THE FATHER OF MY SOUL

Some years ago I sat in Stake Conference singing my favourite hymn "Redeemer of Israel" and as I sang a vision opened up to me in which I saw myself in my pre-existence preaching to spirits who were not converted to the Plan of Salvation as advanced to us by Jesus Christ. Afterwards as I reflected on this vision I came to understand that I was very converted to the Saviour and His plan before I was born into mortality. Over the years I have had other revelations and dreams which have given me a glimpse into who I was back then and what my purpose is here. Another significant insight came form of my patriarchal blessing which told me that my time of coming to this earth was set in order that I may fulfill a great promise which I had made in my pre-existence. It went on to say that many of the spirits who were with me at the time rejoiced when by my own testimony I fulfilled that vow by entering into the waters of baptism.

I didn't know any of these significant facts about myself when at the age of 16 I started searching for the truth. I was born and raised in Europe in a very Catholic background so I had a very deep faith in God. I didn't, however, find answers to a lot of my questions in the Catholic faith so I started investigating other religions, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints being one of them. The more I investigated the Church, the more answers I found and I knew they were true. I felt strongly I had to be a part of this religion so I made contact with the Church asking to be baptised. On 19 April 1975 I entered the waters of baptism and took upon myself the name of Jesus Christ. When I came up out of the water the Spirit descended upon me so strongly that I wept. I felt like I had come home.

I didn't really understand everything about baptism when I entered the baptismal font 40 years ago. I just knew that it was right and that my sins up to that point had been washed away. After these many years however, I have come to understand the most significant aspect of being baptised. What I understand now with great clarity and joy is the new relationship we form with the Saviour as we enter the waters of baptism. When we are baptised by proper priesthood authority and take upon ourselves His name we automatically become spiritually begotten children of Jesus Christ. Thus the Saviour becomes our new father surpassing in importance Elohim, the Father of our spirits and the mortal father who gave us a body of flesh and blood. This is an amazing concept to me. So many fathers yet the most important one is the one through whose atoning sacrifice we stand to inherit eternal life. We learn this truth through the symbolism of the ordinance of baptism. Baptism is symbolic of both birth and death. It symbolises birth as we emerge out of the water just as a newborn baby emerges out of the watery womb. It also symbolises death as we are buried in the water and rise again which rising represents new life through Jesus Christ who overcame the sting of death through His resurrection.

I received a personal witness of becoming a daughter of Christ following my baptism. My parents were very opposed to me being baptised and as the result I had to choose between them and the Church. I chose the Church and left my family. Shortly after my baptism I had a dream where I found myself in a particular house with my parents. Suddenly we became aware of a lot of commotion on the street. As we came out of the house to see what was happening a white matter akin to snow fell on top of us and buried us. We immediately started digging our way up to the top. I was the only one that made it through and did not see my parents again. As I emerged I saw whiteness everywhere I looked and as I turned to my right I saw the Saviour with outstretched arms coming towards me saying: "Where are my children?" This dream at the time confirmed to me that I had made the right choice to be baptised but now I view it as more. Over the years it had become clear to me that I was being told that my baptism had gifted me a father that would not only lead me to eternal life but would be a father to me in this life in every sense of the word.

We seldom think of the Saviour as our father. We are more conditioned to view Him as our Brother or the Son through whom we come to the Father but in reality coming to one is like coming to the other for the Saviour and the Father are one (3 Nephi 11:27).  This oneness suggests that there is another dimension to the title of the Father the Saviour has taken upon Himself. What I love about this is the personal aspect of this title. A father is someone who is meant to love you, lead you, protect you, provide for you, discipline you, chastise you, guide you and be a good example to you. All these things and more the Saviour, as our father can do and does do. He lives up to this role magnificently. One of the fatherly attributes I wish to expound upon here is that of a provider. We can find many evidences of this fact in the scriptures. As we are studying the Book of Mormon this year I will use Lehi and his family as the prime example.

