Mormon 7-9

READING FOR NEXT WEEK

Ether 1-6

Below is the link to the recording of our class discussion. I once again forgot to start the recording even though I had reminders on notes in several places! I will do better next week--hopefully!

MEETING RECORDING

https://zoom.us/rec/share/68hUAOHr5kVLAYn87gbQaoR-RJrXaaa803QY-_FbzBqwIn0_BewfCJPqO8rek3CD

  

 BELONGING

“Our need to belong is what drives us to seek out stable, long-lasting relationships with other people. It also motivates us to participate in social activities such as clubs, sports teams, religious groups, and community organizations.

By belonging to a group, we feel as if we are a part of something bigger and more important than ourselves.

The need to belong to a group also can lead to changes in behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes as people strive to conform to the standards and norms of the group”

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-need-to-belong-2795393

 FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST

“I promise you that as you follow Jesus Christ, you will find sustained peace and true joy.As you keep your covenants with increasing precision, and as you defend the Church and kingdom of God on the earth today, the Lord will bless you with strength and wisdom to accomplish what only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can accomplish.

We are to be builders of an individual faith in God, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and faith in His Church.We are to build families and be sealed in holy temples.We are to build the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth (see Matthew 6:33).We are to prepare for our own divine destiny: glory, immortality, and eternal lives.”

President Russell M. Nelson, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/04/the-future-of-the-church-preparing-the- world-for-the-saviors-second-coming?lang=eng

 “FACE THE FUTURE WITH FAITH”

“Meanwhile, here and now, we live in a time of turmoil. Earthquakes and tsunamis wreak devastation, governments collapse, economic stresses are severe, the family is under attack, and divorce rates are rising.We have great cause for concern. But we do not need to let our fears displace our faith.We can combat those fears by strengthening our faith.

Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested.

You will have days when you will be discouraged. So pray for courage not to give up! Sadly, some who you thought were your friends will betray you. And some things will simply seem unfair.”

President Russell M. Nelson, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/04/the-future-of-the-church-preparing-the- world-for-the-saviors-second-coming?lang=eng

THE BOOK OF MORMON

“Then comes what I think is a really remarkable thing.The author tells us they all cried out,“Hosanna,” which I understand means save us now.That seems curious to me. Weren’t these people already saved? Apparently not. Apparently there was something about that experience that they had with the Lord that triggered that immediate reaction,“Save us now.” So I’m reading into that that there was a deficit in their prior experience that was now being filled with this immediacy of touching the wounds.

But then, then, they cry out,“Save us now,” and then it says they all fell to the ground and worshiped Him.That phrase isn’t in the description of the first time they fell to the ground. So from that, I try to make the idea, and I think it works, is that the worship of Christ, the adoration of the Savior comes most powerfully, most directly from the fact that they had physical contact with the emblems of His suffering.There was something about that experience that was transformative to this good group of people.”

Thomas Griffith, https://faithmatters.org/the-kings-good-servant-but-gods-first-terryl-givens-with-thomas- griffith/

THE BOOK OF MORMON

“How would my life be different if my knowledge gained from the the Book of Mormon were suddenly taken away?”

 MIRACLES

 “My limited knowledge cannot explain why sometimes there is divine intervention and

 other times there is not. But perhaps we lack an understanding of what constitutes a

 miracle.

 Often we describe a miracle as being healed without a full explanation by medical

 science or as avoiding catastrophic danger by heeding a clear prompting. However,

 defining a miracle as ‘a beneficial event brought about through divine power that

 mortals do not understand’ gives an expanded perspective into matters more eternal

 in nature.This definition also allows us to contemplate the vital role of faith in the

 receipt of a miracle.

 Moroni taught,‘Neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith.’

 Ammon proclaimed, ‘God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work

 mighty miracles.’ The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith, ‘For I am God, ... and I will show

 miracles ... unto all those who believe on my name.’”

 

 “A critical question to ponder is “Where do we place our faith?” Is our faith focused on

 simply wanting to be relieved of pain and suffering, or is it firmly centered on God the

 Father and His holy plan and in Jesus the Christ and His Atonement? Faith in the Father

 and the Son allows us to understand and accept Their will as we prepare for eternity.

