Latter-day Saint FAIR-Cast

He Relentlessly Pursues Us by Autumn Dickson In chapters 24 and 25 of Alma, we read about the details of a war between the Lamanites, Nephites, and the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. Let’s cover the timeline of this story so we can pull out details of how the Lord works with His people. In chapter 24 of Alma, we see the Lamanites originally coming upon the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. These converts of Anti-Nephi-Lehi had buried their weapons and as they were being slain, they raised their hands and praised the Lord. Over a thousand of these converts were slain before the Lamanites pulled back and couldn’t do it anymore. All of them stopped killing the converts, but there were still two different reactions among these aggressors. More than a thousand of the Lamanites were so affected that they joined the church that day. First of all, that experience in and of itself is mind boggling, both on the part of the killed and those doing the killing. Let’s say you’re in the group that was attacked; you’re watching a thousand of your family members and friends being killed. The second the killing stops, you jump in to help comfort, teach, convert, and welcome those who had been killing. Wild. I also think it’s wild that so many of those who were doing the killing were able to jump so quickly into redemption. It’s hard to forgive yourself, but these guys did it and it’s remarkable. But there was also a second group of Lamanites. These guys couldn’t stomach the idea of killing the defenseless people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi any longer, but their hearts were still hard. In verse 1 of chapter 25, we learn that they decided to direct their anger towards the Nephites instead. I want you to try and comprehend the switch. These Lamanite hearts are soft enough that they can’t handle killing someone stretched out on the ground before them, but their hearts are still hard enough that they can’t let go of their anger. I would imagine this is partially because they can’t bring themselves to accept the reality of what just happened. The Lamanites were raised as a wild and bloodthirsty people, but sin always affects the sinner. These experiences stayed with the Lamanites and facing the reality of what they had done to the converts was probably harder than redirecting their anger towards a different group of people who would fight back. So that’s what they did. They turned their anger to the Nephites and were like, “Yeah. This was definitely all the fault of the Nephites. Let’s get vengeance on them instead.” Their hearts were still too hard to break unto the Lord; their hearts were hard enough that they still felt that killing was the answer. As the Lamanites turned to the Nephites, they killed all the wicked people in Ammonihah before being driven back again and again. They could not overpower the Nephites, and so we find this experience next. Alma 25:6 For many of them, after having suffered much loss and so many afflictions, began to be stirred up in remembrance of the words which Aaron and his brethren had preached to them in their land; therefore they began to disbelieve the traditions of their fathers, and to believe in the Lord, and that he gave great power unto the Nephites; and thus there were many of them converted in the wilderness. Many of the leftover Lamanites converted as well. There are only a bajillion principles in this timeline ranging from forgiveness and charity to the merits of defending yourself vs. pacifism according to the will of the Lord. I can’t cover them all so the one I want to cover today is summed up nicely in the words of Elder Patrick Kearon in his conference address from this last April. God is in relentless pursuit of you. How many chances qualify as sufficient? There were three chances (that we know of) that this last group of Lamanites received to accept the gospel. The first chance came in the land of Nephi. Ammon, Aaron, and their brethren came to the Lamanite lands to preach the gospel. Many converted, and it would have likely been impossible to miss the surge of religious fervor in the area. These Lamanites had been given a chance to hear the gospel and accept it. We know that they heard some of the message because in the verse we read (Alma 25:6), it talks about how they remembered the words of Aaron. Though many joined the church, there were still plenty who rejected it. The second chance came after they literally went to war with the converts who had come to be known as Anti-Nephi-Lehies. Not only did they reject the gospel, but many Lamanites actively sought against it. Think about the state of their hearts. They killed one thousand and five converts who were laid out on the ground in front of them. The people they killed were praising God as they were slaughtered. Think about what you understand of war and what it requires to actually kill someone. Then think about how much more it would require of a man to stab a defenseless person with a sword because you were mad that they had joined a church. So much of war these days is impersonal, bombs dropped where you can’t see the people you’re affecting. Even shooting a gun is less personal than having to use a sword. I don’t bring up these facts to be gruesome. I bring them up because I want to highlight the state of the hearts of these Lamanites; understanding how far “gone” they were can help us understand just how much the Lord pursues us. I mean, we get discouraged when our friends don’t accept a copy of The Book of Mormon or an invitation to church. These Lamanites were killing, and yet, the Lord didn’t abandon or give up on them. The Lord relentlessly pursued their souls despite everything they had done, despite the state of their hearts and their willingness to kill. There came a point where even the most hardened Lamanites couldn’t kill any more defenseless people. It was too much. A large number of these Lamanite hearts broke as they acknowledged that the killing they had participated in was wrong, and the Lord was standing there, ready to forgive and heal them from the trauma they had brought on their own heads. The Lord brought them in and worked with them as soon as they were ready for it. As soon as they were ready to join hands with those who had been their “enemies,” as soon as they were ready to look into the faces of the family members of the people they killed, the Lord was ready to gather them in. I also find it beautiful that the family members of the murdered were standing ready to be the hands of the Lord and welcome them in, to show these broken Lamanites just how far the Lord was willing to go for them. But the story doesn’t even end there! Though many of the Lamanite hearts broke unto the Lord, there were still many who refused to acknowledge that maybe they were on the wrong side here. There were many who refused to consider that maybe they were only hurting themselves by continuing to kick against the pricks. Their hearts were still hard! They could no longer stomach the idea of killing defenseless, happy people, but they refused to let go of their anger and hard hearts. Instead, they just decided to go and kill the Nephites because apparently that made loads of sense to them. They couldn’t kill the converts anymore, so they decided that all this apparently revolting (in their eyes) religious conversion was definitely the fault of the Nephites so they decided to go and kill some more. The combination of Aaron’s warnings and being beaten down by Nephites finally did it for them. Their hearts finally softened and broke, and they finally considered that maybe they had been looking at the entire situation wrong. And there was the Lord, ready to accept them into the folds through the medium of baptism. If you were in the Lord’s shoes (exactly as you are, not perfect like Him but as you are now), when would you have given up on these Lamanites? When would you have said, “Okay. Enough is enough. I’m done trying to save you; you refuse to be saved.” In the midst of all this overwhelming tragedy, this one principle screams through. The Lord’s love for us runs deeper than we can truly fathom, and He absolutely, unendingly, relentlessly pursues us. We may give up, but He does not. Even when it seems like the end, His actions are still demonstrative of His relentless pursuit. As the Lamanites suited up for war against the converts, many of us would have believed, “They’re placing the last nail in their own coffins.” As the killing began, our hearts would have broken for those who were being killed and maybe even for the Lamanites who were hurting themselves. We would have thought, “Surely, they can’t come back from this.” We would have been floored with surprise as many of them threw down their own weapons in their first act of conversion, and hopefully would have cried surprised tears of joy as they entered the waters of baptism. As we watched the rest of the Lamanites angrily march off to go and kill Nephites instead, we would have thought, “Okay if that experience didn’t change them, they’re never going to change.” We would have given up, but the Lord never does. Where we saw acts of rebellion that surely announced the bull-headed desire to be damned, the Lord saw opportunities for the Lamanites to finally figure it out. When Satan started to rejoice over the powerful hold he had over the Lamanites, the Lord was just warming up and utilized all of Satan’s chains to wake them up. We are not the Lord, but let’s not forget the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies, more than any other group, held a balm for these broken-hearted Lamanites that sealed their budding conversion. These converts, who had been changed themselves, believed that the Lamanites could change and welcomed them into their homes and families. The Lord loved and relentlessly pursued, and He utilized the Anti-Nephi-Lehies as one of the extensions of that love. He can likewise utilize us. I testify of a Lord who never gives up, and I testify that if we choose to offer the same grace, compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance towards our enemies, we will find greater peace than we ever thought possible.     Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Alma 23–29 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

The Lamanite mission of the sons of Mosiah (Alma 17-29) by Mike Parker (Mike Parker is a long-time FAIR member who has graciously allowed us to use materials he originally prepared for the Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class. The scripture passages covered in his lessons don’t conform exactly to the Come, Follow Me reading schedule, so they will be shared here where they fit best. This post will cover the content for the next two weeks.) Class Notes Additional Reading Cutting off the arms of one’s enemies (as seen in Alma 17:37–39) is an ancient practice around the world; see: John M. Lundquist and John W. Welch, “Ammon and Cutting Off the Arms of Enemies,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1992), 180–82. Bruce H. Yerman, “Ammon and the Mesoamerican Custom of Smiting Off Arms,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8, no. 1 (1999): 44–47, 78–79. The presence of horses in the promised land is mentioned eight times in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 18:25; Enos 1:21; Alma 18:9–12; 20:6; 3 Nephi 3:22; 4:4; 6:1; Ether 9:19). Archaeological evidence for the presence of the horse in the pre-Columbian Americas is scant and inconclusive. The following articles explore the possibilities that horses survived to Book of Mormon times or that the Lehites called a similar animal by a familiar name: “Book of Mormon Evidence: Horses,” Evidence Central, 16 January 2023. “When Lehi’s Party Arrived in the Land, Did They Find Horses There? (KnoWhy #649),” Book of Mormon Central, 17 October 2022. Daniel Johnson, “‘Hard’ Evidence of Ancient American Horses,” BYU Studies Quarterly 54, no. 3 (2015): 149–79. Duane Boyce explored the views of the people of Ammon toward war in “Were the Ammonites Pacifists?”, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 18, no. 1 (2009): 32–47. At end of Alma chapter 22, Mormon₂ left a detailed explanation of the geographical layout of the lands where the Nephites and Lamanites lived (see Alma 22:27–34). Why did he do this? And how can understanding the internal geography of the Book of Mormon help us understand the text better? Book of Mormon Central examines this topic in KnoWhy #130.     Mike Parker is a business and marketing analyst with over twenty years’ experience in the financial services and cellular telephone industries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management Information Systems from Dixie State University (now Utah Tech University) of St George, Utah. He also has eight years’ experience in corporate training and currently teaches an adult religion class in southern Utah. Mike and his wife, Denise, have three children. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Alma 17-29 – Mike Parker appeared first on FAIR.

The Power of Women by Autumn Dickson Just as a heads up, I will be speaking about Ammon this week, but it takes a bit for me to segue into it so stay with me. In the March 2024 Relief Society Broadcast, J. Anette Dennis, the first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency taught, “There is no other religious organization in the world, that I know of, that has so broadly given power and authority to women.” This has caused quite a backlash on social media. I’ve read a lot of the comments regarding it, and though there are too many to cover, I’d like to talk about one common argument. There are many women who feel silenced in the church. They may receive priesthood authority to perform their callings, but there are still male leaders who hold authority over their authority. This can lead to feelings of being stepped on, passed over, and ignored. I don’t disbelieve that this occurs. I know many faithful women who have had experiences where their voices didn’t matter; their perspectives were invalidated, and their opportunities to make a difference felt cut off. On top of that, because of our belief in organized priesthood authority, it can feel like there’s little room for redress. I believe in priesthood authority. I believe it’s given to men and women to perform various callings on the earth to help build the kingdom. I believe that the Lord leads His church, and I believe that His church policies change according to His will. I believe the general authorities in the church are good people who seek out the Lord’s will to the best of their abilities and that they do a really great job of it. I believe that despite the issues caused by the fact that we are all imperfect people, the system given to us by the Lord is generally effective and gives us opportunities to grow. I also believe that any of the imperfections we experience in this priesthood system given to us by the Lord cannot truly take away our power nor does it need to impede our personal growth. Let’s talk just a little bit about this structure, and then we’re going to talk about Ammon. The priesthood system of management There are a couple of facts we need to be aware of that can help us recognize what’s really happening around us. Understanding these facts can help us understand what issues we may run into, and it can also help us solve any problems that come as a result of imperfect people. Our first fact is that a majority of the callings with higher authority in the church are held by men. This is difficult for a lot of faithful women who feel that whatever authority they’re supposed to receive can be usurped and passed over. There are two perspectives we need to take into consideration here. I don’t believe it’s a problem rooted in sexism. In other words, I don’t believe that’s the cause. I have seen my husband have his authority usurped by other men who hold authority over his authority. I’ve had male friends asked to be released because they felt that their opinions never mattered, and they were always being passed over. This is not to diminish the problems a lot of women face, but I think it’s important to recognize what’s really happening in order to fix the problem. I don’t believe this is a sexism problem. I believe it’s a bad management problem. The second perspective is to recognize that it happens disproportionately to women because of the nature of the structure. Men often hold more authority which means they have more opportunities to usurp power. Women often hold less authority which means more plentiful opportunities to have power usurped. I don’t know if things are going to change. I don’t see everything that the Lord sees. I don’t know why women have priesthood power and authority but do not hold priesthood offices. I don’t know why the Lord has organized his church in the way that He has. There are plenty of theories out there, but we have to be careful with theories. We should not try to definitively explain the Lord’s mind when He has not chosen to do so Himself. So we believe in the Lord. We believe that He guides His living church. We also believe that He loves His daughters as much as He loves His sons. Sometimes this can cause some cognitive dissonance. How do we reconcile the imperfections of the priesthood structure with the fact that He (at least for now) has chosen this structure? How do we reconcile that with our belief that He loves all of His children equally? There are two perspectives I’d like to share. The first perspective is that there are no perfect systems of governance in an imperfect world. There will be pros and cons to each system of governance. There will always be chances for corruption. I don’t know what the Lord sees, but I know that He set things up this way for some reason. I don’t know if He plans on changing the priesthood structure during this mortal period of the earth or if He’s laying the groundwork for change, and it just takes a while. I don’t know. I do know He sees more than I do. For the second perspective, I’d like to take a look at Ammon. It is Ammon that inspired the message for me this week. Ammon’s “illogical” decision This week we read about Ammon going to the Lamanites to try and teach the gospel. As he enters into the land, he is taken and bound and brought before King Lamoni. King Lamoni speaks with him and ends up liking him so much that he offers his daughter to Ammon. Alma 17:25 But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant. Therefore Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to the custom of the Lamanites. Though we don’t find much detail about this daughter that was offered up to Ammon, it was this daughter that drew my attention to this issue I’ve been pondering so much. Here we find a woman who is a commodity, and we find Ammon turning down the offer. Ammon could have gotten married and exercised his newfound authority to try and spread the gospel far and wide. But he didn’t. Ammon chose to be a servant. Some would have found this approach illogical. How much good could Ammon do as a servant in comparison to being a son-in-law to the king? Despite any arguments about the illogical nature of his choice, this is the route Ammon chose to take. And this is precisely where we find a key to our problem. Ammon turned down authority to become a servant, and it was this exact process that made him the powerful missionary that he was. Authority does not equate to power I have a feeling that if I were to ask some of these women why they wanted more authority, many of them would answer things like, “Because I want to help” or “Because I want to build the kingdom and I feel like I’m not allowed.” Many of these women have likely been in situations where they felt like they had received revelation about how to make a difference, and someone had prevented them from acting on some of that revelation. It can be extremely frustrating when you’re trying to help, and you’re feeling rebuffed over and over. Interestingly enough, if we can take on the same perspective as Ammon, we will find far more power to do good than we previously dreamed of. Ammon chose to be a servant. Perhaps Ammon knew that authority doesn’t always equate to power. Or, in the very least, Ammon chose to follow God and God knows that authority doesn’t always equate to power. God doesn’t care if you’re a bishop. I repeat; God doesn’t care about whether you’re a bishop. But Satan does. If Satan can convince you that you’re being held back because you’re not allowed to have more authority, then he can distract you from rising to your true power. You can be a nursery leader for the rest of your life, male or female, and make as big of a difference as any bishop, stake president, or prophet. We see this with Ammon. He was watching over sheep, and it was this very position of servitude that opened the path for him to change the lives of thousands upon thousands of people. You do not need authority to have immense priesthood power. I know some may argue that this is a copout for a structure that naturally puts women at a disadvantage, but I truly believe it. I am a daughter of God. I am immensely powerful, with or without a specific priesthood jurisdiction. If we’re diminishing our power to only our formally held callings, then we are holding everyone back, not just women. You are important. God believes you’re important, but until you believe that you have power within yourself (regardless of what calling or authority you’ve been given) then the only real limiting factor here is you because God is ready to take you above and beyond. Even if people with more authority than you can override specific revelations you have received for your calling, you have not lost your power. Let’s say you find yourself in this specific situation. You’re a Relief Society President and feel really strongly about changing something in your realm of priesthood authority. Let’s say your bishop tells you no. What is the reality of this situation? Perhaps your bishop has an ego problem, and it’s affecting his management. This does happen sometimes. Perhaps he’s a good man who the Lord is molding and pulling along; it’s just taking a bit (because hello…we’re all stubborn and often need to get pulled along). Either way, we’re feeling like our power has been limited, but is that really the truth? I don’t believe so. I believe that if something truly needs to happen, the Lord can move heaven and earth to make it happen. The Lord will handle the bishop, whether he needs to be humbled or have his eyes opened. But you still have everything you need to make the difference that the Lord wants you to make. You have all the power you need to bring His children home to Him, because that’s really our goal in the end, isn’t it? It’s to bring everyone home. Sometimes we equate power with authority and the ability to make decisions without anyone stopping you, but that is a slim definition of power. True power is a recognition of who you are, who the Lord is, and how He wants to propel you further in life than you could have ever imagined. Sometimes we equate power with a microphone in a large auditorium. But if you’re looking for true power, do you know what you’ll find? You’ll find that wrapping your arm around a friend holds more power than the lesson that was chosen to be taught in Relief Society. You’ll find that your broken hearts and compassion will far outweigh the influence found within decisions that are far removed from personal, individual relationships. Your prayers will have eternal consequences that can’t be touched by who gets to teach at the stake fireside. You will find creative solutions that allow you to stretch your wings and bless many despite any authority “over” you. Think about your own life. What has held more influence over your actions, life perspectives, and testimonies? A talk given by a prophet or the involvement of a parent? Surely a talk given by a prophet can do much good, but a talk by a prophet means nothing without a foundation laid by an individual, personal interaction with a disciple of Christ. We have all of the power AND opportunity we need to influence the world in incredible ways. None of our systems are perfect because none of our people are perfect, but isn’t that the point of the gospel? There are “problems” with each of the decisions that Heavenly Father has made in regards to our salvation (agency, priesthood authority structure, etc.), but we have the atonement of Jesus Christ. And the atonement of Jesus Christ means there’s always a loophole, there is always a way for things to turn out for our good. I believe in a Heavenly Father and Mother who made decisions together for the benefit of Their children. I believe They lead, guide, and love. I believe we have everything we could ever need and want to make the specific differences They want us to make, and I believe that Their specific paths for our lives are the most powerful paths we can take.     Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Alma 17–22 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Foreordained by Autumn Dickson As we begin the chapters for this week, we find Alma preaching to the people regarding a variety of topics. One of these topics is how high priests are foreordained and sent to the earth to fulfill special callings. Alma 13:3-4 3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such. 4 And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren. According to these verses, people are foreordained according to their faith and good works before they came here. Men and women were chosen and prepared to do specific things in their lives as dictated by their actions in the premortal existence. I think of all the men and women who are leading the church and building the kingdom in significant ways. And I also thought about the fact that there are many of us who aren’t chosen as general church leaders. I think about those of us who have quieter callings. What does that say about us? I used to think it meant that I simply wasn’t good enough, that I hadn’t been strong enough to choose or that I didn’t have it within me to be one of these foreordained. Interestingly enough, the second verse teaches us exactly what keeps someone from having the same great privileges as their brethren, namely a hard heart and blind mind. Let’s talk about those two things in the context of being foreordained. A blind mind What does a blind mind look like in the context of foreordination? When I think of blind, I obviously think of someone who can’t see. So we’re talking about not seeing this concept of foreordination clearly. I’m sure there are a million ways this can manifest, but there is one that I’m thinking of specifically and would like to talk about. My husband, Conner, is the one who helped me see in relation to foreordination. I don’t think he ever meant to. I don’t think we’ve ever had a conversation about the doctrine of foreordination. However, observing him has brought about a dramatic shift in how I view callings in life. Conner is not what I thought I would marry. I knew that I wanted to marry someone spiritual, but my view on what it meant to be “spiritual” was very narrow. I was naive, and I thought that being spiritual included long patterns of praying, reading scriptures, and pondering. Interestingly enough, these are all things I’m relatively good at. My sometimes-neurotic personality means that my family reads the scriptures, prays, and goes to church very regularly. Conner and I go to the temple. We have family home evening with all the prayers and songs, and all of the lists get checked off. In my young and limited world view, I believed that this list checking signaled spirituality, and I believed that these were habits that could be easy to anyone who simply chose to prioritize them. Then I got to know Conner. He was chaotic and impulsive. If he’s holding still during a church meeting, it’s because I’m tickling his back or hand. He hardly remembers to eat, let alone daily worshiping tasks. But the more I got to know Conner, the more I heard the Spirit whispering to me that there was something more to him that I couldn’t quite grasp. The Spirit would give me these moments where I could see him as the Lord saw him. I couldn’t describe it but I could feel that Lord was molding Conner into something specific, something very different than what I had pictured. And though I couldn’t reconcile it with my view of what spirituality was supposed to look like, I continued the relationship. Now please don’t get me wrong. I obviously whole-heartedly believe in regular worshiping activities. I do believe we need to do everything to prioritize them because the Lord asked us to. But I also know now that all of these daily tasks don’t always completely equate with goodness and spirituality, and I know there are far more measures of spirituality to take into consideration. I also know that just because these tasks come easily to my personality, they aren’t easy for everyone. I have also learned that the Lord needed different personalities with different strengths and weaknesses in order to build His kingdom to the fullest extent. And that is precisely what I mean by blindness of mind. For so long, I would read those verses and picture somber people who fit into this very specific archetype, and this extremely narrow view (this blindness of mind, if you will) limited me. There are people who were foreordained to be temple presidents and general authorities, but the Lord didn’t just want temple presidents and general authorities. Can you imagine how limited our world would be if we only had temple presidents and general authorities? We need so much more. God is an extremely multidimensional Being, and all of us reflect something of Him. I used to think I needed to try to tame the chaos that is my husband, but I have since learned that his chaos and all of the unique things about Conner were given specifically to Conner so Conner could fulfill his specific mission in life. There are things that Conner can accomplish that I will never be able to do, and I have a testimony that he can do those things because he is built differently than a temple president. When it comes to foreordination, sometimes blindness of mind means that we have this idea in our heads of what foreordination is supposed to look like and only some people qualify for it. Only some people fit into the mold, and all of a sudden, we’re leaving out remarkable people who had specific jobs too. Yes, men were foreordained to be high priests, but there were so many more callings to give out. It’s easy to see how my work (my blog, Youtube channel, and podcast) require revelation from the Lord. It requires me to regularly seek Him out, but I have learned that Conner is just as inspired and attuned to revelation in his work. I have watched him sink into these trance-like states as he ponders specific engineering problems, and I have watched him come out on the other end after he has been inspired with solutions. I am convinced that he receives revelation as regularly as I do; it just looks different than what I receive. We need to broaden our perspective on what foreordination can look like. You were foreordained to build the kingdom, but there are a million ways to build that kingdom. What principles did the Lord use to create the world? Physics, engineering, biology. These are spiritual principles to Him. Your calling to build the kingdom may very well look like something that is traditionally viewed as secular. But we have to expand that view. We have to cast away that blindness and realize that the Lord wants to utilize each individual in beautiful, specific ways. There are so many kinds of work, and just about every single one of them can be turned into spiritual work if we’re simply willing to include the Lord. And when we broaden our view of foreordination and realize that our “secular” work can include the Lord, He vastly expands our capacities and influence for good. Believing that our work is lesser because it isn’t “spiritual” keeps us from stepping into that foreordination we were given and doing all the good we’re capable of doing. A hard heart And this is where the “hard heart” principle comes in. Are our hearts soft enough to believe that He can work with us? Have we softened towards Him enough to believe that He loves us, made us as we are, and gave us specific gifts to fulfill specific roles that look different than the roles of others? Can we allow ourselves to believe that He can utilize us to influence the world in powerful ways? Can we trust Him to take us where we can make a difference? Can we trust Him to help us understand what “powerful influence” means? When we think of changing the world, we often think of people with microphones and stadiums, but Jesus Christ worked with individuals, small groups, and His voice could only carry as loud as He could speak. Let go of your own predilections for what you’re supposed to look like and what it looks like to influence the world for good. Soften your heart, and let the Lord mold you and give you specific experiences so He can utilize you in all of the best ways, the ways that may not make sense to the world but make perfect sense in the context of everything He knows. I testify that no one is special. That would imply that the Lord holds favorites, but the Lord is absolutely willing to work with anyone who wants to be worked with. We are unique, and there are unique callings but there are no secret, special ingredients you have to innately possess in order to qualify as “foreordained.” The only thing holding someone back from their “great privilege” is their own unwillingness to see themselves as the Lord sees them or a hardness of heart that disables them from connecting with the Lord to become all they were meant to become. If you’re worried that you weren’t good enough in the pre-existence, it’s never to start turning to the Lord and allowing Him to work with you. The Lord is willing and capable to turn you into so much more than you have in mind for yourself.     Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Alma 13–16 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Revelation specialist Autumn Dickson discusses Alma's journey to convert the people of Ammonihah, the angel's command to preach again, and the significance of trusting in the Lord's guidance. Emphasis on understanding revelation, making decisions with faith, and overcoming fear through embracing a close relationship with the Lord.

Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, an associate professor of Church history, discusses the significance of seer stones in Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon. They explore the role of seer stones, the history of translating ancient languages, and challenges faced by historians. The podcast also delves into different seer stones associated with Joseph Smith and analyzes historical accounts and challenges. Guest Sarah Allen joins the discussion, emphasizing the importance of discerning truth amidst mockery of historical events.

The ministry of Alma & Amulek (Alma 5–16) by Mike Parker (Mike Parker is a long-time FAIR member who has graciously allowed us to use materials he originally prepared for the Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class. The scripture passages covered in his lessons don’t conform exactly to the Come, Follow Me reading schedule, so they will be shared here where they fit best. This post will cover the remaining weeks of June.) Class Notes Handout Additional Reading Robert A. Rees, “Alma the Younger’s Seminal Sermon at Zarahemla,” in Bountiful Harvest: Essays in Honor of S. Kent Brown, ed. Andrew C. Skinner, D. Morgan Davis, and Carl Griffin (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011), 329–43. Why does Alma 7:10 say Jesus was born “at Jerusalem” when the Bible says he was born in Bethlehem? Robert F. Smith answers this question in “The Land of Jerusalem: The Place of Jesus’ Birth,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, ed. John W. Welch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book / Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1992), 170–72. Thomas A. Wayment, “The Hebrew Text of Alma 7:11,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14, no. 1 (2005): 98–103. Wayment argues that the translation of Isaiah 53:4 in Alma 7:11 is closer to the Hebrew text than the English translation in the King James Bible is. BYU professor John W. Welch explains the Nephite system of weights and measures in Alma 11:3–19 in “Weighing and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8, no. 2 (1999): 36–45, 86. (See also Robert F. Smith’s “Table of Relative Values” in the same issue.) Alma₂ forbade Amulek from using the power of God to save the believers in Ammonihah from being killed (Alma 14:11). Why does God permit evil to take place in the world? Elder Spencer W. Kimball gave some ideas in his article “Tragedy or Destiny,” Improvement Era 69, no. 3 (March 1966): 178–80, 210–12, 214, 216–17.     Mike Parker is a business and marketing analyst with over twenty years’ experience in the financial services and cellular telephone industries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management Information Systems from Dixie State University (now Utah Tech University) of St George, Utah. He also has eight years’ experience in corporate training and currently teaches an adult religion class in southern Utah. Mike and his wife, Denise, have three children. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Alma 5–7; Alma 8–12; Alma 13–16 – Mike Parker appeared first on FAIR.

The Change of Heart by Autumn Dickson In the chapters for this week, we find various sermons and experiences from Alma as he is traveling from city to city to try and build up the church. In one of the areas, Zarahemla, he found some issues within the church that were plaguing the Saints and taking them away from the Lord. This is another one of those chapters growing up that troubled me and made me worry about my salvation. As I read verses about being stripped of pride and envy (particularly difficult as an insecure teenager), or when I read verses about walking blameless before God, I was convinced I didn’t stand a chance. I never think it’s a bad idea to consider the state of your soul and talk to the Lord about it, but it has to be done right. There have been plenty of times that I’ve examined the apparently black state of my soul growing up and thinking that there was no way I’d ever be good enough to live with God again. This wasn’t uplifting or helpful. It didn’t make me a better person. It just made me focus more on myself. I was doing plenty of good things, but those good things weren’t changing me. Which is rather unfortunate and ironic when you think about the fact that change is literally the entire point of this earthly exercise. A mighty change of heart absolutely includes a desire to do what’s right, to follow the Lord, and serve those around us. However, a mighty change of heart includes much more than that. There is a process to follow that I believe often gets pushed out of order to our own detriment. Let’s observe exactly what Alma is teaching here, and I think we’ll find how to have our hearts changed in a way that is uplifting and joyful. Understanding exactly what Alma is teaching about being prepared to meet God can help us to accomplish more good works than we otherwise would be able to, and it can also help us go about this process in a way that fills our souls rather than leaving us empty. How does the change of heart occur? Alma is addressing the Saints in Zarahemla when he starts talking about remembering the captivity of their fathers. He talks about them being encircled by the bands of death and chains of hell. An everlasting destruction awaited them. Were they destroyed? No. Their restraints were loosed. Alma then asks: Alma 5:10 And now I ask of you on what conditions are they saved? Yea, what grounds had they to hope for salvation? What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death, yea, and also the chains of hell? That’s what we’re trying to find out here, right? We’ve all found ourselves encircled with bands that we can’t break ourselves. We’ve all sinned. So how did our fathers escape? Because if we can figure out how they escaped, we can know how to escape ourselves. Luckily, Alma describes it clearly. And if I had been able to observe the answer as a teenager, it would have surprised me. Alma 5:12 And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true. What saved them? It wasn’t an incessant, bullheaded attempt to do everything right. It was faith! It’s so funny because I was absolutely surrounded by Texas Christians growing up who were of the opinion that “works” were completely unnecessary. You were only saved by believing in Christ. We believe in works, and there is a place for works, and we will talk about works. But maybe they were onto something. I feel like we have a culture in the church that talks about our belief in grace and faith as they are related to salvation, but we also inwardly scoff a little. We’re afraid to lean on grace and faith to the extent that we relinquish responsibility for our actions to our detriment. I feel like we profess the idea of grace and faith, and yet oftentimes, our beliefs about our own worthiness and the extent to which we beat ourselves up does not reflect this belief in the Savior’s ability to redeem. And yet, here we have Alma, teaching that it was faith that freed them from their bonds. So let’s cover grace and works again. Where does faith come in and what’s the point of works? How do the two relate together? I’ve only talked about it a million times, but that’s because the relationship between the two is complex. There are a lot of ways to teach it and better understand it. There are layers to it, so we’re going to add another layer here that can hopefully add to what we’ve already studied about grace and works. Works-first method Perhaps we don’t mean to, but I believe we often follow a “works first” method and we believe that the faith (and all the feelings associated with salvation) just kinda descends later. I tried that for a long time, and it never descended. I think sometimes we believe that if we’re following the commandments and standards, those good feelings of freedom and peace and salvation are simply going to show up. Not so. Here is a disclaimer before I start elaborating. Someday perfection will come. Someday, you’ll never have to fall down again. That day is not today, not in this environment on earth. Heavenly Father set you up to fail, not because He doesn’t love you but because we had to fail. We needed to fail in order to become like Him. It had to happen. He wants us to be like Him, and He knew the only way to achieve that all-important goal was if we were placed in an environment with enough opposition to fall down repeatedly. He set us up to fail for a good reason, and He provided His Son to pay for those failures. So stop trying to stop failing. Don’t make that your goal. When we follow a works-first based method, we place all of our hopes on the idea that we’re going to stop falling down. We believe that we have to stop falling down in order to go home. Perhaps we don’t phrase it like that out loud, but that’s what we internally believe. That’s why we beat ourselves up every time we mess up or when we can’t overcome our flaws as fast as we want. That’s why we get discouraged and wonder if we’re good enough. It’s because we subconsciously believe we have to stop falling, and as we covered before, there is purpose in our weaknesses and fallen environment. In a works-first method, we’re placing our faith in ourselves, not in Christ. We claim to believe in Christ. We claim that He pays for our sins and will forgive as often as we repent. However, if we truly believed that, if we truly let His grace seep into our hearts, we would feel joyful about His ability to save us and bring us home. When I say we’re placing our faith in ourselves, I mean that we’re trying to use our own abilities to stop falling down. It won’t work. It will only leave you battered and discouraged until you eventually want to stop trying. Have you ever felt that way? “I can’t do everything. I’m so tired. I want to just give up.” It’s because subconsciously we believe that we have to do everything, and it’s simply not true. Faith-first method Like I mentioned previously, sometimes we internally scoff at people who tell us to stop striving, that belief is all you need. I’m not telling you to stop striving. I’m telling you to change your goal. I’m telling you to switch to a much more effective method of striving. The works-based method and the faith-based method both have the same eventual goal: perfection. However, they approach it in dramatically different ways. Only one is effective: faith-based. When you are following the faith-based method, you know that trusting Christ is the only way to salvation. You stop trying to stop falling down. Instead, you collect strength every time you fall down and get back up. You have faith in a Savior who paid the price so you could be sent here to fail and gain the experience you so desperately needed. And as we choose to focus on collecting strength and developing a deep gratitude for the Savior’s ability to redeem, something absolutely incredible happens. Our hearts change. I have experienced it, and it feels so good. The gospel feels good. Salvation feels good. I do fail. I’m not a perfect mother or wife. I get angry when I feel wronged. I murmur. I can be vain. I can be selfish, and I can hold a grudge. But because I believe in my Savior, I turn to Him. I believe that He adores me, that He thinks I’m wonderful, that He believes in me, so I turn to Him. And as I repeatedly turn to Him with trust, I feel those wonderful feelings of salvation, and I change. It’s difficult to be angry and vain and selfish when faced with the reality of the love of your Savior. My heart changes. I want to do good, and it becomes easier to do good and become good. Faith comes in two forms, or at least that’s how I’m going to describe it so I can make sure I’m really hitting this point home. There is faith in the form of obedience, and there is faith in the form of trusting your relationship with the Savior. Both types of faith are action words. I had to choose to trust my Savior as much as I’ve ever had to choose to be obedient. Trying to choose faith in the form of obedience without faith in the form of trust is the worst. Don’t do it. It’s a miserable way to live the gospel, and it’s completely ineffective. I think sometimes we’re afraid to let go of our own constant nagging towards ourselves because we’re afraid we’ll let go, become comfortable in our sin, and then we’ll actually find ourselves in a ton of trouble. I know I was afraid of that. But it’s not what happens. When we let go of the nagging and embrace the Savior and His ability to save, you find a much deeper motivation to do good and be good. You want to be stripped of envy and pride? Experience the love of your Savior, and you won’t feel a need to compare yourself to anyone. It melts away. Embrace the Savior. Embrace faith and trust in Him. It’s the only happy and effective way to live the gospel.     Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Alma 5–7 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Mosiah and Amlici by Autumn Dickson Within the chapters this week, we see two contrasted examples of men who are types of the Savior and Satan. It’s remarkable that these two examples were so closely put together within these chapters, and it’s very easy to observe the Plan of Salvation on a minute scale because of it. King Mosiah First, we have King Mosiah. He is obviously the representation of the Savior. He had all of this power bestowed on him, true power that was valid and recognized among the people. Here are two verses that very clearly put forth the Savior’s stance during the war in heaven as we were trying to decide how to proceed with the rest of our very long lives. Mosiah was king over the Nephites and decided to form a new government. The people would elect judges and acknowledge laws and all live according to those laws. This is what King Mosiah had to say about it. Mosiah 29:31-32 31 For behold I say unto you, the sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings. 32 And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land. The second verse is very easy to find the parallel. Our Savior wanted us to have our freedom to choose. He wanted us to have the right to design our own eternal lives, to build what we wanted our eternal futures to look like. He was wise enough to understand that this was the only way we could truly be happy, to have the freedom to choose happiness. You can’t force someone into happiness even if you can force them to make choices that were meant to bring happiness. The first verse that I included was also important because it describes the other side of the coin of freedom. King Mosiah teaches his people that sin can be caused by kings which equates to that sin falling upon the heads of the kings rather than on the heads of the people. Responsibility is as crucial to our happiness as freedom. We need the opportunity to take control of our own futures because it is only in the building of those futures that we find true happiness. Let me give an example. I dated Conner for a year and a half before we got married, and I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed for an answer about whether to marry him. I know that some people do receive answers when they pray about that kind of thing which is awesome, but I had a slightly different experience. Heavenly Father never truly answered me, and as I’ve made my way through marriage, I learned why. I chose Conner on my own. I had known him for a very long time. We had seen the worst of each other if I’m being perfectly honest, but we had also seen plenty of good. After we got married, I don’t feel like I was completely caught off guard by choices he made because I knew what I had married. There was beauty in this. I had desperately craved that validation from Heavenly Father, and I think Heavenly Father is wise in whether He chooses to bestow that validation or not because we’re all learning different lessons at different times in our lives. But for me, at this time in my life, He knew that I needed to make my own choice. I needed to make my own choice so that when hard things came up in my marriage (which they inevitably always do), I couldn’t shake my fists at the heavens and ask why Heavenly Father had put me here. I had to look at myself, take responsibility for the choice I had made, and decide what I was going to do with those hard things. That doesn’t mean I leave Heavenly Father out of the equation, to the contrary. I ask Heavenly Father for help all the time. The difference is that I decide to make my marriage what I want my marriage to be. When something difficult comes along, I don’t throw up my hands and say, “Well this is where Heavenly Father put me so I guess I just have to deal.” I decide how I’m going to change, how I’m going to approach Conner, and a million other little choices. I’m very blessed to have a husband who makes these same choices. The Lord let me own my marriage, and because He let me own it, I’ve been able to create something beautiful with my own choices and His help. It’s been an exhilarating and fulfilling process that has brought me far more happiness than I thought possible. It has brought me far more happiness in comparison to hoping that happiness would just fall on me; happiness simply doesn’t happen that way. We need freedom and responsibility to own our lives and build what we want. Sometimes Heavnely Father gives us an answer, and that’s comforting and wonderful and definitely has its purposes in our life that can teach us important lessons. Sometimes He’s silent, not because He doesn’t care or doesn’t love us, but because He’s trying to push us into our big kid shoes. He’s trying to make us like Him, where we get to create what we want. We get to make choices, tell Him what we want, and then He helps us build that kind of future. He does this because He knows it’s an incredible process. King Mosiah also wanted this for his people. Amlici On the other end of the spectrum, we find Amlici. Amlici wanted to get rid of this new system of government five years after Mosiah put it into place; he wanted there to be kings again and he wanted to be king. So everyone got together and put in their votes, and the voice of the people came back. Amlici was not to be king. Not enough people wanted it. When Amlici was not chosen as king, this happens: Alma 2:9-10 9 And it came to pass that they gathered themselves together, and did consecrate Amlici to be their king. 10 Now when Amlici was made king over them he commanded them that they should take up arms against their brethren; and this he did that he might subject them to him. Can we not see the parallels between Amlici and Satan? When Satan lost the war in heaven, he threw a hissy fit and dubbed himself powerful over the world. He enlisted those who had followed him to try and bring as many people under his control as possible. And that is where we observe the true Satan. That is where we get a glimpse of Satan as he truly is, not as he is promoting himself to the people. Amlici wasn’t going around telling people that he wanted to be powerful and rule over everyone. He was arguing the merits of having a king to protect them. He was whispering and promising power to those who would be loyal to him. Amlici’s arguments were attractive. But the second he didn’t get what he wanted, he tried to force them. This is Satan. Satan had an “attractive” plan. Everyone would come home after going down to earth because Satan was going to make sure of it. Anyone who has had a loved one leave the gospel and felt fear or whether that loved one would be coming home can feel the attraction of Satan’s plan. You don’t have to look around you and wonder who is going to be missing. You don’t have to look internally and wonder whether you’re going to be missing. Satan told you he loved you, that he wanted to bring you home, that he would never risk your soul by sending you down to make mistakes. You have a “king” who will protect you and bring you home no matter the cost. And that was precisely the problem. No matter the cost. What was the cost of Satan’s plan? Everything. The point of the Plan of Salvation was to come down here, make mistakes and struggle and grow, and go home prepared to live like our Heavenly Father. It is only in this manner that we can find eternal happiness. Satan’s “Plan of Salvation” would have brought all of us home. But the cost was the entire purpose of the plan. We would have returned unchanged. We would not have been prepared to live like God which means we would have been damned in our capacity to experience happiness forever. We would have been stuck right where we were, forced to do what’s right forever but never tasting the goodness of those right choices because they weren’t really our choices. Amilici didn’t want to protect the people as king. He wanted to own the people as king. He was willing to risk the lives of his followers and those who voted against him because no one mattered to Amlici except Amlici. He didn’t care about those who died in battle. He cared about whether he won. Satan didn’t love us enough to want to bring us all home. He loved himself enough to be willing to sacrifice the happiness of all of his brothers and sisters because he believed that power over us would make him happy. The ultimate narcissist. When he lost, he just went on a rampage working to destroy any shred of happiness on the earth. If he had truly loved us, he would have still worked for our happiness under any conditions he was given. But he doesn’t love us. He loves himself, and he’s willing to sacrifice us. These are powerful stories and characters that can teach us so much about Heavenly Father’s choices for our lives here on earth. We hear people cry about the trauma and devastation on earth, and those are valid cries. But the opposite, a removal of agency, was a fate worse than death literally. It was an eternity stuck in the same state. It was an eternity of boredom and unhappiness and damnation in our progression. Agency was necessary and beautiful. There were some immensely tragic consequences to agency, but we can look to two facts for comfort. One. The alternative was worse. Two. We have a Savior who suffered and promised to take care of everything. No hurt will stay hurt with the Savior. No wound is too deep. No consequence of agency is too far for the Savior to reach. Our Heavenly Parents and Savior love us. They chose this plan for us, and then They took care of absolutely everything. They know how to be happy, and they have provided us with the perfect plan to find that happiness and to build it in our lives forever. And then the Savior paid for it. We are so loved; we have every reason to trust Them.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Mosiah 29–Alma 4 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Allen Hansen was featured in episode 2. This is the full interview. Check out Allen’s other work: https://independent.academia.edu/HansenAllen   Sarah Allen is a senior researcher with FAIR, and the 2022 recipient of the John Taylor: Defender of the Faith Award. By profession, she works in mortgage compliance and is a freelance copyeditor. An avid reader, she loves studying the Gospel and the history of the restored Church. After watching some of her friends lose their testimonies, she became interested in helping others through their faith crises. That’s when she began sharing what she’d learned through her studies. She is a co-moderator of the LDS subreddit on Reddit and the author of a multi-part series rebutting the CES Letter. She’s grateful to those at FAIR who have given her the opportunity to share her testimony with a wider audience. The post Me, My Shelf, & I – Episode 7 – Seer Stones w/ Allen Hansen (Full Interview) appeared first on FAIR.