How can you not be just thrilled with this week’s readings?  The entire Book of Mormon has been centered on one Person—Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer—and His coming to the earth and the promised visit to this righteous branch of the tribe of Joseph in the Americas.  Lehi testified He would come. Nephi saw Him in vision that He would come. Jacob gave bold witness of His mission and His coming. King Benjamin, Alma the Elder, Alma the Younger, Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Himni, Helaman—and many more—they all testified that HE, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come—and in this week’s exciting readings—HE CAME!

Scot

How can you not be just thrilled with this week’s readings?  The entire Book of Mormon has been centered on one Person—Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer—and His coming to the earth and the promised visit to this righteous branch of the tribe of Joseph in the Americas.  Lehi testified He would come. Nephi saw Him in vision that He would come. Jacob gave bold witness of His mission and His coming. King Benjamin, Alma the Elder, Alma the Younger, Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Himni, Helaman—and many more—they all testified that HE, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come—and in this week’s exciting readings—HE CAME!

Scot

Welcome to Meridian Magazine’s Come Follow Me Podcast this week. I am Scot Proctor and this week we have a reduction in our hosts by 50 %.  This is our 87th Podcast in a row and Maurine has never not been here—but today, it was just not possible to do this together.

For those of you who listen regularly, you’ll know from last week that Maurine suffered a serious bike accident in the past few weeks which shattered her left arm.  This has certainly been a heavy trial—not that we don’t know many of you carry trials MUCH heavier—but now there are complications that are not directly connected to her arm, but may be connected to the accident–and as I record these words she is in the hospital with a very competent team trying to get to the base of what is going on.  It’s hard to know how many details to share—I figure that I know at least 750 to a 1,000 of you personally—but we try to keep fairly private.  Just know that we feel an assurance that all will be well and we’ve had whisperings from the Spirit that she is in the right place right now and she is being watched over both from heaven and on earth.

Scot

Now, I have to figure out ways to pay for the pleasure of doing Meridian Magazine and this podcast and so here is our advertisement for this week:  I’ve created this wonderful 2021 Church History Come Follow Me Calendar that I’d love to have all of you find a place for in your homes and on your gift lists.  This beautiful, full-color calendar is full of the most beautiful photographs of Church historical sites and will give add a wonderful spirit to your home, office, bedroom or hall.  I’ve added in more than 50 major events from Church History for the year and more than 70 actual dates of the revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants so that you can relive Church History this entire coming year.  Did you know, for example, that the Revelation on War, Section 87, was received on Christmas Day in 1832?  You’ll see that right on your calendar.

And, I’ve added in the Come Follow Me lesson reading assignments each Monday so that you can just glance at the calendar on your wall and know what to study that week.  And, of course, I’ve added an inspirational quote each month that will lift and delight you.  You can pre-order these calendars in whatever quantity you desire for just $15 each plus shipping and handling.  Order more than one and the shipping is a lot cheaper per calendar.  Check these out today at latterdaysaintmag.com/2021 that’s latterdaysaintmag.com/2021 and thanks for supporting us in our Meridian Magazine mission and adventures.

Scot

Now, speaking of calendars, have you ever given much thought to the calendar system the Nephites used in their culture and times?  They had at least three calendaring approaches that we know of—and we know, because they kept the Law of Moses, they had to be constantly looking to the heavens to determine the Sabbaths and the Feasts.

But you remember, for the first more than 500 years, all their times were reported as what?  The number of years since Lehi left Jerusalem—I could hear some of you whisper that in your homes—you knew that answer.  So, for example, Jacob, the brother of Nephi records: “…it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time Lehi left Jerusalem.” (See Jacob 1:1). You’re familiar with this kind of reporting all the way to the time of King Mosiah, right?

Scot

But then, the calendar system or the way of their reckoning time changes in Mosiah Chapter 29—when King Mosiah sets up a rule by judges—or what is called “the reign of the judges.”  This calendar system or way of reckoning years is used for the next one hundred years—and this began in about 92 B.C.  Of course, you’re very familiar with this, for example, as Mormon records:  “Now it came to pass in the sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there were no contentions nor wars in the land of Zarahemla.” (See Alma 4:1).

Okay, come on, Scot, tell us something we don’t know. 

Scot

Alright then—let’s look in 3rd Nephi chapter 2, starting in verse 5.  Pay careful attention here because there is great significance in these four verses.