 Today I testify of miracles. Being a child of God is a miracle. Receiving a body in His image

 and likeness is a miracle.The gift of a Savior is a miracle. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is

 a miracle. The potential for eternal life is a miracle.

 While it is good to pray for and work for physical protection and healing during our

 mortal existence, our supreme focus should be on the spiritual miracles that are available

 to all of God’s children. No matter our ethnicity, no matter our nationality, no matter what

 we have done if we repent, no matter what may have been done to us—all of us have

 equal access to these miracles.We are living a miracle, and further miracles lie ahead.”

 Donald L. Hallstromhttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2017/10/has-the-day-of-miracles-ceased?lang=eng

 HEAR HIM

 “...Repeatedly, He has personally introduced His Beloved Son Jesus Christ,

 with a specific charge to ‘Hear Him!’ Have you ever stopped to ask why? Why

 is our Heavenly Father so insistent—and consistent—in his plea that we

 should hear His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ?

 ...He pleads with us to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ who the Father

 anointed and appointed as our Mediator, Savior, and Redeemer.

 ...I invite you to think deeply and often about this key question: How do you

hear him? I also invite you to take steps is hear Him better and more often.

 ...And strive with all you heart, might, mind and soul to hear Him!” 

President Russell M. Nelson, February 2020

  

ZOOM Invitation for March 31

We will be discussing Mormon 7-9 on Tuesday. Below is the link to join us. I'm looking forward to being together again to share our thoughts and experiences.



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Mormon 1-6

READING FOR MARCH 31

Mormon 7-9

RECORDING OF CLASS ON MARCH 24

Following is the link for the recording of class for those of you who could not attend. I forgot to start recording at the beginning of class, so the playback begins a couple of minutes into our lesson. Sorry!

Thanks to those who were able to join our session! Thanks for your comments and insights. What a blessing it is to be together in this time of difficulty.

Meeting Recording:
https://zoom.us/rec/share/7-ktMeH1rUVJaNbysHPifKw6EtzfX6a82nNM8qEMxBoYji0GNilVf8_Lp5oKEPLV

MORMON

“In the midst of devastation and depravity, a loving and intimate portrait of a father and son is revealed in the books of Mormon and Moroni.The glaring contrast between the world in which Mormon and Moroni lived and their own lives and relationship with each other is a fitting end to the Book of Mormon. Of course, it was in the end a team effort that allowed the modern reader to have the sacred record at all.The pattern set by Lehi and Nephi at the beginning of the record is followed and repeated at the end of the book by a righteous son following his father. Mormon and Moroni’s love, respect and tenderness towards each other is made all the more poignant by the fact that they lived in such a brutal and wicked society.”

Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/mormon-man-and-message

 THE TEN YEAR PEACE TREATY

“According Robin J. DeWitt Knauth, ‘The Year of Jubilee ... is the last layer in the extension of the Sabbath principle.’ Being the pinnacle of the sabbatical system, the jubilee year came every fifty years. It is easy to imagine that a people who saw significance in calendrical cycles of seven would surely have noticed that this jubilee year in the 350th year was not just any jubilee—it was the seventh jubilee since the birth of Christ (350 being 7 x 50).
Given the decadence and wickedness among both the Nephites and the Lamanites, it is hard to say if the symbolic importance of that year was widely recognized. Mormon, no doubt, was aware, and as the Chief Captain of the Nephite armies, he was probably instrumental in negotiating the terms and timing of the treaty.
Resting the land was central to both the jubilee law in general and to this treaty in particular.The jubilee was intended to be ‘a year of rest for the land.’ It was also a time when ‘land was to be restored to its original inherited line of ownership.’
It therefore seems significant that at a time when land was supposed to be restored to its proper owner, large portions of Nephite and Lamanite lands were reallocated under the terms of this ten- year treaty. Any Nephites who still celebrated the jubilee could not have missed the significance: in the Lord’s eyes, they were no longer the proper owners of any land south of the narrow neck.”

https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/why-is-the-10-year-peace-treaty-important

 HINGE POINT

“A hinge is a point in a lesson when you need to check if students are ready to move on, and if yes, in which direction; a hinge-point question is a diagnostic question that you ask your students when you reach the hinge, responses to which give you evidence about what you and your students need to do next.”

