I have created this blog to share my thoughts and feelings about the things that I am learning in a religion class that I am currently taking. We are studying a section of The Book of Mormon. We will be starting from the beginning of the book and then studying through to Alma chapter 29.
For those who are not familiar with The Book of Mormon, it is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is another book of scripture that is to be used in conjunction with The Bible and other books of scriptures. It contains the writings of ancient prophets that are located in the Americas from about 600 B.C. to about 421 A.D. There is so much to be said about this dear book and I have neither the time or the space on this blog to go into great depth about it.
This is the fifth lesson for the class and already we have covered many topics. We are not only learning about The Book of Mormon and really studying what the prophets have spoken. We are also learning different styles of how to study the text there. We have learned study skills anywhere from how to learn more about the settings of the time and places in the chapters to how to look for the cause and effect of the prophesies of the prophets.
What I want to share from this week's lesson is about the topic of agency. There is a lot going on in the world today and much of it centers around the agency that we have. I know that as I was growing up I wanted to be an adult so very badly. It seemed like they had all of the fun. They got to choose how late they would stay up or how big of a bowl of ice cream they would have. I never got that choice, it seemed like I was told how and when to do everything.
Now being an adult I sometimes wish that I was a child again and that I didn't have to make so many choices. To me it can be a bit overwhelming the amount of things that we have to choose to do or not do. What I have learned as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that I can narrow down how many choices I will actually have to make throughout my life. There are some decisions that you only have to make once and so, when they come up again you already know what the answer will be. An example is that as a youth I chose that I would follow the counsel of the Lord and not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco. I made up my mind once and then as I have been offered it throughout my life I already know what the answer would and will be.
Seeing that this post is getting to be really long I am just going to end it will this. There are many choices to be made, but as we try to do what our Heavenly Father wants us to do there really aren't as many choices to make as we previously thought. There is only one way to return to our Heavenly Father and our choices need to align in such a way that we are worthy to do so. The prophet Nephi stated in 2 Nephi 9:41:
"O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name."
The narrow path that we need to get and stay on can be accomplished by choosing to follow his commandments. I know that it's worth all of the effort that it takes to get and stay there.
