LIfe is...a witness

The Book of Ether. There are so many great lessons. So many things I could write about. Like how the barges the people built were tight like unto a dish, the same tightness we need to have to keep out the influences of Satan, just as they kept out water. Or how when the winds blew with their fierceness, the Jaredites reached their destination, just as in our lives when the winds blow it is taking us to our destination, or clearing the way for good. Or how when the brother of Jared asked the Lord what to do about air and light during their journey, and the Lord told him what to do about the air, but asked him what he wanted him to do about the light, we can also learn that we have to bring our own options to the table when asking questions.

But what I love about the Book of Ether is why Moroni added it. Now it all reality, we can't really know why Moroni added it, because we're not inside his brain. But, we can have some pretty good ideas. The story of the Jaredites parallels that of the Nephites. A people that leave their home and travel to a different side of the world, a side they didn't even know existed. A people that go through the same righteous-wicked cycles of life. A people that completely destroy themselves. Moroni adds this book at the end of the story of the Nephites. Mormon had just completed his writings and at this time in Moroni's world, there is no one righteous left. I think Moroni relates very well to Ether. They both are wandering for the lives. They both live in a world in which good does not exist. They both have seen an entire civilization destroyed. 

Moroni has seen our day.  He knows what we are experiencing and he knows what evils we are encountering. He understands these evils because he saw them in his day as well. He also had the knowledge of the Jaredites and knew what evils destroyed them as well.  Because of these, and possibly several other reasons, Moroni added the book of Ether for us. Just as the other prophets, Moroni saw our day and wanted to warn us. Through the story of the Jaredites and the Nephites, we have two witnesses of what happens when we have a blessed land and don't keep the commandments the Lord has given us. 

Life is...Malachi

One of my favorite chapters in all of scripture is Malachi 3, for several reasons. In this chapter, the score is evened. In this chapter, all things come out right. The chapter is only 6 verses long, but it has some incredible promises.

It starts out with the end, more specifically, what will happen in what we perceive as the end of this world. It describes that the wicked will get what has been prophesied. I won't go to much into it because it's a bit dreary, but read the verse that references that. I absolutely love verse 2. This is the promise of what happens to the righteous. "But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings;". This is such a comforting promise. The righteous still have wounds. Just because they are living the gospel doesn't mean they haven't been hurt. Doesn't mean they didn't have shortcomings, weaknesses, addictions. BUT, as they have stayed close to the Son of Righteousness, he helped them along the way. And now, as the day cometh, He comes. and He comes with "healing in his wings". What a glorious promise! All those trials, all those addictions, the hurts, the scars, He heals them all! This is where the score is evened and the game is won! So many times in our mortal lives, we may feel that the wicked are getting their way. It often seems that being righteous doesn't provide the promises we so deeply seek. This is, in part, where all that we have worked for, suffered through and persevered through comes back to us, tenfold.

But this is not all.

What good would it do us if things didn't happen the same for our families? Or for those who have gone before without the opportunity? The promise of Malachi is that the prophet Elijah will come and "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers". We know this to be the promise of eternal families, of the work for the dead, of the sealing powers. The fact that families can be together forever is what this is all about. This sealing power is what connects us to our Father in Heaven. By being sealed through the generations, we are truly all one family.

Now this promise of Elijah has been repeated several times throughout history. We see it in the scriptures in Malachi, in 3 Nephi when Christ is visiting the Nephites, and in early church history as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 2. Christ had such limited time with the Nephites, but this doctrine of eternal families was so important, he made sure that the Nephites knew of it. In D&C 2, we see this promise as the first section, chronologically. I've spent some time correlating the chronology of the Doctrine and Covenants with church history, and this particular passage is very interesting.  This revelation was given to Joseph by Moroni on September 21, 1823. This was several years before Joseph ever even received the plates. But this is where it gets interesting. Heavenly Father knew that this revelation was important and that it would be crucial for Joseph to know about this, even though he might not understand it. See, many times in our lives, Heavenly Father gives us little nuggets of wisdom, or little inspirations or revelations, and even though we may not understand them or even recognize them. As we look back on our lives, we can see where the Lord was comforting us even before we knew we needed the comfort. Joseph receives the revelation that families can be together forever, and a 2 short months later, Joseph's dear older brother, Alvin, dies. What an incredible blessing! I love this prophesy and the comfort that it brings. Once understood, it must have brought comfort to the Prophet Joseph, and it can bring comfort to all who will listen, and open their hearts.