Nephi

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Nephis Lamentations

• www.kevinhinckley.com

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Pictures from the Olympics
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Obvious Gospel Truths
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Elder Ballard

• Some years ago there was a rather serious
  tragedy in our ward. A great woman, the wife
  of our former bishop and a woman beloved and
  respected in our ward family, contracted
  cancer of the worst kind. This was a vivacious,
  effervescent woman who lifted and inspired
  everyone she met. As the disease became worse,
  I gave her blessings. Another blessing was
  given to her when her son was eighteen. Our
  Heavenly Father, though, had something else in
  mind for her, and she was taken home to Him.
• A few days after the funeral service, I visited
  the father. I put my arm around him and asked,
  "What can I do to help?"
• His response was direct and heartfelt "Help my
  son to understand."
• He doesnt understand why God would allow his
  dear mother to suffer the way she did," he said.
  "Russ, my son and my wife were the very best of
  friends. You have never seen a mother and son as
  close as they were. He loved her deeply. He
  prayed for her. He heard all the blessings that
  were given. He had faith that she would be
  healedor, at the very least, would not have to
  suffer. Yet she suffered and died. He doesn't
  understand why."
• For days I tried to get in touch with this young
  man I finally wrote him a letter and invited him
  to have lunch with me at the Church
  Administration Building One Tuesday I returned
  to the office from a conference assignment, and
  my secretary informed me that my young neighbor
  and I had a lunch appointment for the following
  day.
• He arrived the next day exactly on time

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Question

• If you were Elder Ballard,
• what would you say to this boy?

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Jacob Chapter 5

• And it came to pass that the servant
  said unto his master How comest thou
  hither to plant this tree, or this branch of
  the tree? For behold, it was the poorest
  spot in all the land of thy vineyard.
• And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him
  Counsel me not I knew that it was a poor spot of
  ground wherefore, I said unto thee, I have
  nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest
  that it hath brought forth much fruit.
• And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard
  said unto his servant Look hither behold I have
  planted another branch of the tree also and thou
  knowest that this spot of ground was poorer than
  the first. But, behold the tree. I have nourished
  it this long time, and it hath brought forth much
  fruit therefore, gather it, and lay it up
  against the season, that I may preserve it unto
  mine own self.
• And he said unto the servant Look hither and
  behold the last. Behold, this have I planted in a
  good spot of ground and I have nourished it this
  long time, and only a part of the tree hath
  brought forth tame fruit, and the other part of
  the tree hath brought forth wild fruit behold, I
  have nourished this tree like unto the others. 

Question Do we know Saints who seem to have been
planted in a poor spot of ground?
What is the Lord telling us (and them)?
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Nephi(Helaman 7)

• Behold, now it came to pass that Nephi, the son
  of Helaman, returned to the land of Zarahemla
  from the land northward.
• For he did preach the word of God unto them,
  and did prophesy many things unto them
• And they did reject all his words, insomuch that
  he could not stay among them, but returned again
  unto the land of his nativity.
• And seeing the people in a state of such awful
  wickedness, and those Gadianton robbers filling
  the judgment-seats
• having usurped the power and authority of the
  land
• laying aside the commandments of God,
• doing no justice unto the children of men
• Condemning the righteous because of their
  righteousness
• letting the guilty and the wicked go unpunished
  because of their money
• to rule and do according to their wills, that
• they might get gain and glory of the world, and
• that they might the more easily commit adultery,
  and steal, and kill, and do according to their
  own wills

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His Lament

• Now this great iniquity had come upon the
  Nephites, in the space of not many years and
  when Nephi saw it, his heart was swollen with
  sorrow within his breast and he did exclaim in
  the agony of his soul
• Oh, that I could have had my days in the days
  when my father Nephi first came out of the land
  of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in
  the promised land then were his people easy to
  be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of
  God, and slow to be led to do iniquity and they
  were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord
• Yea, if my days could have been in those days,
  then would my soul have had joy in the
  righteousness of my brethren.
• But behold, I am consigned that these are my
  days, and that my soul shall be filled with
  sorrow because of this the wickedness of my
  brethren. 

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Neal A. Maxwell

• Like Alma, who wished for a trumpet-like
  voice of an angel, we too need to
  understand our motivations and
  limitations. Even so, let us use well the
  season in which we serve.
• Nephi wished, nostalgically, he'd lived in a
  different time, yet finally concluded, "But
  behold, I am consigned that these are my days.
  Like Alma, he no doubt realized that he should
  not "desire more than to perform the work to
  which he had been called" (Alma 296). Faith in
  God includes faith in His wisdom in placing us in
  our particular time and place
• At times, faith still leaves a poignant zone of
  perplexity and puzzlement as to just how much we
  can realistically strive to influence things
  affirmatively
• Our emerging "why" questions can help us,
  however, to develop greater faith in God's
  purposes for us in our time, because answers do
  come to most "why" questions.
• That Ye May Believe, 156.

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J.R.R Tolkien

• Yet it is not our part to master all the
  tides of the world, but to do what is in us
  for the succor of those years wherein we
  are set,
• uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so
  that those who live after may have clean earth to
  till.
• What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
• ibid

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Bonus quote by Tolkien

• It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your
  calculations,
• if you live near him.

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Questions

• In gospel discussions, when does asking
  why help us and when does it hurt us?
• How do we guard against destructive whys?

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Elder Ballard Conclusion

• As we stepped off the elevator, we saw
  President Kimball walk through the back doors
  of the Church Administration Building. I was
  holding onto my friend's arm, and I felt a
  physical jolt hit him when he saw the
  prophet. It was as though somebody had touched
  him with a live electrical wire. We stood
  there a minute silently. Finally, he looked
  at me and asked, "Brother Ballard, does
  President Kimball ever see somebody like me?"
• "I don't know," I said. "Let's find out."
• We walked into his office. President Kimball got
  up from his desk and walked around to greet us.
  He took hold of my neighbor's hands and looked
  deeply into his eyesand into his heart.
• "My boy," he said, "your mother is all right."
• Then he taught us a great lesson I will never
  forget. He said, "My boy, I've had some difficult
  times in my life. I didn't like the idea of
  having my vocal cords operated on. I didn't want
  that to happen. I didn't like the idea of being
  opened up when I was in my late seventies to have
  my heart worked on. But let me tell you
  something. Through my suffering, I have come to
  know God." Then President Kimball took hold of my
  friend, drew him close, and gave him a hug