Come Follow Me Alma 8-12 (June 8-14)

hi everybody I'm David Butler I'm Emily Freeman welcome to don't miss this we are so glad that you're here happy summer happy summer of Heroes you don't know what that is or just kind of jumping on with us we are picking one hero every week from the book of Alma we're on our third one today and we're gonna talk about it a little bit but we have a hero that we're picking up our scripture for them a protection scripture we call it something that encapsulates like kind of the way that they lived as a hero and then one little challenge or invitation that you can do as a family to help you kind of like sink in or live into that same kind of heroic way of living that was such a fancy way so if you these posters they are on Emily Belle Freeman calm or they're in the newsletter also linked in the newsletter you can download them for free and print it we do then 8 by 10 and 11 by 17 they're just you would just do at home if your printer does that I took mine to Office Depot so anywhere that can make posters because I just wanted a big one so my kids could see it all the time and remember and your bracelets should be shipping if you want to find that link it's in the newsletter but we have these bracelets to help us remember it summer hopefully this week they should be coming to you this week depending on when you watch this so we will get into our hero who is amulet spoiler alert that's right up here we find we meet him a little bit later and get descriptions at the end of the lesson so we'll introduce kind of all the things about him when we get there today this is part of Alma's teaching tour remember where he's going through what we're calling the knee fight Reformation and he's visiting all of these different cities and trying to stir them up into remembrance of God this is seems to be the spot that Mormon wants you to really think about in his story um he spends last time he had that time in the city of Gideon where he preached that beautiful sermon about Jesus and then these other cities he kind of just spends a minute on him and moves like melech at the beginning of chapter 8 you're kind of like what happened there like there's these all these people who like are coming into Christ there and you want their stories but you have to wait until heaven to get those but this is kind of a tough city a man died hot is the name of this city and Mormon spends a lot of time here and today will be here this weekend next weekend Mormon spend time here he means when Mormons writing he gives us a lot of information right right from here really it's Alma who's gonna be in here but Mormon is giving us a lot of really spends a lot of time on the city wide Mormon show up well I love me a Mormon member of the Church of Jesus Christ of early they say it's getting worse okay so today in this city we're gonna talk about three different things and we're gonna talk about four times when you want to give up we're gonna talk about four times when you have forgotten and we want to talk about four times when you knew but wouldn't know and we'll get into that verse in a second that's a line from amulet that's really intriguing so let's go into chapter eight I think that's where we're starting let's move out of the way so everyone can see where what you would fill in on your study guide sheet if you want to pause it and take a screenshot but we'll walk you through it as we as we go through so Alma goes to this city called Melek and has great great success there a miraculous city that we don't have too many details about and then he moves on to his next city loved one verse can we just talk about verse 1 when he goes home to his own house at Sarah ham was to rest I just loved that little spot where it's like every so often he just took a little break rejuvenated when again there is a good lesson right there yeah president Nelson doesn't like naps but Alma did and yeah so okay it's fine you can either be an on Napper or a Napper are you a Napper I can't I totally am okay I try I get a little cozy and I'm Alma my brain just starts going million miles a minute okay then he is gonna go into this city check out verse 4 we talked about this last week if you want a little bit more on it where he talks about I went into there and started to teach people according to the holy order it's gonna come up again and again that phrase that's all throughout but he goes into this city and a man died huh and he gets there and the people are such punks and they're gonna say - it was like you we know you're not the boss of us you used to be the chief judge but you're not anymore we don't have to listen to you get out and he as treated Jess rough and particularly you can imagine how rough it must have felt because of how sweet Melek was so all these miracles in Melek then he had a nap and then he goes into this or a nap then intellect miracles and then rage on him and it's like it's pretty tough and you see on the study guide see there's these boxes that are flanked by the word nevertheless because this is kind of the journey that he experiences in verse nine he goes into the city and finds out that Satan had gotten great hold of their hearts that's such an interesting phrase I think it's a little bit different than what a mule like experience we're gonna see that in a second he almost was distracted that's a little bit different than these people he's gotten hold and claim on their hearts and so they wouldn't listen to him but look at this verse even though they wouldn't it says in verse 10 nevertheless even though nobody wanted to hear him it still says he labored much in the spirit wrestling with God and mighty prayer they would pour out his Spirit upon those people that they could repent and come unto Christ I think that's such a it's ah it becomes cooler in just a second because then it says nevertheless in verse 11 they still harden their hearts have been so hard did one here right where are you almost like I'm doing everything you said to do I'm praying I'm laboring I'm giving everything I have I'm asking for the spirit to be part of this situation and nothing and it's like that is so frustrating particularly if you are comparing