When Lehi asked his sons to return to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates from Laban, Nephi did not hesitate because he knew that God would not ask anything of us if he did not provide the way for us to accomplish the task (1 Nephi 3:7). Eight years and many challenges of the wilderness later, Nephi was even further convinced that God  provides means "whereby [we] can accomplish the thing which he has commanded [us]" (1 Nephi 17:3). After eight years of travel this group of colonists arrived to the seashore being guided by the Liahona which was provided by the Lord. The land to which they were brought to by the seashore was so plentiful in food that they called it Bountiful. In this land the Lord had prepared and provided all things that they would need to not only subsist but to make the journey to the promised land (1 Nephi 17:5). These were the conditions that existed in the land of Bountiful (identified in Warren P. and Michaela Knoth Aston, In the Footsteps of Lehi: New Evidence for Lehi's Journey Across Arabia to Bountiful [1994], p 28-29):

1. Fresh water available year round.
2. 'Much fruit and also wild honey' (1 Nephi 17:5-6, 18:6)
3. Fertile ground in both the general area (17:5, 8) and the specific location (17:6) where Lehi's family camped
4. Reasonable access from the interior desert to the coast
5. A mountain prominent enough to justify Nephi's reference to 'the mount' and close enough that he could go there to 'pray oft' (18:3, see also 17:7)
6. Shoreline (17:5) suitable for the construction and launching of a ship (18:8)
7. Ore and flint for Nephi's tools (17:9-11, 16)
8. Enough large timber to build a seaworthy ship (18:1-2,6)
9. Suitable winds and ocean currents to take the ship out into the ocean (18:8-9)
10. No population residing in the area.

Could Lehi and his family make such a monumental journey to the American continent if the Lord did not provide the means, the guidance, the instruction and material for construction of a ship? No. As prepared as they were for the wilderness experience, this family could never had survived let alone crossed oceans to another continent they did not even know existed. 

King Benjamin called us all beggars before God (Mosiah 4:19). I have been one such beggar from the time of my baptism until the present day. I have witnessed many times the hand of the Father as the provider in my life. His mercy has been without end and His goodness without limit. I will recount just one here that might prove this point and bring someone hope in their desperate moment. After I was divorced I struggled terribly to financially support myself and my two children. One particular day I realised I would not have enough petrol for my car that week until the next pay day. As I knelt in prayer that morning I asked the Father for $20 to fulfill this need. I then went to work and during the course of the morning forgot all about my petition. As lunch time rolled around, a work colleague approached my desk and put $20 on it. I asked him what the money was for and he said that he was coming back to work from lunch and noticed this $20 note on the pavement. He picked it up and thought to himself that he didn't really need it and as he did so, I immediately came into his mind and he said he knew he had to give the money to me. In my mind, the money that particular day did not fall out of someone's pocket but out of the hands of a Father who provides for the children who have taken upon themselves His name. Such a small thing but such big proof, one that has sent me to my knees over and over again. The petitions have been many over the years and the blessings outnumbered them all. The needs I had not even anticipated have been met by One whose foresight and wisdom astound me. And for those petitions which He denied over the years, I thank Him, for they supplied the growth and an increase in faith that I had not imagined. I stand in awe of His wisdom. I stand in awe of His love. I stand in awe of the Father of my soul.

"And he loveth those who will have him be their God..."

(1 Nephi 17:40)

OUT OF MERCY AND BY WISDOM

As I study the scriptures I am continuously amazed about two things: 1. how merciful the Saviour is and 2. how incredibly wise He is. The Book of Mormon is replete with examples of both of these attributes of the Saviour but none more powerful than the restoration of the Church borne out of His mercy and accomplished through His wisdom. Following the Saviour's death and that of His apostles we learn in 1 Nephi chapter 13 that the efforts of 'the great and abominable church' destroyed the converting power of the Bible which gave Satan great power and caused many to stumble and be in an awful state of blindness. Bruce R McConkie has stated that 'all organizations of whatever name or nature - whether political, philosophical, education, economic, social, fraternal, civic, or religious - which are designed to take men on a course that leads away from God and his laws and thus from salvation in the kingdom of God (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 137-38) fall in the category of 'the great and abominable church'.

