Apostasy

Recently we have studied the apostasy. It is fascinating to realize that the Lord started preparing for the restoration of His church many, many centuries before Joseph Smith was on the earth.

In 382 the Latin Vulgate, Pope Damascus persuaded one of the most capable Bible scholars of the time to translate the Bible into Latin, the language of the common people. It was from this translation that John Wycliffe made his translation of the Bible into English.

Other people like Martin Luther, Johannes Gutenberg, Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims, and the founding fathers of the nation played a huge role in making it possible that the restoration could take place.

Ethan- The apostles were killed.

Maddie- The priesthood was taken from the earth becuase there were no apostles.

Ethan & Maddie- It was a very dark time because there was no church with all the truth.

Maddie- The chruches were all wicked. They all wanted to get power,

Ethan- but not the right power.

Maddie- Satan slowly got power over their hearts.

Ethan- He tricked them.

Maddie- So they made up their own laws and commandments. They persecuted the poor to get gain.

When the time was right, Heavenly Father sent Joseph Smith. Through Joseph Smith, Heavenly Father was able to restore his priesthood power and restore His church and gospel.

Maddie- The thing that surprised me was that Nephi, a Book of Mormon prophet, saw Christopher Colombus. He saw the Holy Ghost come to Christophor Colombus and tell him to go to America. If Christopher Colombus had not come to America then Joseph Smith would not have been able to transilate the Book of Mormon.

Ethan- I learned that an apostasy will never happen again.

As is often the case, getting the entire family together when everyone is excited about studying scriptures together is a challenge. Too often, there are one or more grumpy people attending our study sessions so really feeling the Spirit and learning is difficult. This makes those times that everyone is cooperating and participating particularly rewarding. Last night was one of those times. We were reading scriptures that talk about how the Lord feels about those who serve Him faithfully by preaching the Gospel to others. It was nice to read about these tremendously humble, dedicated missionaries. The Spirit was definitely with us and we felt a greater desire to share what we know with our friends and acquaintances. Hopefully, we will be blessed with the opportunity to see someone accept the restored Gospel due to our efforts this year.

Trying something new

For years now, we have approched our scripture study as "which book are we going to try and get through this year." Although we did gain much from our study of the scriptures (and we can all say that to this point we have finished the Book of Mormon at least twice and the new Testament once) there was something missing. We often felt like we were just getting through with it and scripture study sometimes turned into tears from long chapters. We want to really study the scpritures and help Maddie and Ethan learn that they can find answers, instead of just stories, in every book of scripture- the Book of Mormon, Bible, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. So after finishing the reading the Book of Mormon from cover to cover again, we decided to try something different.

We now study by topics presented in "Preach My Gospel." Although we have only been studying this way for a short time, it has been so much more effective. We have family discussions on every topic while we study. The kids love that there is a question for them to think about and find the answer to every evening.

Thus far we have studied how the Holy Ghost helps us in scripture study. I love that in Doctrine and Covenants 88:118, we learn that we should teach each other about the scriptures.

We have also studied about how missionaries receive power and what is the gospel or doctrine of Christ. I know now that if Maddie and Ethan are asked, they will be able to share thier testimonies.

What Ethan Likes About Scripture Study

I like the part when Moroni had surrounded the Lamanites with other armies so called ( Helaman, Antipus) they were able to do that because they were so righteous. That means that if I am righteous, I will be able to do great things like Moroni. Moroni was still young, but he did what he was told. Just because I am young doesn't mean that I can't do great stuff like Moroni.


Another one of my favorites is Lehi and Nephi in the ring of fire. It is my favorite because Lehi and Nephi were so righteous that they were surrounded by a ring of fire almost like a force field. I learned that if I am righteous I will be protected from wickedness.

WHAT MADDIE LIKES ABOUT SCRIPTURE STUDY

I am 10 and am good at reading, so I can read the scriptures when ever I want to. I like learning about the different people, what they did, how they reacted to other people, how they changed or did not change, and how they helped or did not help. For example, Nephi in the Book of Mormon: helped out , his brothers did not, Nephi was much better off.