Moroni 10 Moroni Bids Farewell

I heard Neal A. Maxwell say that the most important scripture ever penned was James 1:5:  “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.” He went on to explain that this scripture, when read by Joseph Smith, led to the First Vision, wherein he saw the Father and the Son.  The restoration of the gospel in the latter-days had commenced.  If James 1:5 is number one, and I would agree with Elder Maxwell that it is, then I would have as my number two, Moroni 10:4:  “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”  I have answered Moroni’s challenge with study and prayer regarding the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  The Holy Ghost has revealed to my heart and mind that it is true!  This knowledge has changed everything for me.  The course of life outlined in its pages chart a safe journey back to God and Jesus; back to family and eternal life.  Moroni follows up this challenge with a charge to seek out the “…gifts of God….For if there be on among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power of the gifts of God.”  The Lord has given me the spiritual gift of teaching by the Spirit the truths of the gospel.  My career as a seminary teacher has been given to by my loving Father as a precious gift.  I was foreordained before I came to this life to become a teacher.  I am still becoming.  There is a beautiful road ahead.  I exhort my family to “…come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness…and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ….”  I know that my Father lives and loves me and my family.  I have felt his influence every day of my life.  I love him and want to follow him.  My witness of the Book of Mormon is strong.  I know it is true!  I love that Christ came to America and showed himself to the Children of Lehi after his resurrection.  Through sacred and precious words, prayers, blessings, and gestures of love, like letting them touch his hands and feet to witness the marks left by the nails and the cross, he let them know (and us too) how much he loved them.  Beloved and precious Stones, I love you.  Stay strong and valiant in your testimonies.  The joy of eternity lies before us.  This I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Moroni 9 The Grace of God the Father

Mormon’s last words to his son are words I would pass on to my children and grandchildren with all my love:  “Behold, my son, I recommend thee unto God, and I trust in Christ that thou wilt be saved…My son, be faithful in Christ…may Christ lift thee up…and may his…mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.  And may the grace of God the Father…and our Lord Jesus Christ…be, and abide with forever. Amen.

Moroni 8 Children are Alive in Christ

Moroni continues to teach the words which his father Mormon taught saying in that little children are “alive in Christ” and need no baptism.  Christ’s atonement covers all who are not accountable and children are not accountable until age eight.  My little brother, Sam, died when he was five years old.  He is covered by the atonement and will dwell in the Celestial Kingdom of God.  My parents have now passed away and have joined him in the Spirit World.  Their earthly bodies are in the earth, but their eternal spirits live and away a glorious resurrection.

Moroni 7 The Pure Love of Christ

Charity is the pure love of Christ.  This spiritual gift is given by the Holy Ghost to the meek and lowly of heart who love Christ and who have become his children by faith and hope in him.  Repentance is the path leading to the tender mercies of Christ.  He loves us purely and will bestow this gift on his children if they will repent and come unto him.  Charity is Christ working through us. 

Moroni 6 Nourished by the Good Word of God

It’s fun to be nourished by the good word of God while reading the words “nourished by the good word of God.”  And that is what happens when you read Moroni 6:4.  President Hinckley taught that every new convert needs a friend, a responsibility, and to be nourished by the good word of God.  Moroni taught that to take the name of Jesus Christ upon us, we must have a “broken heart and a contrite spirit.”  The church members met together often, strengthening and exhorting each other to repent and follow the Savior.  Their meetings were directed by the Holy Ghost.  When I was a bishop, I liked to have openings in our sacrament meetings so we could sing an extra hymn, or I could call on someone to come forward and share an experience or testimony.  Our meetings stayed fresh and wonderful because the Spirit was there to direct.    