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/assessment-for-learning-stem/0/steps/7332

“The phrase has several applications in the technical language of engineering, construction, anatomy, even orthopedic reconstructive surgery. Generally, it’s the point where a mechanism pivots.
The evangelical minister was of course using the term metaphorically as a turning point or point at which a significant change takes place.”

https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/03/a-hinge-point-of-history.html

A HingePoint is the point where something literally pivots.It’s the turning point where you are going to see a significant change take place.

"WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE WILL LATTER-DAY SAINTS BE IN A GLOBAL APOCALYPSE?"

“The apocalyptic genre is about revealing. But it’s not revealing the future — it’s not a crystal ball — it’s revealing something that is already true about us. It’s revealing things about our culture we don’t want to admit. The coronavirus is already shining a light into some dark places, both in the
U.S. and the world. This is an apocalypse. It will help to reveal who we are individually.And for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, how we respond to this moment will define our identity going forward."

“I’m not saying this move wasn’t inspired; I’m saying this is hardly the time to crow about it. If you’re a Latter-day Saint who thinks the decision was inspired because the Lord was interested in saving you and your family, full stop, you’ve entirely missed the point.
The point was to save everybody.The point is always to save everybody.”

“What is perhaps most poignant to me about this coronavirus is how naked and vulnerable we all stand in the face of it. All of us. No one appears to have immunity from prior exposure, and no one has been vaccinated. In terms of apocalypses that reveal who we really are, here’s a stark image:This particular apocalypse is revealing that we’re every bit as helpless as we were when we emerged from our mothers’ wombs.
Instead of allowing that to make me afraid, I want to allow it to break me open and help me become something more than I would otherwise be. I am a helpless infant, yes, but a helpless infant who is beloved of Heavenly Parents who desire the flourishing of all their children.”

Jana Riess:“What kind of people will Latter-day Saints be in a global apocalypse?"
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/03/20/jana-riess-what-kind/

Invitation for Class on Tuesday

We will be discussing Mormon 1-6 on Tuesday. Below is the invitation for the ZOOM meeting. We will begin at 9:30. I will have the meeting open at about 9:20. You can join or leave at anytime. If you are having difficulty with the ZOOM application, please email me your phone number so I can help you. My email address is debratolman75@gmail.com. Hope to see you there!

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Recording of 3 Nephi 27-4 Nephi

Not surprisingly, ZOOM is experiencing high-volume traffic. The recording of Tuesday's class finally finished processing just this morning! Following is the link to the recording. I'm sorry it has taken this long. Hopefully next week will be better. Thanks to all of you who attended and participated. I will post the invitation for Tuesday's class soon. Bless you. Stay safe. Stay well!

Meeting Recording:
https://zoom.us/rec/share/4vMkP6P79WFOfJXL6W72e5w4F4_DT6a8g3QZ-KALmUzCe87NOAs2jBqi7XNb7J0N

3 Nephi 27 - 4 Nephi

Below are the quotes from today's class. I recorded our ZOOM session, but it appears there might be something wrong. I will keep trying. I am new at this, so please be patient. If the recording becomes available I will post a link on the blog. Thank you for attending today. While it was different I am grateful to have been together this morning. Thank you for your comments. We will all get more skilled at this. Stay safe!

READING FOR MARCH 24

Mormon 1-6

LAST CLASS OF THE YEAR WILL BE APRIL 28
 
THE NAME OF HIS CHURCH

“Thus, the name of the Church is not negotiable.When the Savior clearly states what the name of His Church should be and even precedes His declaration with,“Thus shall my church be called,” He is serious.And if we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended.
To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan.When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us—even His Atonement.”

President Russell M. Nelson, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/the-correct- name-of-the-church?lang=eng

HIS GOSPEL

“And nowhere else in scripture does he connect so directly and succinctly his Father’s will with the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Final Judgment, and link them to the universal salvation offered to humankind. In this passage Jesus ties together the relationship between true discipleship, adherence to the ordinances of salvation, and his offer to stand as everyone’s personal intercessor to the Father. He starkly states that the absolute purity required for entry into the kingdom of heaven is directly and unequivocally related to the visceral image of washing one’s garments in his blood. In addition, 3 Nephi 27:13–21 might be described as a succinct tutorial on the nature of justification and sanctification. It stands at the doctrinal apex of Jesus’ post- Resurrection visit to the New World. It is a discrete unit, beginning and ending with the phrase “my gospel.” It is the culminating discourse of his other New World teachings on the nature of the gospel.”

