Book of Mormon [2 NEPHI 20-25] Insights

“We Rejoice in Christ”

March 4 – March 10, 2024

WEEK 10: SUMMARY

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This week, we head into our second full week of studying the writings of Isaiah. This week’s chapters focus on historical events in the regions around Jerusalem as mighty kingdoms rise and fall. Each one will help us understand that the promises of God are always kept. In chapter 25, Nephi will add his own commentary about how to understand Isaiah’s symbolic writing style. Finally, he’ll end with powerful testimony about the unique, redemptive power of Jesus Christ.

Questions for week 10

2 Nephi 20:25 | Since God is not subject to time, why do you think He speaks about time at all?

2 Nephi 21:16 | What types of highways do you see in our world today that are inadvertently helping the gathering?

2 Nephi 24:15-16 | How do you see the wicked Kings and the adversary demonstrating the regret and torment of the mind Joseph Smith described?

2 Nephi 25:1-3 | How were the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day guilty of looking beyond the mark? Are we guilty of the same issue at times? (see Renlund Oct 2023)

2 Nephi 25:13 | What does it mean to “magnify the Lord” (see Wright Oct 2023)

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Welcome back, you guys.

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This is week 10 of Our Mothers Knew It.

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I hope you're excited for another big, deep dive in Isaiah because

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you're in for a good one this week.

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You're going to go from 2 Nephi 20 all the way through 25, so you're going to

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get five chapters that are almost verbatim quotes from Isaiah's writings that Nephi

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will give to us, and then in 25 you're going to get Nephi's commentary about

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Isaiah, why we study it, how to study it better, and why we should focus in

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on the main message that Isaiah offers.

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And to me, Isaiah's main message and Nephi's is all about the grace of

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Jesus Christ, that it is this free gift that we are invited to grab hold of.

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In fact, the visual that kept coming to me as I was Kind of summarizing my notes

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today is, remember when we were studying in Acts, the very beginning of Acts, Acts,

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this is Acts 3, and there's Peter and John, and they're out trying to minister

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and serve the way the Savior would.

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After the Savior has ascended, they're trying to do his work, and they

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come across that man at the temple.

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Remember, he's on the steps, and he asks for alms, and Peter asks him to look

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at him, and then He offers what he can.

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He can't give him alms, but he gives him something so much better.

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So this is Acts 3, verses 6 through 8.

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And then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee.

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In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

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And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his

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feet and ankle bones received strength.

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And he, leaping, stood up and walked, and entered with them into the temple,

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walking and leaping and praising God.

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This, to me, is how Isaiah feels.

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At least that's what I got out of his writings this week.

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He has what can actually heal.

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He has understanding and guidance for us to how to, for how to tap

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into something that can really bring us joy and delight, as Nephi says.

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We tend to seek for lesser things, and he's going to direct us in this

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week's chapters about where those lesser things lead, but his invitation

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constantly is for us to grab hold of.

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Those promises that are so much more valuable than silver and gold.

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And I just think he does it beautifully.

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His writing is a little bit undulating.

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You know, he's, you're going to, some chapters are high and they're full of hope

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and richness and even millennial promises.

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And some feel heavy and hard because you're going to hear him use his

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own timeframe, like situations in Assyria and Babylon and in Israel

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and Judah, these places where.

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Real things occur that he then uses as a type and a shadow for

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what will happen in the last days.

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And it's a ride, you guys.

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There are highs and there are lows and there are some verses that

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will just grab hold of your heart.

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So, I promise, this one is worth your time.

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Grab your scriptures.

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Grab your notes.

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It's time to get started.

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One of Isaiah's

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He's going to use kingdoms like Assyria and Babylon and their eventual, eventual

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fall to warn us about the risks of puffing yourselves up, even puffing

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yourself up based on accomplishments that you think you've created.

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He does it in this interesting way.

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So if you go in chapter 20, this is the king of Assyria that he's using as a type.

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Assyria is in a situation where they.

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They can conquer the children of Israel because the children of Israel have turned

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their back on Jehovah to some degree.

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Remember, Jeremiah taught us this.

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Isaiah will also teach it in several ways.

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Like, he talks about how the children of Israel have turned back to idols.

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They've distorted the law of Moses.

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They've got some priest craft happening.

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Like, there's some wickedness among, especially the leadership of the

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Children of Israel, and it's causing them to lose their protection.

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Remember the vineyard we talked about last week, and how the

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Lord doesn't cause destruction.

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What he does is, he pulls back that hedge, and he pulls back the tower,

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and That's kind of what's happening.

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He's pulling back those blessings that he hoped to provide.

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And then by default, when that hedge is gone, Assyria can swoop

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in because Israel doesn't have its protection that it used to have.

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We're going to go into some of this in the object lessons, but I thought it

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was really interesting the way Isaiah.

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describes the mind of the Assyrian king, because he gets pretty cocky, you know,

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you can almost hear his words here.

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Isaiah is prophesying what the king of Assyria will be thinking, that he's

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gonna think he did all of this, that he, because he is such a mighty conqueror,

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he is able to conquer all these cities.

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And the Lord makes it clear where that power really comes from.

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So if you look in 20, this is 15 and 16, shall the axe boast itself

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against him that he was there with?

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Shall a saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it, as if the rod

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should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should

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lift up itself as if it were no wood.

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Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness,

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and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

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The Lord here is not, I don't think he's trying to punish Assyria.

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I think he wants Assyria to come to a stance of humility, the same

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way he wants the children of Israel to come to a stance of humility.

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Because when we're in a stance of humility, he can actually

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bless us with real power.

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When we set down.

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All that pomp, you know, the visual that always hits me with pride is like, you

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know, have you ever done one of those paper mache projects with your kids?

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Like maybe you made a bunch of planets for a science fair and they're these great

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big creations that look so impressive.

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Except for the fact that you have to like delicately hold them to

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carry them into your kid's school.

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Because just one bump the wrong way makes that moon collapse

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and that Saturn break apart.

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That's what, I think that's what Isaiah understands and he wants.

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Everyone to understand where the source of real power is.

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Real power comes from a much deeper well than what the world offers.

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In fact, you see it a little bit in D& C 121.

