Alma
This morning I read in Alma 29, AMAZING chapter.. There were a few verses that stood out to me, and why I think that Alma is THE MAN..
Verse 9-10 "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me... And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me."
First off, I LOVE that he says he glories in the commandments of the father.. How many of us really glory in all the commandments? I know I don't.. I set some goals this morning of what I can do to glorify the Lord and His commandments more..
The next thing that I really loved is verses 14-15...
" But I do not joy in my own success alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren, who have been up to the land of Nephi. Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward! Now, when I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my joy."
Alma's joy came from the success of his brethren and their success.. What a great missionary is was..
He is a great example to me and I am grateful that I can read of his testimony in the scriptures!
Gideon
Do you know who he is? No, its not our car in Vacaville, however we did name our car after this awesome person.
He is a Nephite patriot, he was in the time of King Noah. He was an enemy to him because of the Kings unrighteous actions. He fought with the King and the King fled from him. Gideon went after him, the king saw the army of the Lamanites coming to fight with the people in the kingdom. King Noah begged for Gideon to spare his life so that he can warn the people of the coming of the Lamanites. However, the king was only concerned for himself. Gideon did spare his life. (Mosiah 19:4-8)
Later Gideon became a captain for King Limhi. (Mosiah 20:17-20)
Later in Alma 1:7-9 it reads, " And it came to pass as he was going, to preach to those who believed on his word, he met a man who belonged to the church of God, yea, even one of their teachers and he began to contend with him sharply, that he might lead away the people to the church; but the man withstood him, admonishing him with the words of God. Now the name of the man was Gideon; and it was he who was a instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage. Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God he was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him. Now, Gideon being stricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was slain by the sword."
I was so sad when I read this the other morning. I love Gideon for his example in standing up for what he believed to be right. What a great example he is. Very strong and courageous man!
Do any of you have a favorite person in the Bible or Book of Mormon? Sometimes its hard to pick favorites yes? Well, as for me, I have a favorite in the Book of Mormon. He was my favorite growing up and still is my favorite, the Prophet Abinadi. His story starts in Mosiah 11, "he went forth among them, and began to prophesy.. and thus the Lord hath commanded me to go forth, and say unto this people - Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will visit them in mine anger." Like many people in the Bible and Book of Mormon, the people rejected the teachings and the counsel that the prophet Abinadi gave. Abinadi is imprisoned for the prophesying, he is brought before the King, King Noah, and teaches him the 10 commandments. (Mosiah 13:12-24).
This morning I read in Alma 29, AMAZING chapter.. There were a few verses that stood out to me, and why I think that Alma is THE MAN.. Verse 9-10 "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me... And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me."
First off, I LOVE that he says he glories in the commandments of the father.. How many of us really glory in all the commandments? I know I don't.. I set some goals this morning of what I can do to glorify the Lord and His commandments more..
The next thing that I really loved is verses 14-15...
" But I do not joy in my own success alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren, who have been up to the land of Nephi. Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward! Now, when I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my joy."
Alma's joy came from the success of his brethren and their success.. What a great missionary is was..
He is a great example to me and I am grateful that I can read of his testimony in the scriptures!
Gideon
Do you know who he is? No, its not our car in Vacaville, however we did name our car after this awesome person.
He is a Nephite patriot, he was in the time of King Noah. He was an enemy to him because of the Kings unrighteous actions. He fought with the King and the King fled from him. Gideon went after him, the king saw the army of the Lamanites coming to fight with the people in the kingdom. King Noah begged for Gideon to spare his life so that he can warn the people of the coming of the Lamanites. However, the king was only concerned for himself. Gideon did spare his life. (Mosiah 19:4-8)
Later Gideon became a captain for King Limhi. (Mosiah 20:17-20)
Later in Alma 1:7-9 it reads, " And it came to pass as he was going, to preach to those who believed on his word, he met a man who belonged to the church of God, yea, even one of their teachers and he began to contend with him sharply, that he might lead away the people to the church; but the man withstood him, admonishing him with the words of God. Now the name of the man was Gideon; and it was he who was a instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage. Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God he was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him. Now, Gideon being stricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was slain by the sword."
I was so sad when I read this the other morning. I love Gideon for his example in standing up for what he believed to be right. What a great example he is. Very strong and courageous man!
Do any of you have a favorite person in the Bible or Book of Mormon? Sometimes its hard to pick favorites yes? Well, as for me, I have a favorite in the Book of Mormon. He was my favorite growing up and still is my favorite, the Prophet Abinadi. His story starts in Mosiah 11, "he went forth among them, and began to prophesy.. and thus the Lord hath commanded me to go forth, and say unto this people - Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will visit them in mine anger." Like many people in the Bible and Book of Mormon, the people rejected the teachings and the counsel that the prophet Abinadi gave. Abinadi is imprisoned for the prophesying, he is brought before the King, King Noah, and teaches him the 10 commandments. (Mosiah 13:12-24).I love Abinadi, for his courage that he had to be able to do what the Lord asked of him. The Lord told him to go to this people, and he went and was imprisoned, and still taught the 10 Commandments before the King and his priests. After a few days the King told Abinadi that "thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which tho hast spoken evil concerning me and my people. Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true..." I LOVE Abinadi So much! The King upfront told him they would put him to death if he would deny the things that he told them. Abinadi knew that he was commanded of God to go and prophesy to this people. What a great example he has set for me to be able to do whatever the Lord asks and to have faith that everything will be ok.
Rebecca Swain Williams... Do you know this woman? When I first saw her name, I didn't know who she was. The pages caught my interest one morning during personal study.
She was introduced to missionaries in 1830 in Kirtland. Her and her husband would study, discuss and learn together about what the missionaries had taught them. She became "convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel." She was baptized in October 1830 her husband later followed her example and was also baptized.
Rebecca wrote to her family sharing her conversion and testimony of the restored gospel, and the joy she felt joining the church.
Her father was not to happy about this decision she made, he demanded her to leave the church or he would disown her.
Rebecca still kept her faith and didn't stray. She continued to share the gospel with her family. She shared her witness and her testimony of the Book of Mormon to her father many times.
She even wrote to her brother, who she was very close to sharing her testimony of the gospel. Those letter were returned to her unopened. Her father had forbade him from reading and writing her letters.
She continued to share the gospel with her family, and her sister. She later joined the church in 1832.
There are many other things that went on in Rebecca's life that I was really touched by. She was indeed a woman of great faith, and continued to do what she could to follow God and share what she knew to be true.
I want to invite you to read more about this wonderful women and the challenges that she went through, but was able to keep pressing forward with faith. I'm very grateful for women like this, to look up to and strive to be like. What great role models.
Think of a woman that you admire... Is it your mom? Your grandma? Maybe a sister, or an aunt? Whomever it may be what are some of the qualities of this woman that you like about her? What did she teach you?
There are MANY women in my life that I look up to. However, there is a women in particular that I really admire. She actually isn't a part of my life, but her story has really touched me. Emma Smith, the wife of Joseph Smith the Prophet.
She is truly an amazing women! She did alot of service in the church. Emmeline B. Wells, wrote of her: “Sister Emma was benevolent and hospitable; she drew around her a large circle of friends, who were like good comrades. She was motherly in nature to young people, always had a houseful to entertain or be entertained. She was very high-spirited and the brethren and sisters paid her great respect. Emma was a great solace to her husband in all his persecutions and the severe ordeals through which he passed; she was always ready to encourage and comfort him, devoted to his interests, and was constantly by him whenever it was possible. She was queen in her home, so to speak, and beloved by the people, who were many of them indebted to her for favors and kindness.” What an amazing example she is to me, of how charitable she was.