it to another situation which he might do with his own situation that's right he's comparing it to what happened in in Melek and sometimes we might do that as parents and friends and we might see Oh relationship yeah look at that person turning around and why isn't you know why is it my spouse turning around or art why aren't my kids like responding to the same type of things and they didn't just not listen they weren't nice to him it tells us they when the people had said this and withstood all his words and reviled him and spit upon him and caused that he should be cast out of their city like they it wasn't a happy situation and I hold his hand out of the city I like to when it tells us in verse 14 that he wasn't just like well oh well I did my best you know it tells us he was weighed down with sorrow wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul just that thought of him being like the burden of I'm I'm doing my best in this situation and I think we kind of all know what that feels like just that when you look at it and you think I love when it says that therefore the times when you want to give up because that that kind of his worry is where he's like I've given my best to this situation I've wrestled in prayer I've done everything I know how to do and like the easiest thing to do at this point really is to give up and I love that we're gonna see a shift right here of what do you do if that's you what it what if you are weighed down with sorrow what if you have that anguish what if you wake up at 3 in the morning and you're replaying through that relationship or that thing that just isn't going the way you want it to go what do you do and I love that the answer yes right here before the answer I think it's interesting I was just sitting here thinking about well and mostly because I had one of these the other night like I was we were laying in bed Jenny and I and I just said I don't want I just decided I want to be a parent you know because we had a rough and I like the response was not equal to like I felt like what I was putting in like the way I felt like I was like wait I am trying and I am loving and I am and then this was the the reaction and and crazy for him that like it got worse like yeah he goes in and they're like no thank you I pray a wrestle and then it gets worse in your kind like for real yeah like what what is this and on those days I think before we get into this answer when you feel like I want to give up I just want to say that loving somebody is never a waste no matter what their reaction is it's never a waste of anything to pour out your heart in loving in helping other people no matter what their reaction and also walking away sometimes just being like I have to walk away from this situation for a minute and reassess where we are because I love that that he's like I just got to go for a walk and sometimes that's the smartest thing to do is just get a change of perspective spend some time thinking we've I've raised all my teenage people and you're just getting into tardiness yeah that thing and that is one thing that I have learned is that when they're 3 to 5 when you engage you engage and you teach and you train and you handle that situation and then you move on and not always so with teenagers because sometimes you engage and you start getting ready to teach and train and then things know load up yeah and it's just not the right time and and also you might not be equipped to handle that situation in the right way in that moment and a lot of times I did have to walk away and just say okay help me be the mom this child needs right now give me the language this child needs for me right now help me see what they're talking about the way they see it right now like you almost need to take that break and be like I need help so when I enter back in I do it in a way that is actually constructive for this child or this situation whatever you're in and that walking away can be powerful and so hard because you're like I just want to I don't want to hang it over my head yeah like I want it solved right now like I'm burdened by it yeah they don't ya want that but you want to be the boss of it you want to be like a parent I know what to do and I learned that each of my kids was significantly different from the others and what I did with Caleb is not what worked for Garrett and neither of those two is what worked for Josh and same with Meghan like I had to relearn parenting yeah thing worked for grace for every great little child and the spirit tutored me for that child to speak the language of that child and to know what would help that child and and they are all so different like how I engaged with Meghan is not the same way I engage in conversations with grace it just isn't and it is my testimony like I have such a strong witness of this the Spirit will teach you how to be the parent that child needs if you pray for that and I think you actually see that if you take a zoom out look a little bit at these different cities that Alma goes to like take a look at what he said to the city of Gideon and take a look at how he approaches em and I ha and how he approaches Melek like he approaches them very differently and it's neat that he is in that place of verse 14 that you read almost like the anguish of soul opened his heart for the answer mm-hmm you know because it's in that place of being weighed down that the tutoring comes and it's gonna be interesting I'm gonna give away what is about to happen but as we're looking at this from a parenting point of view it is interesting that part of amulet or Alma's answer for a man died Hoth is a mule ik and sometimes that's true as a parent sometimes the answer in a situation is actually bringing someone else in to the situation so lots of good parenting lessons in these chapters if you want to go at it oh and help frustrating cos Alma's like so good at what he does yeah you know he's so good at being a teacher that when people stop listening he's kind of like I don't know I had yeah which actually for me has been like tough because like teaching seminary Institute for so long there's like I get teenagers yeah but when I'm not getting mine I'm like I'm supposed