1 Nephi 1:1-3

1 Nephi:

• Relates the ministry of Nephi from when his family left Jerusalem--> Arrival in promised land
• First part is a synopsis of Lehi's record, then he writes in his own words beginning in ch. 10

20 years before BOM:

• Kingdom of Judah experiencing last period of greatness
• Assyrian empire rapidly disintegrating
• Righteous King Josiah expanded political borders of Judah, reforming religion and establishing peace
• Josiah was killed while fighting against Pharaoh's armies, marking the beginning of the end for Judah
• Josiah's son Jehoahaz is next king 609 bc, but Pharaoh took him away and put his brother Eliakim on the throne, changing his name to Jehoiakim
• Reigned for 11 years. Nebuchadnezzar carried him off to Babylon. His son Jehoiachin reigned as a vassal (puppet) king of Babylon, but then was summoned to Babylon. Mattaniah, his uncle, began to reign, and his name was changed to Zedekiah.
• Book of Mormon history begins in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah. In Bible chronology, this is about 598-597 BC, in Book of Mormon Chronology it is 600 BC.

The BoM begins

• Lehi and family lived at Jerusalem (near, in or close by).
• "Born of goodly parents"- morally and spiritually. Nephi gives credit to his father in particular, like many other writers do. It is a characteristic of goodly parents to spend a lot of time and energy in teaching their children the things of God.
• They were taught in the learning of the Jews and language of the Egyptians- they learned to write in Egyptian characters.
• Nephi saw many afflictions, but was highly favored- blessed! Happens to all of the great ones.

Day 8: Technicalities.

First and second books of Nephi

Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni

Words of Mormon and Mosiah

In the Book of Mormon

Alma, Helaman, 3rd, 4th Nephi

Mormon, Ether, and Morni

Learn the teachings of the prophets

In the Book of Mormon

-Children's Songbook, 119

Day 7: A brief explanation- the road map of the BOM

The plates of Nephi:

-Small plates: spiritual matters, ministry and teachings of the prophets

-Large plates: secular history of the people. After Mosiah, these plates included items of major spiritual importance.

The plates of Mormon:

-An abridgment by Mormon of the Large Plates of Nephi, including commentaries by Mormon. Include a continuation of the history of the people by Mormon and words by Moroni.

The plates of Ether:

-History of the Jaredites, abridged by Moroni who inserted comments and incorporated the record under the title of Book of Ether.

The plates of Brass

-Brought over to the American continent by Lehi from Jerusalem in 600 BC. They contained the five books of Moses, a record of the Jews from the beginning to the reign of Zedekiah, and prophecies from biblical and nonbiblical prophets including Isaiah.

The first six books (1 Nephi-Omni) are a translation of the small plates of Nephi.

The Words of Mormon connects the small plates and Mormon's abridgment of the large plates.

Mosiah to Mormon chapter 7 is a translation of Mormon's abridgement of the large plates.

Mormon chapter 8 through Moroni were written by Mormon's son Moroni to finish up the record. He wrote those parts, made an abridgement of the Jaredite record (book of Ether), put everything together and in about AD 421 buried the plates where in AD 1823, Moroni would direct Joseph Smith to get them.

Day 5-6: Second/last parts of Testimony of Joseph Smith the Prophet

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye will ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth if it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Second half of the Testimony of Joseph the Prophet

- He is visited four total times by Moroni repeating the same messages, adding something new at the end of each- warning of great judgments, caution that Satan would try to tempt him to get money for the gold plates, and that he should tell his father what he had seen and heard, and where to find the plates etc.

-He went there, saw the plates etc, but had to return there each year for four years before he could get the plates and start the work. In 1827 he was able to get the plates but many people tried to take them from him.

-He kept them safe and completed the work required of him. The plates were delivered up to Moroni when he was done.

-The record from the plates was published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon.

-To receive teaching from an angel would be to erase any lingering uncertainties about God existing and the church being true. I wish my testimony was infallible, and I think it's pretty strong, in a quiet way lately, but to have that kind of tangible evidence of God existing would be mind blowing. Though, there are so many stories in the scriptures of people getting visited by angels (notably, Nephi's brothers) and still they didn't have a testimony that stuck. We're probably better off not seeing things like that so we can build our testimonies from the ground up. Someday we'll live with our Heavenly Father and have evidence of Him and his love all around us all day long. Until then we have to deal with this world which is sometimes pretty dirty and sad, but often is really breathtakingly beautiful.