The corruption of the Bible lay not only in interpretations of various men but in alterations and substantial deletions by "local churches of gentile composition, into whose hands the [Gospels] came at an early time [in the 70's and 80's A.D.] (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol. 7, Ch 2, p 26-7). The translation of Hebrew text to Greek "presented further problems such as scholastic incompetence and theological bias of the translators which caused them to change the meaning or paraphrase texts that were either unclear or embarrassing to them. Concrete terms in Hebrew came out as abstract terms in Greek. Expressions about God deemed by the Greek translators to be crude or offensive because they described Deity as the Holy Man that he is, rather than the immanent spirit they supposed him to be - were changed or toned down or deleted entirely. Passages setting forth the so-called anthropomorphic nature of Deity were simply assumed by the translators to be false and were translated, paraphrased, and changed accordingly...(Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p 403).

When Nephi wanted to know the things his father had seen (1 Nephi 11:1) he was not only shown the meaning of Lehi's dream but was given a panoramic vision of this world to the end of time (see 1 Nephi 14:18-30). Nephi was devastated when he saw the future of the promised land and the slain of his people (1 Nephi 15:5) but the Lord told him that his people will be the means of blessing the Gentiles who stumble in darkness because of the loss of the plain and precious things from the Gospel of the Lamb. He had devised a wise plan to counteract the cunning of the devil and He told Nephi about it: "I will manifest myself unto they seed, that they shall write many tings which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious; and after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, an also the seed of thy brethren, behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb. And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb, and my rock and my salvation" (1 Nephi 13:35-6). These writings of course became the Book of Mormon. Twice in this chapter the reason for this wise plan is preceded with "I will be merciful unto the Gentiles" (vs 33, 34). And God in His mercy employed His wisdom to carry out this plan beginning with a very important man.

This man was Christopher Columbus and what an amazing and godly man he was! He must have been given the mission to discover the new world and the remnant of 'Lehi's seed' before the foundation of this earth for the Lord made all the knowledge available to him in preparation for such an important task. What was the purpose of him discovering this new land? For the restoration of the plain and precious truths hid in a hill which had been lost from' the record of the Jews' (1 Nephi 13:23) and to bring the Gentiles out of 'the awful darkness' according to Christ's mercy (1 Nephi 13:32, 34). It needed to be a new land for the gospel to be restored for "if the Lord had not prepared the way by laying the foundations of this glorious nation [America], it would have been impossible (under the stringent laws and bigotry of the monarchial governments of the world) to have laid the foundations for the coming of this great kingdom. The Lord has done this" (President Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], p 409). Speaking in his own words of his role in discovering a land that would offer religious freedom to all, Columbus said:

"From my first youth onward I was a seaman and have so continued until this day....The Lord was well disposed to my desire, and he bestowed upon me courage and understanding; knowledge of seafaring He gave me in abundance, of astrology as much as was needed, and of geometry and astronomy likewise. Further, He gave me joy and cunning in drawing maps and thereon cities, mountains, rivers, islands and harbours, each one in its place. I have seen and truly I have studied all books - cosmographies, histories, chronicles and philosophies, and other arts, for which our Lord unlocked my mind, sent me upon the sea, and gave me fire for the deed. Those who heard of my emprise called it foolish, mocked me, and laughed, But who can doubt but that the Holy Ghost inspired me (Jacob Wasserman, Columbus, Don Quixote of the Seas, pp 19-20, 46)

Speaking of the importance of the land of America and Columbus' role in its' discovery Orson Pratt, an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles provides additional interesting insight:

"In those early and perilous times, our men were few, and our resources limited. Poverty was among the most potent enemies we had to encounter; yet our arms were successful; and it may not be amiss to ask here, by whose power victory so often perched on our banner? It was by the agency of that same angel of God that appeared unto Joseph Smith, and revealed to him the history of the early inhabitants of this country, whose mounds, bones and remains of towns, cities and fortifications speak from the dust in the ears of the living with the voice of undeniable truth. This same angel presides over the destinies of America, and feels a lively interest in all our doings. He was in the camp of Washington; and, by an invisible hand, led on our fathers to conquest and victory; and all this to open and prepare the way for the Church and kingdom of God to be established on the western hemisphere, for the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the world.

