S2 E45 (Nov. 23-29) “By Faith All Things Are Fulfilled”
This week we get to talk about one of my FAVORITE stories of the Book of Mormon- Moroni's "weakness in writing". I love what it teaches us about approaching the Lord with humility in our weakness and how He can make weak things become strong. I talk about the importance of faith and hope, and what I learned about hope and my family this week.
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Note each time you find the word “faith” in Ether 12, and record what you learn about faith.
Ether 12:
2 And aEther was a prophet of the Lord; wherefore Ether came forth in the days of Coriantumr, and began to prophesy unto the people, for he could not be brestrained because of the Spirit of the Lord which was in him.
3 For he did acry from the bmorning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance lest they should be cdestroyed, saying unto them that dby efaith all things are fulfilled
Moroni 10: 20 Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.
To me, that sounds like faith is linked with hope and charity. Also linked to 1 Corinthians 13:1–13 which says, 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with asurety bhope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which chope cometh of dfaith, maketh an eanchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in fgood works, being led to gglorify God.
New Testament
50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
5 And it came to pass that Ether did prophesy great and marvelous things unto the people, which they did not believe, because they asaw them not.
6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that afaith is things which are bhoped for and cnot seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no dwitness until after the etrial of your faith.
New Testament
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
7 For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our fathers, after he had risen from the dead; and he showed not himself unto them until after they had faith in him; wherefore, it must needs be that some had faith in him, for he showed himself anot unto the world. (Christ in America)
(Mortal ministry and atonement next)
8 But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the heavenly gift, that they might hope for those things which they have not seen.
9 Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith.
When we have faith, we “see” Christ
NEXT: Faith in Action
10 Behold it was by faith that they of old were acalled after the holy order of God.
11 Wherefore, by faith was the law of Moses given. But in the agift of his Son hath God prepared a more bexcellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled.
12 For if there be no afaith among the children of men God can do no bmiracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.
13 Behold, it was the faith of Alma and Amulek that caused the aprison to tumble to the earth.
14 Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the achange upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the bHoly Ghost.
15 Behold, it was the faith of aAmmon and his brethren which bwrought so great a miracle among the Lamanites.
From Book of Mormon Made Easier:
“As you have probably noticed, many of the examples of faith, given in the above verses whos that faith is a principle of action. In other words, if you have faith in Christ you do much, including moving out of your comfort zone to serve others. You pay tithing, go to church, keep the commandments, accept calls to serve, apologize to others for offenses, etc. Faith requires action which goes far beyond belief.”
NEXT Faith activates the powers of heaven:
16 Yea, and even all they who wrought amiracles wrought them by bfaith, even those who were before Christ and also those who were after.
17 And it was by faith that the three disciples obtained a promise that they should anot taste of death; and they obtained not the promise until after their faith.
18 And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God.
19 And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even abefore Christ came, who could not be kept from within the bveil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad.
20 And behold, we have seen in this record that one of these was the brother of Jared; for so great was his faith in God, that when God put forth his afinger he could not hide it from the sight of the brother of Jared, because of his word which he had spoken unto him, which word he had obtained by faith.
21 And after the brother of Jared had beheld the finger of the Lord, because of the apromise which the brother of Jared had obtained by faith, the Lord could not withhold anything from his sight; wherefore he showed him all things, for he could no longer be kept without the bveil.
22 And it is by faith that my fathers have obtained the apromise that these things should come unto their brethren through the Gentiles; therefore the Lord hath commanded me, yea, even Jesus Christ.
Moroni tells a personal story!
23 And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will amock at these things, because of our bweakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us cmighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;
24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the aawkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in bwriting like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he cwrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.
25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we acannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our bweakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall cmock at our words.
26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: aFools bmock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my cgrace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them.
28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that afaith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all brighteousness.
Moroni shows gratitude to his Savior and then supports his thoughts with examples from the scriptures. The we build our testimony block by block!
29 And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was acomforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith;
30 For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, aRemove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith.
31 For thus didst thou manifest thyself unto thy disciples; for aafter they had bfaith, and did speak in thy name, thou didst show thyself unto them in great power.
32 And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the amansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent bhope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared.
33 And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast aloved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men.
34 And now I know that this alove which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
Jesus Christ gives us “a more excellent hope.”
In addition to profound insights about faith, Ether 12 also has a lot to say about hope—maybe you could note each time the word “hope” appears. What does hope mean to you?
