IT'S FRIDAY!!

Today we sang Did You Think To Pray with a remix (I think that it what you call it). Ask your student if they liked it. I know it will never be played in Sacrament Meeting that way. We, also, did some scripture mastery. We are earning points for a pizza (or whatever) party. We now have close to 7,000....we need 10,000.
Our scripture of the week has taught us that we need to pray. When we do not feel like praying, the evil one is teaching us that we should not pray. It's a GREAT scripture. Thank you Nephi!
THANK YOU SISTER WILBURN FOR THE WONDERFUL BREAKFAST!! IT WAS DELICIOUS!

DID YOU THINK TO PRAY?

MOSIAH 1 & 2

We are now in the large plates of Nephi...so now we are reading in the 3rd person. Mormon is now abridging the plates -- so he can get a little tricky when Mormon says "he". Who is "he"? But I am sure we will be just fine.
We learned today that King Benjamin (son of Mosiah who took righteous people to the Land of Zarahemla) fought with the sword of Laban. We are now with King Benjamin and all the people who have pitched their tents at the temple. We are eagerly awaiting what King Benjamin is going to tell us. We know that he is not going to trifle with words and we need to "hearken" to them.
DINNER TOPIC: How do we hearken to the words in Sacrament Meeting and are we hearing the words with our ears and our heart? How can we do more than just "hear"?

JON...GET BETTER....WE MISS YOU!!

JACOB 6 & 7

In Jacob we see that Jacob presents us with the two goals of the Book of Mormon. The first goal is to teach people plainly of Christ and His gospel. The second goal is to show the enemies of Christ and how to know they are the enemy. In chapter 6 Jacob teaches us about Christ when he says, "repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life." Then he tells his people Brother Merrill's favorite (maybe ALL TIME favorite scripture). This scripture is one Harrison has heard many, many times. O BE WISE; WHAT CAN I SAY MORE?

In chapter 7 we meet the first anti-Christ in the Book of Mormon, Sherem. We find out how to know the enemy. Sherem comes to the people preaching that there is no Christ. He was learned and had a perfect knowledge of the language. He used much flattery and power of speech and his power was from the devil. Sherem tells Jacob that he cannot say that there is going to be a Christ because no man can tell of things to come. Then Sherem says that there is no Christ, neither has been, nor every will be. Didn't he just say that NO MAN CAN TELL OF THINGS TO COME? With the Holy Ghost as his guide, Jacob was able to confound Sherem in his words.

DINNER CONVERSATION: Who do you know that uses tactics like Sherem to get us to believe them?

Jacob teaches us three ways to not be deceived. First the scriptures....what do the standard works have to say about it? Second the prophet....what do the latter-day Presidents of the Church have to say on the subject -- particularly the living President. Third the Holy Ghost....this can only be fully effective if one's channels of communication with God are clean and virtuous and uncluttered with sin.

PANORAMA PICTURES OF UTAH

The following web page has some wonderful pictures. Enjoy.

http://www.utah3d.net/GalleryTempleSquare.html

Today in seminary we had a video about Jacob 5...the allegory of the olive tree.
Dinner Discussion: What is your role in this allegory?

HAVE A HAPPY FALL BREAK!!

MONEY

The students were each given (OK, this is pretend) $500,000. They needed to spend their money in one day. It was interesting to see how they spent their money. We had college paid for, missions paid for, cars, tithing, home improvements, new homes, a condo and two people even bought new socks! After we talked about what we would purchase we read Jacob 2:12-16. Why do you think pride and misuse of wealth can lead us to treat other people unkindly? Then Jacob 2:17-20 offers some guidelines that can govern our attitude towards riches.
Dinner Topic: What would you buy with $500,000 and how can you incorporate Jacob's teachings into your spending?

NO SEMINARY THIS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY -- HAPPY FALL BREAK!!

