Shownotes
2024 WEEK 01 [INTRO PAGES] INSIGHTS NOTES
“ANOTHER TESTAMENT OF JESUS CHRIST”
January 1 – January 7
WEEK 01: SUMMARY
This week we kick off a whole new year as we study the Introductory Pages of the Book of Mormon. We’ll study the Title Page, Introduction, and testimonies of the witnesses of the plates. I’ll chat about 7 of the insights that sparked ideas in my mind and then ask you 5 questions to get a good conversation going.
We’ll talk about the value of creating, keeping, and learning from records with a simple questionnaire and mini-recording session. Next, we’ll put Joseph Smith’s keystone object lesson to the test by creating a candy-filled paper arch. Finally, we’ll talk about the importance of witnesses and help our kids understand how to be witnesses at living and proxy baptisms.
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CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST DISCLAIMER: This podcast represents my own thoughts and opinions. It is not made, approved or endorsed by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Any content or creative interpretations, implied or included are solely those of Maria Eckersley ("MeckMom LLC"), and not those of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Great care has been made to ensure this podcast is in harmony with the overall mission of the Church. Click here to visit the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Transcripts
In this first week, in week one, you're not even into the
Speaker:Book of Mormon technically yet.
Speaker:Although you are in the published Book of Mormon, meaning from the very beginning,
Speaker:there have been these introductory pages to help you see what's coming.
Speaker:I actually really liked the Come Follow Me manual's description of
Speaker:what you should expect this week.
Speaker:If you look in that intro paragraph, it talks about how the Book of
Speaker:Mormon is not an ordinary book.
Speaker:That it has this.
Speaker:Epic backstory and that's why you want to get into the intro pages because it
Speaker:helps you it sets the stage for what is in store It also gives you an understanding
Speaker:about what the book is for The intent of this book is not to entertain it is not
Speaker:to dazzle you with history You never knew existed It is all about helping people
Speaker:come unto christ to convince all people that jesus is the christ And the same
Speaker:christ who cared about his people then cares about his people today and that
Speaker:his path is the only path just like where we ended with the book of revelations
Speaker:it flows right into these intro pages of the book of mormon you're also going
Speaker:to see the story of the witnesses so from the very beginning in its first
Speaker:publication the book of mormon has always had this initial section of witnesses
Speaker:the three witnesses who had a bit of a spiritual experience where they See
Speaker:artifacts and they have an angel before them and they hear the voice of the Lord.
Speaker:I mean, these are big powerful spiritual witnesses and then the
Speaker:eight witnesses that you'll also read that have a more tangible experience.
Speaker:Theirs is with Joseph Smith.
Speaker:He shows them the plates.
Speaker:They get to heft them and see the engravings.
Speaker:Theirs is a tangible witness of what they saw and felt that day.
Speaker:And the two combine to create this really lovely powerhouse of Intrigue.
Speaker:That's what I think it's intended to do when you read those those intro pages,
Speaker:especially if you try to do it with fresh eyes, it will intrigue you to study.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:This is a story that has an origin unlike any other.
Speaker:And it makes you want to turn the page.
Speaker:In fact, the capstone for me is what you get in Joseph Smith's witness.
Speaker:So this is not the first vision.
Speaker:What you find in those intro pages is Joseph's experience with the angel Moroni
Speaker:and the Bringing forth of the plates and how the translation occurred to some
Speaker:degree and where it all went, right?
Speaker:This is how it came to be where it is today.
Speaker:That's what you get from Joseph's story.
Speaker:But you also get this resounding witness of God still speaks to his
Speaker:people and he still has a plan for them and he has a prophet to lead them.
Speaker:And it is just this drumbeat that will urge you in to flipping the page.
Speaker:I think it's a powerful week of study.
Speaker:So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.
Speaker:It's time to get started.
Speaker:Welcome back, you guys.
Speaker:It's 2024 and time for a whole new year of study.
Speaker:Although for a lot of you, this is not a whole new year.
Speaker:We began in the Book of Mormon way back in 2020 and now we are
Speaker:finally circling all the way back.
Speaker:And I gotta tell you, I can't wait.
Speaker:to be here.
Speaker:This is something I've been looking forward to for all
Speaker:these four years of study.
