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.

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: Focusing Our Lives

Hey family!!

As I have been contemplating what to share with you all this week, my mind was especially caught up in contemplating the principle of happiness. It seems to be something that each one of us tries for in life. We gain our happiness in a variety of ways, sharing time with family and friends, reading a good book, playing with our children, and countless other methods. I would honestly hope that everyone who reads this message has a desire to be happy in this life.

As I was pondering the meaning of happiness, I found myself in Alma 41 in the Book of Mormon. For those of you not super familiar with this part in the Book of Mormon, it is when Alma, the prophet at the time, is talking to his rebellious son Shiblon. Shiblon has done some really bad things in his life that, at first, appeared to give him the happiness that he sought, but he quickly learned when he was taught by his father about how true happiness is attained and I feel that it has application to our lives. Alma shares in verse 10 of chapter 41 that “wickedness never was happiness.” I want you guys to ponder on that for a moment. “Wickedness never was happiness.” How many times in life have we had choices to make that appeal to us as human beings? We are confronted every day with “methods of happiness” that the world would lead us to believe as the true ways to feel better about ourselves and to gain greater satisfaction in this life. Often those ideas lead us to focus on how we can get ourselves to feel better. It leads us to focus completely on what we want and what we need. We are then tempted to do things that initially bring us pleasure, but that ultimately cause the Spirit to leave. I testify that the only true way that we can receive lasting, deep happiness is by focusing our lives on the Savior Jesus Christ and living His Gospel.

I have not been exempt to the wicked ways of the world. There have been many times when I have thought of how I can gratify myself and gain what I thought was true happiness. I quickly learned, that these were merely empty feelings that quickly faded away unless I indulged constantly in them. I know that this is not the way.

I want each of you to know that I love you and that I truly want each of you to be happy. But I know that the only way that we can truly get that happiness is by following the Lord and doing all that He asks us to do through His living prophets. I know that we are guided by living prophets and that the Lord loves each of you so much!! He wants us all to be happy and to live together forever. My prayer is that each of us will look deep inside and try to see if what we are doing in our lives is truly giving us happiness and peace. If it’s not, let us make those changes so that we can feel the Spirit in our lives and be a forever family!!!

Love you all tons!!!
Kraig

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.

Alma 36: A Message of Hope!

Hi! My name is Kira Webster. I am a freshman at BYU and I am going to be serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 6 months! I am so excited! Here is an excerpt from my blog:

Every week, I am going to post some of my feelings from what I am currently reading in the Book of Mormon. Whether you are of my faith or not, I truly want you to know my feelings of the truths within this book. It is extremely special to me and I want to be able to share with you the things that I know to be true.

To me, Alma 36 is one of the most beautiful chapters within the Book of Mormon. No matter what each one of us may be experiencing in our lives, it is applicable at every stage of our life. Every single one of us makes mistakes. Whether we are making mistakes now or are trying to forgive ourselves for past sins, we can know there is hope for us because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He did much more than die on a cross for each and every person who has ever lived and will ever live. He took upon Himself our pains, our sins, our afflictions, our trials, and our infirmities. He is the one person who is not only there to support us but actually knows every emotion we are feeling. Through Him, we can overcome anything that may cross our path because He has already overcome it. We just have to look to Him always if we want to be able to do so.

In Alma 36:17, Alma talks about how he was reminded of all of his sins:

     And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by              the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

The first line of the scripture sounds absolutely horrible. The guilt, the regret and the sorrow Alma must have felt as he remembered his past and the terrible choices he had made must have been unbearable. Then the next line brings hope. Now when I talk about hope, I will always be referring to Jesus Christ. Without Him, we would feel as Alma does in the first line of this scripture at all times. We would not have someone by our side who knows EXACTLY how we feel. It is through Christ that we can repent and forgive ourselves for our past sins and when we do this our joy will exceed our pain (Alma 36:20).
I know this firsthand. I have not always made the best choices in my life. There have been times where I have felt as though I was too far beyond the help of the Savior, but that is NEVER true. Here is a quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles today (just like James, Peter and John were during Christ’s time).

I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable (Matthew 20:1-15), but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines (“The Laborers in the Vineyard,” Ensign, May 2012).

Like the Savior was there for Alma, He will always be there for us. He is just waiting for us to reach out to Him.

In our lives, we should follow the same path as Nephi–choosing faith in God.. When we face struggles and find obstacles, which we invariably will, we should be quick to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. While we may not be able to completely solve all our temporal problems by turning to the Lord, we can calm ourselves and strengthen ourselves spiritually. If we are in the same boat with the Lord, He can soothe the storms that threaten us daily.

Article by Mark M.