This same angel was with Columbus, and gave him deep impressions, by dreams and by visions, respecting this New World. Trammelled by poverty and by an unpopular cause, yet his persevering and unyielding heart would not allow an obstacle in his way too great for him to overcome; and the angel of God helped him - was with him on the stormy deep, calmed and troubled elements, and guided his frail vessel to the desired haven. Under the guardianship of this same angel, or Prince of America, have the United States grown, increased, and flourished, like the sturdy oak by the rivers of water (Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, Vol 6, p 368, July 4, 1854)

I hope there was a degree of comfort in Nephi's heart, despite the destruction of his people, when he was shown the glorious future of the promised land and the power that would come upon those who embraced the covenants restored through a Gentile of the seed of Joseph (2 Nephi 3:7-15). His vision of the Church of the Lamb of God should also give us comfort amidst the evils of our day. Nephi saw that the saints' numbers in our day were few and that the devil gathered together multitudes of people among all nations to fight against the Church of God. There is, however, one thing that the multitudes who fight against the Church do not have while the saints do:

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory" (1 Nephi 14:14).

We are the covenant people. We are endowed with God's power with which we can defeat armies and nations who fight against the Church and will do so because the Kingdom of God will prevail, never to be taken from the earth again. The scriptures describe the restoration of the gospel and the organization of the Church as 'a great and a marvelous work' (1 Nephi 14:7, 3 Nephi 21:9). The Church is, however, not an empty constitution but an active institution of people without which it would not flourish. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland explained that the significance of the Church is two-fold:

"This church, the great institutional body of Christ, is a marvelous work and a wonder not only because of what it does for the faithful but also because of what the faithful do for it. Your lives are at the very heart of that marvel. You are evidence of the wonder of it all" (in Conference Report, Oct 1994, 42; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, p 32)

Remember: Satan might be marching with his armies to steal, kill and destroy but he does not have the power on his best day to take you out on your worst day....

"For a small moment have I forsaken thee,

but with great mercies will I gather thee"

3 Nephi 22:7

IN THE HEART OF WILDERNESS

There lived on the fringes of Jerusalem in 600 BC a rich, bold and resourceful merchant, a God fearing man by the name of Lehi. This man, under God's direction prophesied of Jerusalem's demise and destruction, a city whose wickedness was so great that God did not only send one prophet to call them to repentance, but as many as seven, Lehi being among them as well as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Nahum, Habukkuk, Zephaniah and Zechariah.

Lehi's prophetic calling came in 600 B.C., a time in history when Jerusalem was flourishing not only in prosperity but also in idolatry, immorality and corruption. And simmering below the pulse of the industrious and prosperous Jerusalem lay political unrest which would ultimately punish Israel and enslave those who stoned the prophets. In 600 B.C. Jerusalem was under Babylonian domination. Sitting on Judah's throne was Zedekiah, an appointed puppet king, who unwisely with most of Judah's leadership, formed an alliance with Egypt with plans to overthrow the Babylonian rule. Jeremiah warned against this alliance knowing full well that Egyptians could not back their show of power with physical resources but Zedekiah refused to listen. When Lehi brought his message of doom prophesying that Jerusalem will be destroyed and its inhabitants carried away to Babylon (1 Nephi 1:13,18), the people were outraged and considered him along with Jeremiah and other prophets unpatriotic and guilty of treason. Their solution to this offence was that Lehi had to die (1 Nephi 1:20).