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This is when he's talking about real power.

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So if you look in verses 41 and 42, No power or influence can or ought

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to be maintained by the virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion,

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by longsuffering, by gentleness and meekness and love unfeigned.

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By kindness and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul,

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without hypocrisy and without guile.

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To greatly enlarge your soul, to me, means you feel confidence.

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You feel confident in Christ, but you don't have guile and

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you don't have hypocrisy.

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You're not an empty Papier mâché Saturn, you are something that is

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full of what lasts, what is real.

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The Savior himself is this beautiful example of it.

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He is the most powerful being to ever walk this earth, and yet he was

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the most meek and the most humble.

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He always deferred to Heavenly Father.

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He always did the Lord, did God's will.

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There's this great talk, you can go in the notes and read it, it's by Elder Edgley.

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And he talks about the empowerment of humility.

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I just thought his phrasing was cool.

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We often think of humility and power as opposites, and he

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says, oh no, they come together.

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So he says, humbly submitting our will to the Father brings us the empowerment

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of God, the power of humility.

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It is the power to meet life's adversities.

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the power of peace, the power of hope, the power of a heart throbbing with a love

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for and a testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ, even the power of redemption.

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To this end, the Savior is our supreme example of the power

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of humility and submissiveness.

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After all, His submitting His will to the Father brought about the greatest and even

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the most powerful event of all history.

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Perhaps some of the most sacred words in all of Scripture are simply,

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not my will, but thine be done.

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I think Isaiah wants us to tap into this kind of power,

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because he wants us to rejoice.

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It's the same thing Nephi wants for us.

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They want us to find the peace, and the rest, and the hope that

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comes with being solid in Christ.

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Having a deep will.

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I have this really interesting interaction.

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So just a week or two ago, I had a chance encounter with Elder Lund, you

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know, the general young man's president.

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He's the kindest man, you guys.

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I just happened to run into him and I wanted to tell him

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about how much I loved his talk.

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So the flashes of light devotional that he gave at BYU really did.

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pivot my testimony to some degree.

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It opened up new understandings for me.

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And so I couldn't wait to tell him how much I loved that talk.

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What I thought was so beautiful is he smiled at me and listened.

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And then he said, you could have written that talk.

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And I of course was like, no, I, I could never have written that talk actually.

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I needed it so that I could learn.

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And what I loved is what he said next.

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I can't quote him directly because I obviously didn't write it down, but

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his sentiment was basically the same spirit that prompts me, prompts you.

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You have your own life full of flashes of light, and you could have

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written your own version of that talk with the help of the spirit.

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What I thought was beautiful about that is, in my mind, what

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he was saying is, I know exactly what my portion of that talk was.

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And I know how much was the Lord's portion.

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And you have access to those same tools and that same ability.

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I feel like that's what Isaiah is trying to help us see.

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He's saying the steadiness that you hear in my voice, the understanding

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you see in me, you can have as well.

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It doesn't come from me.

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It comes from this deeper, well, set down the cares of the world.

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Draw power from what?

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What can last I, I just thought it was powerful.

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I loved it.

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One of my favorite parts about this week's studies, I felt like you got a

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taste of so many of the miracles that I came to love in the Old Testament.

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I love the story of Gideon.

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I love The Red Sea and I love Hezekiah.

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Hezekiah's story is, do you remember this When we studied it together?

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It's like that last holdout city.

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So he's the king in Jerusalem, and Assyria has come in and they have conquered.

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Literally everything, you know, they conquered that alliance

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between Northern Israel and Syria.

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They conquer a big portion of Judah and then Sennacherib, the

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wicked king of Assyria, he has his sights set on Jerusalem.

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He wants to take it down.

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And Hezekiah, because he is a righteous king and because he listens to the

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prophet and he cleanses the temple from all the idols and he, you know,

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he's like a religious reformer.

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He tries to get people to Come around.

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And so he becomes this epic underdog story.

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This is the one where he's promised by Isaiah that he

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will have the help he needs.

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So if you look in Signified 20, this is 24 to 26.

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Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that

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dwellest in Zion, in Jerusalem, be not afraid of the Assyrian.

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He shall smite thee with a rod, And he shall lift up his staff against

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thee, after the manor of Egypt, for yet a very little while, and

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the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

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And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him, according to the

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slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Orop.

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That's Gideon's story.

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And his rod was upon the sea, so he shall lift it after the manor of Egypt.

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So he's kind of using Gideon's story and the Red Sea as a pump up song to

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help, to help Hezekiah feel like he can, Withstand Assyria because Assyria

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to Hezekiah must look like the Red Sea.

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You know, this thing that cannot be crossed over and has deadly power.

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That's Assyria and he must be afraid.

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What I think is interesting is he does get this promise.

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The Lord keeps his promise and overnight a bunch of Assyrian people are killed.

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All those soldiers who are like waiting outside the city.

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I mean, they're like within range of the city.

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And in one night, I can't remember the number.

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It's like.

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185, 000 or something troops die in one night.

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And it just says an angel of the Lord kills them.

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We don't know what that means, if like a disease spread rapidly through camp

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or if it literally was something else.

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Somehow Hezekiah gets his help.

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And I found it fascinating.

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In fact, when I went back to study the story, Isaiah references it

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here, I think, to give us some hope.

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The first time I read it, though, When I was reminding myself of

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the story, I was like, why just gotta wait till the last minute?

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You know, have you ever felt like that in your life?

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Like sometimes you're praying for answers or you're hoping for a certain outcome

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and you're left to sort of struggle and strain and then at the last minute You

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are saved, you know, the redemption comes.

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That's what happens with Hezekiah, that he gets this miracle moment but not

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until the enemy is right at the gate.

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And I found myself thinking, why is that the Lord's way?

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And interestingly what changed this for me is when I look I

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looked back at the history.

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I started going back into the Old Testament to read more about

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Hezekiah and that situation.

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And I realized how many things the Lord did leading up to this

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moment, leading up to the time when 185, 000 soldiers get wiped out.

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There were all these Smaller miracles.

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I wrote down a bunch of them, but there's so many more.

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Like, for example, Hezekiah is prompted to ditch his dad.