“Hope is an act of radical optimism” - Guillermo del Toro???
Book of Mormon made simple by David Ridges:
“The word hope as used in the BOok of Mormon is not a wishing for or a tentative hoping that maybe something will be obtained. It is a much stronger word than that. In Alma,58:11, hope is coupled with the terms “assurances” and “great faith”. In 2 Nephi 31:20, we see, “a perfect brightness of hope” leading to “eternal life”.
Thus “hope” in a strong Book of Mormon sense means that you can “plan on” eternal life in the presence of God because of faith in Christ.”
What were the reasons that Ether had to “hope for a better world”? (see Ether 12:2–5).
4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with asurety bhope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which chope cometh of dfaith, maketh an eanchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in fgood works, being led to gglorify God.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Infinite Power of Hope,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 21–24; Preach My Gospel, 117.
Hope is a gift of the Spirit.4 It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior.5 This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment,6 and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace,7 mercy,8 rejoicing,9 and gladness.10 The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet;11 it is the foundation of our faith12 and an anchor to our souls.13
Moroni in his solitude—even after having witnessed the complete destruction of his people—believed in hope. In the twilight of the Nephite nation, Moroni wrote that without hope we cannot receive an inheritance in the kingdom of God.14
Heber J. Grant:
His Penmanship Improved from “Hen Tracks” to the Best in Utah
Za “One day Heber was playing marbles with some other boys when the bookkeeper from the Wells Fargo Company Bank was walking down the other side of the street. One of the boys remarked, ‘That man gets $150.00 a month.’ Heber figured to himself that not counting Sundays, that man made $6.00 a day and that at five cents a pair, he would have to black 120 pairs of boots to make $6.00. He there and then resolved that some day he would be a bookkeeper in the Wells Fargo and Company’s bank. In those days all the records and accounts of the bank were written with a pen, and one of the requisites of a good bookkeeper was the ability to write well. To learn to write well was his first approach to securing this job and the fulfilment of his resolve; so he set to work to become a penman.
“At the beginning his penmanship was so poor that when two of his chums were looking at it one said to the other, ‘That writing looks like hen tracks.’ ‘No,’ said the other, ‘it looks as if lightning had struck an ink bottle.’ This touched Heber’s pride and, bringing his fist down on his desk, he said, ‘I’ll some day be able to give you fellows lessons in penmanship.’ …
“He secured a position as bookkeeper and policy clerk in an insurance office at fifteen. About this he said: ‘I wrote a very nice hand, and that was all that was needed to satisfactorily fill the position which I then had. Yet I was not fully satisfied but continued to dream and scribble when not otherwise occupied. … I learned to write well, so well, that I often made more before and after office hours by writing cards, invitations, and making maps than the amount of my regular salary. At nineteen I was keeping books and acting as policy clerk for Henry Wadsworth, the agent of Wells Fargo and Company. My time was not fully employed, and I was not working for the company but for the agent personally. I did the same as I had done in Mr. White’s bank, volunteered to file a lot of bank letters, etc., and kept a set of books for the Sandy Smelting Company, which Mr. Wadsworth was doing personally. My actions so pleased Mr. Wadsworth that he employed me to do the collecting for Wells Fargo and Company and paid me $20.00 a month for this work in addition to my regular compensation of $75.00 from the insurance business. Thus I was in the employ of Wells Fargo and Company and one of my day-dreams had become a reality’” (Bryant S. Hinckley, Heber J. Grant: Highlights in the Life of a Great Leader [1951], 39–42).
“When Heber, still in his teens, was working as a policy clerk in the office of H. R. Mann and Co., he was offered three times his salary to go to San Francisco as a penman. He later became teacher of penmanship and bookkeeping at the University of Deseret (University of Utah). …
“At one of the territorial fairs in which he had not competed, he noticed the exhibits of four professional penmen. He remarked to the man in charge of the art department that he could write better than that before he was seventeen years of age. The man in charge laughed and said that nobody but a cheeky insurance agent would make such a remark. He handed the gentleman three dollars which was the fee necessary to compete for a diploma and sent for the specimen which he had written before he was seventeen and hung it up with the remark, ‘If you judges know good penmanship, when you see it, I will get the diploma.’ He walked away with a diploma for the best penmanship in the territory. He encouraged the art of good penmanship among the youth of Zion and offered many prizes for the best specimens” (Hinckley, Heber J. Grant, 40–41).
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