to be good at this profession my profession is teenagers and and I don't do it good okay so here comes the angel and he comes in verse 15 so the advice section on your study guide sheet is right here and it starts coming from the angel that's why you guys these are Easter eggs that are just hidden in the lessons every single week if you're listening on podcast you're fine but you're missing out the fun okay here are the things that we have and what advice will you find from this I don't know because there are so many good nuggets right in here but we just pulled out five that we loved okay the first one you gotta watch that strap over there the first one is I wrote to be blessed I love that it starts off and the angel just says blessed art thou and and you're giving it good yes yes don't you love that where it's like just come in and say things are okay because sometimes Alma might be thinking as he walks away I must not be spiritual enough and that's why the city's responding like this like I there must be a problem with me and I love that the angel comes in and says wait can you please recognize that you're okay you're doing okay you know any night started saying this in quarantine like will lay in bed at the end of one of those days which is four out of the seven you know and it's always some neighbor it's like we failed to stay and then I just reminded Jenny we didn't eat the children I failed today I'm like did you eat them some spiders eat their children the hamsters and you didn't like you are waiting you know but it's serious this well just give yourself permission to like no you are a blessed person things are okay God's still favoring you he's still looking over you you're you're doing great he actually tells him I'm the same angel the King I had to kind of knock you off there is a little lesson right there so sweet for him to discover he's like I'm your same angel yeah I need one don't you want to know who this angel is remember every angel has a name and a face and you just serve injuries one of me Elmas angels so bad it can't be his dad because his dad wasn't around but yeah but he says the same angel okay number two he says lift up your head and rejoice like fine find some reason and the reason he says to Alma you have reason to rejoice all is not lost your life's going great it's not like this lift up your head find one good thing that's that's what you gotta do cool thought remember you're doing okay find one good thing third thing is you just continue to be faithful right been faithful continue to be faithful there's just something about that pattern of obedience that opens up the door for miracles so I love that he's just like you just you just keep being faithful good things are ahead and confidence - I like that scripture and doctrine Covenants 121 toward the end the phrase of then will your confidence wax strong in the presence of God and that's interesting because Joseph Smith is in prison and he might be thinking some of the same things like God's abandoned this he's given up I'm failing there must be something wrong with me and the Lord comes in and teaches him you can have confidence in the presence of God even as a prisoner like that's yeah that's neat okay the next thing is to return tells him and he probably was like I don't want to go but it's fun that he will so let's connect this section that's right over here where he returns over in verse 18 he's in verse 18 he says he returns that's the advice is it is like those people who were spitting on you and revealing you and threw you out of the city go back there yeah and it's awesome because in 18 he says he goes back speedily he's like okay here we go like that's such a character verse cuz you're like who is that and then also says though that he goes is that important by another way yeah and say you want to say about that because obviously you have a because that is true when you go back to your kids in that situation when you've taken a walk when you've taken a break sometimes the spirit is gonna say okay go back but this time we're gonna do it a different way we're not good don't go back the way you did the first time that did not work what's not working for you look let's try it a different way and I just love the thought of that but sometimes that taking a walk you're gonna go back and be like okay can I come talk to you about this again but look I want to try this a different way yeah and then the fifth one kind of goes along with that and he says preach again in verse 16 and the knowledge is his talent it's what he was good at but I go back and do what you know you're good at that's what he wants him to do yeah it's funny that he says it twice in there I'm like why is he you want to say that twice he says and go preach again to the people the city yay preach unto them maybe I heard you the youth and you go in and either this is what happens with the youth I feel like see if this is true you either go in and knock it out of the park or you go in and everyone just stares at you like and generally out of three months you'll have to knock it out of the park lesson that is just true and then you walk out and you're like I should never teach the youth again like that it's not my skill set I just I shouldn't ever teach youth that's what you think to yourself and so I hope that he's like go back and teach the youth again and then you're like no I can't this is no preach again go back this is your talent this is your calling this is what you are good at go back and do it again like something I just need someone to be like you can be the dad of a teenage boy you can write like it was so bad the lesson was so bad and I was like no one cares about anything no one's listening and we realized like five or ten minutes left and I was like okay we're done I just want to be done who's one kid afterwards just say oh thanks for letting us out early but I was really into that he was like there are other times when I wish that you would have done that and ended early and you did it and I was like wow I can't even tell so this is good good advice Ehrman so remember all that's or does times when you want to give up and just kind of apply it to the situation