Speaker:Something about getting to this point where we've studied all the
Speaker:books together and now we have this deep well of understanding that
Speaker:we can pull from and take it with us as we go into this next year.
Speaker:Sometimes I think it's a little hard with This cyclical nature of our scripture
Speaker:study in the church, because it feels like you're going back across the same
Speaker:ground, but I really liked, there's this visual that elder Holmes put forth.
Speaker:He had a BYU devotional a couple of years ago, where he talked about the
Speaker:spiral staircase in the Nauvoo temple.
Speaker:And he was talking about how our progression is kind of like
Speaker:that spiral staircase, that it is this slow, steady ascent up.
Speaker:And that's kind of how I see scripture study, especially
Speaker:when we cycle through these.
Speaker:Books of scripture where we were in the Book of Mormon five years ago is
Speaker:not where we are today I feel like even though we're seeing a similar Vista It's
Speaker:like we've gone up that spiral staircase a rung and now we are seeing it from a
Speaker:whole new vantage point I have this sweet experience as I was going into the Oram
Speaker:Temple open house with a friend recently and there's this Big, I mean almost
Speaker:cavernous type space where this giant spiral staircase circulates around and
Speaker:even though you think you've seen that room from the ground Every level up you
Speaker:went you saw the windows differently.
Speaker:You saw the artwork differently That's what's gonna happen for us in the Book
Speaker:of Mormon this year You guys the insights will change the creative will change
Speaker:and we'll get a whole new vantage point on what the Lord wants us to to learn.
Speaker:And I hope you're going to love it.
Speaker:I think I have to warn you ahead of time that there are some changes in the course
Speaker:as well, but I think changes for the good.
Speaker:So as I've been praying and trying to understand what it is I'm
Speaker:supposed to do differently this time around, I got some impressions.
Speaker:I wish they had come all at once, but instead they came kind of
Speaker:piecemeal over the last few months.
Speaker:But here's where things are going to go in this course.
Speaker:Basically, since the last four years of study, we've done kind of a.
Speaker:Chapter by chapter approach to all of the books.
Speaker:I'm hoping to keep all that in the archive and let you access it all the time.
Speaker:But this year, we're going to shift gears a little bit and change it up.
Speaker:My goal with this year's course and any course I teach going
Speaker:forward is to ignite fires.
Speaker:So I know you guys know me well by now, but I have a love of fire, but
Speaker:this one comes from somewhere deeper.
Speaker:In fact, it inspired the logo for our new title of Our Mothers Knew It.
Speaker:I really love that talk from Elder Holland where he, he taught about good
Speaker:teaching and he said, a good teacher will not see students as containers
Speaker:to be filled, but fires to be ignited.
Speaker:And that's the impression I got when I was thinking about
Speaker:how to change up this course.
Speaker:I wanted to find ways to.
Speaker:Maybe model better what my scripture study looks like so that you're not just
Speaker:hearing my insights and getting my ideas But you're seeing new sparks in your own
Speaker:study I know that's happened for a lot of you as you studied on your own with
Speaker:or without me over the last few years But I'm hoping to make it more obvious.
Speaker:So this year in the course, we're going to change the flow rather
Speaker:than going chapter by chapter.
Speaker:I'm going to give you seven sparks that I see.
Speaker:I'm going to dial in on seven areas where I saw something catch my eye.
Speaker:And then when I went back into those verses or back into that story and
Speaker:fan those flames, fire came out.
Speaker:Like I got.
Speaker:spiritual understandings that I didn't have before I began.
Speaker:That's what I'm hoping to show you in the insights videos.
Speaker:When we shift into the next video, we have one called questions.
Speaker:So you'll see it tucked at the end of all these insights.
Speaker:You'll see five questions.
Speaker:The goal with the questions is that you'll be able to.
Speaker:Get the spirit to teach you things.
Speaker:I'm hoping to take some of the things I normally would have just kind of crammed
Speaker:in here and added and instead inspire you to get your own ideas and understandings.
Speaker:It's part of the reason we built the community page, gather.
Speaker:mecmom.
Speaker:com.
Speaker:Cause I'm hoping to start.
Speaker:powerful conversations.