5 And also an hundred years had passed away since the days of Mosiah, who was king over the people of the Nephites. [There’s the Reign of the Judges Time Reckoning System]

And now let’s look at verse 6:

6 And six hundred and nine years had passed away since Lehi left Jerusalem. [There’s the Lehi Time Reckoning System]

And now look at verse 7—this gets exciting:

7 And nine years had passed away from the time when the sign was given, which was spoken of by the prophets, that Christ should come into the world.

And what was the sign?  This unmistakable sign of His birth?  You’re right—the day, the night and a day, wherein there was no darkness.  They knew that that next morning—after the night with no darkness—was the day that Jesus Christ was born. 

Scot

Now, look at what the Nephites do—they change their time reckoning again and this becomes their calendaring—look at verse 8:

8 Now the Nephites began to reckon their time from this period when the sign was given, or from the coming of Christ; therefore, nine years had passed away.

This tells us they had been keeping perfect track of when the sign had been given, but it also tells us they still had been keeping track of the reign of the judges and the time Lehi had left Jerusalem. 

But let’s look at one more verse:  1 Nephi Chapter 10, verse 4 (this is Nephi speaking):

4 Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world.

So, in these verses of 3 Nephi that seem rather perfunctory or just like unimportant journaling—we see the perfect fulfillment—to the day—of Lehi’s prophecy of the coming of the Messiah and the entire Book of Mormon has centered on that prophecy and that hope, and HERE we see, perfectly and precisely, that this has come to pass. And we see that Samuel’s prophecy was precise and perfect as well.

Scot

What is the lesson? We can trust the words of the Prophets. And all these things testify of the coming of the Messiah.—It’s all very exciting. Can you see why I love calendars so much?  We could do an entire lesson here just on the words of the Prophets now, in our time, in our day—right now.  We can see how precisely they give us instructions, guidance and prophecy and their words are all fulfilled.

Scot

Now, let’s turn to 3 Nephi 8. This is an account unlike any other in the Book of Mormon.  And we see as we begin the chapter that the recording of dates and times was important to the Nephites and they really give us the exact date of the crucifixion—if we knew exactly how their calendars coordinated with ours:

1 And now it came to pass that according to our record, and we know our record to be true, for behold, it was a just man who did keep the record—for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus; and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every whit from his iniquity— [the record is referring to Nephi, the Disciple of Christ]

2 And now it came to pass, if there was no mistake made by this man in the reckoning of our time, the thirty and third year had passed away;

Now jump to verse 5:

5 And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month [this can be correlated with the exact time that Jesus hung on the cross—so, this is happening between noon and 3:00 in the afternoon, Jerusalem time—so here in the Americas, in the place where this record was kept—this is from 3:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the morning] back to the account:  there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land.

6 And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.

Now a tempest can be a tornado, a cyclone, a hurricane, a gale—whatever it was, it was unlike any other.

7 And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land.

What is going on here?  We have earthquakes, winds and lightning as never, ever before.  We are looking at vulcanism—the eruption of at least one major volcano and perhaps multiple volcanoes. 

Scot

Now, my Dad was a world-class geologist.  He made all of his sons quasi geologists because he involved us in his field work.  I remember back in the mid-60’s pulling tape lines and holding compasses and using Geiger counters and steadying make shift tables while Dad was mapping, recording and diagramming outcrops and cliff faces. Dad took us to Italy early on, I was 10 years old, and the night we arrived in Catania, Sicily, he had my brother Kirk and I go out on the balcony and in the darkness we were to describe the every minute or so eruptions of Mt. Etna.  Dad was recording all of our exclamations on a graph—“Wow, that was a big one.”… “Oh! No, that was just a little one.” “Oooh, there’s a medium one.” “OH! That’s huge!”—Within 30 minutes he had us come in the hotel room and he showed us the graph he did—he showed us that there were patterns in the eruptions of this active volcano—you could chart it—and he did.  The next day we went to nearly the summit of Etna in a jeep—to about 10,200 feet and then hiked closer and closer to the crater.  We felt the earth rumble beneath our feet a number of times and saw the active cone.  There were hot lava bombs all around us. He took us to Mt. Vesuvius a few days later and we hiked to the this summit and then we went into the crater. We went to Stromboli in the Tyrrhenian Sea—one of the most active volcanoes in the world.  My Dad hiked the ominous 17,802 foot Mt. Popocatepetl in Mexico when he was a young geologist.  Just above 16,000 feet he got a bloody nose and had to return without summiting.  Volcanoes are just in our family.

Dad taught us about 3 Nephi chapter 8 and said, “There is no question whatsoever from this description of these destructions and actions that this is vulcanism—the earthquakes—the tremendous winds—the sharp lightnings—this is all volcanic action.”  I’ve never forgotten Dad’s geology lesson on this chapter.