that you actually want to give up in and go seek that angelic advice yeah you know that comes and remember it may come in those in those valleys the advice yeah seems to come in the places where we're like oh we're we're weighed down I just love that part when he first starts someone says it's okay yeah I've got this yeah we're okay yeah you know okay so the next section is when you've forgotten this one's a little bit about the people of the city it's in the middle of your study guide page but it's up on here because this giant poster and we start learning a little bit over in chapter 9 about the people of ammon I ha in particular and they we have this blank here in the study guide sheet that says they knew not in the in the fill in the blank is God from chapter 9 verse 5 or says now they knew not that God could do such marvelous works for they were a hard-hearted in a stiff neck at people and every time I read that line it makes me sad that alma comes in and says this is what God can do and they're like God can't do something like that and it makes me sad that they believed in such a small empowered as God and you loved it in Chapter 9 verse 2 when he comes back in again and he begins to preach unto them and they began to contend with me saying who are you and in verse 6 and who is God like it's so interesting and then I love when he says but what kind of God do you have that he doesn't send any more than one man among these people to try and do something and remember how we have loved looking back and tied about what God can do with one man so you just love the fact that they are so opposed to the real character of God and who God is and how big it is and who Alma is you know that yeah an amulet and these this is one person that is gonna come in and make me the difference makers and sorry we forgot we'll introduce amulet right here we should have just because he becomes a character right here but when Alma goes back into the city the angel says go back he comes across we should do that let's go yeah okay so he's gonna go a different way in verse 18 he goes in by another way and when he goes as he enters the city he was hungry and he saw someone there and said will you give a humble servant of God something to eat and the man said I haven't even of God for you are the man whom an angel said in a vision you're gonna receive him and you're gonna feed him and you love that when that angel tells Alma let's try this a different way he's already prepared than me before he even goes into that situation he prepared that way already an amulet is waiting there the man was called a mule ik and he brought Alma into his house and then when Alma goes in there you love that he blesses a mule ik and his house and he gives thanks unto God and that is kind of how the story starts he stays many days it tells us in verse 27 with a mule I know and I think I figured out that it was a couple months oh he gives a date later I think he stayed with him for like three months that it's not interesting yeah and when he was in prison for three months and I didn't want that so I just pretended then in verse 30 it tells you an Alma went forth and also a mule ik among the people so you loved that this different way this time is gonna include now a Mallick has become like a mission companion they're gonna go back into the city together and I love that God is like here Alma let me give you courage let me give you someone to to help you with this hard thing and they had much power they couldn't be combined into dungeons they just they it probably was such an amazing time watching those two move among the people so that's what's happening now now they've entered into this situation and one thing that I have loved when reading this if you have kids who are on missions these next couple of chapters are a really great couple of chapters for learning how to be a good companion whether that's in your marriage or in a mission companionship but is you watch Alma and amulet go back and forth with each other and learn how to work and how to teach together and how to confront problems together there's just are a lot of really good lessons here about missionary companionships but really any companionship yeah and situations too because I like that Mormon gives you like this preview in verse 31 when he says they're gonna be thrown in dungeons and all of these things are gonna happen but God was still there and I feel like if you're tempted to read almost like he's like saying when you read this story make sure you still see God in the jail and you still see him in the fire and you still see him in the in the rejection and every because this is not India like it's not at all and I love the Mormons like they were filled with the power of God despite what the circumstances look like and you love that when those people enter India and they're like who is God and who are you that what is gonna happen right now as they are gonna remind them who God is and who they are to God and I love that that they're like even though it may not change their hearts that's how they're gonna enter into that conversation and isn't that awesome we talked about this last week and every other week of our whole lives like this is the like such a theme of the Book of Mormon is reminding people who God is because once you know who God is then you want to engage and enter into a relationship with him in fact we're not going to get into chapters 11 and 12 which are super cool parts today but I do want to get just show you this one verse real quick and how much chapter 12 verse 32 it's one of my favorite verses in the whole Book of Mormon and it says this I just think it's neat he says therefore God gave unto them Commandments after having made known unto them the plan of redemption and I think the order of that is really powerful that like why should I listen to God let me tell you first about how he redeemed you and how he's for you now you might want to listen to him I think that's just like a good and that's what he does so we got this box like what did they forget says they knew not God so what did they forget and there's this list here if you look through 8 through 11 all the way up to 13 through 