BYU (Brigham Young University) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.” As part of their undergraduate coursework, BYU students take multiple semesters of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.
In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.
In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelites who settled in ancient America. (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names. We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.)
Let us know if you’d like to receive your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon, and/or if these messages encourage and assist you spiritually as well.
Mormon Reflections on Obedience
Obedience has become a theme in my life lately, as I have been trying to prepare for a mission. In Alma 57:21, it talks about the young stripling warriors and tells you their keys to success: strict obedience and faith. They obeyed whatever Helaman told them with exactness, and they were blessed for it. None of them died in battle.
Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.
Obedience is the first law of heaven, and they are really emphasizing it in my mission preparation class. It is a key attribute of Christ that missionaries and saints strive to obtain. Elder L. Tom Perry says, “The discipline contained in daily obedience and clean living and wholesome lives builds an armor around you of protection and safety from the temptations that beset you as you proceed through mortality.” The obedient are protected. Sometimes it is an act of faith when you don’t know the reasons behind what you are being asked to do. But as you obey, you are protected, and your faith and testimony increase. I am striving to become more obedient and to have faith in the things that I am told to do. This will increase my trust in God, helping me to become more like a stripling warrior, like in Alma 57:27. It says, “Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.”
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