by byustudent | Mar 14, 2013 | About Mormons
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.) (more…)
by byustudent | Mar 14, 2013 | Mormon Reflections
This past week in my Book of Mormon religion class I was struck by the significance and importance of agency. I guess I’ve always assumed that agency is important simply because our Heavenly Father gave it to us and because the war in heaven was fought over it, but I’ve never actually thought about the significance of what this agency means. Agency is the ability to act for ourselves and to choose for ourselves what our actions here on Earth will be. The fact that our Heavenly Father and our Savior presented a plan in heaven that allowed us to choose our own actions shows their deep trust in us. Think about it. Why would a loving Heavenly Father even think of letting us make our own decisions if He doubted our ability to live righteously and make it back to Him? He would never have sent us to Earth knowing that there was no chance of us making it back. He knew we would make mistakes, but He ultimately had trust in us and our ability to choose the right.
Our Savior trusted us enough to suffer and to die for us and by completing the Atonement so that we could use our agency to learn from our mistakes, repent, and then ultimately make it back to live with Him again. On the other hand, Satan doubted our ability to live righteously, and he proposed a plan in heaven that took away our agency and didn’t allow us to make our own decisions. He had no faith in us. And why in the world would anyone want a leader or Savior who has no trust or faith in them? I’ve gained a much deeper respect for my agency and for my Savior and Father in heaven because of the trust that they have and the faith that they have put in me. It makes me infinitely more motivated to live my life in such a way to show that I can use my agency to live righteously. (more…)
by byustudent | Mar 14, 2013 | About Mormons
Brigham Young University (BYU) 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.
Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the New Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know. In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the New Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Letter to Van
Dear Van,
I know you have read the Bible many times and have marked this scripture over and over, but I read it the other day and it was an excellent reminder of the importance of how I should live and what I must do to become more like the Savior. The scripture is 1 Corinthians 13: 4–7 and it says, “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” (more…)
by byustudent | Mar 7, 2013 | About Mormons
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.) (more…)
by byustudent | Mar 7, 2013 | About Mormons
Brigham Young University (BYU) 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.
Here, in this column, students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the New Testament and gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of letters to someone they know. In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to witness to all of us of the relevance, power, and beauty of the New Testament, and God’s plan of happiness for each of us. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures. Let us know how these may help you in your own life. Share them with a friend. (more…)