14 you just start he's reminding them of everything that they forgot about God yeah and that's just call out a few so that they know yeah this is chapter 9 starting in verse how did you forget traditions of our fathers how did you forget that we were brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God he's gonna talk about how did you forget how many times he delivered you I love that phrase how many times the good wasn't just once yeah it was over and over and and he's gonna tell him also do you do you not remember what happens because either you get to stay in the presence of God or you're gonna be cut off from the presence of God and and how did you forget that that's what happens like we saw that happen we saw the fruits of that and how the Lamanites were cut off from his presence he goes all the way through and teaches them what that looks like and then he says in verse 18 if you persist in your wickedness your days will not be prolonged in the land for the Lamanites are gonna come upon you and if you repent not then you're gonna have other destruction right you won't be preserved if you're not in the presence of the Lord and let's just point this out as you read these chapters like some of these phrases are pretty harsh and you're kind of like whoa but I want you to remember when you read these chapters spoiler alert this is a group of people who are about to burn a bunch of children alive so they are not just like forgetting to do their home teaching or something like that and God's coming in with the big stick you know like this warning from Alma is is to a who are like you are about to self-destruct like that you are at the verge of losing everything video because of your own decision so you've brought this upon yourself you can still reverse it right now as what he's saying and I love it any-any tells them this not only can you reverse it but you can go from being cut off from the presence of God and utter destruction to being highly favored like that those are your choices it's it's the very best and the very worst you are capable of either of those things and I love that even in a place where things were not looking good what Alma's gonna do is say to them let me remind you your capacity mm-hmm let me remind you what you are capable of if you chose to walk this path instead this is one of my favorite places in scriptures because a lot of times we read about people who are highly favored of the Lord and sometimes we look at that and we're like well why did she get to be highly favored why it was he high why was the brother of Jared highly favored and why was Mary highly favored and then you start thinking that maybe God has favorites and you know you you just start doing that we score keep by accident in our mind it was so interesting I've talked about this before I think but I'm gonna talk about it again because my brain keeps going back to it when we were driving home from the airport with grace and she was talking about her mission and she just said kind of under her breath while we were driving home um I'm one I'm one of God's favorites that's what she said and my first inclination was you shouldn't say stuff like that and then immediately the spirit said back to me why why would a grace be one of God's favorites and then I love grace so you can't help it when you're with grace you love her so I'm like well of course grace is one of God's favorites and but then I started thinking and so is Megan and I know Garret is and so is Caleb and like I said I was like well I think all my kids are God's favorites and then I started thinking about and and then I probably am like I felt like God favors me at times in my life and then what it made me realize and I don't even know if I can communicate this well but was that I think everybody is God's favorite why wouldn't they be and why can't baby yeah his capacity to love is so big that everyone could be his favorite which then made me think to myself I want to live my I want to love my kids that big I want every one of my kids to think they are my favorite because they are yeah my favorite hmm I want my love to be that big and when my grandkids are like who's her favorite grandkid it's every one of them that's how big God's capacity to love is and I think that's what Alma is trying to teach right here you have the potential to be God's favorite right now that's what potential you have and my favorite it means what your relationship could look like what does a favored relationship look like with God if you were going to look up the word favor and look at the Greek translation of that it also means grace so you can be highly favored or you could be highly graced by God these next few verses this is what it would look like to live in grace yeah what it looks like to be highly favored here's the temptation here's what's hard particularly with the Book of Mormon because the word keeps coming back as as prospered right and if you look at verse 13 you get this is chapter 9 verse 13 the definition of it because look at the opposites here in as much as you keep my Commandments you shall prosper in the land okay interpret it let's just say what we think it means I'm gonna be rich I'm gonna have money I'm gonna have opportunities and things you're gonna go right yes that's what you can everybody go there think so and sometimes you see it in the Book of Mormon right you see that that happens to people and so it can be tempting particularly reading this book and if you're American it's also tempting because you're American right that's the way that we think we think in a prosperity mentality right but he gives you the definition that verse and he says again it said and as much as you will not keep my Commandments now it's gonna be the opposite of prosper right if you keep my commands you will prosper if you do not keep my Commandments now the opposite is you will be cut off from the presence of the Lord so to prosper means to live in his presence to have his presence his Spirit in your life what are the byproducts of that going to be I don't know very different for people for some it might be man their business is prospering because they have God's presence and spirit in