Speaker:I hope to plant in your mind ideas and questions that you could talk
Speaker:with your kids about, you could talk to your classes about, you could
Speaker:bring up in a gospel doctrine lesson, and just let the Spirit teach.
Speaker:And then hopefully as new insights and understandings come to you, You
Speaker:share them with us in the community, either on the page or in the live
Speaker:or just with the people around you.
Speaker:I hope those questions inspire you.
Speaker:So first you'll see seven insights, sorry, seven insights.
Speaker:Then you'll see five questions.
Speaker:And then of course, because this course began with creative, come follow me and
Speaker:we'll continue as our mothers knew it.
Speaker:You'll also have three object lessons.
Speaker:So each week I'll give you three object lessons.
Speaker:Some will be pulled from the archive because they're
Speaker:just too good to skip over.
Speaker:And I think Teaching them again will ignite new fires, but also new
Speaker:things that you haven't seen before.
Speaker:My hope with the three object lessons always is that it will help you fan
Speaker:the flames of excitement for others.
Speaker:As you teach more creatively and as you share the gospel with whoever you come
Speaker:in contact with in these surprising, memorable ways, that you'll delight in it.
Speaker:To me, it's not so much that object lessons will Perfect the testimonies
Speaker:of your kids or your classes.
Speaker:I hope that happens, but it probably won't.
Speaker:What I do think it will do is ignite the fire brighter in you because when
Speaker:I teach with creativity with my family or the classes I'm in I find their
Speaker:enthusiasm and watching their reactions to things watching their curiosity open
Speaker:up about the scriptures that feeds me.
Speaker:It's almost like the fans of little flames that have started in my own
Speaker:scripture study get waved with big whooshes of oxygen when I see somebody
Speaker:else delight in the scriptures.
Speaker:And that brings me back to the beginning and makes me want to
Speaker:start to study again the next week.
Speaker:So that's my goal with this course.
Speaker:We're going to have a seven, five, three, seven key insights to spark ideas.
Speaker:Five great questions to help you have good conversations and three object
Speaker:lessons to help you teach them powerfully.
Speaker:That's my hope for this course, you guys.
Speaker:I think it will make a big difference in how this feels.
Speaker:It might make a difference in the length of things and how I approach the
Speaker:scriptures, but I think you'll love it.
Speaker:Just please remember that if you're used to what is familiar, you can
Speaker:always find those videos and podcasts On the archive, you can go to gather.
Speaker:macmom.
Speaker:com and find all the archive of those videos.
Speaker:You can also go into the weekly notes.
Speaker:So the weekly notes will remain kind of similar to how they have
Speaker:been in the years in the past, simply because that's how I study.
Speaker:So if you want to go to that shared Google Doc, you can see all of the
Speaker:insights I have, not just the seven that I am going to bring up in today's
Speaker:videos, but I hope it will help you.
Speaker:See more.
Speaker:If you want to study deeper, you can access those other areas and
Speaker:hopefully join the conversation.
Speaker:So with that being said, you guys, it's time to get started.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Are you ready for spark number one?
Speaker:Remember this year, these are just the things that caught my eye,
Speaker:but there are many, many more.
Speaker:You'll find a bunch more in the notes and a lot more as you
Speaker:get into the verses and study.
Speaker:But let me show you a few things that caught my eye.
Speaker:This first one came from the title page.
Speaker:So just to give you a basic summary that title page that behind the first one
Speaker:that says like another witness of Jesus Christ is The title page written by
Speaker:the hand of Moroni just two paragraphs.
Speaker:It's really simple.
Speaker:It's not written by Joseph Smith It's actually a translation of a plate that
Speaker:he found at the very end of the plates He was translating which I find kind
Speaker:of fascinating that this wasn't at the beginning It's almost something Moroni
Speaker:wrote at the very very end to help people understand What is in this book?
Speaker:I was recording a seat course for Deseret book Maybe a year or so ago and they
Speaker:did this interesting thing where they had me I had laid out the full course
Speaker:I'd written it all out We went there to record it and they had me Record
Speaker:the whole course that all the different lessons and then at the very end they
Speaker:had me record the introduction lesson And I thought it was so odd at the time.
Speaker:I was like, why am I, why am I saying this now?