So, again, this description in 3 Nephi of the destructions as the time of the crucifixion is immense, overwhelming, cataclysmic vulcanism.  The earth is responding to the death of her Creator.  This is how the earth herself cried out.

Dr. Bart Kowalis, also a geologist and originally one of my Dad’s students, reports:

These features of the destruction in 3 Nephi do not alone define the event as a volcanic eruption; . . . [they] can be produced in other ways , but an explosive volcanic eruption is certainly the simplest explanation that satisfies all of the criteria.

Maurine and I went to Haiti after the great 7.0 earthquake that occurred there on January 12, 2010.  There may be some of you listening who were there with us.  That earthquake was massive.  Roughly 250,000 people were killed.  More than 300,000 were injured.  1.5 million people were displaced from their homes.  We interviewed a number of people who described the horrible, deafening sound of the earthquake.  It was heart-sickening as we listened to their stories.

But, if you can imagine, the big earthquake in Haiti only lasted 30 seconds!  Listen to the account in 3 Nephi verse 19:

19 And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold, they did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours—and then behold, there was darkness upon the face of the land. (3 Nephi 8:19 emphasis added)

Wait—30 seconds in Haiti with that kind of destruction…THREE HOURS among the Nephites.  Can you even image the fear, the terror and the fright? We felt a number of the aftershocks in Haiti and they, alone, were pretty unnerving—but THREE HOURS! 

Dr. Kowalis continues to teach us:

[This is] too long a time period for the shock from a single large earthquake and too short for the period during which aftershocks following a major earthquake usually take place.  However, it is a very reasonable amount of time for the initial stages of a volcanic eruption.  We might call this the “throat-clearing stage” of the eruption, which occurs as the mounting pressure cleans the volcano’s vent of the rock and debris that have plugged it up.  During this time, frequent explosions and earthquakes occur.  Once the vent is cleared, the volcano may continue to erupt for several hours or days without additional significant earthquakes. 

Dr. Kowalis continues:

When the Coseguina volcano in Nicaragua erupted in 1835, it was reported that sounds accompanying the shaking were alarming and heard up to four hundred miles away and that “the roar was practically continuous for seven hours.”  Even though most of the noise and shaking caused by the eruption of Coseguina ceased after a few hours, the eruption itself and the darkness caused by the ashfall continued on for three to four days.  All of these accounts are quite similar to the 3 Nephi account in which the initial part of the eruption lasted for three hours with violent shaking and thunder, followed by quiet and darkness for three days.  (As reported from Dan Peterson, in Patheos, February 29, 2020:  http://www.geostratsys.org/geology-and-third-nephi-7-shaking-and-quaking-dan-peterson-patheos/)

Scot

But then the terror continues in the 3 Nephi account in a different way:

20 And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness; [This is clearly from volcanic ash and the mists and thick fogs and clouds that settle as a volcano continues to relieve its pressure]

21 And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all;

Isn’t that such a symbol that the “Light of the World” had been crucified and we had complete darkness?

22 And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.

And how long did all this last?

23 And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them.

Scot

Can you imagine the crying, the terror, the loss, the utter fear that accompanied all of this destruction among the Nephites?

And yet, from out of the darkness the voice of the Lord spoke to all the people at once.  Now this presents an interesting question: Was this like a giant megaphone, or was it something they heard in their minds, or what?

The most important point is they all heard the voice together—all at the same time.

Remember the description of the voice of the Lord when Nephi and Lehi were thrown in prison and were surrounded by fire?  Listen—this is Helaman 5 verses 29 and 30:

29 And it came to pass that there came a voice as if it were above the cloud of darkness, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my servants whom I have sent unto you to declare good tidings.

30 And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul…

I love that account.

Here’s how David Whitmer described hearing the voice of the angel Moroni who had come from the throne of God:

“…and the voice, majestic, ringing out from earth to the mighty dome of space, still lingers in [my] ears like a chime of silver bells.” (Cook, Lindon W., David Whitmer Interviews, pp. 78-79)

Joseph Smith recorded:

“…and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah…” (D&C 110:3)

Oliver Cowdery described his experience:

“On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the veil was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory…What joy! what wonder! what amazement!” [Then describing the voice of John the Baptist, Oliver recorded:] …his voice, though mild, pierced to the center.” (JS History—Oliver Cowdery account)

Now, back to the Nephites.  Out to the darkness, after giving a detailed description of the destruction of 16 specific cities, the Lord said:

15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

16 I came unto my own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled.

18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

Scot

How would it be, in the darkness of our own lives, whether it be depression, discouragement, a low season, COVID-19, separation from loved ones, lonely assignments far from home, whatever kind of darkness…how would it be to the hear the voice of the Savior in our minds and hearts?!