When the call came to leave Jerusalem and establish a colony of higher moral standards than the apostate Jerusalem, Lehi, not needing time to prepare, did not hasitate. The Lord had been preparing him his whole life for such an experience, both temporally and spiritually. According to His foresight, the Lord had strategically placed Lehi in the tribe of Manasseh, which of all tribes lived the farthest out in the desert, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Lehi, therefore became familiar with the dessert and as a merchant came to know the Egyptian culture. He had even given two of his sons Egyptian names and taught them to write in reformed Egyptian. Lehi was also spiritually sound. He knew full well what the God of Israel had done for his people and the wilderness they had to traverse to get to the promised land and he taught this to his children. Nephi often recounted Israel's wilderness experience to his brethren to bring them to the remembrance of their roots and to give them courage. : "Nephi consciously understood that his family was re-enacting a spiritual pattern....[and reminded his brethren of it frequently].....The Mormon pioneers, crossing the American wilderness, called themselves the Camp of Israel and were also aware they were following a pattern laid down before them....In spiritual history, the place of refuge is the wilderness, idealized by Israel as the place to commune with God. Certain profound lessons are learned in the wilderness, especially our complete dependence on God for it is a trackless, difficult place where our own resources prove not to be enough. The wilderness experiences in scripture are for cleansing and clarifying, and it is only after a people has experienced the marrow-deep challenges of the wilderness that they are ready to inherit a promised land" (Maurine Proctor, All Things According to His Will, Meridian Magazine).

Even though Lehi and his family were favoured of God and spared Jerusalem's destruction, they needed the experience of the wilderness to establish a righteous branch of Israel in another land. For this reason Lehi and his family travelled by the banks of the Red Sea for nine whole years before Nephi received instruction to build a ship. If the wilderness is a spiritual oasis where one finds God, this had to be true of this band of followers who had to be taught by what power they were inheriting the promised land. And they did find God in many ways but in one most extraordinary way. They found him in a tree.

Approximately a year before the command to build a ship, Lehi, had a very memorable dream in which he beheld an even more memorable tree, the tree of life. When Nephi, being the dutiful son that he was, inquired of God the meaning of the tree of life that his father had seen, an angel appeared to him to tutor him.  When the angel asked Nephi if he knew what the tree represented,  Nephi answered that it is the love of God, most desirable above all (2 Nephi 11:22,23). Immediately following his answer he was shown a vision of the Savior during his mortal ministry. It becomes very clear through Nephi's vision that the love of God is manifest to his children through the gift of His only begotten Son thus the tree becomes the symbol of Jesus Christ. Why a tree? Because a tree bears fruit and fruit is something you eat and something you eat becomes a part of you. In other words, you are what you eat. It transforms your very system. What we eat spiritually also transforms us, even to the point of rebirth. This rebirth places us on the path to eternal life. Alma claims that if we plant the word, which is compared to a seed, into our hearts and nurture it, it "shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree spring up into everlasting life" (Alma 32:41).

The symbol of the tree "converges all the meaning of the gospel. It was the tree of life that stood in the Garden of Eden and nourished Adam and Eve. This was a place of unity with each other and with the Lord. After they fell, eating the fruit of a forbidden tree, they came into a world of duality, division, separation from God. The only way to be at-one again with the Lord comes from the events that took place on another tree - the cross, through Christ's atonement and resurrection. Some legends even claim the cross was constructed from a branch of the tree of life. Symbolically, at least, this is true" ("The Vision of the Tree of Life, Meridian Magazine, December 14, 2015)

So it is with us. We all need a wilderness if we are to truly know God. The Lord wants us to find Him in the rough terrain, in the scorching desert, in the endless roads that we might know by whose hand we are led to 'the goodly land'. As prepared as Lehi was, his capacities were not enough. Hence the Liahona to point the way to the most fertile parts of the land where they could hunt for their survival (1 Nephi 16:14-30). It is good to be equipped with a bow but it is the hunt that the Lord provides that makes the hunter.