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His dad is Ahaz.

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He's the one that rejected the prophet.

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Hezekiah somehow got promptings to listen to the prophet, which is a

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minor miracle all on its own, right?

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That he can turn away from that tradition, turn away from all the

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people and all those in leadership who were pushing against him and say no.

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We are cleansing the temple.

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We are getting back to the law.

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We're, we're going to do things the right way.

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That's a minor miracle in Hezekiah's life.

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Another one happens when he has a prophet to listen to.

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I actually think sometimes we discount this, but the very fact that there

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is a prophet who is warning what is coming and how powerful they are

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and what you need to do to stop it.

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It's a mighty miracle that he has someone who can speak to God who, who is right

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there is a miracle that is preliminary to this wiping out of all the soldiers.

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Another one that I loved is his engineering ideas that come.

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He's kind of like, you know, the word chapters in the book of Mormon where

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they talk about like securing the city and so they build up all these different

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fortifications to secure the city.

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That kind of happens with Hezekiah.

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He comes up with all these different ways to secure the city.

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And one of his ideas is to make Hezekiah's tunnel.

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That's this amazing feat of engineering.

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If you haven't ever been in there, when you go to Israel, you

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can actually go into Hezekiah's tunnel, you can walk through it.

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It's a way that they could access this source of pure water from within the city.

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And it's his way of.

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Securing things.

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And I thought all those moments, like those moments where he got the prompting

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to even try such a crazy thing as creating a tunnel from two different

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sides and meeting in the middle.

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Those are all preliminary miracles.

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And I think that's God's way.

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Oftentimes when we feel like God has waited till the last possible

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minute, like right before the buzzer goes off, when we look back, we can

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see all these preliminary miracles.

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Recently, I was teaching my YSAs about Oliver Cowdery, and I

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love the way he describes this.

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You know, when he finally does meet Joseph Smith, and he finally talks to

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him, and he's seeking revelation about whether this is all what he says it is.

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And I love the way it's phrased.

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If we go on D and C six verse 14, verily verily I say unto the

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blessed art thou, for what thou has done for thou hast inquired of me.

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And behold, as often as thou hast inquired, thou has received

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instruction of my spirit.

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If it had not been so, that would not have come to the place

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where thou art at this time.

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To me, this is the Lord speaking directly to Oliver to say.

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I know what you feel now is significant.

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Now look back at all those preliminary promptings that I've been giving you.

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What made you choose to live with Joseph's parents as a boarder?

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What made you choose to walk with Samuel and come to visit Joseph?

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Like, all those preliminary promptings should Secure your

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testimony and make you feel assured.

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And I think Hezekiah can look at his life that way, too.

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And frankly, if they can, then I think we should.

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I think we should be able to look at those big miracle moments in our life

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and and then look back at that trail of preliminary promptings and minor miracles

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that led up to that big pivotal moment.

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He is not a last minute God, you guys.

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He is a God of every minute.

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Spark number three I call knowledge is power, because I think Isaiah

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wants us to tap into real knowledge.

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He offers these really interesting prophecies.

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So if you go in chapter 21, you can hear him talk about the millennial day.

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So remember how Isaiah's chapters kind of go in waves.

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So this is one of those higher ones where he talks about what

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will happen in the millennial day, and that we will get along.

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The visuals he uses are really He talks about a lamb and a lion being

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together and that a child can play where snakes would live and that

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they won't get bitten, like all these promises about the peace that will come.

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And I found myself curious about where that peace comes from, you know,

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initially the national man side of me thought like, maybe this is the same way.

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You know, when the teacher steps out of the classroom, there's chaos

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and everybody, you know, fights or gets out of their seats or whatever.

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And as soon as the teacher is coming down the hallway to come

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back to class, everybody sits in their seats and they're obedient.

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You know, it's easy to think that the millennial day will be like

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that, where there's some power that's there, and so therefore you obey.

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But I just think Isaiah has something much richer to teach us.

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Nephi too, I think they both understand that knowledge is the pivotal key.

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So if you look in 2 Nephi 21 verse 9.

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They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth

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shall be full of knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

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That's a reference to Noah's flood, that knowledge will cover just the same

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way that the floods covered the earth.

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You know, this idea of like, knowledge will be poured out on us.

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And I think it's interesting to see how knowledge changes how

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we interact with each other.

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I mean, all of us have had this experience.

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Like, when you endure something hard, or you have empathy for somebody

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because you've experienced it in some way, it completely changes

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how you interact with those people.

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It changes how merciful you are.

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It changes how patient you are.

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Like, when you Know things firsthand, you naturally treat people better.

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There's this great talk from President Oaks where he, he was

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speaking about how in our day there's this outpouring of knowledge.

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We're all growing and advancing in technology and science and

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medicine and all these great ways.

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But he said what we really need to focus is our understanding about gaining

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more righteousness and more revelation.

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These are his words.

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I long for the day, prophesied by Isaiah, when the earth shall be

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full of the knowledge of the Lord.

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In an inspired utterance, the prophet Joseph Smith described the Lord's

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pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter day Saints.

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This will not happen for those whose hearts are set so much

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on the things of the world, and aspire for the honors of men.

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Those who fail to learn and use the principles of righteousness will be

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left to themselves to kick against those in authority and to persecute

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the saints and to fight against God.

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In contrast, the Lord makes this great promise to the faithful.

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The doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul

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as the dews from heaven.

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The reason I love this so much, especially in concert with what Isaiah is

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teaching, is that visual of distilling.

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Clicks with me when it comes to revelation because I think this

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is where knowledge at least for me This is how knowledge seems to work.

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I will if you think about a distillery, for example Basically, that's just this

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big container that heats up a liquid so that it can purify it It will go into

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like a gas like form until it hits the outer edges of the container that's in

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that it's in and then it will slowly condense and form like a dew that

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Accumulates back at the bottom and now you have this pure rich Goodness, right?

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That's knowledge to me.

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It's revelation to me, because basically that's how it works in my life.

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I will choose to submit what I've learned and understood from other sources, and

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I will basically like submit it to the heat and the fire of gospel living,

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you know, like in trying to actually do what the Lord has asked me to do.