their life telling him how to yeah it's a byproduct not you can't equate it with it right and I love this stuff I love because I think our spirits go that way naturally when we're in a situation that is hard someone gets diagnosed with cancer immediately we start going to the Scriptures more our family starts praying more you might go to the temple more not because you're trying to earn a cure but because you're trying to become close enough to the spirit and then the spirit can say reach out to this doctor or as you're praying over what medical decisions to make because you have the spirit you're gonna be prospered in those decisions of what is gonna happen there and I think the same is true with a job the Spirit is gonna guide you what what if you do this or a move or even with a child living in the presence of God allows the spirit to guide your path into a place that would be more prosperous for you than just trying to do it on your own right again a byproduct o because if you looked at Alma and Emulex mission to a man died ha under like the the traditional definition of prosperity you would say everything went wrong God must not be prospering you YouTube must not be highly favored because you went to jail yeah and and you watched everyone burned in front of you and no you know and it's like wait wait wait wait wait watch for God's presence don't focus so much don't equate byproducts with you know and you bubble and it kind of lays out for you here this is actually what it looks like to be prospered or to be highly favored or it helps my mind so much if I can think of it as highly graced that you're living in that the grace of God that he's elevating your just everything that's happening in your life it talks about you were had all things made known unto you according to your desires and your faith in your prayers of things that have happened and that which is going to happen you've been visited by the Spirit of God you've conversed with angels you've been spoken to by the voice of the Lord you've had the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of Revelation you have many gifts you're able to speak in all different tongues so that when you're talking to your kids or your neighbors are in relationships if that communication is open and easier to have you have a gift of preaching you have the gift of the Holy Ghost you have the gift of translation you've been delivered you've been saved from famine and sickness and disease you've wacked strong in battle you've been brought out of bondage time and time again you've been kept you've been preserved you have been prospered in all manner of things is what he tells them like expand in your mind what prospered can mean and that is what it looks like to be highly favored or highly graced and we left you a little spot just to write down what does what does it look like for this to be happening in your life and where are you seeing it and don't put dollar signs behind it but just put what does it look like to live with God in your life and guiding you and and wherever you may be seen some of those things happening and maybe particularly in the rougher situations to be able to see God's favor in an undesirable circumstance is is to understand what that actually is right to be able to like things aren't going the way I want but I can still recognize God's presence here yep well and I think that's the answer for this one you when you have forgot forgotten part of it is really looking back and saying okay where where is the Lord in this and it's that remembering it's what we talked about earlier it's it's going back to that remembering and we're gonna see that as we get into this next lesson because we're gonna go to chapter 10 yeah and let's just say one other thing about that one comparison to other people recognizing God's favor in other people's lives is great comparing to somebody else's life is super dangerous I think like that's yeah yeah you just want to watch what God's doing in your in your yeah and let's everybody just feel like they're his favorite remember that um my friend who's the patriarch who gave that patriarchal blessing to that woman that he never met before and she'd come back to church had just had a rough past Hatton grew up in the church then left and hadn't been in years and years and years and came back in and and just looked rough and had results of rough and a couple kids and no husband around and just that kind of life and the bishop was so good and just said to her have you had a patriarchal blessing and she was like no I never got one before I left and he's like well let's let's get you one so they you know did everything that you do and and she goes and sits in the chair at my friend's house was the patriarch and he said the second I laid my hands on her head she had brought her kids with her star cuz there were no other you know second he put his hands on his head he said I saw her before she was born and the only and I could feel what her heavenly parents felt about her and the only word I could use to describe it was delighted how delighted they were in her and then he said these words fell out of my mouth or he just says you are one of God's favorites and he's never been mad at you oh so she's weak and I went home that day after he told me that story and I wrote that line in my own patriarchal blessing I just added it oh it's like that it's what I want to believe about me too and I'm gonna put it in there in the Book of Mormon gives you permission okay chapter 10 is amulet takes over Alma's been preaching and then it's like tag-team an amulet takes over and he kind of tells a little bit of his story here and because we get a couple more sneak peeks into his heart this is where we've we've picked at a mule ik as the hero for this and you're gonna love him oh he is gonna be one of your favorites you love to that because amulet comes from a man died huh he's like he is there so you love that he is this witness it's just like one of them and for some reason when he preaches people like that says they're astonished twice during his preaching you're kind of like man something about him and who he knew and what his past was has made people