THE CROSS

“A.W. Tozer penned: “The cross is the most revolutionary thing ever to appear among men.
The cross of Roman times knew no compromise; it never made concessions. It won all its arguments by killing its opponent and silencing him for good. It spared not Christ, but slew Him the same as the rest. He was alive when they hung Him on that cross and completely dead when they took Him down six hours later.That was the cross the first time it appeared in Christian history. . . .
The cross effects its ends by destroying one established pattern, the victim’s, and creating another pattern, its own.Thus it always has its way. It wins by defeating its opponent and imposing its will upon him. It always dominates. It never compromises, never dickers nor confers, never surrenders a point for the sake of peace. It cares not for peace; it cares only to end its opposition as fast as possible.
With perfect knowledge of all this, Christ said,“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” So the cross not only brings Christ’s life to an end, it ends also the first life, the old life, of every one of His true followers. It destroys the old pattern, the Adam pattern, in the believer’s life, and brings it to an end.Then the God who raised Christ from the dead raises the believer and a new life begins.
This, and nothing less, is true Christianity. . . .
We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do—flee it or die upon it.”

“DRAW MEN UNTO ME”

“In a moving comment, writer Richard Mouw gave this insight: ‘We admit we can’t understand the mysteries of God’s purposes. But we can go to the cross of Jesus Christ.We can see that, at the cross, God took upon Himself abandonment, abuse, forlornness, depth of suffering. Christ Himself cried out from the depths of His being, ‘My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ When we see what God did through Jesus Christ we can say,‘There is a safe place in the universe, in the shelter of the Almighty, in the shadow of the Most High.’ That place is Calvary.’
So in times of sorrow and suffering, the Atonement draws all serious truth- seekers to Jesus Christ.”

“Because he was lifted up, Christ is able to offer an escape from any permanent damage caused by a fallen world. It is a compelling offer. It draws us to him. It invites us, nay, entices us, to accept the terms and conditions of an offer so great that it results not only in a lighter burden for the moment, but also in ‘a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory’ (2 Corinthians 4:17).”

Andrew C. Skinner, https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-11-no-3-2010/my-gospel-jesus-discourse-3-nephi

THE THREE DISCIPLES

“The three disciples actual lineage may not be as important as recognizing how our implicit attitudes or biases influence the way we see others and even how we read scripture. Most of us equate righteousness with the Nephites and wickedness with the Lamanites.Yet all of us can think of periods in the Book of Mormon where the Lamanites were living the gospel and the Nephites were not. Assuming that a person is righteous or wicked based on a single characteristic prevents us from fully seeing others as the Savior does.
The distinction of “Mormon” and “Non-Mormon” is often our modern day equivalent of Nephite and Lamanite.We are truly separated by all “manner of –ites.” Mormon witnessed how racism and division destroyed his people. He identified himself as a “pure descendant of Lehi,” not as a Nephite or Lamanite (3 Nephi 5:20). If Mormon lived in our day, I do not believe that he would have identified himself as a “Mormon” either. He shares one of my favorite proclamations in all of scripture when he boldly declares, “I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (3 Nephi 5:13).
The Savior looks beyond our superficial appearance. He knows our thoughts and the desires of our heart. His invitation to “come, follow me” is extended to everyone (Luke 18:22). Christ wants all of us to be His disciples. I stand with Mormon as I declare that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Recognizing the good in others, regardless of their church affiliation or other perceived differences, is crucial as we strive to live as true disciples of Christ.”

Cameron Staley, https://www.ldsliving.com/What-We-ve-Been-Getting-Wrong-About-the-3-Nephites/s/84318

THE THREE DISCIPLES

“Mormon called this change upon them a ‘transfiguration,’ and they did have a transfiguring experience. However, the more traditional understanding of the status of these three is that they were ‘translated’ beings.
A person who is transfigured is one who is temporarily take into a higher, heavenly experience, as were Peter, James and John, and then returned to a normal telestial status. As noted above, these [disciples], as part of their translation experience, were all transfigured, caught up into heaven, where they ‘saw and heard unspeakable things.’
These three [disciples] continue in their translated state today, just as when they went throughout the lands of Nephi.
They are yet ministering to Jew, Gentile, and the scattered tribes of Israel, even all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.”