Remember: "Cast not away therefore your confidence" and remember the times that I have known without a doubt.

I don't think I'm ready to write my testimony just yet. I think that's what this scripture study is about- figuring out where I stand with this new normal of being a wife and mother. I believe that God has never left me, though I haven't been as engaged as other times in my life. I believe I will be blessed for diligence in things like scripture study, prayer, going to church, and FHE. I believe it's worth it.

1st half of Testimony of Joseph Smith (about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon)

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, wiht real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

The first half of the testimony:

-Joseph was praying, and during his prayer the light appeared.

-Moroni appears in the light. He describes Moroni as wearing an extremely white robe and having a glorious countenance.

-Moroni called Joseph by name, introduced himself as a messenger from God, said that God had a work for him to do (a work which would have the world speaking both good and bad of him), tells him about the gold plates which give an account of the former inhabitants of the Americas and contain the fullness of the Gospel "as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants," and told him of the breastplate, silver bows, and urim and thummim which would be used to translate the plates (as seers).

Three and eight witnesses

Recite Moroni 10:4-5.
Read the Testimonies of the Three and Eight Witnesses.

• The Three Witnesses hears and saw some things that the Eight Witnesses did not. What are they? Notice that Joseph Smith's father and two of his brothers were among the Eight Witnesses. Watch "For Our Day" on the Book of Mormon video.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

The three witnesses saw the angel who brought them the plates to see. The 8 witnesses had the plates show to them by Joseph Smith. Three witnesses: the voice of the Lord commanded them to bear record of it. The three witnesses only saw the plates, the 8 witnesses touched and held them.

Intro: fun facts about the Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon:

-is comparable to the Bible

-is a record of God's dealings with those who lived anciently in the Americas

-contains the fullness of the everlasting Gospel

-was originally written out on gold plates by different authors, who had the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words were abridged into the Book of Mormon by Mormon, a prophet-historian.

-is a record of 2 civilizations: one came from Jerusalem in 600 BC, afterwards becoming two nations- the Nephites and the Lamanites; the other was a group of people that arrived there after the Lord confounded the tongues at the tower of Babel. The latter are the Jaredites. All were destroyed except the Lamanites and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.

-the crowning event in the Book of Mormon is the visit of Jesus to the Nephites after his resurrection. There he teaches the gospel, the plan of salvation, and what they (and we!) must do to gain peace in this life and eternal life hereafter.

-was finished up by Moroni, Mormon's son. Mormon gave him the abridgements, Moroni added a few words, and he buried them in the Hill Cumorah.

-was unearthed centuries later. On Sept. 21, 1823, Moroni, directed by the Lord, directed Joseph Smith to the location of the plates. He instructed him about what the BoM was and how he was to translate it into English.

-was indeed translated into English and is now in many languages, to testify to the world that Jesus is the Christ, and those who embrace his teachings and the Gospel may be saved.

-"...[is] the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book" -JS

-was witnessed in gold plate form by 11 other witnesses to help testify that it's real.

-has a promise within- that if it is read and pondered with a sincere heart and if the reader prays to know if it is truly the word of God, they may know by the power of the Holy Ghost that it is true. THEN, because the reader knows that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, they'll know that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was God's prophet, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's church restored on the earth, preparing us for the second coming of Christ.

Tonight I'm thinking about how long it's been since I've studied the scriptures or been really serious about them. Like many returned missionaries, I lost touch with my scripture study, even though I continued to go to church most Sundays and have fulfilled callings. I haven't been to the temple since I was married nearly 3 years ago either. It's time for me to decide- am I in or out? I'm tired of living life halfway, doing things without a real commitment. I know I won't always have 100% visiting teaching or have a super spiritual lesson prepared for our Primary kids, I feel really good about this small step of opening the scriptures daily and writing about what I read.

I have had the truth of the Book of Mormon manifested to me before. When I first read it and was profoundly moved to join (I mean I was 17-18, and unbelievably shallow, but I felt so moved and committed) and again and again afterwards, especially on my mission. I have had the Spirit manifest things to me, sometimes extremely strongly (like when I was supposed to go on a mission, sitting in Institute and completely overwhelmed with the knowledge that I was to go). I have to not cast away my confidence. Here I am, making my effort. I know God will make up the difference.