And our Prophet Russell M. Nelson invites us:

“Today, this most-important invitation from our loving Heavenly Father to listen to the voice of the Lord and to follow His teachings is extended to us.”

Then he continues:

“Now, as one of the Lord’s special witnesses, I bless you in your efforts to get on and stay on His covenant path, and strive with all your heart, might, mind and soul to Hear Him!” —President Russell M. Nelson

One of the most important lessons of our readings this week is to HEAR HIM!

And I think it’s fascinating that after they all heard the voice of the Lord, there was silence among all the people—complete silence for the space of many hours.  That must mean they were turned to Him, perhaps hoping not to miss one more word, hoping He would speak again, longing to hear that voice of strength and security in this horrendous time of turmoil and upheaval. 

Years ago I was running the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho with my brothers and some friends.  This is one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in the country and perhaps the most beautiful river run in the world.  There are hundreds of rapids as the river drops on average about 27 vertical feet per mile.  In one of the rare calmer sections of the river there was a beautiful old ranch.  It was still a working ranch and we could see there had been a fire just recently—probably that morning.  We pulled off the river and went to take a look.  A couple of farm outbuildings had been burned and a little barnyard area was scorched.  On the ground in the middle of all this burned over area there was a large hen.  Her feathers were somewhat scorched and I thought she was dead.  It was a sad sight indeed.  As I approached her, she stayed in place but got up a little bit as if to prepare for this stranger’s approach.  Underneath her, completely protected and unscathed by the fire were 12 little chicks.  They were under her protective care and every one of them had survived the fire without even a feather melted or singed.  It was quite a site. I’ve never forgotten it.

Out of the darkness to the Nephites the Lord said: 

4 O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.

So, the Lord affirms He has done this often for the House of Israel.  He continues:

5 And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.

There He proclaims that He would have gathered them even more had they turned to Him, but they rejected Him. Then He affirms:

6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.

This is an amazing God we worship, who now offers to all who have survived the cataclysm, “I will gather you now if you will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart!”

Who WOULDN’T turn to Him at that point?  It seems like you would weep for joy that you had been spared and that you now were given an open invitation to come unto Him.  Of course we would turn to Him and gather under His protective wings as a hen gathereth her chicks.

Scot

One quick point here—it’s another calendar point.  We learned at the beginning of 3 Nephi chapter 8 that the record was very accurately kept and that unless this righteous man, Nephi, made a mistake, this was the exact date.  You remember, right.

Now, at the end of chapter 10 of 3 Nephi we have this in the record:

18 And it came to pass that in the ending of the thirty and fourth year, behold, I will show unto you that the people of Nephi who were spared, and also those who had been called Lamanites, who had been spared, did have great favors shown unto them, and great blessings poured out upon their heads, insomuch that soon after the ascension of Christ into heaven he did truly manifest himself unto them—

19 Showing his body unto them, and ministering unto them…

Did you catch that?  The crucifixion, on the Nephite calendar time reckoning system was in the thirty-fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month…

Now, the record states that He came to them “in the ending of the thirty and fourth year…”

It’s nearly been a year since the crucifixion!  The reason that throws Latter-day Saints off is likely because of Arnold Friberg’s painting of the coming of the Lord to the Nephites—remember, there’s a pyramid and there are all these people and in the foreground holding their arms up in the air to shield themselves from the brightness of His coming and they are hanging on to large stones and rubble as if they were about to fall into the cracks and fissures of the earth.  This makes it appear as if He came just moments after all the destructions.

Think about it.  To get a gathering of 2,500 people to the Temple at Bountiful means that either these were all locals, or they had already gathered before the destructions.  And then we see that thousands of others gather the next day, perhaps 30,000 or so.  These faithful Nephites and Lamanites had gathered to the Temple for a reason—it was likely Passover and they were there because they had been promised by the Prophets that He would come there to that temple.

In Alma 16:20 we read:

20 And many of the people did inquire concerning the place where the Son of God should come; and they were taught that he would appear unto them after his resurrection; and this the people did hear with great joy and gladness.