Speaker:And when I talked to the producer, she talked to me about it and said, basically,
Speaker:now you know what you've taught and you know how excited you are about it.
Speaker:And what was, what jumped out at you as you were speaking it, put
Speaker:that energy into the introduction so that people are eager to listen.
Speaker:And I wonder if that's what happened with Moroni as well,
Speaker:after he'd watched his dad.
Speaker:Pretty much give his whole life for this great work.
Speaker:And then Moroni took decades after to add his witness and to just
Speaker:survive in preserving these plates.
Speaker:I think he has a, a very condensed, simple witness of.
Speaker:of what is there.
Speaker:I really love paragraph two.
Speaker:It's in the beginning.
Speaker:You learn what the purpose of this work is and the intent of it.
Speaker:And then paragraph two, you get Moroni's edition about the Jaredites.
Speaker:So it says an abridgment taken from the book of ether also, which is a record of
Speaker:the people of Jared who were scattered at the time of the Lord, that the time of the
Speaker:Lord confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to
Speaker:heaven, which is to show under the remnant of the house of Israel, what great things
Speaker:the Lord had done for their fathers.
Speaker:They may know the covenants of the Lord that they are not cast off forever.
Speaker:I love that we have this whole paragraph about the story of the ods, because
Speaker:this was mostly Moroney's work.
Speaker:This is something that came after Mormon had finished.
Speaker:He had always hoped to write about the ods.
Speaker:In fact, he kind of alludes to that earlier in the Book of
Speaker:Mormon, but he didn't get to it.
Speaker:And so this is Mar's work to make sure that his dad's work is complete.
Speaker:And he writes the story of the brother of Jared and their.
Speaker:Epic voyage, what I think caught my eye in this paragraph is I love the idea
Speaker:that there are great things in that story that are supposed to remind me
Speaker:about covenants with God and the power of keeping covenants for me, some of the
Speaker:things that you learn from the brother of Jared story, just even that beginning part
Speaker:of their story, like getting to the barges and crossing first, I think you learn that
Speaker:he has a journey in mind for all of us.
Speaker:I think when I read that story.
Speaker:It reminds me that God has somewhere he wants me to go.
Speaker:He sent me to this mortal life, not just to endure it or even endure it
Speaker:well, but to become something, to get to the Maria at the end of this life.
Speaker:That's what he's hoping for me.
Speaker:So we have this journey, but I think the story also reminds us that we will be
Speaker:blessed through by God in this effort.
Speaker:As we try to become what he wants us to be, he will bless us.
Speaker:The Brother of Jared was blessed with their language not being confounded,
Speaker:with the ideas to make barges, the instructions for how to build
Speaker:barges, and how tight to make them.
Speaker:Like, he was blessed all along that way.
Speaker:Another thing that I love is, in the Brother of Jared story,
Speaker:You learn about repentance too.
Speaker:I think oftentimes when we are directed to be on this great journey
Speaker:to become something better, we get to kind of a plateau place and we want
Speaker:to stay, you know, I talked about why I say this about this, um, earlier.
Speaker:I just think it's, it's tempting to hang out on the beach.
Speaker:We get to a place where we think we're going to be comfortable and
Speaker:the Lord has blessed us enough.
Speaker:And we're like, you know what?
Speaker:I think we're good.
Speaker:And so we.
Speaker:Sit on the beach.
Speaker:Remember the brother Jared stays on the beach for four years and doesn't pray.
Speaker:In my opinion, I think he probably prayed a lot.
Speaker:I just think he's not praying about forward movement anymore.
Speaker:He's probably just content.
Speaker:You know, the same way when we'll read about Lehi and Nephi, and as
Speaker:they're going to land bountiful, Laman and Lemuel want to stay.
Speaker:They're like, this is a pretty nice place.
Speaker:I just think we tend to get comfortable because we've received blessings
Speaker:and the Lord is still trying to get us to cross those great waters.
Speaker:What I think is really powerful about the brother Jared story is that it takes two
Speaker:verses for forgiveness to be given and the brother Jared to be back on his track.
Speaker:You know, it's not, it's two verses you guys, from where he learns that he should
Speaker:have been praying all this time and that the Lord still has a work for him to do.
Speaker:And in two verses, he's back on track and building barges
Speaker:and getting the people across.