Jeffery R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, 306-307

THE PEACE OF FOURTH NEPHI

“Dr. King dreamed of a day when people would look beyond the narrow categories that often separate us from each other and instead focus on higher ends. He dreamed of a day when his children would be seen for who they are and who they are becoming—for their character.Through discrimination, racism, sexism, and other social ills, we will often impose false identities on others that keep them and us from progressing.
This can stop when we see all people as children of God.We consider every person divine in origin, nature, and potential. Each possesses seeds of divinity.And 'each is a beloved spirit [child] of heavenly parents.’
We have this in common with every person.We are all children of God.That makes us family—brothers and sisters bound by a common divine heritage.That one simple, unifying fact should override all else that we allow to cause separation and division among us.”

M. Russell Ballard, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/m-russell-ballard/children-heavenly-father/

ZOOM Ivitation

Following is the invitation to join our class on Tuesday morning. We will start at 9:30 a.m. You can join a few minutes before or anytime during the class. You may also exit the class at anytime.  

Remember you must have the ZOOM mobile app or desktop application in order to participate by video.  Click the link below and you will be taken to the meeting. No password is required to join. Make sure you click on the audio request.

I have not used the phone option, but it appears you can join by dialing one of the numbers listed below. Make sure you have the meeting ID, so you can enter it when prompted.

I know this is a challenging and confusing time. The blessing of technology will allow us to "gather" and gain strength from the gospel and each other. As always, looking forward to learning together.

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 860 205 3565

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Future Classes

Hi All,

Since the Church has temporally suspended all meetings including Stake activities, we will not be meeting together on Tuesday mornings for a while. In an effort to continue our study together, we will meet online through the application ZOOM. It is a meeting space that can be accessed on a computer, phone or other devices like an iPad. In order to participate you must download the free app for mobile devices or the desktop application. I will post a link to the blog by Monday so you can join the meeting at the scheduled time. We will "meet" at our regularly scheduled day and time, Tuesday at 9:30. We will plan for an hour.

This will be a new experience for all of us. Some patience will be required, but I anticipate we will have great success! Learning something new is good for all of us. I'm sure there are many you know who have used Zoom who can help you with the download and setup.

You may contact me at debratolman75@gmail.com. If you would like to talk by phone please email me a number where I can reach you.

Here's to a new adventure! I'm grateful for each of you and will miss being together!

3 Nephi 22-26

NO CLASS NEXT WEEK—SPRING BREAK

READING FOR MARCH 17

3 Nephi 27-4 Nephi

LAST CLASS OF THE YEAR WILL BE APRIL 28
 

BLESSINGS OF THE COVENANT

“Rewards for obedience to the commandments are almost beyond mortal comprehension. Here, the children of the covenant become a strain of sin-resistant souls.”

Russell M. Nelson, April Conference 1995

 THE LORD’S COVENANT OF KINDNESS

“Chapter 22 of 3 Nephi is a blessing of comfort from the Lord to his covenant people. In many ways it reads like a love letter from a husband to his wife, a billet-doux with covenant blessings and promises encoded into every verse.The verses of the text also resemble a wedding song or poem that celebrates the joy of a bride and her groom.The language sings with poetic figures, scriptural allusions, and multilayered metaphors. All of these language features emphasize the kindness that the Lord feels for his people, making the Lord's love seem impossible to fully express.”

“The Hebrew word for kindness is hesed, which has connotations of mercy, courtship, favors, loyalty, cherishing, marital duty, and constant attention (see 3 Nephi 22:8, 10, parallel to Isaiah 54:8, 10).7 In 3 Nephi 22, the Lord discusses his everlasting covenant of kindness by comparing latter-day Zion to a barren woman.Throughout the chapter and in related scriptures, the barren woman is symbolically associated with the destiny of (1) Zion and the church, (2) the earth and all creation, and (3) the Lord's servants and the Latter-day Saints. Each verse of 3 Nephi 22 weaves various combinations of these elements together into a beautiful song of loving-kindness.”