like shocked that this is coming from him and you love it he just stressed out and says I am a me like she gives his lineage so that they know who he is and then he says in verse four he's gonna tell us who he is I am a man of no small reputation among all those who know me yea and behold I have many Kindred's and friends and I have also required much riches by the hands of my industry so I wanted to just think about this for a minute this is why he's telling you I am a man of no small reputation I have a ton of friends I do really well in my business right it's everything you want prosperity to be maybe you were gonna say he's popular with people his business is super successful like in in that way you would be like well you have prosperity why do you need God and he's gonna talk to us about what was missing he says nevertheless after all this I never have known much of the ways of the Lord and his mysteries and his marvelous power you almost want to say for a second man already starting to list what's missing yeah is I was missing yes God's marvelous miss yeah I was missing his ministry in my life and then you would love when he says this it's almost like he takes a pause right here and he says I said I never had known much of these things but behold I mistake for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power you even in the preservation of the lives of the of us I kept of all I actually have seen it and then he says this in verse six which becomes so important nevertheless I did harden my heart for I was called many times and I would not hear therefore I knew yet I would not know and how many times has that been you where actually if you would have just taken a second to just stop and look at your life you would realize I actually do see God in this eye I know just that I didn't want to know and and realizing that in a me like that's one of the reasons why I love him as a hero because it was a man who didn't know whose God's gonna work with and he is gonna know and then he's gonna become a powerful instrument in God's hand I was like all of our heroes have been people who had a sketchy past so far and that's what's so neat about our list so far it was kind of like look who he can use but on the study guide we wrote this line right here it's like why would he say I knew but I did not know and he was just suffocated by other things that aren't bad things but they could cause you to get in that place of I knew but I didn't really want to know yeah but it's so interesting because he tells us it wasn't until Alma Alma came and moved into my house then he tells us in verse 11 that I realized he has blessed my house he has blessed me and my women and my children and my father and my kins Ville even all my kindred has he blessed and the blessing of the Lord has rested upon us according to the words which he spake so it was like inviting that holy man into his house opened his eyes to realize we actually I'm watching you bless all of my people and now I'm realizing we actually have been so blessed and we just never recognized it and isn't that so interesting that Alma had to come to him for bread like he had no money for food he probably looked like a dirty rat this outlaw and and had been rejected and it's interesting that amulet learned prosperity from a man who was hungry and homeless yes like this is what it actually looks like and we have to point out this because it is actually one of my favorite spots verse six when he says after you know I would not know he says therefore I went on rebellion against God and the wickedness of my heart until the fourth day of the seventh month which is the fourth of July baby this is Independence Day for every like every time I read I guess this is this was the day today yeah God woke me up yeah that's so much one of the things that we learn from him so he tells his story here and then he's gonna retell his story in alma 34 we're gonna circle back around to it but in 34 he adds one more thing to this story that is so important and so we've added 34 here because it's just a retelling of this same story but there's one line in here that is our favorite do we want to say like this change part will and then we'll go through those and then we'll give her a so here's our scriptures one is that idea where he was just like I knew but I would not know until that day that God woke me up and then he tells us from that day and then we go to 34 38 and it says this live in Thanksgiving daily for the many mercies and blessings which he death bestow upon you so what happened for angle ik is he he was at that point where he knew what he did not know and then what change in his heart were made him battle-ready is he learned to live in Thanksgiving daily Thanksgiving is just remembrance isn't it yeah remembrance and rejoicing yeah and recognizing what you what you should have known all along and sometimes we have to learn how to do that because sometimes you want to say Thanksgiving and it's November 24th or whatever right it's that for Thursday and that's the day and that's when I live in Thanksgiving and what a me like is teaching is no you actually need to learn how to do this every single day which is interesting because a lot of times when I teach seminary I will have my kids every day right in their journal where have you seen the hand of the Lord since the last time we were together which is usually every 48 hours we're together and at the beginning when I start doing that my kids are always like I can't think of anything I don't know can I go back to what happened in the summer can I go back to something last year and but by the end of the year by the time we get to March April and May when I'm like Kay everybody open up your journals you're gonna write your tender mercy an answer from the Lord tomorrow you've seen the hand of the Lord working in your life since the last time you were here 30 kids sit down and start writing that it becomes a pattern of life for us when we learn how to do that how to live in Thanksgiving someone if you know and if you're new to the journal by the way that's one of the things that we hoped that we would do throughout this throughout this year with the