JACOB 2

Jacob has a difficult task ahead of him. The Lord has asked him to tell the people about the sins they are committing. In chapter two he is basically talking about three sins: pride, misuse of riches and sexual immorality.
We focused on pride using one of our videos. President Benson defined pride as "enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen." Enmity was defined by President Benson as hatred, hostility and opposition. Ask your student about the video.
Everyone was back to seminary today....YEAH!!
Dinner Topic: Why is pride considered the universal sin and what can we do to combat this sin in our own life?

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16

We did kind of a fun thing today. We tried to identify our apostles by just listening to their voice. The average right was seven. I thought that was pretty good for just hearing their voice. Have your student test you and see how you do.

THANK YOU SISTER KIRK, SAM AND EMILY FOR THE MUFFINS, DRINKS AND DONUTS. FRIDAYS ARE ALWAYS GOOD WHEN WE HAVE FOOD!!! Sam even cleaned up.....I was totally impressed!

JACOB 1

Jacob has been given the plates and he is to write lightly of the history of his people and to write about the preaching which was sacred, revelation which was great and prophesying (verse 4). Verses 6, 7 and 8 tell us that Jacob is going to try to persuade people to come unto Christ. That will be the goal of Jacob.
In verse 12 we learn that Nephi dies. Each student made an epitaph for him. Maybe they would like to share it here.
In the last verses of Jacob 1, Jacob tells us of two major sins that his people are experiencing....pride and concubines. We will discuss these next week.
DINNER CONVERSATION: Ask about the football game we watched and how it relates to "spiritual things".
We miss McKenna and Christina -- GET BETTER!!

CONGRATULATIONS MADDY ON YOUR FIRST PLACE VICTORY AT CROSS COUNTRY SECTIONALS!!

LAST CHAPTER OF 2 NEPHI

There is something in common with the following scriptures: 1 Nephi 11:1, D & C 76:15-19, 138:1, 11 and JS-H 1:12-14. The prophets feasted on the word, prayed and pondered or meditated. We are taught by Nephi that we need to do all three so we can have the influence of the Holy Ghost. Do we want that? Well, I do because the Holy Ghost can teach us all things that we should do.
President Hinckley told us that he hoped we would all be perfect in our prayers. He said that it is hard to be perfect in many things, but being perfect in our prayers is an attainable goal. Dinner conversation: Are you perfect in anything? Ask your student about my temple recommend experience (see if they remember from 6 AM in the morning).
Nephi told us his words would be a strength to those who would read them. 2 Nephi 33:4-5 shows us why they would be a strength. There are five reasons: (1) Nephi's words persuade people to do good, (2) they teach Lehi's descendants about their ancestors, (3) they speak of Jesus Christ and persuade people to believe in Him, (4) they encourage people to endure to the end, and (5) they speak harshly against sin.
Nephi bids us farewell in verses 13 and 14. And he then signs off his testimony with (verse 15) I MUST OBEY. He started his book with I will go and do and now he tells us he must obey. Dinner topic: What one thing in our life can we do to be like Nephi?

2 NEPHI 32

Nephi told us that we can "speak with the tongue of angels." We brainstormed to come up with how angels might speak: don't say mean things, sing praises to God, soft spoken, lovingly, scripturally, speak of Christ, boomingly, manly, Godlike, eloquently, they have their own language, don't tell lies and don't swear. That is how we envision angels speaking. But the scriptures tell us something we didn't think of. In verses 2 and 3 we read that the angles speak the words of Christ with the power of the Holy Ghost. Then Nephi tells us that we need to "feast upon the words of Christ". So to speak the words of Christ we need to first feast upon His words.
So we nibbled on a granola bar and we tasted a granola bar. They were different than feasting. To feast on the words we need to study, search and ponder. It doesn't matter how many verses you read or how long you read or how fast you read. We need to use the scriptures as we would dine on Thanksgiving. Longingly, hungrily, etc.
Our next point was from verses 8-9. Dinner conversation: Why does Satan want to destroy our communication with God?

2 NEPHI 31

Would you like a recipe for eternal life? Well, 2 Nephi 31 and 32 have a recipe for that. We need repentance (verse 5), baptism (verse 5), Holy Ghost (verse 12), obedience (verses 10 - 12), enduring to the end (20), following Christ (10, 16) feasting on the words of Christ (20) following the spirit (32:5) and prayer (32:8-9). Nephi is mapping out a great recipe or a wonderful blueprint for eternal life.
WE HAVE SOME STUDENTS ILL TODAY -- GET BETTER -- WE MISS YOU!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE!!