Moroni 5 The Bread and Water Represent

When Jesus says that he wants us to remember his body and blood we need to ask “why?”  What is it about his physical body and blood that is so important that he wants us to partake of it weekly?  He wants us to know that he was mortal like we are; possessing a physical body with life giving blood, but that is the end of the physicality of the sacrament.  The richness of remembering his body comes in the fact that he is the “Bread of Life.”  When we take him into our symbolic core—our hearts—we become more like him.  We are to eat and digest his gospel, his way of living, his hope, his grace until our bowels are full of charity.  Regarding the water and remembering his blood which was shed for us, this is about his atonement and the “Living Water” of his redeeming love and sacrifice.  The blood that was shed in the Garden of Gethsemane as he bled from every pore is the most precious blood ever spilt.  He skinned his knees as a boy.  He cut his fingers with his first carvings.  These moments were also for us as he grew and progressed toward his later responsibilities.  He was brutally beaten by the priests.  Isaiah says they yanked out parts of his beard.  Then he was whipped by the soldiers. The crown of thorns was shoved onto his head.   His blood spilled.  The final piercing of his side by the soldier’s spear was the last of it.  Combined with the torture of his body on the cross, the story of his life are represented humbly and simply by the sacramental body and blood—the bread and water.  May we always remember him and keep his commandments that we may have his spirit to be with us.  

Chapter 4 Willing to Take His Name

I am grateful to Moroni for taking the time to record the sacrament prayers.  I especially have come to love the blessing on the bread.  Jesus Christ has adopted me and taken me under his wing as a son.  Because I am his son through baptism, I have taken upon myself a new name, a covenant name.  The name is Jesus Christ.  When I partake of the bread I renew my baptismal covenant meaning that I take his name upon me anew and covenant to keep his commandments.  I worship him, adore him, and think of his great atoning sacrifice in my behalf and in behalf of my family.  I praise his name and take that name into my heart with gratitude and love.  Because my dear parents David and Bee Stone were faithful to their baptismal covenants, they too have this special, holy name.  They were married and sealed for all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple.  I was born in the covenant they made as faithful children of Christ and because of their faith I received the blessings of being born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The blessings of faithful parents have been passed to me and Jean and I and we have passed this to our children and grandchildren.  This is pleasing to our parents, to our adoptive father, Jesus, and to our Heavenly Father, who is the father of our spirits.

Moroni 3 Priesthood Ordination

Moroni teaches that in his day the priesthood was passed on by the laying on of hands.  The person receiving the priesthood was “ordained.”  Thus we see that when the Church was restored through Joseph Smith, the procedures and order of things were properly restored to their ancient roots.  “We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church.”

Moroni 2 The Gift of the Holy Ghost

Moroni tells us that during his ministry in America, Jesus conferred the Melchizedek priesthood upon his apostles(that he chose here), thus giving them the authority to confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost upon those who were baptized.  The Gift of the Holy Ghost is different than the power of the Holy Ghost.  The Gift of the Holy Ghost must be conferred upon us by one having authority.  The power of the Holy Ghost is when he confirms truth in our minds and heart.  We can hear the truths of the gospel preached having not been baptized or confirmed and still feel that power.  But if we want the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost we must have the ordinances (baptism and confirmation) and live worthy of them.

Moroni 1 Surprises

Moroni is surprised to be alive at this point.  And to my surprise, he wants to write a few things to help the Lamanites in some future day.  These are the people that killed his parents and family members!  Moroni is full of charity—the pure love of Christ.  He has seen Christ and talked to him face to face in plain humility.  Regarding surprises in life: there will be many.  I never thought I’d be a social worker or a teacher.  I thought I’d like to be a professional baseball player or forest ranger.  I never pictured myself on a mission to the Navajos.  I thought I’d go to Japan or even Hawaii!  I never imagined living in Las Vegas, or Tucson, or Laramie, and especially not anywhere near BYU!  But here we are.  Surprises are spicy.  Surprises are gut-wrenching.  Surprises are sweet.  They are sour.  Surprises make life interesting.