“In keeping with the plan of salvation, the faith and the faithfulness of the woman must be tried; she experiences a temporary separation from her husband and promised children.The woman lives alone as if she has been widowed or as if she has never been married. She has never been able to bear the children that she was promised in the covenant.The woman feels abandoned and fearful because she does not have a com- panion; she feels sad and desolate because she has no children to care for; she feels ashamed and vulnerable because in her culture singleness is a stigma and barrenness is a curse. Other women in her society have the blessings of family life, while she is ‘afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted!’ (3 Nephi 22:11, parallel to Isaiah 54:11).”

“When explaining the marriage metaphor, many scholars interpret all references to the woman as references to people who break their covenants.They read the Lord's kind words as an offer of forgiveness to a wayward but eventually repentant people. We should not equate the faithful barren wife with the adulterous wife.Although ‘all we like sheep have gone astray’ (Isaiah 53:6), the language of 3 Nephi 22 suggests that the Lord is addressing a woman who has tried to remain faithful to her covenants, not a woman who has been rejected because of infidelity.”

“Enlarge the place of thy tent literally means 'make the place where you set up your tent larger’ and figuratively means ‘make room in your life for promised blessings’ (see Genesis 9:27). Let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations means ‘let the birth of children cause you to enlarge your home.’ The desolate woman must have a great deal of faith to enlarge her tent to prepare for the blessing of children.”

“The single woman need not fear that her blessings will never come; the childless woman need not fear being ostracized; the woman alone should not be afraid of those who mock her efforts to rejoice in spite of rejection or loneliness.”

“In Jewish culture, a husband is not permitted to see his wife going through the travail of childbirth, but he does not abandon her. He sits in the corner of the room with his back turned so that she will not feel embarrassed or immodest in her hour of agony. She recites psalms as she goes through contractions.When the woman can no longer sing because of the pain, her husband takes over, reciting the psalms for her.”

“Though we cannot see the Lord, when we weep, he weeps with us; when we sing, he rejoices with us. He understands our pain because he ‘hid not [his] face from shame and spitting’ (Isaiah 50:6, parallel to 2 Nephi 7:6), even though sometimes ‘we [hide] as it were our faces from him’ (Isaiah 53:3, parallel to Mosiah 14:3).

‘My kindness’ is parallel to the 'covenant of my peace,’ implying that the main characteristic of the Lord's covenant is kindness, a charity that is characterized by peace.”

“The promise of children is the greatest blessing a barren woman can hope for, even if she must wait in faith. For the promise of this blessing, Christ was willing to be called as a man rejected, like a barren woman who is willing to suffer in order to be eventually blessed with children. Christ wanted us to be his children spiritually. The only barrenness we need ever fear is a lack of kindness; the only desolation we need ever dread is the loss of charity.”

Cynthia L. Hallen, https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/sites/default/files/archive-files/pdf/hallen/ 2016-02-05/12_cynthia_l._hallen_the_lords_covenant_1998.pdf

THE LORD’S COVENANT OF KINDNESS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulL7Z7B2S_0

 MALACHI’S PROPHECIES

“After Jesus had described the last days and the blessings that would be given to the faithful, the question remained: ‘who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth?’ (3 Nephi 24:2; Malachi 3:2). Malachi 3–4 (3 Nephi 24–25) provides answers to this question.These chapters indicate that it will not be:

• those who are ‘sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers,’ ‘those that oppress the hireling in his wages,’ that oppress ‘the widow’ and orphans, or ‘turn aside the stranger,’ or those who fear not the Lord (3 Nephi 24:5)
• those who have ‘gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them’ (v. 7) those who have robbed God (in ‘tithes and offerings') (vv. 8–9)
• those who have ‘spoken against’ God (v. 13)

3 Nephi 24:18 (cf. Malachi 3:18) reveals the positive answer: Those who ‘discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.’ As Kent P. Jackson observed,‘Malachi’s revelation drew a stark contrast between those who are humble and receptive to the Lord’s will and those who are not.’”

https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/why-did-jesus-give-the-nephites-malachis-prophecies