2 Nephi 32: 1 - 9

In Alma 21: 1-9, we read: 

"1 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?

2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had ^areceived the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the ^btongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?

3 ^aAngels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, ^bfeast upon the ^cwords of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will ^dtell you all things what ye should do.

4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ^aask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.

5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will ^ashow unto you all things what ye should do.

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall ^amanifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the ^aunbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the ^bstiffneckedness of men; for they will ^cnot search ^dknowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in ^eplainness, even as plain as word can be.

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the ^aSpirit which teacheth a man to ^bpray, ye would know that ye must ^cpray; for the ^devil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must ^apray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall ^bpray unto the Father in the ^cname of Christ, that he will ^dconsecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the ^ewelfare of thy soul."

And here's the beginning part of the commentary from the "Come, Follow Me" manual entitled, "Through the words of Christ and the Holy Ghost, God will show me what to do" :

"Have you ever felt uncertain about the next steps in your life? Nephi’s people had similar concerns (see 2 Nephi 32:1). Look for Nephi’s answer in 2 Nephi 32:2–9. How would you state in your own words what Nephi taught? What experiences have taught you that Nephi’s words are true?"

Uncertain. Yes, I felt that way before. 

Nephi taught his people to study the words of Christ like having a "feast". "Feast upon the words of Christ" means doing more than just reading. When you're having a feast you're eating plenty of food, not just a little bit--you're getting really full by eating as much as you possibly can. In the same manner, when you're feasting upon the words of Christ, you're not just reading a little bit and then you're done. You're doing a lot more than reading--you're searching for the meaning of what you're reading and figuring out what to do to practice what you're learning. And you keep searching for meaning as much as you possibly can until you fully understand--you're full. 

Nephit taught his people to study the words of Christ because it would teach them everything that they should do. 

Nephi also taught his people to listen to the Spirit--it teaches a man to pray. 

Experiences. Let me share one. The scriptures are the words of Christ. The words of the prophets, God's servants, are words of Christ. What the prophets had written in the scriptures are words of Christ. So, the words that we read in the scriptures truly teach us all things that we should do. There's a passage I've read (many years back) in the New Testament saying that Jesus woke up "a great while before day"-- sounds really early in the morning. At that time getting up early in the morning consistently was yet a struggle for me. So that particular passage did hit me. And I thought "If Jesus Himself would wake up early in the morning, why don't I do it too?" I decided from then on that I'm gonna follow Jesus' example of getting up early in the morning because I'm trying to be like Jesus. My journey of striving to be an early riser was not exactly smooth sailing after that. I did struggle still. And every time I was having a difficulty I would remember that Jesus did it and would tell myself, "If Jesus did it, I can too." And now I've been waking up early daily consistently. And I'm so grateful because I've been able to accomplish a lot more now than ever before. 

2 Nephi 31:15-20

In 2 Nephi 31: 15-20, we read: 

"15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the ^awords of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that ^bendureth to the ^cend, the same shall be saved.

16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall ^aendure to the end, in following the ^bexample of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.

17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and ^abaptism by water; and then cometh a ^bremission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

18 And then are ye in this ^astrait and narrow ^bpath which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which ^cwitnesses of the ^dFather and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow ^apath, I would ask if all is ^bdone? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken ^cfaith in him, ^drelying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to ^esave.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a ^asteadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of ^bhope, and a ^clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and ^dendure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have ^eeternal life." 

Here's the commentary from the "Come, Folow Me" Manual entitled: “He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”

"As you read 2 Nephi 31:15–20, ask yourself, “How do I know if I am enduring to the end?” What do you learn from Nephi that helps you answer this question?

Elder Dale G. Renlund taught: “Enduring to the end is not a separate step in the doctrine of Christ—as though we complete the first four steps and then hunker down, grit our teeth, and wait to die. No, enduring to the end is actively and intentionally repeating the steps” (“Lifelong Conversion” [Brigham Young University devotional, Sept. 14, 2021], 2, speeches.byu.edu). How can you repeat the steps in the doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost)?"

"Actively and intentionally"- I like these words. When you are active and intentional with everything you are doing, you are truly alive. You are not just existing. You are pursuing your goals up to your ultimate goal. Your direction is clear. You know exactly where you're going. You are laser-focused in the direction where you want to go. You are making the most of your time, energy, strength, talents, skills, and all the resources God is blessing you with. You are exercising your faith in every footstep. You immediately make the choice to repent when you know you did something wrong. And you're always listening to the promptings of the Spirit so that you are able to stay on track and eventually reach your desired destination. 

Alma 31: 1-11

 

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a metonymic adage, created by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839. This phrase came to mind as I was reading thiis passage from Alma 31:1-11:

"1 Now it came to pass that after the end of Korihor, Alma having received tidings that the Zoramites were perverting the ways of the Lord, and that Zoram, who was their leader, was leading the hearts of the people to ^abow down to dumb ^bidols, his heart again began to ^csicken because of the iniquity of the people.

2 For it was the cause of great ^asorrow to Alma to know of iniquity among his people; therefore his heart was exceedingly ^bsorrowful because of the separation of the Zoramites from the Nephites.

3 Now the Zoramites had gathered themselves together in a land which they called ^aAntionum, which was east of the land of Zarahemla, which lay nearly bordering upon the seashore, which was south of the land of ^bJershon, which also bordered upon the wilderness south, which wilderness was full of the Lamanites.

4 Now the Nephites greatly feared that the Zoramites would enter into a ^acorrespondence with the Lamanites, and that it would be the means of great loss on the part of the Nephites.

5 And now, as the ^apreaching of the ^bword had a great tendency to ^clead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.

6 Therefore he took Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner; and Himni he did leave in the church in Zarahemla; but the former three he took with him, and also ^aAmulek and Zeezrom, who were at ^bMelek; and he also took two of his sons.

7 Now the eldest of his sons he took not with him, and his name was Helaman; but the names of those whom he took with him were ^aShiblon and ^bCorianton; and these are the names of those who went with him among the ^cZoramites, to preach unto them the word.

8 Now the Zoramites were ^adissenters from the Nephites; therefore they had had the word of God preached unto them.

9 But they had ^afallen into great errors, for they would not observe to keep the commandments of God, and his statutes, according to the law of Moses.

10 Neither would they observe the ^aperformances of the church, to continue in prayer and supplication to God daily, that they might not enter into temptation.

11 Yea, in fine, they did pervert the ways of the Lord in very many instances; therefore, for this cause, Alma and his brethren went into the land to preach the word unto them." 

Time and time again when God's children turn away from Him, He would call His servants, the prophets to teach His word--It's been a pattern, we see it during the Old Testament times in the Bible. And we see it in the Book of Mormon as well. What does this tell us about God? He does love all His children, doesn't He? He cared for the ancient people in Jerusalem. And He did care for His children in the American continent as well. 

If God cared for His children who lived in different places in the world anciently, how about now? Of course, He loves and cares for each one of us as well. He did call prophets in this modern time as well to warn us of the dangers and challenges we're facing in these latter days.