Every true disciple of Jesus Christ will experience 'a wilderness' before they get to their promised land. What promised land?: "Your promised land. Your new Jerusalem. Your own little acre flowing with milk and honey. Your future. Your dreams. Your destiny. I believe that in our own individual ways, God takes us to the grove or the mountain or the temple and there shows us the wonder of what His plan is for us" (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence, Ensign March 2000, p 10). We do not need to travel the rocky path to the land of milk and honey alone for the Lord has promised "....mine angels shall go up before you, and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land" (D&C 103:17, 19-20). The barren landscape of our wilderness will serve as a testing ground that will refine us, change us and enoble us if all the lessons are learnt and all obstacles overcome with the help of Him who desires to see the journey completed to the end. And when the moments of doubt and uncertainty would question the worthiness of that journey, we must be like that faithful, bold and resourceful merchant from the outskirts of Jerusalem who stood on the banks of the Red Sea, with no ship in sight, proclaiming: "I have obtained a land of promise" (1 Nephi 5:5).

THE WISDOM OF OUR GOD

In the Lectures on Faith, a document which was the basis for instruction in the School for the Elders in late 1834 and which appeared in the Doctrine and Covenants from 1835 until 1921, Joseph Smith stated that a man cannot exercise sufficient faith in God unto salvation without having a 'correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes (Lecture 3). This means that before we can move on to experiential faith meaning faith derived from our experience with God, such as faith derived from His power to save, or to forgive, or to lend comfort, we need to possess faith that He has the attributes that would lead us to such experiences. Where do we learn of Christ's attributes so that we may put trust and faith in them? The scriptures: "The scriptures, in a marvelous way, are the repository of the characteristics and attributes of God. It is as if the prophets were giving evidence that God was worthy of our trust, that we could indeed depend on him in the most difficult trials of our lives. In fact - and this is a wonderful point to consider - 'the God of heaven, understanding most perfectly the constitution of human nature, and the weakness of men, knew what was necessary to be revealed, and what ideas must be planted in their minds in order that they might be enabled to exercise faith in him unto eternal life' (LF 4:2)" (Jerry A. Wilson, The Great Plan of Happiness, Insights from the Lectures on Faith, p. 28). When I first learnt of Joseph's statement about knowing God I determined that I would read the Book of Mormon with that in mind. I looked for His characteristics in the way He dealt with the inhabitants of ancient America and in what the prophets said of Him. I still do so. Whenever I find something relating to His character, I pencil it in the margins. Now when I flick through my Book of Mormon I am amazed to see pencil markings on just about every page. This has made me conclude that we can 'see' the Saviour on every page of the Book of Mormon.

The most prominent characteristic of Jesus Christ that comes up over and over again for me in the scriptures is that of mercy. For the first time in my life when we studied  The Old Testament the year before last, I learnt about the God of mercy as I witnessed through the power of the spirit His dealings with ancient Israel. Not many people would describe Jehovah as merciful, the world at large sees Him as a vengeful God of the Old Testament but to me the mercy is so much more evident. After all, who can forget Jehovah passing by Moses on Mount Sinai saying to him: "....the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6)? Or Jehovah leading Israel into promised land with an admonition "know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations" (Deut 7:9) Who could possibly say they possess mercy towards another being 'to a thousand generations', meaning infinitely? We can also discover the God of mercy on just about every page of The Book of Mormon. This book of scripture also teaches us of another prominent characteristic that I wish to discuss here and that is wisdom. I will cite two examples of this. The first is found through Nephi who upon Lord's command created two sets of golden plates, the purpose of which he did not know. But one thing he did know and that was that the Lord knows all things from the beginning (1 Nephi 9:5,6). What the Lord knew in this instance was that the larger plates which were essentially The Book of Lehi would become the 116 pages of the lost manuscript translated by Joseph Smith in 1828, over 2,000 years later. The smaller plates which Nephi was commanded to make without knowing why covered exactly the same period as the lost manuscript and basically summarised Lehi's prophecies. The story does not end there either. Mormon, under the inspiration of the spirit, included these smaller plates in his own abridgement of the plates we now know as the Book of Mormon. He must have wondered if he was repeating himself including these plates, having just abridged Lehi's account but Mormon being obedient did as he was prompted to do admitting he did not know all things but like Nephi, he knew that the Lord knew (Words of Mormon 1:7). One cannot but be convinced that Nephi and Mormon knew God and of His wisdom and were therefore able to exercise sufficient faith and trust in His commands so that we today could have the richness of Lehi's prophecies such as his dream of the tree of life.