Book of Mormon is you know both remembering the great things that God is doing in the story of the book warming but also each week to catalog the great things that he's doing you know it might be really neat this would be a great place if you are writing in these journals or if you if that's something that you do is just write down your district or your phone or whatever it would be really neat to read back over since January and just see what great things have happened in your family since January what are the great things you have written down that you can see in your life my kids in seminary love doing that we'll go back through and I'll say to them put your finger in three of your favorite times where you've seen the hand of the Lord working in your life this year and it's so neat to hear them talk about that but I am if you haven't if you've like particularly right now as it seems like we're kind of coming out of this you know pandemic thing maybe blessed we don't know but before you forget yes look back and be like there are so many things we could have said like went wrong but let's look back and say oh here let me let me say you what we learned yeah we gained where do we see God's presence one of the reasons why I think that is so is I can remember one conversation I had a couple years ago with one of my seminary kids she had her finger in these three places and I said to her pick your best of those three pick me your best and so she picked her best and I was like okay I want you to read it and you can just read it to yourself you don't have to share and she read it and I said to her what if I told you five years from now that didn't happen and she said to me I would tell you you were wrong and I said to her well you had her turn in her own journal oh I thought she's tiny okay got you sorry sir uh what if I told you that didn't happen she said I would tell you you were wrong and I said to her well what have I told you that was just a coincidence that it like it's amazing that happen but it was just a coincidence and she said to me I would tell you you were wrong and I said to her what if I told you that was not God working in your life and she the third time was just so adamant about it I would tell you you were wrong and I thought to myself this is those are the things that are gonna tie us to the Lord with something that is inseparable that week that people can't look back and say no on this day just like he said on July 4th I know God was in my life I know yeah and what if you had a journal like that so that when things do get hard when you have forgotten when you know what you you didn't know you can go back and be like well actually on this day I knew and it's fun a me like even says that line right by mistake yes you know yeah but I was wrong things really was there yeah so let's read this real quick I mean like is our hero the scriptures are that 10-6 Alma 10-6 where we learn about his independence day that they got woke him up and then Alma 3438 about living in daily Thanksgiving and that is our battle ready challenge invitation this week to live and think in daily Thanksgiving something every single day that we can remember one thing we thought of God that day yeah on that day many many years ago when Josh was three and he was born this would have been in 1999 I bought this does it look like 1999 it is okay and it was a time when things were really hard in our family and I saw this and I bought it because I was like I don't know if we even have any blessings have you ever had a time like that mm-hmm um that really is the place where I lived where I was like I didn't think God has forgotten us I don't even know like I couldn't even see a blessing anywhere that is how hard things were and so I bought this cuz I was like surely he must be blessing us somewhere and I just started writing on little pieces of paper and keeping him in the in this thing I would add him anytime I could see one I would add and put it in this thing and we thought maybe that would be something you want to do this week is just find a bowl or something it doesn't have to be a green jar from 1999 and right anyone who thinks of a blessing just put them in no one even has to tell what they are but how fun would it be at the end of the week to just go through and be like yeah any time you want in the day but at night when you do your prayers you might if someone hasn't added one and you might want to say to get everybody in the practice of daily Thanksgiving I bet you'll even see by the end that everybody's even better at it by ASUS so fun so I be fun to talk about the three things we learn and let's also say that everyone should have pie because it's Thanksgiving and if you don't want to make one just go get those hostess apple pie is so good okay we love what happened what made the change for him when you knew but you would not know there are three things that we noticed that made the change for him and the first one is to accept the invitation to for God to bless your life thanks in verse 7 accept that invitation to just see God sending his blessings the second one is in but what we learned in verse 6 to live in thankfulness like just to live in Thanksgiving daily verse 11 Oh first eleven and the bird one I love first night it's in verse nine and he's he talks about I'm like talks about when he met Alma and he said for he is a holy man and I know he is a holy man because the angel told me he would be and we loved number three to be find a holy mentor find somebody who's gonna help you progress those are the three things am you like did he invited the Lord and he decided to live in Thanksgiving daily and then he found a holy mentor and he learned from him yeah to kind of help remind him of those things that's one of the things holy mentors to the best is help you recognize where God is and remind you of that so hey good week see you next week adios muchachos

Channel: Don't Miss This

Views: 147,853

Rating: 4.7399044 out of 5

Keywords: Come Follow Me, Don't Miss This, Book of Mormon, Summer of Heroes, Podcast, Church of Jesus Christ

Id: GTrWqOBrnv8

Length: 53min 59sec (3239 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 01 2020