Speaker:And that I think is something powerful about covenants.
Speaker:That's why I think Moroni included this piece so prominently
Speaker:here on the title page.
Speaker:His story teaches us.
Speaker:about the power of covenants.
Speaker:The last thing I think the brother of Jared's story teaches me, and we'll
Speaker:get into this, you know, obviously at the end of the year, but I love that
Speaker:the brother of Jared came to the Lord, hoping to get light in his vessel.
Speaker:He comes in this epic way, making these stones to try to get light.
Speaker:And what the Lord gives him is so much more than just light for his vessels.
Speaker:He gives him something grander.
Speaker:He gives him an inside view of.
Speaker:Him who the Lord is what he looks like what kind of person he is and what he
Speaker:has planned for his children He gives the brother of Jared Eternal light when
Speaker:he actually just wanted these stones to light up and I just think that's the
Speaker:nature of these journeys That's why we can't get comfortable on the beach and
Speaker:that's why we need to pay attention to the words of the Book of Mormon because
Speaker:they will urge us to get off our beaches of comfort and our You know, bountifuls
Speaker:and to push into those stormy waters.
Speaker:When we have the courage to actually go forward into those stormy
Speaker:waters, that's when miracles happen.
Speaker:And that's when we learn great things.
Speaker:I just think for me, that's why there's so much emphasis on this story in
Speaker:the title page of the Book of Mormon.
Speaker:My next spark came at the very end of the title page, the end of paragraph
Speaker:two, and this is what it reads.
Speaker:And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus
Speaker:is the Christ, the eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.
Speaker:And now, if there are faults, they are the mistakes of men.
Speaker:Wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless
Speaker:at the judgment seat of Christ.
Speaker:For me, I think the reason this caught my eye is because I wrestle with guilt a lot.
Speaker:Maybe you do too.
Speaker:But I, you know, I am a much better teacher to my younger three than I was
Speaker:to my older three because I was young and I didn't know what I was doing.
Speaker:And I sometimes worry, in fact, I still worry.
Speaker:With even the younger three that the gaps in my efforts to teach the gospel
Speaker:diligently Will hinder them, you know, I can see how he gave me this great work
Speaker:to do and I Got to some places where I hung out on a beach and I didn't I
Speaker:didn't work as diligently as it could have or I didn't you know advance my
Speaker:testimony as well as I could have and I I feel this sense of guilt and weakness.
Speaker:And I loved this verse for that because I feel like the more I went back
Speaker:and studied this spark and fanned it a little bit to try and understand
Speaker:what the Lord was teaching me.
Speaker:I felt like he was trying to say your job.
Speaker:Doesn't need to be perfect the same way Moroni never felt like his work
Speaker:was perfect remember at the end of the Book of Mormon when he talks about his
Speaker:weakness in writing and how he's so worried that Men are gonna judge the
Speaker:work unfairly because of his weakness.
Speaker:That's how I feel as a parent I'm worried that my kids are gonna abandon
Speaker:their testimony because I didn't do a great job teaching it and I just think
Speaker:Moroni's Message is a hopeful one.
Speaker:He's saying our job is to help people know upfront Clearly, that if there
Speaker:are mistakes, if I go through stretches where I drop scripture study altogether,
Speaker:or if I teach things wrong, or I don't know my history or whatever,
Speaker:that I can tell my kids, if you see mistakes in our family's efforts to
Speaker:do this, come follow me together.
Speaker:They're the mistakes of me.
Speaker:They're not the mistakes of God.
Speaker:His work is a perfect work.
Speaker:And the promise is if we can testify of that over and over again, just
Speaker:like Moroni does, then the grace of Christ will pour in and the gaps and
Speaker:the crevices that I see get filled.
Speaker:That's what grace is.
Speaker:You guys, we studied that all throughout the New Testament, that all these
Speaker:things that are broken or wounded or damaged or Not enough have grace added
Speaker:to them and then they become enough.
Speaker:I, to me, there is so much hope in that message because I will never be anywhere
Speaker:close to perfect and I can't go back in time and fix the things I did wrong.
Speaker:So I love knowing that through the grace of Christ, it can be enough.
Speaker:If he can heal a leper