Another example of God's wisdom that is found in The Book of Mormon has to do with the Nephite's failure to record Samuel's prophecy that many saints would rise with Christ at the time of His resurrection. Why would the Saviour call them up on this particular prophecy? Why would this error have been significant enough for the Lord to correct it? Well, it has to do with the fact that The Book of Mormon, being "Another Testament of Jesus Christ", was specifically written for our day and in our day the accuracy of historical events recorded in the Bible is greatly under fire. One of these historical events recorded in the Bible that is greatly misunderstood and refuted is the resurrection. Jesus's rise from the grave is the subject of much modern scholarly debate. This debate was brought to the attention of one Latter-Day Saint whilst attending a well-known graduate theological school. He recounts: "In a class on Christ, entitled Christology, the professor was asked a question about the resurrection. He became very animated as he explained that this was the subject of his doctoral dissertation in Germany. He said that the answer to the student's question was complicated by the fact that there are various interpretations of the biblical account. He proceeded to draw a rectangle on the board representing the Bible and began to explain that this well-known scholar had his opinion based on these verses, while another theological had her opinion founded on some other passages. He then humorously noted that he differed from their interpretations due to still other verses. All the while he was banging away with his chalk at the rectangle representing the Bible. Then this professor, unacquainted with the Restoration, did an amazing thing. He said to the class, 'You know what we need? We need another book'! At this point he drew another rectangle next to the first, representing the 'other book' and said, 'If we had another book it would prove them (the other scholars) wrong and me right!' I sat stunned. Here was a learned man, a student of the Bible, who recognized the inadequacy of that single record to teach accurately about the resurrection. Soon after this event I was reading in 3 Nephi 23 and was amazed at the significance of the Saviour's correction to the Book of Mormon record. I understood more fully why the inclusion of Samuel's prophecy being fulfilled literally was so significant" (Philip Allred, BOM Lesson 41 "The Lord Esteems His Prophets", Meridian Magazine)

So often we, who are required to live by faith, fail to understand why the Lord deals with us in certain ways. For instance, we are told to 'ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened" (3 Nephi 27:29) and yet when we do just that and pray, often our prayers go unanswered. We want what we want when we want it and we usually want it now. Consider this modern day story related by Elder Bateman of the Seventy who inadvertently proves this point by relating a story of a returned missionary he interviewed when he was a Stake President:

"One interview in particular left an indelible impression on me when a young man shared an experience that had changed his life. This elder had spent two years serving a mission in Mexico. Like many others, his gospel foundation had been somewhat shaky before he entered the missionary training center. But as the interview progress, I could tell that significant changes had occurred within him. After a few weeks in the field, this elder had become concerned that he was telling people that the Book of Mormon was true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet when he didn't know for himself. How could he assure others when he did not have his own assurance? In discussing the problem with him, his companion challenged him to follow the counsel he was giving investigators: read the Book of Mormon and pray with a sincere heart, with real intent, even if he could only desire to believe. a month went by and my friend's feelings did not change. he read parts of the Book of Mormon and prayed daily that he would know the truthfulness of the message, but nothing happened. Two or three more weeks passed. He was obedient in his scripture study, prayers, tracting, and teaching, but he still lacked conviction.

