December 23, 2010

I read Alma 62:12-52 which is the account of the end of the war between the Nephites and Lamanites that had been going on for so long. Two things stood out to me. The first is how the Nephites had captured a bunch of Lamanites and given them the opportunity to make a covenant to never take up their weapons against the Nephites again. The group of Lamanites who covenanted this numbered 4,000 and the Nephites sent them off to join the people of Ammon. What struck me is that these 4,000 people were no longer considered as or treated as prisoners of war as soon as they made that covenant. They were fully trusted to go on their own to join the people of Ammon. To me, that indicates the power of a covenant. Great trust is established as a result of a covenant. While writing this, I thought of the covenant I have made with God. And now he trusts me, just like those Nephites trusted the Lamanites, that I will go and truly do what I covenanted. 

The other thing that stood out to me in these verses was verse 41. It says, "because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depths of humility." This struck me because as a result of the same adversity, some people's hearts were hardened and some hearts were softened. This indicates to me that the hardening or softening of a person's heart doesn't depend on the type of adversity one encounters, rather it depends on the type of person one is. I want to be one who always allows my heart to be softened by adversity, to be humbled by it, rather than hardened.

December 15, 2010

I read Alma 59 tonight. I am really intrigued by the character of Moroni. In this short chapter he receives Helaman's letter and is very happy and excited about Helaman's miraculous success. He sends a letter to Zarahemla requesting strength for Helaman's armies and then begins making plans to retake the other cities that are still in the Lamanites' possession. Meanwhile, the city of Nephihah is attacked and taken over by the Lamanites. Moroni is distraught, as are his chief captains. They all "begin to doubt" and wonder if the Lamanites had such success in overtaking that city because the people are so wicked. Then, in the very last verse it says that Moroni is "angry with the government because of their indifference." This anger reminds me of the anger filled letters he had written earlier. Here he is in a situation where things are not going according to the plan, and his response is of doubt and anger; and what even feels like blame. Helaman's example from the previous chapter was more inspiring to me. Although this account of Moroni's reaction does prompt me to ask myself, "What would I do in a situation like that? What kind of response would I have?" And perhaps it would be a combination of both, with initially feeling doubt and anger, yet then choosing to replace those thoughts with ones of faith and trust in the Lord and prayer. Moroni is a good man, in fact, in chapter 48 it says that if all men were like Moroni "the very powers of hell would be shaken forever, and the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." Maybe I am reading too much into these responses of Moroni. Nonetheless, it does help me to think about my own character and the person I am trying to be.

December 9, 2010

Tonight I read The Transforming Power of Faith and Character by Richard G. Scott from the last Conference. It was a beautiful talk with a lot on the principles of faith, character and testimony. This mortal life is so important. I love this quote that "in the next life your righteous character will be evaluated to assess how well you used the privilege of mortality." I hope that my character will prove I have used this life well. I also really liked that he said, "you cannot be passive in life..." we get what we put forth, and the blessings of strong faith and character come as a result of consistent obedience. The end of his talk also stood out to me. He encouraged those who have determined to live righteously to realize that "you are making better progress than you realize." I do believe that I have focused on the right things in my life that will help me to build character and strengthen my faith. I am thankful for my faith and how it strengthens my character through the challenges I face.