whether an idea came from God or from my own mind. If it's a good idea, then it's a good idea. Besides, if the idea is to do something that is good, then, according to Ether 4:12, the thought must have come from God, or at least from someone who's starting to take on one or two of the attributes of God.

I don't need to wonder where my thoughts and impressions come from. If they're good thoughts, or if they're impressions to do good, they're from God.

Grateful to Everyone

I'm not sure it's possible to feel an appropriate amount of gratitude. There's a lot of what I love about my life that I owe to people I'll never know. From the freedom and protection that I enjoy to the modern conveniences, like electricity and the internet. There are countless people who work, or who have worked, to created and maintain many of the blessings in my life. I don't know who invented the bicycle, and I don't know who manufactured my bicycle, but I feel blessed for owning it, and I'm grateful to those who made that possible. Similarly, I don't know everyone who fought, or who are fighting, to secure and defend my freedom, but I'm grateful to them. I owe debts of gratitude to an unknowable number of people. No amount of gratitude could be enough.

The Oracle's Example

About a week ago, I shared a picture of a house built in a lake.

With this image, I included the following, fictional story:

Everyone had thought that the oracle just had an over-inflated ego and had his house built on stilts so he could look down on everyone else. The oracle had thought that his foresight and example would have been enough to convince the other settlers to follow suit.

Thing is, the oracle's example should have been enough. Jesus Christ led my His teachings, but also by example, and His servants try to do the same. We should follow their teachings, of course. But if we want to be extra wise, we should try to follow their example as well.

Shifting Away from a Temporal Perspective

More than once today, I got a reminder to look at the big picture and not sweat the small stuff. Case in point, I have a very temporal perspective. I tend to focus far too much on the here and now. Yet, God focuses on eternity. While I struggle to deal with my day-to-day problems, God is trying to help me look beyond them into a future I can't yet see. I need to learn how to minimize my focus on the present, trust God, and look ahead. The present isn't as important as eternity. I need to stop worrying about the little things and instead shift my focus toward the things that matter most.

Time and Attention

This afternoon, I watched a video which addressed, among other things, the common habit of praying before we go to bed. The speaker, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, said that, while it's always a good idea to pray, it's an especially good idea while we're still awake enough to give God a decent portion of our time and attention, instead of mumbling a few thoughts in His direction before falling asleep.

To help us focus our thoughts, we are encouraged to kneel (if we can), fold our arms, bow our heads, close our eyes, and actually say the words of our prayers, or at least mouth them, if we still want to be silent. Doing this can help us give God our full attention during the time we devote to praying and doing nothing else.

God deserves more of our time and attention, especially when we're praying to Him, so tonight, I'm going to spend more than my normal amount of time praying to God, and I'm going to do it on my knees, with my arms folded and head bowed and everything, and I'm going to give God my undivided attention. It's a sign of respect and purity of intent, and I think God deserves that.

David and D&D Math - The Miracle of a Single Sling Stone

In the latest, Fifth Edition of Dungeon & Dragons (D&D 5e), the weakest creature that has the "Giant" creature type is the Half-Ogre, with a mere 30hp on average. I wonder, is it possible for a character to deal 30 damage with a single sling stone? For some characters, yes. For David, no.

A sling normally deals 1d4 damage, meaning that you roll a four-sided die (a d4), getting a random number between 1 and 4. Let's assume that David rolled maximum damage. So, we have 4 so far.

With all attacks, the attacker adds either their Strength or Dexterity Modifier to the damage roll. Since the sling is a ranged weapon, David would use his Dexterity modifier. If we assume that David has the maximum possible Dexterity modifier, that'll give us +5 for a running total of 9 damage.

This damage can be increased further if we assume that the sling is magical. A normal magic weapon can grant a bonus to attack and damage rolls up to a maximum of +3. That's 12 so far.

But not only can the weapon be magical, the ammunition can be magical, too. If we assume that David was using magical sling bullets instead of regular river stones, we can add another +3, for a running total of 15. We're halfway there.

And then, of course, the attack could have been a crit. If a character rolls the maximum result of 20 on an Attack roll to see whether their attack hits, they score a Critical Hit, which deals more damage. However, the normal rules for critical hits only increases (in fact, doubles) the number of dice used in the attack, giving us another d4, for a maximum addition of +4 damage, bringing us to 19.

The only way we can go higher from here is to add use class features or additional magic. Class features that increase damage include Barbarian Rage, Paladin Smites, and Rogue Sneak Attacks. But David was not a Barbarian, Paladin, or Rogue.

Alternatively, we can add more magic. Spells like Hex and Hunter's Mark can increase damage (but David wasn't a spell-caster), and certain magical weapons deal additional damage. For example, there's a magical, flaming sword that deals an extra 2d6 Fire damage. There could, theoretically, be a magical, forceful sling that deals an extra 2d6 Force damage.

But David's sling wasn't a magical, forceful sling. It wasn't any kind of magical, and his ammunition wasn't magical, either. And, frankly, it's even a bit ridiculous to say that David had a +5 Dexterity Modifier. In my opinion, he was probably closer to +2.

If we're being realistic, the most damage David could have hoped for from a single sling bullet was 10. That's 4 from the d4 of the regular damage, +4 from a second d4 from it being a Critical Hit, and +2 from a more realistic Dexterity modifier. That would only take away one third of the weakest giant's hit points, and even then, the odds of David dealing that much damage are 1 in 320.

The bottom line is that, while a sufficiently magical character could theoretically have done it, there is no way David could have slain a giant like Goliath with a single sling stone. It had to have been a miracle.