As this missionary and his companion were tracing during the third week, they made an appointment to teach a new family the next evening. When they arrived home that night, the elder, who, at his companions' request, had agreed to teach the Joseph Smith story to the new investigators, began reading the Book of Mormon again. He read and prayed and then read some more. he was determined to have an answer before teaching the family. Through most of the night he repeated the pattern of reading and praying. As morning came he was disappointed; no swelling motions, no particular enlightenment or feeling had been received.  he dutifully followed his companion during the day but worried about the evening appointment. When the our came, they knocked on the door. The husband answered and ushered them into a small home. Sitting on the dirt floor were nine children, and the father joined the mother behind them. Soon it was time for the struggling elder to teach his part of the lesson. he began by describing rather methodically young Joseph's confusion regarding which church to join and his subsequent prayer on a beautiful spring day in 1820 in a secluded wooded area near his father's farm.

As the elder reached the point in the story where the Father introduced the Son, saying, 'This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!'  (JSH 1:17), a warm feeling began to envelop him, starting in the deep recesses of his soul. Within moments, it had filled his entire being, and he began to cry. He dropped his head in embarrassment. Why was he crying? What were these feelings? he had never felt them before. The feelings were sweet and penetrated his very being. As thoughts rushed through his mind, he realized the he knew that the Father and the Son had appeared to the boy Joseph, that the Book of Mormon was true, and that the gospel had been restored. Regaining control of his emotions, he looked up at the father and mother. Tears were streaming down their faces! They were feeling the same powerful influence of the Spirit that he was feeling. He looked at the children. They, too, had tears in their eyes. The Spirit had borne witness to them of the truthfulness of his words. he continued the story and finished with a humble witness that the Father and the Son had appeared to the boy Joseph.

As this elder concluded telling me his story, he said: 'President, I never had a problem teaching people after that. I knew the gospel was true, for I knew that the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith. I knew why I was in the mission field'. As I listened the Holy Spirit bore witness of the extraordinary missionary that the young elder had become. I thought of how efficient Heavenly Father is. The father, the mother, the nine children, and the young missionary were all converted that evening. Twelve were converted that night, whereas only one would have been converted the night before" (Elder Merrill J. Bateman, Living a Christ-Centered Life, Ensign Jan 1999, p 7)

When Joseph went back to translating after the loss of 116 pages of the manuscript, the Lord told him not to translate the same pages again because of undergoing conspiracy which might disprove his ability to translate. The Lord explained it to him this way: "I will not suffer that they shall destroy my work; yea, I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil" (D&C 10:43). This plan certainly didn't seem like it would be such proof at the time. It most likely seemed to the men of Joseph's day that he couldn't translate the same pages but we of our day, who know of Joseph's fate understand this plan perfectly, and can say with assurance that God knows all things from beginning to the end. Why is it necessary for us to know this about Him? So that we can more fully trust those things we cannot understand. Trusting is important because when we trust, we do not seek to re-invent the wheel. I am often amazed how much we seek to reject our parents' acquired knowledge and wisdom once we grow into adults. We want to make our own mistakes, learn on our own terms and basically we believe that our parents know nothing, mostly because they come from a different generation and time 'when things were different'. The Saviour however, is not like that. He is a God who knows all things from beginning of times to the end of times. Because of this knowledge He often protects us where we don't see it, denies those things that would be our undoing, puts us in places that would elevate us in faith and basically puts up with our blunders because He knows we are just now learning to walk and the running will come later. Because He can see further down the road, He tolerates our mistakes and sins of today knowing that one day we will be in a better place. All these lessons and more can be gleaned through the scriptures to better convince us that we can trust Him whose work and glory it is to 'bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man' (Moses 1:39). If we believe that this is His purpose, then we need to trust Him that He can get us there.

Jesus became a god before He even proved Himself in mortality. How come? Because His obedience to the Father was perfect and absolute. In other words, He did not seek to re-invent the wheel. Surely, He who became a God without the need of mortality is qualified enough to pave the path to godhood for us if we would but learn of Him and trust in his might and power. This trust is called faith and we can have it if we know about Him whose virtues and attributes we learn about in writings that testify of Him and His divinity: The Old Testament, The New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price and most importantly, the Book of Mormon.