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Awake My SoulThe Psalm of Nephi
LDS Super
Bowl Trivia
Quarterback Sneak –
Ward members quietly leaving before the closing prayer.
Draw Play –
What the kids do with the Proclaimer during the Sacrament.
Sacked –
Being asked to speak in Sacrament meeting before you can perform the quarterback sneak...
Half-time Show –
Watching young mothers chase their toddlers who escaped during the intermediate hymn
Staying in the Pocket –
What happens to tithing that should have been paid three weeks ago.
Two-minute Warning –
Sacrament speaker says, “So, In conclusion" and you start gathering up your children and sweeping up the spilled cheerios.
Two-Minute Drill
Comes right after Two-Minute Warning. It’s the point at which you open the manual and start preparing your primary lessons…
CheerleadersParents and Grandparents watching their kids during the Primary program.
Instant Replay –
Both youth speakers use the same talk from the New Era.
Sudden Death –
Sacrament meeting goes into "overtime".
Trap Play –
The Bishop, realizing that his Sacrament Meeting speakers didn’t show up, looks down and realizes you haven’t spoke in
church in a loooooong time….
End Run –
Using the side doors to avoid talking to anyone on Fast Sundays…
High Priest lateral
“Hey, I don’t know! you’ll have to ask my wife”
Zone Blitz –
Young women using both isles in the chapel to greet the returned missionary after his homecoming talk.
2 Nephi 3
Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a
promise(s) of the Lord, that
(1) out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a
righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but
a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless,
(2) to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord
(3) that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the
latter days…
(which will result in) the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden
darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.
How will this be accomplished?
For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice
seer unto the fruit of my loins.
…and that which shall be written by (this seer), and also that which shall be written by the fruit
of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and
laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and
bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge
of my covenants, saith the Lord.
And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence
among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
This described Joseph Smith.
Did it also describe President Hinckley?
Elder Neal Maxwell
It was thus also, geographically and
numerically, on America's western
frontier. Palmyra was not Paris, and
Nauvoo was not New York. Nevertheless,
Liberty Jail doubtless resembled other jails
and other dungeons which have held other
prophets.
But in the years ahead, as "the ends of the
earth shall inquire after [Joseph's] name,"
Liberty Jail will loom ever larger in the
spiritual history of mankind.
President Eyring
The Lord always wants to lead us to
deliverance through our becoming
more righteous. That requires
repentance. And that takes
humility…
We might make the mistake of assuming that illness,
persecution, and poverty will be humbling enough.
They don’t always produce by themselves the kind
and degree of humility we will need to be rescued.
Trials can produce resentment or discouragement. The
humility you and I need to get the Lord to lead us by
the hand comes from faith. It comes from faith that
God really lives, that He loves us, and that what He
wants—hard as it may be—will always be best for
us.
Think for a moment…
Imagine you were to attend a support group for people who
struggle with problems of self-control similar to your own. At the
meeting, the first person to speak describes himself as a
religious person who is devoted to God but is frequently
tormented by temptation and sin. He always feels guilty and
sorry for sinning but finds himself losing control again and again in spite of his
desires for good. Sometimes he becomes discouraged to the point where he
questions his own worth—which can lead to a mire of negativity and a loss of
motivation to do good…
Following this introduction, another stands to speak. This man describes painful
inner conflict and turmoil. He, like the first individual, wants to serve God but
finds himself continually falling back into sinful habits. "Despite my best efforts, I
keep doing what I don't want to do." …
If you were in a meeting hearing these two reports, what would you think? Could
you relate to these people? … Who are they then? Wayward souls who are
hopelessly out of control? Hardened addicts who are beyond rehabilitation? Not
quite. These descriptions are from great prophets of the Lord. The first was
Nephi, the second Paul the apostle.
A. Dean Byrd, Mark D. Chamberlain, Willpower Is Not Enough: Why We Don't Succeed at
Change, 149
Nephi and Humility
Nevertheless, notwithstanding the
great goodness of the Lord, in
showing me his great and
marvelous works, my heart
exclaimeth:
O wretched man that I am! Yea, my
heart sorroweth because of my
flesh; my soul grieveth because of
Why would Nephi,
who
had already had visions
mine
iniquities.
and seen the Lord,
so worried about,
aboutbecause
his sins
I ambe
encompassed
and iniquities? of the temptations and the sins
which do so easily beset me.
And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth
because of my sins;
Hebraic Parallelism
And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to
temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and
afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?
Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin.
Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.
Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength
because of mine afflictions.
Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee
forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul?
Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make
me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?
O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness!
O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt
thou make my path straight before me!