Brigham Young University (BYU) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.” As part of their undergraduate coursework, BYU students take multiple semesters of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.

Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the New Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know. In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the New Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend.

God Wins Wars

This week as I was studying the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, I came upon a verse in chapter 1 that really caught my attention. Verse 18 is Christ talking, and He says “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

Because of the Atonement of Christ, He overcame death and hell within. He is the only one who has done that, and we must turn to Him to overcome it ourselves. We are each fighting our own battles. Satan is surrounding us to try to pull us down to misery with him. I think it is so ironic that in this verse it says that Christ has the keys of hell and death. On the judgment day He ultimately decides who is on Satan’s side. Satan doesn’t even have that power. This selfish, powerful, hypocritical man tries so hard to bring others down with him yet doesn’t even have the keys to his own home. He has no place he can call home. Why then does it seem so hard at times to resist the temptations of the devil? Because he is powerful, he is convincing, and at times it seems easier to give in to his traps than to fight for what we know is right. He uses everything against us simply because he wants us to be unhappy just like he is.

I love what Brother Griffin said, “Satan wins a few battles, but God wins wars.” We know whose side will win. God will prevail, and Satan will be dragged down to Hell. We need to stand against Satan. God needs strong men and women whom He can count on to put Satan in his place and stand up in this world where so many bad things are taking place. The way we do that is by every day taking the small steps of righteousness. Each small step or choice we make on God’s
side builds us a foundation for when Satan blows the big winds of temptation. If we cling to God, we will be able to withstand Satan and his false deceptions. I’m grateful that I know my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and that His way is the right way. He will win.

If you are reading this post and have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Old Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know. In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the Old Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend.

Mormonism: The Savior

Wanna read a good story that you probably don’t read all that often? Read Hosea.

Here it is in a wrap.

Hosea is a prophet. He is commanded to marry Gomer. Gomer is a harlot.

Even though we choose to leave Him sometimes, the Savior is always willing to accept us again.

They have children. Their children’s names mean: “sow or gather, spread, scatter”; “no mercy”; and “not my people.”

Gomer says – I will return to my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Say what? Your lovers will give you bread? And water? Bread – symbolic of the Bread of Life? of Jesus Christ? Your lovers can give you that?

Gomer breaks her covenant and goes to her former lovers. Can I just say how when I read this – it hurt. I was legitimately so angry with Gomer. Hosea married you when you were a harlot. And you leave him for your former lovers who you think can give you bread?

But Hosea doesn’t give up on her. Hosea lets her go for a season. Then he goes after her.

He “allures” her into the wilderness and “speaks comfortably” to her. He cleans her up.

And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt (Hosea 2:15).

At first I thought Hosea was crazy. How could he let her come back?

And then, as my teacher so tenderly pointed out, I realized . . .  This is my story. This is an object lesson for the Savior and me. Sometimes, I go to other places for my flax and wool. It can be hard. I learn from my trials. But Christ comes back for me and he forgives me.

I know that I’m not perfect, that I sometimes get wrapped up in things that I shouldn’t get wrapped up in. I forget Him. But, I want so desperately to follow my Savior. He comes back for me. He is waiting for me, with open arms. He is my Savior. I am nothing without Him. And He loves me.

Following Him is more than just believing in Him and then going and doing whatever I want. Gomer just went back to her lovers, and yeah, she messed up and came back.

But what does coming back consist of? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; repentance; baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; and enduring to the end living a continuous Christian lifestyle.

I am so grateful for my Savior.

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the New Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know. In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the New Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend.

Mormonism: The Love of Christ

Letter to Friend Kelsea

Kelsea,

I wanted to write you again because this last week in New Testament we covered Romans 8. To be honest, I had never really read this chapter really focusing on what it said, but this week it really hit me strong and I think you should go and read it. It’s amazing! Two different parts stuck out to me. The first is verse 26. This past semester when I was going through a hard time, I distinctly remember a couple of times when I would kneel on my knees to pray at night and I didn’t even have words to say. I would just sit there and cry. I don’t know if I ever came up with words to speak to my Father in Heaven. I love this verse! It says “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” When life is tough, and you don’t even know what to say to Heavenly Father, other than to just cry, He knows what we are saying. He knows the thoughts of our mind and the feelings of our heart. The Spirit will carry those feelings.

God and Jesus Christ loves us and are always aware of what we are going through.

The next part I love is at the end of the chapter. Verse 35-39. It starts with “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” It then goes on to name things that could potentially separate us from God’s love for us, and then in verse 37, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” I love verse 39, “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I know there are things in my life that get in the way of me seeing how much God loves me. It is easy to get caught up in life, school, work, dating, finances, trials, etc, where we forget to take a step back and realize God’s tremendous love for us.

Kelsea, I know that Heavenly Father loves you more than you can comprehend. Through everything you have gone through in the past couple of years, He is aware of you. He knows how it feels, and Christ suffered for you. He knows you and He loves you. There is nothing that He doesn’t understand, so please turn to Him. Pray to Him, even if you just kneel down and cry. He will understand and He will comfort you.

Thank you for your example and for being the amazing woman that you are. You really strengthen my testimony. I love you!!