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And that heats up that understanding that I've built up from the world,

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and it gets rid of all the impurities.

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And then I feel like there's this stage where I don't really know what he's doing.

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This, this to me is like when things turn into that gas like form and

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it starts to accumulate on the walls of this container because

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basically that's what happens to me.

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I, I find myself yearning for something deeper and not really knowing when

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it's going to hit, you know, going to the temple, hoping for revelation or

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getting on my knees and hoping for some.

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Knowledge to fall.

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And what I've found is that liquid, that, you know, what, what is

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accumulating on the sides of that container of my soul, all of a sudden,

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out of nowhere, little drops fall.

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And I can't predict it.

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I can't even control it.

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I've tried, you guys, I've tried to control when revelation

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comes to me and it doesn't work.

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There is no.

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certain place I can be.

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There's no certain scripture I can read.

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I have to just let, let knowledge condense and fall.

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What I love is in these pivotal moments, it does fall.

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You get these deep drops that fall and start to build up this well at the

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bottom of the container of my soul.

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You know, I get this well of What is left?

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You know, all the knowledge that I built up in the world that now has been purified

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and distilled, and now it collects into this well that I can pull from.

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That's knowledge to me.

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It comes line upon line.

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It comes slowly, and I can't control it.

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In fact, I think it comes imperceptibly most of the time for me, but there are

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these moments where I can Tap into it.

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I love the way Sister Wright talked about this at conference.

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She talked about the dews of Carmel.

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She's remember that part of her talk.

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This is this place where they actually don't get much rainfall, but they, it's

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a verdant lush hill because of all the dews that accumulates imperceptibly over

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the course of the night and it nourishes You know, all the plants that are there.

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I think that's revelation for me.

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That's knowledge.

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It is something that, that, because I choose to submit to the Lord and

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I endure whatever it is He wants me to do, and I sacrifice whatever He's

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asking me to do, over the course of time, things They distill, they, you

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know, they condense and they build up this well of pure understanding.

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And that's what changes my heart towards others.

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So it changes my heart towards the gospel.

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I even think to some degree it's changed my heart towards

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understanding the Savior himself.

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Because I've got this pure well of knowledge to pull from and it can

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sustain us and having that in the millennial day, like where all of us

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have these deep wells to pull from and understanding that will, you can see

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where if we're all pulling from that, we can see a lamb laying down with a lion.

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We can see those who would never get along in the past finding common ground.

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That's millennial day and I can't wait for it.

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While we're on the topic of wells, let me take you to spark number four.

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This is what I call draw from his well, because basically when you get into 23,

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it's going to feel a little bit heavier.

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This is when he starts to talk about the fall of Babylon and how it's this type

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for the fall of the wicked that will occur before the second coming of the savior.

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And it's powerful as a type, but I also think it's powerful

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as a metaphor just for us.

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Remember last year or last year, last week, when we talked about

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Isaiah sees things at a macro level and also at a micro level.

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This is one of those micro lessons for me because I felt like it taught me something

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about how I should do things differently.

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To understand that I had to dive into the history of Babylon.

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So this is where things sparked for me.

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Basically what the Lord is warning the people of Babylon about, is

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that there will be a destructive force that comes and conquers them.

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Babylon is a huge city, you guys, and it is a prosperous city.

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You know, it's where the hanging gardens were, and all those, like

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it is a, it is an established city.

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And the gates of Babylon, the walls, in fact, one of the things I read this week

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said that the walls were so thick that you could actually build a house on the

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top of it, on the right and on the left.

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And there would still be enough room for three chariots to go across, you

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know, like great wall of China, but bigger all the way around the city.

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So it seemed impenetrable, but when you get into the history, you find

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out how Persia got in and it's.

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So basically what Cyrus the Great does is he diverts the Euphrates.

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So this big river that is the, the lifeblood of Babylon comes

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in underneath the, the walls.

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Like they've made it so that it can come in through the city

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and supply everyone with water.

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So what Cyrus does is he.

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goes back a ways and he diverts the Euphrates.

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He can't divert it fully, it's a mighty river, but he diverts it

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enough that the waterline gets low and his forces can then actually

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walk on that riverbed into the city.

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Like, they just walk right in.

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They don't have to barrel through a wall or light things on fire.

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They just walk right in because the waterline is low.

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The reason I feel like that applies to me at a micro level is I think this

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is the Lord's invitation to all of us.

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When we allow sin or our own weaknesses or insecurities to divert

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His living water away from us, we don't just lose that gift, you know,

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that, the peace and the hope that comes from partaking of His will.

Maria: 00:24:30

What we also have is this new vulnerability.

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You felt that in your life when, when you step away from God?

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your covenants in any way, and you feel this hole now.

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You feel this easy entry point for the adversary to get in.

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And he does!

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You know, he'll get into your head.

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He'll get into your actions.

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He'll, he'll affect your testimony.

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Because the water level is low, he has this easy access.

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And I just think that's the warning in Isaiah.

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I feel like what he's trying to tell me by teaching me about Babylon is he's

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saying, Maria, keep your waterline high.

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The more you partake of the living water of Jesus Christ, the more you keep your

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covenants and keep the commandments, the higher that waterline is.

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And so you don't have a vulnerability there, which I totally see, right?

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When my scripture study is going well, and I'm getting to the temple and

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I'm You know, I'm doing my callings.

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I don't have time for a lot of sin.

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Like, you're busy.

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And I think that's what President Nelson was trying to teach

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us when he talked about rest.

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So I pulled out one of his quotes.

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This is from October 2022.

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Dear brothers and sisters, I grieve for those who leave the church because they

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feel membership requires too much of them.

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They have not yet discovered that making and keeping covenants

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actually makes life easier.

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Each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and in temples and

Maria: 00:25:45

keeps them has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ.

Maria: 00:25:48

Please ponder that stunning truth.

Maria: 00:25:51

The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power.

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Power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations,

Maria: 00:25:56

and heartaches better.

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This power eases our way.

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Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power.

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Thus, covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that

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comes to them through their covenantal relationship with God.

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You essentially Can rest easier knowing that your walls are secure that no

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enemy can invade because that waterline of Partaking of that well of salvation

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you it's high your waterline is high and therefore your vulnerabilities

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are lower That's why life gets easier.