Challenge and Change

In doing my research for a paper I'm writing for school, I noticed something interesting about the word "Challenge." If you take the middle three letters out of the word, leaving only the first three letters and the last three letters, the word becomes "Cha___nge," or "Change."

I think there's a connection between challenge and change, beside just a fun, letter-removing trick. Challenges necessarily change people. I don't think there's anyone who's ever experienced a real challenge and not been changed by that experience. Similarly, change is hard, or at least, the good ones are. Perhaps the only way to make positive change is through facing some kind of challenge. The two may not necessarily go together all the time, but they do seem to be somewhat linked.

So, when we faces challenges, let's be mindful of how they might change us, and let's try to make sure they change us for the better. And when we want to make positive changes in our lives, let's be aware of the challenges we may have to face to do so, and let's prepare to face them. We all will face challenges, and we all will change. Let's be aware of how change and challenges come together, and let's use both our changes and our challenges to become better people.

Second Chances Don't Come Cheap

One of the songs I like to listen to occasionally includes the line "second chances don't come cheap," and they really don't. One thing that I love and hate about the Gospel is that we get as many second chances as we need, but Jesus Christ had to pay for all of them. We can repent as many times as we need to and come back with a clean slate each time, but Jesus Christ still paid the price for all the sins we've ever committed, whether we've repented of them or not. We get second chances, but they didn't come cheap.

I wish they did. I wish our sins didn't cause Jesus suffering. I wish we could let go of our past mistakes without Jesus having to take them unto His own shoulders. But that's not how the world works. Every sinful decision causes Him pain, and He accepted that pain willingly in order to give us second and third and four-hundredth chances, because He knew we'd need them. So, I'm glad that we get second chances, but I'm less happy about how we got them.

So, let's not waste them. Sure, we can get as many second chances as we need, but the fewer we need, the fewer He had to pay for. Let's try not to need many second chances. They didn't come cheap.

Judgement is the Lord's

Mormon 8:19 For behold, the same that judgeth rashly shall be judged rashly again; for according to his works shall his wages be; therefore, he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord.

At first glance, this looks like the standard "an eye for an eye" type of verse, but then we get to the last three words of the verse. This scripture says "he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord." It's not our job to smite people. In fact, the next verse so fairly explicitly:

Mormon 8:20 Behold what the scripture says—man shall not smite, neither shall he judge; for judgment is mine, saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay.

There may be some moral truth behind "an eye for an eye" style of justice, but it's not our place to go around plucking out eyes. It's not for us to judge, and it's our job to smite those who have done wrong. We can and should protect ourselves and each other, especially from those who have shown a willingness to cause harm, but it's not our place to harm them in return. We are not the ones who should seek vengeance. Let's let God take care of all that.

While we shouldn't let evildoers continue to do evil, it's not our place to judge or punish those who have done evil. That's God's job. So, when we are smitten, don't smite back. Just step back, take a deep breath, and let God handle it. God will see to it that justice is done.

Lights Through the Darkness

Riding a bike at night can be scary. When you're virtually invisible to motorists, and you can't see the obstacles around you and in front of you, biking at night can be vary dangerous. But that wasn't my experience tonight. I had powerful lights to see and to be seen with, and I had a reflector vest and other reflectors to make myself and the road in front of me as visible as possible. It was actually a lot of fun.

Life can be like that, sometimes. It's dark and dangerous and scary. But if our lights are strong enough, or rather, if we carry strong lights with us, we can be safe. Heaven's light can illuminate enough of our path to let us navigate safely, and is we have enough light around us, we can be fairly protected from the dangers around us.

Granted, we won't be able to see everything, and we won't be completely impervious to the world around us, but having enough light with us can help see us through any darkness, even if we don't make it through unscathed. I was fortunate enough to make it through my bike ride unscathed, and that was on'y possible because I had strong lights with me.

Working Through The Wicked

Mormon 8: 7-8 And behold, the Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down from city to city and from place to place, even until they are no more; and great has been their fall; yea, great and marvelous is the destruction of my people, the Nephites.

And behold, it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it. ...

When God does His work, He usually does it through those who are already physically on the Earth. He sends messages through His living Prophets. He has us do service for others, for Him. In many instances, we are His hands. But, interestingly enough, so were the Lamanites. As it turns out, one doesn't necessary have to be righteous to do the Lord's work. God works with the tools He has. This often means that He uses imperfect (and sometimes immoral) people to do His perfect work, but He manages, often surprisingly well.

God works in mysterious ways, and that includes working through imperfect, mortal people. And apparently, it also sometimes includes working through the kind of people who normally seem unlikely to be on the Lord's errand.

Quick to Observe

In Mormon 1:2, Mormon is describe by Ammaron as "a sober child, and art quick to observe." Taylor, from Book of Mormon Central, had an interesting insight about that last phrase, "quick to observe." He said that, in addition to the clear meaning of being observant, it could also have a second meaning of being obedient. He notes that, most times it's used in scripture, the verb "observe" is used with the commandments, saying that someone observed the commandments or that they observed to keep the commandments. Thus, Mormon's being "quick to observe" could have meant being quick to obey the commandments of God.

Of course, the introspective question to ask here is "how quick are we to obey the commandments"? Most of us come around to keeping most of the commandments eventually, but how soon after we receive a commandment are we willing to keep it? How quickly after getting a prompting are we willing to follow it? Apparently, Mormon was pretty quick at that. We should try to be, too.