thinking about it. (The elders name is Queiroz.) You may want to add these in the weekly letter.
Today, I want to focus my comments on our scripture study. I love the
verses in 2 Nephi 32 where we are instructed to(3) feast upon the
words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all
things what you should do. In verse (5) The Holy Ghost will show unto
you all things what you should do. In verse (9), I love the promise to
pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate
thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare
of thy soul. Simply put, reading the scriptures will tell us, the Holy
Ghost will show us and prayer will consecrate our efforts. If you look
at patterns of behavior that precede revelation, you can see in D&C
section 76 and section 138, the prophets were engaged in scripture
study when visions were opened up to their spiritual understanding. I
believe that we can also receive direction and guidance by reading our
scriptures accompanied by prayer and then having the Holy Ghost open
our spiritual eyes to understanding.
We know in the Book of Mormon, that the iron rod that leads us to the
fruit of the tree life ( the power of the atonement) is the word of
God and we are repeatedly instructed in the scriptures to feast upon
the words of Christ. Hopefully we can take the time to consider the
difference of eating vs feasting. Eating is routine, it may or may not
be something we like, it may or may not be sufficient quantity, we may
or may not look forward to it. However a feast is our favorite food,
it is plentiful, it is delicious and it is something we look forward
to. Are you making your scripture reading a routine meal or a feast?
Our family loves to scuba dive. I think our scripture reading can be a
lot like snorkeling vs scuba diving. Snorkeling is fun and we can
appreciate the beauty of the sea life and plants beneath us from a
distance. However, when we dive closer, we gain a better appreciation
of the detailed beauty of the sea life and experience the intricacies
of the coral formations. Feasting allows us to dive deeper into the
doctrine of Christ vs just snorkeling on the surface of the
scriptures.
I want to share a story about a man who died and was given the
opportunity to decide if he wanted to go to heaven or hell. He was met
by an angel who then proceeded to show him the difference between
heaven and hell. When they opened the door to hell and he looked in,
there was a huge room with a long table that was filled with the best
food from all over the world. He was amazed by the abundance, quality,
and beauty of the food. As he was admiring the feast, the doors opened
and people came in and sat around the table. As they tried to eat, he
noticed that each person had a three foot long spoon strapped to their
arm. They could easily scoop up their favorite food but it was
impossible to bring it to their mouths with the long spoon. The room
soon turned to chaos as people were flinging food up in the air to try
to catch it with their mouths. The beautiful food was strewn all over
the room and the people were not able to partake of the food. The man
then asked the angel to show him heaven. The angel took him to another
room and opened the door. An identical scene appeared. Once again,he
noticed the same long table filled with all of his favorite foods from
all over the world. Once again, people entered the room and sat around
the table. Just like the people in hell, they had the same three foot
spoons strapped to their arms. However, unlike hell, they asked the
person across the table what they would like to eat. They then scooped
up the food and fed the person across from them. Order ensued, all
were fed, and all rejoiced from being invited to the feast.
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