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I think it's not that it's not hard to be a disciple of Jesus

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Christ It's that it's easier than not being a disciple of Christ.

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I love if you go to the second if I 22 Two and three, you hear this invitation.

Maria: 00:26:41

Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid.

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For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song.

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He also has become my salvation.

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Therefore, with joy, shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation.

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We are all basically like the Samaritan woman, you know, at the well who

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is Invited to drink deeply of water that can last, water that is eternal.

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And the more we drink, the higher that water line goes and the more

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protections we have in the process.

Maria: 00:27:10

It's a double whammy promise that is powerful.

Maria: 00:27:14

One of the things the Book of Mormon does beautifully is it

Maria: 00:27:16

helps us understand the gathering.

Maria: 00:27:18

That when the Children of Israel are gathered again, that it will

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not just be a gathering to a place, it'll be a gathering of hearts.

Maria: 00:27:26

Like, it will be a restoring of a covenant relationship between the

Maria: 00:27:30

children of Israel and the Lord.

Maria: 00:27:32

Nephi describes this in chapter 25.

Maria: 00:27:34

This is around verse 16.

Maria: 00:27:36

He talks about this, this conversion that will happen, not just to the

Maria: 00:27:40

gospel, but to the Lord himself and seeing him as the Messiah.

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So if you look in verse 16, it says, And after they have been scattered, and the

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Lord has scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations.

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It even down from generation to generation until they be persuaded to believe in

Maria: 00:27:54

Christ, the Son of God and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind.

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When that day shall come, they shall believe in Christ and worship

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the Father in his name with pure hearts and clean hands and look not

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forward anymore to another Messiah.

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Then at that time, the day will come that it must need to be expedient

Maria: 00:28:11

that they should believe these things.

Maria: 00:28:13

And then he talks about the work and the wonder, this marvelous work and wonder

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that's going to come forth to allow them to grab hold of the fact that.

Maria: 00:28:20

There is a Messiah, that Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament that they

Maria: 00:28:25

revere, that Jesus Christ and the gift he offers, this infinite atonement, is what

Maria: 00:28:30

creates this connection, creates the hope in them to, you know, advance further.

Maria: 00:28:35

They don't need to look for another Messiah.

Maria: 00:28:37

What I liked about this so much is this is another one of those lessons that

Maria: 00:28:40

seems to apply to me at a micro level, in addition to being a part of this great

Maria: 00:28:44

prophecy, because I think I do this.

Maria: 00:28:47

I heard a talk from, I think it was Wendy Ulrich, if I remember

Maria: 00:28:50

right, and she talked about understanding what your Romans are.

Maria: 00:28:53

And she used this idea of when the Jews stopped, the reason they didn't see the

Maria: 00:28:58

Messiah for who he was is because they expected a different kind of Messiah.

Maria: 00:29:02

When the Savior came, when Jesus Christ lived among them, he didn't come and

Maria: 00:29:06

conquer the Romans like They expected him to, and so they discounted him.

Maria: 00:29:11

And then she warned about looking for what our Romans are.

Maria: 00:29:14

And I, it's been years since I heard that talk, you guys,

Maria: 00:29:17

and I've never forgotten it.

Maria: 00:29:18

I just think, oftentimes, I have my own version of Romans.

Maria: 00:29:21

Some, something that I am praying for, understanding I want,

Maria: 00:29:25

maybe a miracle that I hope for.

Maria: 00:29:28

I, there is something I want the Lord to conquer.

Maria: 00:29:32

And when he, doesn't conquer that thing for me or give me the power to conquer it.

Maria: 00:29:37

Sometimes I Question.

Maria: 00:29:40

You know, sometimes I doubt my own connection, or I even

Maria: 00:29:42

doubt that I understand the Savior the way I thought I did.

Maria: 00:29:45

You doubt things in those moments when your Romans seem so big.

Maria: 00:29:50

What was powerful to me is, she taught, if I remember right, she taught

Maria: 00:29:54

about what the Savior did conquer.

Maria: 00:29:57

When He came, He conquered death, and He conquered hell.

Maria: 00:30:01

And that's the same thing He conquers in me.

Maria: 00:30:03

So whether or not I get the miracles I'm praying for, whether or not he solves the

Maria: 00:30:07

problem or helps me solve the problem that I'm wrestling with, what he really came

Maria: 00:30:11

to save me from is not my little mortal problems, even my big mortal problems.

Maria: 00:30:16

Those are just romance and they will come and go in my life.

Maria: 00:30:20

What he came to save me from was death and hell.

Maria: 00:30:23

He, his atonement offers me this infinite gift that I will indeed be

Maria: 00:30:26

resurrected and that through repentance and this Daily effort to come on to him.

Maria: 00:30:32

I can become like him.

Maria: 00:30:34

I can be Reconciled to God.

Maria: 00:30:37

That's his gift.

Maria: 00:30:38

And when I focus on the Romans, I miss it.

Maria: 00:30:41

When I focus on him I stopped looking for another Messiah.

Maria: 00:30:45

I stopped looking for a savior who will save me from this

Maria: 00:30:48

particular thing or this issue.

Maria: 00:30:50

I, I see him for who he is and I trust him.

Maria: 00:30:55

Nephi makes it abundantly clear that the name of Jesus Christ has salvific power.

Maria: 00:31:01

It, it can literally save us.

Maria: 00:31:02

In fact, it's the only thing that can save us.

Maria: 00:31:05

So if you look in 25 verse 20, and now my brethren, I've spoken

Maria: 00:31:08

plainly that you cannot err.

Maria: 00:31:10

Ye behold, I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the

Maria: 00:31:13

Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven, save it be

Maria: 00:31:17

this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby men can be saved.

Maria: 00:31:21

He wants us to understand clearly that there is this one gate to salvation,

Maria: 00:31:25

and it is directly through Jesus Christ.

Maria: 00:31:28

What he doesn't say is that you only have to speak his name in

Maria: 00:31:31

order to access that salvation.

Maria: 00:31:33

That's when you have to read the balance of the chapter.

