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: God Grants Us Our Needs
The scripture Helaman 2:7 caught my eye today as we were discussing the first four chapters of Helaman in my Book of Mormon class. It reads, “And there being but little timber upon the face of the land, nevertheless the people who went forth became exceedingly expert in the workings of cement, in the which they did dwell.” I know that this passage seems unimportant, especially compared to the obvious spiritual principles later in the same chapter. However, I learned something interesting from it. God expects us to work with what He gives us. In this case, He gave the people the means to use cement to create their dwellings, as timber was scarce in the land. What I noticed especially was that there was no mention of complaint from the people despite this hardship. That in itself is a testimony to me that God will always give us exactly what we need, even if it is not what we think we need, and we should move forward with faith and without complaint. I know in my life it is much easier to complain and be angry when I feel like God is not providing me with the job I want, or the understanding I think I deserve. However, He has a perfect plan for me, and I need to be able to accept that plan and work with Him to achieve His eternal ends. I truly believe in this principle and am going to work to incorporate it into my life.
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