Additional Resources:

Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

Meet with Mormon missionaries

Basic beliefs of Mormons

Lehi and his family

A prophet named Lehi from the Book of Mormon (a book revered as scripture by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the “Mormon Church by friends of other faiths) had a vision of the Tree of Life (see 1 Nephi 8). In this vision Lehi sees a tree that holds the most sweet and desirable fruit, which could make anyone happy if they were to partake of it. To get to the tree you have to go on a journey, similar to a hike, that has its ups and downs and it is not always easy to stay on the right course. This is like a representation of life and how we are all on our own journey; but where does our journey lead? Although I was born and raised in the LDS Church and have grown up reading about this vision many times; it seems every time I read it I learn something new from it and if I don’t learn something new, I am reminded of what kind of life I want to live and where I want to go. The fruit of the tree represents having eternal life and this is a goal I hope to gain some day.

Along their way God prepares this family for this Promised Land just as God is preparing us to return to live with Him. He prepares this family by giving them trials to help them learn and grow. For example, Lehi’s wife, Sariah experienced a great trial. After they had been traveling in the wilderness for many days, God commanded Lehi to send his sons back to Jerusalem to obtain and bring back a scriptural record. This required them to travel through miles and miles of wilderness over several days. Sariah experienced a lot of difficulty with this commandment.

One can imagine how hard it would have been for a mother to allow her sons to travel miles and miles through the wilderness. I believe Sariah was an amazing woman, but she really struggled with this commandment. This struggle caused her to doubt Lehi and the commandment he had received from God. Eventually, however, her sons returned safely and she regained her faith, in fact, I believe this trial ultimately strengthened her faith and made her a better person, more prepared for the Promised Land. I found it so interesting that God individualized this trial for Sariah. He knew that, as a mother, this would be a very difficult thing for her, and so, out of love, and out of a desire to help her grow, God let her experience this trial. In a similarly individual way God tested the obedience and endurance of the other members of her family to prepare them for their arrival in the Promised Land. For example, one of Sariah’s sons, Nephi, would become a great prophet, who was largely responsible for the initiation of the records that would eventually be put together to form the Book of Mormon. It was through these individualized trials  that God prepared Nephi for this pivotal role.

In our lives we are often tempted to ask, “Why me? Why do I have to go through this challenge?” I know that since coming here to BYU I have, with all the changes involved with going off to college, asked myself this many times. I think often God gives us trials that are particularly hard for us because He loves us and wants us to be able to return to Him. He knows that these types of trials are the ones that offer the greatest potential for growth. It is similar to a coach of an athletic team. A coach knows the weaknesses of each athlete on his team and he knows what the athletes need to do to reach their potential. Often that means doing the things that are the hardest for them. Just as these characters in the Book of Mormon were prepared for the Promised Land through individualized trials, so also does God give us trials to prepare us for heaven.  As we go through life and experience these trials, we should view these trials in a more positive way, recognizing that they are opportunities for growth and that they help to fit us for Heaven.

This article was written by Zachary S., a student at Brigham Young University and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Additional Resources:

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

Mormon Scriptures

The Meaning of Life

Video: http://youtu.be/Rr8xvw0cgw0

That which was relevant in his day is just as or even more relevant to us in our day. We can learn so much from the Book of Mormon, such as why we are here, where we are going, and how we can accomplish the greatest goal of attaining eternal life, living in the presence of God, once more. I know that we dwelt with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in a life previous to this earth life. We each individually chose to come to this earth, be born into families, and we chose to be tested and tried to allow us to live with Him again. We will someday have the opportunity to return to the glory of living with our Father in heaven through obedience to the commandments He has set forth for us. The commandments are not there to hinder our progression and make our lives difficult, but they are there to uplift us spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Nephi was a great example of obedience. When asked to do drastic unexplainable things by the Lord, he set any doubts he could have had and aligned his will with the Lord’s will. He chose to be as perfectly obedient as he was able to be. I am grateful for the example of strict obedience that Nephi was. He was a great prophet and leader of his people, and his example is as important today as it was then. I bear witness that if you read the Book of Mormon and seek the answers to unanswered questions, you will find them within those pages. I am grateful to be part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and invite those seeking truth to study this gospel, as it will bring greater light into anyone’s life.

This artcle was written by Yuki L., a student at Brigham Young University and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In the history of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the “Mormon Church” by friends of other faiths), there were twelve official witnesses of the Book of Mormon. The words in the Book of Mormon were engraved on gold sheets, which were actually seen and handled by these twelve people within the later 1800’s, one of which was the first modern-day prophet of our church—Joseph Smith. All twelve contributed to written testimonies of the reality and truth of the Book of Mormon, and three of those people wrote a testimony largely about the spirituality of their witness and of the modern revelation. There are two passages within this testimony that stood out to me:

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record…

…the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony unto these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment seat of Christ, and we shall dwell eternally in the heavens (introduction of the Book of Mormon).