Maria: 00:31:35

So if you look in 23, for example, it's one of those often confused verses.

Maria: 00:31:39

It says, For we labor diligently to write, persuade our children

Maria: 00:31:42

and also our brethren to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God.

Maria: 00:31:45

For we know that it is by grace we are saved after all we can do.

Maria: 00:31:49

This is an interesting verse, especially after our studies

Maria: 00:31:51

in the New Testament, right?

Maria: 00:31:52

Because we, we wrestled with this with Paul.

Maria: 00:31:55

Do you remember when we read Paul and he talked so much about setting down works

Maria: 00:31:59

and focusing on the grace of Christ?

Maria: 00:32:01

And so some people see these as contrasting verses, Paul's

Maria: 00:32:05

opinion and Nephi's opinion.

Maria: 00:32:07

For me, I really think it's not as complicated as we make it.

Maria: 00:32:10

I think you have to kind of take things in context.

Maria: 00:32:12

So if you look around that verse, you see Nephi talking about the Law of Moses

Maria: 00:32:17

and why they still keep the Law of Moses.

Maria: 00:32:19

They see the Law of Moses as a schoolmaster, just like Paul did.

Maria: 00:32:23

But remember, Nephi is speaking before the Savior comes.

Maria: 00:32:26

So he's looking forward to the day that the Law of Moses will be

Maria: 00:32:29

fulfilled, and he's talking about the works that they are doing right now.

Maria: 00:32:33

The Law of Moses works that they are doing right now to prepare their hearts

Maria: 00:32:37

and their minds for the day the Savior will come and when it will be fulfilled.

Maria: 00:32:40

Paul, on the other hand, looks back at the fulfilling of the Law of Moses.

Maria: 00:32:44

So, when the Law of Moses is fulfilled, Paul then goes out and teaches and says,

Maria: 00:32:49

you can set down the Law of Moses now.

Maria: 00:32:51

You can put these works I also think Nephi is not trying to help

Maria: 00:32:55

us think that we don't need any works aside from the Law of Moses.

Maria: 00:32:59

I think the other verses in the chapter really help you get a feel

Maria: 00:33:02

for what Nephi's asking you to do.

Maria: 00:33:04

When he says, all you can do, for me, this is a verse all about repentance.

Maria: 00:33:09

What he's saying is all you can do is what is fueled by the Savior himself.

Maria: 00:33:13

He is the one that allows us to do all of these things.

Maria: 00:33:16

So if you look in 26, all you can do for me is talking of Christ,

Maria: 00:33:21

preaching of Christ, prophesying of Christ, telling your kids where to

Maria: 00:33:24

look for a remission of their sins.

Maria: 00:33:26

Those are things you can do, that you need to do in order to access

Maria: 00:33:30

this beautiful gift of salvation.

Maria: 00:33:32

Another one you see in 29.

Maria: 00:33:34

And now we hold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe

Maria: 00:33:36

in Christ and deny him not.

Maria: 00:33:38

And Christ is the holy one of Israel.

Maria: 00:33:40

Wherefore ye must bow down before him and worship him with all your might,

Maria: 00:33:43

your mind and strength, your whole soul.

Maria: 00:33:46

And if you do this, you shall be no wise cast out.

Maria: 00:33:49

These are things you do, right?

Maria: 00:33:51

You bow down, you worship, you offer your whole souls as an offering to him.

Maria: 00:33:55

And then 30, the last verse, they almost come as a pair.

Maria: 00:33:59

And then, Inasmuch as it shall be expedient, ye must keep the performances

Maria: 00:34:03

and ordinances of God, until the law shall be fulfilled, which was given by Moses.

Maria: 00:34:08

I really like, what sparked for me is this understanding of choosing to deny.

Maria: 00:34:12

So if you look in 29, it says, And now behold, I say unto you that the right way

Maria: 00:34:15

is to believe in Christ and deny him not.

Maria: 00:34:18

I used to think that deny him not meant to say he's not the Savior.

Maria: 00:34:21

You know, almost the way the Pharisees turned against him and denied Christ.

Maria: 00:34:26

I actually think there's a smaller way to look at that word.

Maria: 00:34:29

When I deny the Savior to me, I think it means I choose not to repent.

Maria: 00:34:33

Or I choose to believe that my sin is too far.

Maria: 00:34:37

That his reach is not far enough.

Maria: 00:34:39

That it's, I'm not worthy of it, I don't deserve it.

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I choose to deny.

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The same way you might approach a doctor who has a healing cure for you, and

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then you refuse to take the medicine.

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I just think that's what Nephi's trying to get across.

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He's saying, His offering, this gift, is freely available to you, to all of you,

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no matter how far off this road you are.

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But you have to choose to partake of it.

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You have to choose to bring it into you.

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And the way you do that is by preaching of Christ, talking of Christ, by

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believing in Christ and by bowing down before Him and worshiping Him.

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I love That understanding it one of the ways it's solidified for

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me is reading this talk from Elder Piper This is he says all must take

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upon them the name of the Father.

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This is his talk from 2018 In our day President Dallin H Oaks has taught

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that those who exercise faith in the sacred name of Jesus Christ and enter

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into his covenant can lay claim On the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

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It's a way to like grab it, to bring it into you.

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Our Heavenly Father wants to make it absolutely clear that the

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name of His Son, Jesus Christ, is not simply one name among many.

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The Savior's name has singular and essential power.

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It is the only name by which salvation is possible.

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By emphasizing this truth in every dispensation, our loving

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Father assures all of His children that there is a way back to Him.

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But having a sure way available does not mean that our return

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is automatically assured.

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God tells us that our action is required.

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Wherefore, all men and women must take upon them the name

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which is given of the Father.

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His name has salvific power, but we have to take it upon us.

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And we do that through the baptismal covenant.

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And we do it through keeping all of our other covenants and doing the

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best we can to repent and repent.

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Come unto Him daily.

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For me, the prophet who says it best is at the end of the Book of

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Mormon, when you read Moroni 10.

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Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him.

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And deny yourselves of all ungodliness.

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And if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all

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your might, mind, and strength, then is His grace sufficient for you, that by

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His grace ye may be perfect in Christ.

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And if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can

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no wise deny the power of God.