Love,

Alexis

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

BYU (Brigham Young University) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.” BYU students take nearly a semester of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.

In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.

In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelite who settled in ancient America. (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names. We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.)

Let us know if you’d like to receive your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon, and/or if these messages encourage and assist you spiritually as well.

 Mormon Bible: The Veil Is Not Far

The stripling warriors may be one of the most famous and favorite stories from the Book of Mormon. It is a story of about 2,000 young men who go to war to defend their families because their parents have made a covenant with God to not take up arms against their enemies. These families were taken in by a group called the Nephites who went to war to protect them. When the Nephites began to suffer great loss, however, the parents wanted to step in to help. Afraid of the consequences their parents’ might suffer for breaking their covenant with God, these young men rise to the occasion.

Professor Griffin’s insight on their background was eye-opening for me and made me think a lot of their upbringing. He taught that many of the boys grew up without their fathers, which made me think of where their fathers were while they were fighting. I pictured them looking down from heaven being as proud as a father could be of his son. I pictured them being so close in spirit with the veil so thin. It seemed beautiful to me to imagine protection, comfort, and aid from the stripling warriors’ dads.

 Obviously I can’t know if these warriors’ fathers were looking down on them, but I do have a testimony that those who have passed away are still with us. They want to share our lives, especially in times of distress, celebration, happiness, or need. I can feel their comfort and help and have faith that they are there burning within us because of their love for us. Brigham Young (a Latter-day Saint “Mormon” prophet) told us that if we could see clearly, heaven is right in front of us.

 I like to remember my ancestors because their lives impacted mine and allowed me to come to earth at this time. I am very fortunate for those who came before me. All have played a role in who I am today, regardless if they were involved with me while I was growing up.

 Look to those who love you so deeply. Most of all, this is our dear Savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Even when you feel most lonely and as if you have no friend in the world, they are always rooting for you.

In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.

In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelites who settled in ancient America.  (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names.  We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.)

Let us know if you’d like to receive your own copy of the Book of Mormon, and/or if these messages encourage and assist you spiritually as well.

Mormonism: Facing Fears & the Future

Dear Fearful Journeyman,

We believe in an all-knowing God, a God that knows all of us so perfectly that He knows our future choices. He is the Chess Master, the Man that can see all of our decisions and plot them out to see all of their effects; an infinite number of possibilities, God sees exactly what will happen. The scriptures are full of foretelling—“it shall come to pass” is one of the most common sayings in both the Bible and Book of Mormon. These are not predictions of what will happen; these things will happen, for they come from an all-knowing perfect God who does not lie to His children. Speaking of the last days, our Father in Heaven said, “I will go before them…and I will be their rearward” (3 Nephi 21:29). It is no wonder that a present-day Prophet of God has declared that “[our] future is only as bright as [our] faith.”

If we have faith in God, or trust in Him and His promises, there is nothing to fear. We have no fear of darkness before us because we see only brightness. We see that God will be before us guiding the way, aware ahead of time of every obstacle, warning us of any danger. I know that God lives. I know that He knows all things. I know that He knows us perfectly and is aware of our individual concerns. This does not mean that we will always be able to see the whole path from the beginning to the end. If this were the case, then we would no longer rely on God because we wouldn’t feel the need. We would end up trusting solely in ourselves, and we ourselves are imperfect. Even more, to see this we would have to be God ourselves, capable of seeing the infinite possibilities. But we can be assured that we will always see what we need to see. When a rock is tossed in the road, God will either remove it or help us see it so we avoid stumbling.

It is natural for us to be afraid, often seeing no more than a foot ahead of where we walk, but God sees miles ahead. If we choose to trust in God’s love I know that this fear will turn to hope and brightness, and even the wildest of oppositions will not make us tremble, for God is with us, “[He] will not leave [us] comfortless” (John 14:18).

Faithfully,

Adam

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

Worship with Mormons

Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the New Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know. In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the New Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend.

Mormonism: A Mirror
A Letter to a Friend

Dear Van,

This week in my class my teacher taught us something that was quite profound that I thought might help you. We all know the importance of the scriptures in our lives, but do we really understand the role they can play in our lives if we really try and study them?

Professor Griffin compared the scriptures to a windowpane. When you look through a window during the day, the light from the outside is illuminated on the inside, but when the sun goes down, eventually the inside of the window almost becomes mirror like. We can clearly see our own reflection in the pane.

The scriptures can be like this in a sense. As the sun goes down and events have passed in the scriptures, they begin to reflect on our own lives and how we live. The more we read and ponder the words of the Lord, the more we will be able to see those counsels working in our own lives.

I thought a lot about this and how we can use this to our advantage. Another aspect that is hard is that we as individuals cannot see ourselves unless we are looking in a mirror. Maybe the scriptures are the same way. It’s often times easy for others to see our flaws but hard for us to see our own until we have a mirror to look in. The scriptures can also serve as a way to help us find our weaknesses. I know that they help me to better myself and draw closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ. That should be our ultimate goal.

Love,

Chandler

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.

In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelites who settled in ancient America. (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names. We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.)