Ether 15 A Famous Push-Up

Millions died in the final battles of the Jaredites, but the thing that struck me was that even when they were whittled down to just twenty-two on one side and twenty seven on the other, that they just kept fighting.  The devil had full power of their souls.  Hard hearts led to their complete destruction.  Then it was just two warriors: Shiz and Coriantumr.  Shiz faints from loss of blood; Coriantumr rests briefly, then cuts off the head of Shiz.  Without his head, “Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died.” The famous headless push-up of Shiz!  He didn’t stop fighting for evil even when he was headless!  Satan, likewise, even without a body, continues the battle that he fought for in the pre-mortal life.  He wants to take away our agency.  He wants us to submit to our carnal selves, the natural man or natural woman within us.  He is miserable and wants us to be miserable too.  And he is relentless, tireless, and brutal.  We must enlist on the side of the Master, Jesus Christ.  He alone can save us, protect us, and see us through this life. 

Ether 14 To Be Carnal Minded is Death

The final chapters of Ether are so full of blood and carnage that it is impossible to comprehend.  Suffice it to say that without the Spirit of God, people become so self-centered that they can’t help but kill each other off.  The warnings for our day are there:  Love each other; seek for peace; be unselfish; care for the poor and needy; repent and come unto Christ.

Ether 13 The New Jerusalem

Moroni continues the sad tale of the Jaredite demise.  The people refused to hear the words of the prophet, Ether.  Ether prophesied to them of a coming day when a “New Jerusalem” will be built upon the American continent.  As I read this prophesy, I pictured in my mind a great city here in America, near the new Kansas City Temple.  The Savior was there and the royal court of the faithful saints who have kept their covenants.  The Stone family was in attendance as full participants.

Ether 12 Weak Things Made Strong

President Monson announced two new temples:  Cedar City, Utah, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  (April 2013)  Ether was a prophet in ancient America; the last of his people.  The Jaredites were to become extinct through their wickedness and pride.  Yet, the prophet Ether left these words to us, received from the mouth of the Lord:  “…ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”  “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness, I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” Later in this chapter, Moroni, says this about his meeting in person with the Savior:  “And then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things.”  Imagine meeting with Jesus—something we all will do—and imagine him talking to us in “plain humility.”  Meanwhile, as we anticipate that meeting, we can humble ourselves and listen with all our hearts to his servants on this earth.  Then, we can act in accordance with his will.

Ether 11 The Words of the Living Prophets

It is General Conference weekend (April 2013).  The words of the living prophets will be spoken and broadcast to the world.  Believers will hear and let the words go down deep into their souls.  I will be among the believers.  The Jaredites rejected their prophets; they killed their prophets.   This behavior led to their people killing each other until the entire nation was swept off the land.  If we act in accordance with the words of the prophets, we will be blessed upon the land.   

 

Ether 10 It's All in a Name

Mahonri Moriancumr (the brother of Jared), Jacom, Gilgah, Mahah, Orihah, Shule, Heth, Akish, Emer, Nimrah, Coriantum, Coriantor, Com, Shez, Riplakish, Morianton, Kim, Kish, Lib, Hearthom, Shiblom, Ethem, Ether, Moron, Shared, Ahah and Shiz are all names found in the Book of Ether.  When the Book of Mormon was published, few if any of these names had ever appeared in any known literature.  Since 1830, to my knowledge, all of these names have been found in writings dating to 2000 B.C.  The Book of Mormon is full of antiquity.  It’s very old and very true!  Hurray for “Deseret!”

Ether 9 Elephants, Cureloms, Cumoms, OH MY!

War after war reduces the population to 30 souls!  The Lord will not proper the people in wickedness.  Nevertheless, there was a very righteous king. His name was Emer.  He was privileged to see the Savior when he was an old man.  Moroni calls Jesus, who visited Emer, the “Son of Righteousness.”  I like that title.  Another interesting fact shared in this chapter is the list of animals:  cattle, oxen, cows, sheep, swine, goats, horses, asses, elephants, cureloms and cumoms.  We don’t know what cureloms or cumoms were but they are included with the working beasts rather than the ones used for food.  Another interesting thing the Lord did to cause the people to humble themselves was to send poisonous serpents among them. Many were bitten and perished.  He also sent a drought.  Finally, the people began to humble themselves.

Ether 8 Secret Combinations (Yuck)

Secret combinations to murder and get gain begin again because of the wicked hearts of a few who want power no matter the cost.  Moroni comments saying, “I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness [Christ] and be saved."