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That's his promise.

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You can be like him.

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You can partake of these waters of life freely, but you have to choose it.

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You have to choose to take part in it and take his name upon you

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to access that atoning power.

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Spark number seven I call With Wondering Awe.

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Because I have those moments now and then, especially out in nature sometimes, where

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you just sort of stop in your tracks.

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you ever seen a sunset?

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There were a few days ago where I saw a series of cars stop along

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our hill on the way down and they were all looking out at this.

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incredible sunset.

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You've probably seen something similar.

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Maybe you saw a double rainbow once and then you see people stop in

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their tracks and just stare with awe.

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Sometimes I feel this when I'm hiking and I cross over into

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a canyon or I can see far.

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There is this sense of awe that settles in.

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And what I thought was so interesting is sometimes I think this is why we're asked

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to talk of Christ and preach of Christ.

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Here's the verse in its fullness.

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This is 25 26.

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We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we

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prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our

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children may know to what source they may look for remission of their sins.

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I found myself, as I was thinking about that verse, wondering why we

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Why does it need to be a part of every conversation and every heart prayer

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and you're like, why is it so frequent?

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And I don't think it's because he needs anything from us.

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I don't think he's, he needs our praise or our affection.

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I think, you know, we, he doesn't need that from us.

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He's trying to give us something.

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That's the nature of the Savior.

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He wants to fill us.

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So when he asks us through his prophets to talk and preach and help our kids

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know where they can look for a remission of their sins, he's, he's trying to.

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give us something.

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And for me, I think it's awe.

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I mean, that's just one of the things I think he is inviting us to do.

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When you talk of Christ and his You know, His, the fullness of who He is.

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I had these moments a few times when we were studying the Gospels, where you read

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one of His miracles, or even just one of the ways He interacts with someone,

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and it's almost the same feeling you get when you see this gorgeous vista,

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or a double rainbow that comes out of nowhere, and you just stand in awe.

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I think that's part of why we talk of Christ and preach of Christ.

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Because time slows down in those moments.

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I read this talk just as I was searching and digging about awe.

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I found one by President Worthen.

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So he was the previous BYU president.

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You guys know, I quote him a lot.

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I love President Worthen's writings.

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He says this, Psychologists have described awe as the experience of

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encountering something so vast in size, skill, beauty, intensity, etc.

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that we struggle to comprehend it.

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It's the kind of thing that Moses experienced when God

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showed him the purpose, creation, and history of the earth.

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Struggling to comprehend the grandeur of all he had seen, Moses

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greatly marveled and wondered.

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As a result, he came to realize things he had never supposed.

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He was in awe, or full of awe.

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And then he lists some of the benefits.

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In fact, I think he was listening.

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He was citing it from a journal in the Atlantic Monthly or something

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like that, and he talked about some of the key benefits of experiencing awe.

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Like, it shrinks your ego.

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It gives you a greater sense of oneness with others around you.

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It increases your ability to be generous.

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It makes you kinder with others around you.

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And this one was my favorite.

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Awe shapes our sense of time.

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One series of studies found that awe made time feel more plentiful,

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which increased life satisfaction.

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It slows us down and it helps us feel something.

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It helps us feel a part of something.

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I think that's why we talk of Christ.

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That's why we preach of Christ and that's why we, in every lesson and

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in every testimony, we speak of Him because it inspires these moments of.

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Awe, where we all kind of stand back and time slows down and it shapes us.

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It allows us to change course and be kinder and be more generous

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and see ourselves in a new light.

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That's what awe offers.

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And awe comes anytime you study the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

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Time to get into the questions for week 10.

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So just like I've told you before, my hope here is just to stimulate your

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mind and get you into your scriptures.

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I just think good questions.

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open up ideas, give you a chance for the spirit to flow in, and hopefully

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you'll learn all kinds of cool things.

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In addition to these questions, you'll find dozens more as

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you jump into the scriptures.

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So let me give you five to get some good conversations started.

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Okay, this first one is a little bit odd, but here's my question.

Maria: 00:41:25

In chapter 20, verse 25, the Lord talks about how he will relieve the

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burdens of the children of Israel.

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He's going to take that yoke off them by defeating their enemies.

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And he says it's going to come in a very little while.

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And it kind of reminded me of what we read in Liberty Jail, you know, those

Maria: 00:41:41

time frames where he says his adversities will be but for a small moment.

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And I just found myself wondering why God speaks in time.

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Because what we learned from Alma is that he is kind of outside the bounds of time.

Maria: 00:41:53

Alma 40 verse 8 says that time is measured only unto man.

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So I guess my question is, why does God speak in time?

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at all?

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If that's not something he is bound by, why does he do it for us?

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I don't know if there's a condescension in it.

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I, I'm, I'm curious about your thoughts.

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Okay.

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Second question.

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This one comes from chapter 21.

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This is verse 16.

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I think there's this really cool prophecy.

Maria: 00:42:13

Basically, Isaiah is talking about Assyria and how they make roads of warfare

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and that later after Assyria is wiped out that the Lord will use those same

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roads to gather his children back home.

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And then it's kind of a metaphor for the last days and that this time of the

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gathering that's happening right now, that we will use roads that are built by the

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hands of men to accomplish God's purposes.

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And I guess my question is, Where do you see that?

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Like, I think it applies to all kinds of areas, like technology and maybe

Maria: 00:42:41

even social media and different things.

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Where do you see God using the roads that men built in order to

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accomplish this great gathering work?

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I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Okay, third question.

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This one comes from 24.

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This is where you have that really interesting section where you read about

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the king of Babylon descending into hell.

Maria: 00:42:59

It's a metaphor for how it will feel for Lucifer when he is bound.

Maria: 00:43:04

But basically, this is when the other kings see this great king of Babylon come

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into hell, they will look on him narrowly.

Maria: 00:43:11

We're going to talk about this in the object lessons too, but

Maria: 00:43:13

I think it's interesting to see.

Maria: 00:43:16

how they reacted to him.

Maria: 00:43:17

They, they react as if he's nothing and he probably feels like nothing.

Maria: 00:43:22

And there's this great section of verses.