Let us know if you’d like to receive your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon, and/or if these messages encourage and assist you spiritually as well.

Mormonism: What Would You Say?

I have always loved reading 3 Nephi 11. I love the story of Jesus coming to the Americas, because it testifies to me that Heavenly Father loves all of his children. Consequently, it makes so much sense that Jesus would visit the Father’s children in the Americas. This chapter serves as another testament of the divinity of the Book of Mormon in my life. My favorite scriptures come as Jesus testifies of himself and has the multitude of people come unto him and learn for themselves that he died and was resurrected. 3 Nephi 11:14-15 reads:

Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

I love the fact that the people had the opportunity to one by one, see and communicate with the Savior. To me, this testifies of the Savior’s love for all of God’s children. I know that He died for me. If I were in that multitude He would have let me take as much time as I needed to feel the marks in His body and cast any doubt that I had aside.

Pondering these scriptures left me thinking: what would I say to the Savior if I were face to face with Him? I’m sure people would say different things, but I don’t know if I would even say anything. I sincerely hope that the Spirit would convey the love and gratitude that I have for Him as I fell to my knees and worshiped Him. My question for you is: what would you say to the Savior?

I know that Jesus Christ can be anything that we want Him to be in our life. Some people might need Him as a comforter, some to mourn with them, some as a peacemaker, etc. I have a testimony of Jesus Christ. I know that He is my Savior. I know that He loves all of his children, and subsequently visited all of them. I know that the Savior can be whatever we need Him to be in our lives. I urge each and every one of you to accept Christ as your Savior, and take His hand in yours as you traverse this mortal life. He is always there for you. Of these things I know to be true and testify of in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the New Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know. In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the New Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend.

Mormonism: Promptings

In Acts 27, Paul extends a warning, saying “Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.” Unfortunately, “the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.”

It is far too easy to trust ourselves as we make decisions, thinking we know more about our situation rather than the Holy Ghost as we ignore passing promptings. This story comes to a head in verse 20-21, when “neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.”

I often find myself being given promptings and warnings, sometimes very clearly. Each time I am tempted to let them go, to continue on with what I am doing. I always regret it if I fail to listen. We should hearken unto the promptings we receive from the Holy Ghost, even if we are tempted to rationalize them away when they don’t seem to make sense or be applicable in the given situation. If we do not, we will know as the consequences face us that we should have hearkened unto them in order to prevent a harm or loss that will surely ensue.

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the New Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know. In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the New Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend.

Mormonism: Mercy

Letter to Author’s Family

Sometimes I find myself doubting God’s complete mercy for me. He’s always willing to forgive me. I know this, but I don’t realize I doubt it after I sin. When I come across the same struggle over and over I always feel like I’ll never be forgiven because I’ve stumbled over it too many times.

God’s love was made perfectly clear in the explanation of Hosea’s story. Even though Gomer forsook him and she did not deserve his mercy, he gave it to her anyway. He went to find her and brought her back into his love and care. This mirror’s Christ’s love for us perfectly; his love is unconditional.

Another verse that helped me understand what I need to do for my part is Romans 8:24. It says, “For we are saved by hope.” Like Professor Griffin said, this isn’t the only step in our salvation but it is a step. I need to have hope that I can be forgiven. When I have hope it shows that I am trusting that God will hold up his part of the covenant.

There is nothing more beautiful to me than Christ’s love. Even though throughout my life I have and I will forsake Him, He will never forsake me. Whenever you are in doubt that you have or can be forgiven for your transgressions just remember that our perfect God has made that covenant to always forgive you. He will never fail you and you should never doubt His love. I urge you to continue in hope and never fail to see His love for you.

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the New Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know.  In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the New Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us.  We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend.

Mormonism: Faith Works and Grace
Email to my younger sister

In New Testament this week, we studied the Book of Romans. We specifically talked about the relationships between faith, works, mercy, and grace. Mercy is being spared from the punishments we deserve, and grace is when we receive what we don’t deserve. I think it is incredible how merciful our Heavenly Father is. We are so far from perfect. When we are at the Last Judgment, we won’t be recounting all the good things we did. We will be asking for forgiveness for all of our shortcomings, and God will not make us suffer the punishments we deserve, because Jesus already suffered them for us. We will be rewarded with so much more than we deserve, and I’m so grateful for it.

Although there is grace, we won’t get all the mercy without the work. This is where faith and works come in. Maybe you know that scripture that says “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). We have to work to earn our place in God’s Kingdom.

Related to faith and works, we talked about the birth of Protestantism. The Protestant religion was basically birthed from one scripture: Romans 1:17. Martin Luther actually added a word to the verse. It says, ‘For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Martin Luther added the word “alone” to the end of this verse, so it’s said “The just shall live by faith alone.” I thought that was interesting that so many religions believe that faith and declaring Jesus as your savior is enough, but we really need to be continually working. When we increase work, we increase our faith, and when we increase our faith, we have the desire to increase our work.

I know that faith is so important, and that we need to work really hard to increase our faith, and to earn our place in God’s family. I’m so thankful for a merciful, loving Heavenly Father.

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs