The Allegory of the Olive Tree; Jacob contended with Sherem (Jacob 4–7) 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.) Class Notes Handout Additional Reading Ricks, Stephen D. and John W. Welch, eds. The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book / Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1994. BYU–Idaho professor Bruce Satterfield’s page on olive tree horticulture (with photographs).   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 – Jacob 5–7 – Mike Parker appeared first on FAIR.

Servants in the Vineyard by Autumn Dickson There are a ton of resources out there regarding the Allegory of the Olive Tree found in Jacob 5. You can find information about olive trees and why they’re such a fantastic symbol. You can find timelines for the gathering and scattering of Israel that very closely follow the timeline of the gathering and scattering of branches throughout the vineyard. There is so much out there given by extremely qualified people who have researched horticulture and religious history. I am not one of those people, but maybe I can be helpful in a different way. If you get nothing else out of the Allegory of the Olive Tree, get this: the Lord is currently performing His last work among His people. He has spent a lot of time gathering and scattering His people, and this is the last time He is going to gather them before He comes again. We were always meant to be a part of gathering those people. Jacob 5:70 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other servants; and they were few. There are so many reasons that we were meant to be a part of the gathering. However, actually jumping in and being a part of it can feel tricky. So let’s talk about some really basic ways to participate in gathering the House of Israel since President Nelson taught that it is the most important work occurring on the earth today. While we talk about it, consider following the action suggested in the Come Follow Me manual and make a list of ways that you feel like the Lord wants you to help with. President Nelson is quoted in the manual as saying, “Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that.” That leaves the door wide open for options on how to help. Anytime you do anything that helps people take a step towards making covenants, you’re doing your job. It starts with you We’ve heard it a million times, but it starts with you. And I’m not talking about just learning the doctrine so you can answer questions. Learning the doctrine is fantastic; I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, the doctrine does nothing if it’s not sinking into our hearts. The fact that the Lord sacrificed Himself so that you could experience salvation doesn’t mean nearly as much when you’re not experiencing salvation. Let me describe what I mean. Here is how it looks when the doctrine of Christ has sunk into your heart: You turn to Him like the Parent that He is. When you run into obstacles or unknowns, you turn to Him. You’re grateful for His advice and reassurances, and you’re also excited when He encourages you to make the decision for yourself. You know that He can support you in every step as He coaches you through building a life for yourself. When darkness comes, you know your happy ending is safe with him. Let’s say there is a homeless person living on the street. They know that in three days time, they are going to be given a mansion with all of their needs provided for the rest of their lives. Those three days might be brutal. They might be hungry, scared, cold or hot, but the experience feels different when they know what’s coming in just a short time. When you fail, it’s still easy to turn to Him. Even when you’re failing repeatedly, have some kind of addiction you’re trying to overcome, or have some major character flaw that likes to jump out at you repeatedly, you see it for what it is: opportunities to grow. Remember. Your happy ending is safe with Him. You cannot fail if you’re trying. He will never not invite you back. The fact that “it” happened again doesn’t matter nearly so much as the fact that you keep coming back. That’s what really counts at the end; did you keep coming back? When you live your life with the truth in your heart, you feel hope and it touches every part of your life. The good times are sweeter; the bad times are worth it. People have much more intuition than we tend to give ourselves credit for. People will sense your hope and desire it for themselves. This doesn’t mean hiding the bad and the difficult; people can also sense insincerity. What it truly means is placing all the bad and difficult in the context of eternity. You were meant to experience difficulty in all of its extremes, but you know what it’s about. And as people go through their own difficulties, they will want to feel as you do. When I say that gathering the House of Israel begins with you, I mean that the hope of the gospel begins in you and other people see it and desire it. Move beyond the doctrine, and let it change your heart. Giving love Perhaps this seems like a copout for missionary work, but after seeing what I’ve seen in the world, I’m convinced there are few things more powerful than loving like He would. We always think missionary work is inviting to church, and it absolutely is. But conversion is more than coming to church which means that missionary work extends beyond invitations to church. The times when I have felt most converted have been the times that I have felt most loved by my Father in Heaven. If you can teach them what it is to feel love and be accepted and encouraged, you are opening the path for them to experience it from their Heavenly Father. Many of us only begin to comprehend His love when we have felt some measure of love from another person. Think about all the people in your life who are faithful members of the church with healthy families; think about how many of them have a difficult time feeling the love of their Heavenly Father. Then think about how much harder it would be to find His love when you’re from a broken family and have never been taught about the idea that someone could love you so powerfully. If you can teach them about love, they will be so much closer to believing that a Father in Heaven could love them. They will be so much closer to feeling motivated to live a powerful life, to feeling capable of living a powerful life. Honestly, in my very unqualified opinion, I believe that’s half the battle. Feeling loved is the primary feeling of salvation. Give the rest to Him It is the Lord’s vineyard, and it is His work. Which means that He’s going to take care of it. A couple years ago when we were still in Virginia, we had a very special event occurring in our area, and we were all asked to invite someone to come. I had been so excited to move to Virginia so that I could be around missionaries more often and share the gospel more easily. I was pumped and ready to have the Lord send me anyone who was ready. I wanted to actively and consciously seek opportunities to do missionary work. I failed miserably. I invited a few people to this special event, and it never worked out. I tried so hard to coordinate schedules and pray and find someone. I tried starting conversations with strangers when I took my kids out to play. No one. I could find no one who could go. I finally gave up and let it go. A couple of days later, I was sitting with friends at a city event. One of them brought up this special church event that I had been trying so hard to invite someone to. They had heard about it and wanted to go and asked me to take them. I suddenly found myself surrounded by four women and their kids who all wanted to go. We scheduled a time right there, and I got to go with them. The Lord very distinctly taught me to stop trying to make it my work. If anything was going to be happening, it was not going to be because of me. It was going to be the Lord. I felt very distinctly that He had waited until I let go before He stepped in. I needed to learn that it wasn’t about me or my skills or knowledge. And though this was on the eager end of the spectrum, the principle remains true on the other side of the spectrum. If you’re scared or nervous or feeling inadequate, it’s not about you nor is it your work. You’re not trying to sell yourself. Heavenly Father is planning on doing His work. So how do we actually step aside and let Him do His work? Like all great things in the church, it’s more about adopting a specific type of heart than it is about any specific action. I have found that the most effective way to change my heart is to pray about it in the way that prayer was meant to be utilized. The entire purpose of prayer is to change our will to His, and it makes complete sense. Having a conversation with Someone who is all-loving and omnipotent tends to have that effect on you. It becomes easier to adopt their way of thinking. Talk to your Heavenly Father. If you make no other goal for gathering the House of Israel, make it a goal to speak to Him regularly about it. There are a couple of things you can include in those prayers that will make it more powerful than simply praying for a missionary opportunity. If you just add in, “Help us find missionary opportunities,” into your prayers very often, you’re not going to feel very changed by it. It is not likely that you’ll be able to adopt that attitude that allows for the Lord to utilize you as effectively. So how do we make our prayers more effective so that we can become more effective? Acknowledge how you really feel about missionary work. Heavenly Father doesn’t mind if it scares you so be honest with Him. In fact, when you approach Him with where you’re at, He’s given an opportunity to talk you through it. When Moses told the Lord that he was slow of speech, the Lord was like, “Who made man’s mouth?” I don’t believe He was trying to be sarcastic with Moses’ I believe He was trying to assure Moses that He could help Moses do whatever He needed to do, and it obviously worked. Moses listened and went on to change the world. If you tell Him where you’re at, He will respond with what you need to hear. I know this is true. I remember telling Him that there was no way I could start a blog about religious things; I wasn’t a seminary or institute teacher. I liked the scriptures, but I wasn’t any kind of scriptorian. I told Him that I felt ridiculous trying to teach others about the scriptures. I told Him exactly where I was at. He told me that if He could work through Joseph Smith with no education, He could work with me. So be honest with Him and give Him an opportunity to respond to how you’re really feeling. He makes good arguments. Another way to change yourself while praying to Him is to acknowledge what you know about Him. You can say things like, “I know that You know who is ready. I know that You know how to bring those people into my life. I know that You can soften hearts and send the Spirit so that people don’t hate me if I try to invite them to do something religious.” Acknowledge all of the fears and inadequacies you have regarding missionary work, and then acknowledge specific ways that He can work with you despite your fears. After repeating this process somewhat regularly, you’re going to feel different about it. You’re going to believe that He can work with you and you’re going to be willing to work with Him. It is this attitude that enables the Lord to send His children your way. I know that Heavenly Father wants us to participate in this work because He wants all of His children to feel close to Him, including those performing the work. I know that this work of gathering can change your life because it’s changed my life. I know that He can work with any of us, exactly where we’re at if we are able to adopt a willingness to help. I know that we have reason to have faith in Him and His ability to make us so much more than we are.   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 – Jacob 5–7 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Jacob’s temple sermon (Jacob 1–3) 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 week’s lesson includes information that goes with the first 3 chapters of the Come, Follow Me reading scheduled for this week. Next week’s post will cover Jacob 4-7.) Class Notes Additional Reading John Hilton III explores how Nephi₁, King Benjamin, and Moroni₂ used Jacob’s words in “Jacob’s Textual Legacy,” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Restoration Scripture 22, no. 2 (2013): 52–65. Chauncey C. Riddle, “Pride and Riches,” in The Book of Mormon: Jacob through Words of Mormon, To Learn with Joy, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University, 1990), 221–34. Critics of the restored gospel have claimed that Jacob₂’s teachings on plural marriage in Jacob 2 conflict with Joseph Smith’s teachings in D&C 132. Both texts, however, explain the circumstances under which plural marriage is allowed and not allowed. See “Why does Doctrine and Covenants 132 speak favorably about some Old Testament practitioners of plural marriage, while Jacob 2 is negative?,” FAIR.     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 – Jacob 1–4 – Mike Parker appeared first on FAIR.

In this episode, Zach, Sarah, and Jennifer discuss the mechanics and methods of the translation process. Throughout this 6 part series, Me, My Shelf, & I will tackle and refute claims about the seer stones head-on using facts from the historical narrative. Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (2:58) The Mechanics of Translation (4:24) Curtains (8:12) Methods of Translation (13:59) Conclusion   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 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. Jennifer Roach earned a Master of Divinity from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, and a Master of Counseling from Argosy University. Before her conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she was an ordained minister in the Anglican church. Her own experience of sexual abuse from a pastor during her teen years led her to care deeply about issues of abuse in faith communities. Zachary Wright was born in American Fork, UT.  He served his mission speaking Spanish in North Carolina and the Dominican Republic.  He currently attends BYU studying psychology, but loves writing, and studying LDS theology and history.  His biggest desire is to help other people bring them closer to each other, and ultimately bring people closer to God. The post Me, My Shelf, & I – Episode 4 – Seer Stones: How did Joseph use the Seer Stone? appeared first on FAIR.

Love and Great Anxiety by Autumn Dickson I think one of the defining characteristics of Jacob is his desire to do right by his people. When you go through his writings, it’s very clear that he thinks of them often and wants to steer them in the right way. It is this characteristic that I want to speak about today. Jacob 1:5 For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, what things should happen unto them. I think this verse originally caught my attention because of the seeming juxtaposition of the words “faith” and “great anxiety.” My second thought was that it’s possible to have both, and then my third thought was that it’s a fantastic way to parent, lead, and love. So how do we have faith and great anxiety over our loved ones at the same time? What does that look like? What does “great anxiety” look like? There are many different definitions and levels of anxiety, but I would wager that not all of them are applicable in this particular instance since “great anxiety” has been paired with faith. When you feel faith, you know that Christ can help you accomplish anything you truly need to accomplish and you know that your happy ending is safe with Him. So what is “great anxiety” in this specific circumstance? In my mind, it is a deep propulsion to seek out the best for your loved one. This is a fantastic quality to have. In fact, it’s one of the greatest commandments: to love others as you love yourself. Without charity, we are nothing. So when Jacob talks about having great anxiety for his people, he wants the best for his people. Interestingly enough, despite this being a good quality to have, Satan is going to try and twist anything he can. If he can’t get you to only care about yourself, he’s going to try and twist your love for others into something detrimental. If we let him, he’s going to take that “great anxiety” and turn it into regular old anxiety that expends energy and makes you feel powerless. I believe a majority of us have felt this “great anxiety,” this propulsion to want the best for our loved ones. Unfortunately, when this great anxiety is not paired with faith, it can become damaging. When your need to protect your loved one overshadows your belief in the Savior, His abilities, and the plan that He set up, things get knocked off kilter. Utilizing great anxiety and faith in the way you lead Life can often throw us unexpected circumstances. Even though we’ve been given gospel principles and standards to guide our families, there is this little thing called agency which makes it infinitely more difficult to make decisions about those who are in our charge. If the true goal is to get our loved ones close to the Savior (not just going to church every week but a true relationship with Christ), then it’s going to require some maneuvering that is actually beyond our own abilities. Do I let my kid decide whether they’re going to play their soccer game on Sunday? What if they choose wrong and don’t feel like it’s a big deal? Do I force my kid to go to Sunday school where the other kids are mean and bad examples? What if it’s actually pushing them farther away from the Spirit rather than closer? Do I let my kid date that person who doesn’t seem like the best influence even though they’re going to be 18 and moving out in a month? Will it actually teach them to have better standards or will it just isolate them from me while they’re in a dangerous situation? It would be easy to sit and fret and worry and feel great anxiety in all the wrong ways. It’s easy to look at the options before and see only bad ones. But when we look at it through a lens of faith, we stop expending energy on superfluous worry and start investing our energy in worthwhile places, namely action as well as hope in the Savior and His ability to turn a bad option into the very purpose of the Plan of Salvation: growth. We listen to see if one option is going to steer them right, and if there’s nothing forthcoming, we move forward with faith that Christ is still paying attention and will intervene when necessary. If things end up going sideways, we still hold to the faith we had previously and trust that everything that can be done is being done. The concept of combining faith and great anxiety is so powerful. Instead of fumbling around and trying to make the wisest decision about what to do for your loved ones in the face of uncertainty, take all of that desire to do what’s right for them and let it propel you towards inviting and following the Spirit. You can’t control your kids (or other loved ones) indefinitely so let go, and put your energy where it’s going to count. Let your great anxiety be the motivation, but invest your energy into your faith. How do we invest our energy into our faith? The best way to demonstrate the power of this concept is to give an example. Let’s just stick with the sports-on-Sunday example because it’s simple. Before I begin, I know that life doesn’t always play out like this. I know that what I’m teaching is one path in a million, but that doesn’t negate the fact that the principle is being taught so we can apply it effectively not matter what path appears. So your kid comes to you, and they have a couple of games that are played on Sunday. The great anxiety that Jacob describes is naturally there. You naturally feel propelled to try and do what’s best for your loved one. It would be easy to let that great anxiety fall into regular old anxiety and worry about whether to give them an opportunity to choose for themselves, but we’re not going to do that. We’re going to invest our energy into faith. We’re going to trust in His foreknowledge and His ability to speak in a way we understand. Let’s say He doesn’t say anything. It would be easy to worry that we’re not doing enough or whether we’re worthy enough to receive revelation. It would be easy to worry that we’re just plain missing the answer, but we’re not going to do that. We’re going to trust that He can speak to us in a way we understand, and He’s never going to let us permanently fail if we’re trying. So let’s pretend we decide to let the kid choose whether they want to play on Sunday, and they throw us a curveball. They choose to go to their game. Once again, we have another opportunity to fret that we inadvertently taught them that we don’t care about their church attendance, but we’re not going to fret, are we? No. We’re going to have faith that if there was a better option, Christ would have led us to it. We’re going to have faith that He is doing everything that needs to be done on behalf of our loved one. We’re going to have faith that He can teach lessons in a way that our loved ones will best understand. Now is our chance to pray fervently and specifically. We pray that we will be guided to speak when we need to, to ask the right questions, to let their choices play out, and to know when to intervene. We can pray that their hearts will be softened and prepared to feel the difference in skipping church. We can pray that the contrast of missing church will be an extremely powerful lesson. Maybe they needed to feel the absence of Sabbath Day blessings in order to appreciate the presence. Have faith in the Savior. He is playing the long game. He is intensely motivated and ever-present even when you can’t see Him. He is doing everything that needs to be done to reach that end goal of exaltation for your child. Trust His process and invest your energy in Him. Mimicking your faith This is a powerful way to parent, lead, and love but not only because you’re putting your energy where it counts. It’s powerful because your children are going to mimic your actions far more than they ever listen to your words. Learning to have faith is the most powerful way to teach your loved ones to have faith. When we have true faith, we feel the blessings of the gospel. Worrying and trying to force the gospel on someone can work sometimes (and there will always be appropriate boundaries while younger ones are growing up), but it is infinitely more powerful for them to see the blessings in your life and desire them. When Alma the Younger was struck dumb, his mind was drawn back to the words of his father and the joy of the saints. This is also incredibly powerful when they make mistakes. They won’t sit around and fret that this is the end for them, that they’re too far gone. They will know that there is a Savior who loves them and will always welcome them back with open arms, and that is an extremely motivating feeling to turn around and choose better. It is far more motivating than worrying. Jacob teaches that because of faith and great anxiety, it was revealed what should happen to their people. Maybe the Lord won’t tell you the specific future, but He will guide you with His knowledge of the future. He will help you know when to act, pause, or whatever it is that needs to be happening. And if He’s quiet, have faith that He’s leading you along anyway because He is. I’m grateful for a Savior I can depend on. I’m grateful that He loves my loved ones more than I love them. I’m grateful that He can guide me according to His knowledge rather than trying to stumble my way through. I’m grateful that He doesn’t always interfere, but allows us to learn the lessons in the way that will be most powerful.   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 – Jacob 1–4 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

How to Find Peace by Autumn Dickson There is a verse in the bible that is probably one of the most quoted and appreciated verses of all time. Christ shared it the night of the Passover amidst instituting the sacrament, teaching and prophesying, and washing the feet of His disciples. He spoke peace to His disciples just a little bit before He went to the garden and suffered. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Think of the context in which this saying was given to the disciples. Christ knew what was coming. He knew that the coming night would not be peaceful, nor the hours that followed it (at least not in the usual sense of the word). He knew that “peace” as defined by the world would very soon be snatched away from His disciples. But still, He promised to leave them with peace. What kind of peace was He trying to give them? What does it look like and how do we receive it in our darkest moments? To have faith The kind of peace offered by our Savior is not a quiet morning. It is not perfect children or tons of money to do what we need and want. It is not a promise of health. It certainly wasn’t what He was offering His disciples in the moment He made the promise, and it’s not what He’s offering us either. A huge point of coming to earth was turmoil and opposition so offering an escape from that would diminish the ability of the Plan of Salvation to exalt us. So how does He give peace? Receiving peace requires faith in Him. Such a simple sentence, but I believe there’s a whole lot to unpack there. For Easter, we’re talking about the peace that comes with faith. But we’re going to have to talk a lot about faith to understand the kind of faith we need in order to receive peace. We often talk about how faith is an action word, and it absolutely is. Faith in God drives us to keep the commandments which oftentimes leads us away from circumstances that may bring more turmoil, and that’s awesome. In the same breath, not all turmoil comes from choices we’ve made, and sometimes we’re also going to be making mistakes So what does faith look like in the circumstances that are beyond our control or in the situations where the mistake has been made? Let’s first look at how the experiences of the disciples might have changed if they had felt faith. The disciples during the time of crucifixion  Let it be known that this is not a critique of the disciples and how they responded with the events around Christ being taken and killed. For some reason, the Holy Ghost was not operating in the same way during Christ’s mortal ministry (see Bible Dictionary, “Holy Ghost”), and we know how the Holy Ghost plays a key role in many of these kinds of circumstances. This is not a critique, it’s a way to observe the past (since hindsight is 2020) and know how to apply it to our current and future circumstances. So the disciples are sitting with Christ at the Passover dinner. He teaches many things that were likely hard to be understood without the Holy Ghost. He tells them to not let their hearts become troubled. He has told them more than once that He is going to die, but then again, Christ also spoke about being born again. How literal are we talking here? Christ is taken, tortured, and crucified. As they lay Him in the tomb, what are they thinking? They lovingly care for His body, but are they also a little angry? Are they in shock? Do they feel abandoned? Are they frustrated that He took them away from their lives and then left them to fend for themselves? The disciples are left to mourn their beloved leader, and they are also left to mourn the hopes and dreams they had placed upon Him. They are left to fear the future, and fear they do. Christ rises again, and it takes a while, but eventually they all come to see and believe and feel peace. Now imagine if they had been able to have faith in Christ’s words. Jesus is taken, tortured, and crucified. As they watch this come to pass, they are agonized over watching it, but they know what this is for. Even if they don’t fully grasp the fact that Christ needs to experience this suffering to complete the atonement, they know that He promised it would all work out. They lovingly take care of His body. There are still tears and disbelief, but the source is an overwhelming awe at what He sacrificed for them. There are whispers of gratitude instead of whispers of, “Why?” They are still saying, “I can’t believe this happened,” but it’s only because they can’t believe that He suffered in that manner for them; it’s only because they can’t believe they are truly free from Satan’s grasp. And then there is a waiting period of three days. They know He’s coming back; He promised He would. No matter what they do, their minds are always drawn back to pondering what happened. And they wait. With faith, they experienced the same events, but the events felt completely different. There were still tears, still agony. There was a lot of waiting, but the waiting had anticipation over fear. When Christ teaches Thomas that, “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed,” He’s not talking about raining down arbitrary blessings upon those who choose to believe in something they can’t see. He’s talking about the fact that Thomas could have saved himself a whole lot of pain if he had been able to find faith. He would have been blessed to pass over all of the agony of the past few days by knowing that it was all part of the plan and Christ would return. So this is all fine and dandy when you feel faith. Forcing faith doesn’t bring peace; it’s when you feel faith. So how do we “feel” faith so that we can find peace? Faith is an action word Faith is an action word. It is an action word in the sense that we prepare for tomorrow by keeping the commandments today, but it’s also an action word in the sense that we are in control of our own thoughts. Alma 34:31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you. I have been struck by this verse a number of times because of the line, “immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.” Immediately. If we can soften our hearts and repent, we will immediately experience the great plan of redemption. What does it mean to experience the great plan of redemption? It can mean a lot of things, but the one I want to focus on today is the aspect of peace. Experiencing the great plan of redemption means experiencing the kind of peace that Christ promised. So if we can repent and soften our hearts, we will experience the peace associated with the great plan of redemption. Let’s talk about repentance and softening our hearts separately. Of course we will experience peace when we repent. Repentance is so much more than saying sorry for breaking a commandment. In my mind, repentance is any step towards becoming like Christ. This means we change into people who are calm, steady, joyful, and authentic. It means allowing ourselves to be healed; Christ didn’t need healing in the same manner, but if we want to be like Him, we need it. So yeah, repentance is going to bring peace. But repenting and living the commandments won’t bring peace unless it’s combined with that soft heart, and having a soft heart is a conscious choice that we have to make. Don’t harden your heart any longer. Don’t disbelieve that He adores you. Don’t disbelieve that He will make everything up to you. When something comes in and breaks your peace, actively fight it with a mantra that He loves you and will take care of absolutely everything. Note that I said, “mantra.” Maybe the idea that He loves you is not yet a knowledge, but if you want to find that knowledge, you might have to start with a mantra. When Satan comes in, you repeat to yourself how Christ loves you and will take care of it. Eventually that mantra will give way to hope, then faith, then growth of faith, then knowledge. And then bam, you feel peace. It simply comes. I can personally testify of this. I lived the gospel my whole life with small glimpses of salvation and redemption and peace. But when my heart finally softened and believed, I started experiencing the feeling of salvation immediately and consistently. I started experiencing peace immediately and consistently. I still have my moments. I still know what it is to feel hopeless, discouraged, weary, explosive. But I have been finding my way back to that peace more quickly or through thicker darkness. The eternities after this earth life will not be perfect in the sense that the world thinks of as “perfect.” God still experiences sorrow. He still has to watch difficult things and make difficult decisions. But that is precisely why Christ offers a different kind of peace. If He offered us peace as defined by the world, we would find ourselves unprepared for the next life. We need the kind of peace He offers in order to find a peace that lasts an eternity. I’m grateful for a Savior who sacrificed, and I’m grateful for this time of year to ponder His sacrifice. I know that He loves us endlessly and has the power to support us endlessly. When you find that knowledge and experience it again and again and again, you will find the peace you’re looking for.   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 – Easter – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

In this episode, Jennifer, Sarah, and Zach take us through the history of folk magic through post-biblical times. Throughout this 6 part series, Me, My Shelf, & I will tackle and refute claims about the seer stones head-on using facts from the historical narrative. Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (03:40) The fall of Rome and why it changed culture (06:12) The Beginning of the Dark Ages–A totally different world (11:59) The Cunning Folk in Britain (22:49) The Crusades (26:47) The Inquisition (29:14) The Renaissance (24:05) WitchTrials (39:59) Enlightenment 1637-1815 and 1st Great Awakening (50:00) Joseph Smith’s time and culture (59:32) Conclusion   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 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. Jennifer Roach earned a Master of Divinity from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, and a Master of Counseling from Argosy University. Before her conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she was an ordained minister in the Anglican church. Her own experience of sexual abuse from a pastor during her teen years led her to care deeply about issues of abuse in faith communities. Zachary Wright was born in American Fork, UT.  He served his mission speaking Spanish in North Carolina and the Dominican Republic.  He currently attends BYU studying psychology, but loves writing, and studying LDS theology and history.  His biggest desire is to help other people bring them closer to each other, and ultimately bring people closer to God. The post Me, My Shelf, & I – Episode 3 – Seer Stones: Post-Biblical Folk Magic appeared first on FAIR.

A Strait Path by Autumn Dickson The end of 2 Nephi is fantastic. As I read it, I pictured Nephi summarizing everything towards the end of his life. He had kept a record and taught many lessons and told stories from his life, but in 2 Nephi 31, Nephi wanted to make sure that the lessons were explicitly laid out. There is one specific lesson I want to cover. 2 Nephi 31:9 And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them. Maybe I’m a little slow on the pickup, but it wasn’t until later in life that I recognized the word “strait” as being different from the word “straiGHt.” Though both imply “narrowness,” they are not the same thing. “Strait” was the word that Nephi chose and Joseph translated, and it was a very purposeful word. Let’s explore it. In the dictionary, “strait” has a couple of definitions. It doesn’t mean a line with no curves or bends. It means, “difficult, limited in resources, closely fitted.” It might not sound pleasant, but these words are actually so cool.  So, “difficult.” The path towards ultimate salvation (as well as the path where we can experience a form of salvation along the way) is hard; that was kind of the whole point. Though it sounds awful, our path towards exaltation included finding ourselves in really difficult circumstances that bring us down. That doesn’t sound very loving or doting of our Heavenly Father, but if we can keep our focus on Him, then it’s actually the most rewarding by far. Strait also means “limited in resources;” this one fascinated me. There will not be many places where we can find comfort outside of the Savior. Luckily, He is actually quite vast in terms of resources. I could spend a post on each of those definitions, but the one I want to really explore is “closely fitted.” It completely changed the meaning of this verse in my mind when compared to the word “straiGHt.” StraiGHt means no turns or bends. Strait can turn and bend as much as necessary; it’s just closely fitted to the individual. The Lord has extremely individualized paths for each of us. Christ is the only One who walked a “straiGHt” path; the paths we take as imperfect people are much more accurately defined as strait. There are many ways in which our paths can be described as strait. Obviously, the Lord takes us through specific trials, life experiences, and personalized messages from the Holy Ghost. But there is one other way that I’ve learned that I don’t believe is often talked about. Strait and sin So if we were to look at the word “straiGHt” as our example of a sinless path towards God, then it’ll be easier to observe our own paths. Do we “need” sin in order to get back to our Heavenly Father? Obviously not. Seems like a very silly question, but the silly question helps me highlight the actual truth. We don’t need sin in order to get back to our Heavenly Father, but we do need the lessons that often accompany sin. Sometimes we really do need to learn the hard way in order to change into what God would have us become. God doesn’t want us to sin, but He did send us here to grow and learn. He sent us to taste the bitter so we could comprehend the sweet. My personal strait path has included plenty of opportunities to fail. One of the first ones that come to mind is this blog to be honest. When Heavenly Father first started prompting me to start this journey of blogging and Youtube videos and podcasting, one of my main worries was my vanity. In college, I wanted to be a musician which takes a fair amount of promoting yourself. Which is awesome for other people. Not so awesome for me. I was painfully aware of rejection and perceived rejection everywhere. I craved validation from other people. I became self-centered in a lot of ways. I wanted to be on a pedestal. When it all came crashing down around me, it felt like one of the biggest blessings of my life (or at least it did later on). I was taken out of that dark place and away from putting myself out there. I became a much happier person, and I shunned temptation because I never wanted to feel that way about myself again. So when Heavenly Father came knocking on my door, asking me to put myself out there again, I told Him I wasn’t interested. I told Him that I was trying to avoid my obvious weakness of vanity and pride and caring too much about what other people think about me. I know what happens at the end of that road (at least what happens for me). It wasn’t a place I wanted to go to. As I talked with Heavenly Father about these concerns, He told me that He was giving me an opportunity to practice sharing my light while letting go of that vanity. I told Him that if I failed, that would be on Him haha. And I have failed many many many many many times. There have been plenty of times where I have cared far too much about whether people like what I put out there. There have been plenty of times where I have felt sharp embarrassment over mistakes I’ve made or when I’m not particularly articulate. There have been plenty of times when I’ve gotten too excited about when I have done a good job. I still have all of these problems, but they have gotten significantly better. It doesn’t affect me as much as it used to. But I’m so grateful that Heavenly Father wasn’t worried about keeping my path perfectly straiGHt. He was wise enough to take me on a strait path that would allow me to practice being like Him even if it meant some curves, bends, failings, and even sin. He knew that it was the only path that would help me become what He needed me to become. It was specifically tailored to me. This is not me encouraging you to go seek paths of temptation and sin in order to learn a lesson. That would be dumb; excuse the word, but I used it because it’s accurate. So if I’m not encouraging you to go out and seek opportunities to sin, why am I bringing it up? Why teach this? Because it took a weight off my chest. I don’t look back in agony at past mistakes, and I don’t look forward in fear about making more mistakes (since…you know…it’s inevitable). I was never meant to be perfect during mortal life. Heavenly Father has specific lessons that we, as individuals, need to learn. Sometimes it means putting us in situations where we’re going to fail, fail often, and fail hard (hello mortality in general). He sent us here to make mistakes so that we could become what He meant for us to become, and He sent His Son to pay for it. That was always the plan. I don’t seek sin, but I’m also no longer afraid of failing. I get to move forward in my life, exerting my energy toward becoming like Him without carrying around the weight of my mistakes. I have a powerful Savior who paid for my sins. Rather than worrying about the fact that He didn’t deserve to take on all that pain, I trust Him and I have a testimony that He was the One who led me on this strait path. He brought me here to fail, He paid for my sins, He comforts me and has the ability to comfort those I’ve wounded, and all I’m left with is a powerful lesson. As parents, family members, leaders, and friends I also share this message because it makes us powerful disciples. Sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up in a desperate desire to keep our loved ones from making mistakes, to keep them on the straiGHT path so that they never have to experience consequences, that we end up doing more damage. We were never meant to walk a straiGHt path, and neither were those we love. Of course we would like to spare our loved ones pain, but that goal is ultimately short-sighted. There was a talk given by Sister Tamara W. Runia in the October 2023 General Conference. Please listen to it. God led me to it right at this specific time of writing this post because she expressed what I was hoping to express. I went through a rough patch my senior year in high school when I wasn’t making great choices. I remember seeing my mom crying, and I wondered if I’d disappointed her. At the time, I worried that her tears meant she’d lost hope for me, and if she didn’t feel hope for me, maybe there wasn’t a way back. But my dad was more practiced at zooming out and taking the long view. He’d learned from experience that worry feels a lot like love, but it’s not the same. He used the eye of faith to see that everything would work out, and his hopeful approach changed me. If we can tap into the doctrine that Christ always meant for us to walk a strait path, not a straiGHt path, we will become much more powerful in our ability to help those we love. If we can focus on developing their relationship with the Savior, helping them rely on Him, helping them learn from Him, helping them take powerful lessons from their mistakes, we will exponentially increase their progress in comparison to a desperate attempt to avoid pitfalls, curves, and bends. Our loved ones will no longer feel like it’s their responsibility to be perfect; rather, they will feel and know that mortal life was about progress and that a relationship with the Savior will give them everything they need to achieve that. I’m grateful for a Savior who paid the price for me to have this experience. I’m grateful that He has taught me about His sacrifice. I’m grateful that He didn’t have impossible expectations for me, and I’m grateful that He has never lost sight of who I can become.   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 – 2 Nephi 31–33 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

On this episode, Brian Hales joins us to discuss the history and significance of the crowning ordinance of the temple.   Brian C. Hales is the author or co-author of several books dealing with Joseph Smith and plural marriage, and runs the website JosephSmithsPolygamy.org. He is also the author of several articles dealing with the origin of the Book of Mormon. Jacob Crapo was born and now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He served his mission in Upstate New York and was an ordinance worker in the Las Vegas Temple. One of Jacob’s dreams is to help build a temple. He is an electrician by trade but his real passion is helping others access the powers of heaven. The post Cornerstone: A FAIR Temple Preparation Podcast – Episode 6: Temple Sealings with Brian Hales appeared first on FAIR.

Nephi’s prophecies of the Book of Mormon; “the doctrine of Christ” (2 Nephi 28–33) 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 week’s lesson includes information that goes with the Come, Follow Me reading schedule for the next two weeks. The previous post covers the first two chapters of this week’s reading.) Class Notes Additional Reading Michael B. Parker, “Nephi’s Later Reflections on the Tree of Life Vision,” Insights: A Window on the Ancient World 22, no. 5 (2002): 2–3. In this—my one and only published scholarly article!—I compare Nephi’s language in 2 Nephi 31:20 with his description of the tree of life in 1 Nephi 8:30. In his final testimony, Nephi appears to have purposely alluded to his father’s earlier vision.   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 – 2 Nephi 28–33 – Mike Parker appeared first on FAIR.