Maria: 00:43:24

One of the quotes that came as I was studying those sections of verses

Maria: 00:43:27

was from Joseph Smith, where he talks about what hell really is.

Maria: 00:43:30

You know, we don't really teach hell the way traditional other, well, I

Maria: 00:43:33

guess other faiths do we teach it.

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Interestingly, especially from Joseph's perspective, this is what he says, The

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great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after

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death, is to know that they have come short of the glory that others enjoy,

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that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers.

Maria: 00:43:51

A man is his own tormentor or his own condemner.

Maria: 00:43:55

The torment of disappointment in the mind of a man is as exquisite as a

Maria: 00:43:58

lake burning with fire and brimstone.

Maria: 00:44:01

So I guess my hope is that you'll go into those verses and tell me where

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you see These men being tormented by their own disappointment.

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You hear it in those who speak to the King of Babylon.

Maria: 00:44:12

I think you even get a feel for it from the King of Babylon himself.

Maria: 00:44:15

Where do you see this prophecy or this teaching from Joseph Smith kind of?

Maria: 00:44:20

embodied in their story.

Maria: 00:44:22

Okay, fourth question.

Maria: 00:44:23

This one comes from 2 Nephi 25.

Maria: 00:44:25

In those first three verses of 25, when Nephi is the predominant speaker and he's

Maria: 00:44:29

teaching us about the value of Isaiah, he talks about the works of darkness.

Maria: 00:44:33

So he's not, he talks about the spirit of prophecy and how that will be what

Maria: 00:44:37

helps his children understand the words of Isaiah because he hasn't taught

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them fully about the ways of the Jews.

Maria: 00:44:42

And he did that deliberately because a lot of works are works of darkness.

Maria: 00:44:45

And so he, creates some boundaries for them.

Maria: 00:44:48

What's interesting to me is that the footnote path in that section,

Maria: 00:44:51

those first three verses, takes you to Jacob's writings, where Jacob

Maria: 00:44:54

speaks about looking beyond the mark.

Maria: 00:44:56

And I thought it was interesting to see those two things together,

Maria: 00:44:59

especially in light of what we just heard in conference from Elder Renlund.

Maria: 00:45:03

So do you remember his talk where he was talking about the, the, uh, the

Maria: 00:45:07

archaeologists who were searching for King Tut's tomb and they found out that they

Maria: 00:45:10

were literally standing on top of it for, I can't remember, was it months or years?

Maria: 00:45:14

Like they were searching all the other parts of this valley and realized that

Maria: 00:45:18

they'd never looked under their base camp.

Maria: 00:45:20

And when they did that, they found this treasure trove.

Maria: 00:45:23

So I guess I'm wondering if you see a similar situation in, in the days of the

Maria: 00:45:27

Savior himself, do you see this among the scribes and Pharisees where they

Maria: 00:45:30

were literally standing over Something of great worth, and they missed it, and

Maria: 00:45:35

how can we avoid missing it ourselves?

Maria: 00:45:38

Last question, 2 Nephi 25, 13.

Maria: 00:45:41

This is where Nephi's speaking about the crucifixion and the

Maria: 00:45:43

resurrection of the Savior.

Maria: 00:45:44

And then he says this, Wherefore my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning

Maria: 00:45:48

him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name.

Maria: 00:45:53

I thought that phrase was cool.

Maria: 00:45:54

It's not one we see often in scripture.

Maria: 00:45:57

In fact, the one that came to mind for me is when Mary says this, you know,

Maria: 00:46:00

when Mary, the mother of Jesus says that my soul doth magnify the Lord.

Maria: 00:46:05

I started to see some parallels between their stories.

Maria: 00:46:07

I do love that Nephi saw Mary, right?

Maria: 00:46:10

He is somebody who, and Isaiah saw Mary as the mother of the Savior.

Maria: 00:46:14

And I think there's some Cool parallels there, but my question is, what do you

Maria: 00:46:17

think it means to magnify the Lord?

Maria: 00:46:19

How did Nephi do it?

Maria: 00:46:21

How did Mary do it, and how can we do it?

Maria: 00:46:24

If you need some help, I think one of the places you can find

Maria: 00:46:26

it is from Sister Wright's talk.

Maria: 00:46:28

From this last conference, she gave you some tips on what it means to

Maria: 00:46:30

magnify, but I would love to hear your thoughts on how we magnify the Lord.

Maria: 00:46:36

Before we head into the object lessons, I wanted to leave you

Maria: 00:46:38

with one last little quote.

Maria: 00:46:39

This comes from.

Maria: 00:46:40

Elder Uchtdorf, this is in 2021, he said, We are all infants

Maria: 00:46:44

compared to the beings of glory and grandeur we are designed to become.

Maria: 00:46:47

No mortal being advances from crawling to walking to running without

Maria: 00:46:51

frequent stumbles, bumps, and bruises.

Maria: 00:46:53

That is how we learn.

Maria: 00:46:54

If we earnestly keep practicing, always striving to keep God's commandments and

Maria: 00:46:58

committing our efforts to repenting, enduring, and applying what we learn

Maria: 00:47:01

line upon line, we will gather light.

Maria: 00:47:03

into our souls.

Maria: 00:47:05

It's that piece that I love so much.

Maria: 00:47:06

I feel like that's Isaiah's message.

Maria: 00:47:08

It's Nephi's message.

Maria: 00:47:09

It's this slow and steady accumulation of light.

Maria: 00:47:13

Almost as if we are this giant solar panel that if we just stay focused

Maria: 00:47:16

on this pure source of light that we can accumulate light into our

Maria: 00:47:21

souls and over the course of time.

Maria: 00:47:23

We become like him.

Maria: 00:47:24

That's his promise.

Maria: 00:47:25

And we don't have to exhaust ourselves in the process or run

Maria: 00:47:28

faster than we have strength.

Maria: 00:47:29

We, we simply have to do what it asks us in D& C 123.

Maria: 00:47:32

It's one of my favorite verses of all time.

Maria: 00:47:34

D& C 123 17.

Maria: 00:47:36

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie within

Maria: 00:47:40

our power that we may stand still with the utmost assurance to see the salvation

Maria: 00:47:45

of God and for his arm to be revealed.