That’s curious—they asked WHERE He would come and they were told WHEN!  But we don’t have the entire record.  I’m sure they were told where AND when and they had gathered to the Temple in Bountiful for this very purpose—and with all the destructions and roads broken up and the burial of loved ones and the cleaning up of the rubble and the mess, it may very well have been merciful for the Lord to give them that nearly a year to get there!

Aren’t you missing Maurine about this point?  I certainly am.

Scot

Now we have a remarkable account of His coming in 3 Nephi 11: 3-7:

It starts with a description of the voice of Heavenly Father Himself:

3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not.

[Is that the way we are sometimes, that the Lord is trying to tell us something and we don’t understand it at first?  I know I’ve had that happen before.]

5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

[Listen to these twenty powerful words from the Father:]

7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

He immediately gives this commandment from His own voice that we are to hear the voice, teachings, admonitions, commandments and doctrines of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  We are commanded to hear Him!

And President Nelson is pleading with us to learn how we hear him. 

I have certainly pondered and paid attention to how I hear him and I’m getting better at recognizing His voice in my own life.  He often talks to me directly through the scriptures.  Of course, I read and study them every day and it’s a natural for Him to use His words there to go right to the heart of matters that concern me that very day. 

He also gives me prompts in my mind that I really have to pay attention to. These are really delicious because sometimes they are just so surprising and revelatory. Like one time I was in the Galilee with Maurine leading a tour.  It was the middle of the night as we were staying in our lovely Kibbutz on the shores of the Sea of Galilee as I got up to use the bathroom. When I went to leave the bathroom in the darkness, He whispered five words to me:  “I’m not mad at you.” I hadn’t even realized that I had begun thinking this.  I had perhaps withdrawn a pace from Him thinking He was not pleased with me.  A whole series of thoughts coursed through my mind for the next few minutes, but mostly it was the most freeing thing I had ever heard from Him.  It filled me with joy.  It made me just giddy happy! And I had never really formulated the thought that I thought He was mad at me—but I realized I had formulated that general paradigm.

He often speaks peace and comfort to me in the shower.  Seriously.  It’s a great place to receive revelation.  You’re relaxed. You’re letting the hot water course over your body. You’re not going to take any phone calls. You’re free for about five or ten minutes. Just listen some time.

I’ve noticed, too, that when I am first waking up, I get thoughts and impressions that are clearly not from me. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the night in a dream or just after a dream—but mostly, for me, it’s when I’m just first waking up.

SO, the question is:  How do you hear Him?  It took the Nephites and Lamanites three times to really hear and understand His voice.

I just love contemplating this gathering of the righteous to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. It brings unlimited joy to my soul to think about this. What a rare privilege and blessing for these saints to meet the Lord face to face and then be invited to thrust their hands into His side and feel the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet. What sublime joy that must have been! And there were two-thousand five hundred men, women and children who experienced this—one by one.

I wish we had time to talk about each detail of this visit but I do want to bring up one of His first teachings to the people.  Let’s look in 3 Nephi 11: verses 28, 29 and 30:

And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.

We are commanded to have no disputations over points of doctrine.  I like that commandment.

29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

That is a powerful truth:  Satan, the devil, the deceiver, the accuser, the divider, Lucifer—HE is the father of contention and he is the one who stirs up the hearts of men and women and children to contend with anger—one with another.

The Savior continues:

30 Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.

The Savior does not ask us to suppress our anger.  He does not ask us to hold back our anger.  He does not ask us to keep our anger just to ourselves.  He does not ask us to deal with our anger.  Jesus Christ is asking us to abandon our anger altogether:  Such things should be done away!

Contention is the destroyer of relationships.
Contention is the destroyer of marriages.
Contention is the destroyer of trust.
Contention is the destroyer of happiness.
Contention is the destroyer of contentment.
Contention is the destroyer of joy.

Can you see clearly that the devil is the father of contention?

Let us abandon contention in our homes and more importantly in our hearts and the Lord can fill our souls with pure joy.

Scot

That’s all for today.  We’ve missed Maurine this week.  I just talked to her on the phone at the hospital and she sends her love to each of you near and far.  We both feel at peace and that all is well—we will get through this trial in our lives.  That peace is one of the ways that we hear Him!

Don’t forget to buy your 2021 Church History Come Follow Me calendars. Come and take a look at them at latterdaysaintmag.com/2021 that’s latterdaysaintmag.com/2021

Next week we will be studying 3 Nephi chapters 12-16, with the lesson entitled: “I am the Law, and the Light.”  Thanks for Paul Cardall for the beautiful music and to Michaela Maurine Proctor for producing this show.

Until next time:  Blessings to each of you dear ones.