IT'S FRIDAY!!

The students made posters for five of the scripture mastery scriptures. They are earning points toward a seminary party/gathering/whatever. Five posters were made by five groups. An outstanding poster needed to include creativity, all members of team participating, creativity and staying with the meaning of the scripture. Outstanding posters earned 500 points each. All five of the posters were awarded outstanding by our judge, Bishop Alcorn.

THANK YOU HURLEY FAMILY FOR THE WONDERFUL BREAKFAST. WE TOTALLY ENJOYED IT!!

2 NEPHI 29-30

The Lord will do a marvelous work in the last days. We found four reasons in verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 29: (1) that the Lord will remember His covenants that He has made unto the children of men, (2) the Lord will remember the promises which He has made unto Nephi and His father, (3) He will recover His people a second time (4) The Lord's words will hiss forth...for a standard unto His people." President Benson said, "We, the members of the Church, and particularly the missionaries, have to be the 'hissers,' or the tellers and testifiers, of the Book of Mormon unto the ends of the earth."

We, also, found three reasons we should study the Book of Mormon and the Bible: (1) the Lord speaks to more nations than one (verse 7), (2) the witness and testimony of two nations is better than one (verse 8), (3) the Lord will judge us out of the books that are written (see verse 11).

Chapter 30 teaches us that the Book of Mormon will be the means of bringing many to a knowledge that Jesus is the Christ. Not only do we use this great book to convert others, we use it to convert ourselves.

Dinner conversation....a Bible, a Bible we have got a Bible and there cannot be any more Bible. Ask your students to explain this.

2 NEPHI 28

We had a GREAT video today. It was a video portrayal of President Packer's conference talk entitled, "Spiritual Crocodiles". Make sure you ask your student about it.

Chapter 28 is a great chapter that will teach us how to know when Satan is doing his work. Many false teachings are exposed. In verses 12-16 the word pride appears five times and is implied six more times. Beware of pride -- we will discuss this further in Jacob 2. We learned three tactics that Satan uses to make us vulnerable to his attacks: (1) he stirs some up to anger against that which is good, (2) he pacifies some and lulls them away into a sense of security and (3) he flatters some. Read 2 Nephi 28:20-22 to find those tactics. Can you think of any modern day examples to share over dinner?

Satan is very clever and he is real. Nephi does not leave us without hope. He tells us to be humble followers of Christ and we will be able to combat Satan.

President Benson said, "The Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention...It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!!

PROPHETIC WARNINGS

We read three warnings from the family proclamation: (1) parents have a duty to rear their children in love and righteousness and to provide for their physical and spiritual needs...will be accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations (2) warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God (3) we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring...the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

How do we know that these prophetic warnings will come true? Doctrine and Covenants 1:37-38 explains why they will come true. There are many prophecies in 2 Nephi chapter 26 and 27 that were declared by Nephi and that have been fulfilled. President Benson said, "All the words of the Lord will be fulfilled, whether He gives the words Himself or through inspiration and revelation to His servants to declare those words, and the Holy Spirit bears testimony to all who seek to know the truth of the revelations and commandments."


THANK YOU BISHOP FOR THE MUFFINS AND CINNAMON ROLLS!!

LOVE FRIDAYS

We had our first scripture mastery game. We are earning points toward some kind of seminary gathering. They need 10,000 points. They all knew 1 Nephi 3:7, 2 Nephi 2:25 and 2 Nephi 2:27 pretty well. We need to work on 2 Nephi 9:28-27 and 1 Nephi 19:23. The Bishop asked the kids to watch as much conference as possible and to remember that God is speaking to them "...whether from my own mouth or my servants...". So enjoy conference together.

THANK YOU SISTER WILLIS FOR THE WONDERFUL BREAKFAST BURRITOS!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARGARET!!