These passages strike me because they serve two basic purposes: to testify that the words and teachings of the Book of Mormon are truly from our Heavenly Father and our lord Jesus Christ, not from just Joseph Smith, but though the translation of the book and the return of the true Gospel to the Earth wouldn’t have been possible without him; and to outline the end goal resulting from their decision to follow God’s commands and testify of the Book of Mormon. This end goal – to have eternal life with Heavenly Father – is and should be all of our goals. It is the reason for the Atonement, which is Jesus Christ’s suffering for our sins and dying and resurrecting so that we may follow in His footsteps, live as He did, repent of our own personal sins, and live forever in the presence of our Heavenly Father. The life that we must choose to lead – a life with Jesus Christ’s perfection as its model – is essentially the symbol of our Church. It is the life of the faithful, of the Latter-day Saints, and it means more to me than I can ever say, but I will try.

First, the words of the witnesses and the truth the church teaches make me reflect on a lesson we had in my Honors Book of Mormon class at Brigham Young Universtiy. My professor spoke of the nature of God and truth – a fact, a truth, will always be true, no matter who believes in it or not. My professor told us, “Truth is independent from people.” I think of it this way: horses exist. They are there. But what if, for some reason, not one person on the entire planet believed that horses existed? That doesn’t change the fact that horses exist. This idea, I think, is what gives me the courage to act on my faith as a Mormon – to be one of the only people in my high school who doesn’t go to that one party, or who won’t say that word, or who doesn’t hang out on Sundays. The Truth that I know to be true gives me the strength I need to believe in it and act upon it. My faith in that truth gives me incredible courage. This is how Latter-day Saints live in the world, but do their best to live by the gospel, no matter what outside influences may dictate. The following is my own personal testimony on the Church, the Gospel, and its truth, and how I can know for a surety that “the horse exists.”

When I read the testimony that those three witnesses wrote, I can honestly tell you that my heart burns in my chest. I can feel their faith, belief, and dedication – it is in line with my own. The Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead along with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, testifies to me that those words that they wrote were and are true, along with the words of the rest of the witnesses, Joseph Smith, and the words of the prophets contained in the Book of Mormon. Years ago, I often wondered how I could truly believe for myself that the Book of Mormon was from God, and how I could believe that I could live forever in God’s presence rather than just die – end. I found out for myself the answer to both of those things.

I poured my heart out to Heavenly Father both silently and aloud in prayer, on my knees, when I was alone, anywhere, whenever those thoughts struck me. The answers didn’t come right away. They came more from life experiences and physical manifestations of the truth of the gospel on the Earth today – comfort for the deaths of family friends, miracles of healing in my immediate family, the warm presence of the Holy Ghost and his promptings and instructions – my own personal revelations – for me, and much more that I do not have time for in this reflection. After all this, I realized that I simply no longer had questions – I read the Book of Mormon, and the spirit of the Holy Ghost burned within me, testifying of its truth. The truths in those scriptures gradually but surely made me a better person, helped me make better decisions, and guided me toward happiness and success in my daily life. I have powerful faith in the purpose of our lives here on Earth – to be tested, to be examples to others, to learn, to serve each other, and to live the best, most righteous lives we can so that we may return to our Father in Heaven. Eternal life is a real, beautiful truth. Joseph Smith, and countless others, helped restore this truth to the Earth in the latter days, and I know and believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the one, true church on the Earth today. God is our Heavenly Father, and He loves us all and knows us individually. Jesus Christ is our Savior, our brother, and He has suffered for our sins so that we may follow His Word and return to heaven someday. The Book of Mormon is a true book, the most correct book ever written, and is an additional and essential testament of Jesus Christ and His gospel to the Bible. There is a prophet on the Earth today – he is President Thomas S. Monson, and he is God’s mouthpiece. These things and many more I believe and know.

This article was written by Andrea V., a student at Brigham Young University and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Additional Resources:

Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration

Restoration of Jesus Christ’s Church

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

MormonBeliefs.org

For instance, last night I was spending time with a boy who I had really come to like and who had taken me on a date on Friday night. During our conversation he started to talk about taking a different girl out this coming weekend. I sat there stunned wondering a) what made him want to date someone else so soon and b) why he was even discussing this in front of me. I went to bed filled with a lot of hurt and confusion directed at him. Yet even in this state I knelt and asked Heavenly Father to help me have charity for him. This morning as I was getting ready for school and thinking about him I felt that answer to my prayer. I began to understand his thought process a little more and realize that he was not out to intentionally hurt me. I know that each and every one of us can work to allow this love of God, this charity, into our hearts and lives more frequently and that as we do we will be blessed to live a life closer to that of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ.

This article was written by Katie S., a student at Brigham Young University and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Additional Resources:

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

The Lord Jesus Christ in Mormonism

The Bible in Mormonism

http://youtu.be/jZMkPKJv2nw