Book of Mormon Lesson Plan 15

Introduction

In elementary school, we were required to complete book reports on the books we read, and were given credit based on the number of pages we read. The book report had to tell about the book, who the main characters were, the theme, and so on. I remember finishing the Book of Mormon for the first time when I lived in Seattle. I was so excited to have finished reading a book with 531 pages! This was going to be an easy A! Then I realized that I had no idea how to write a book report on the Book of Mormon. If you were going to help me write a book report, how would you answer the following questions:

1. Who is the main character of the book? (Jesus Christ)
2. What is the theme of the book? (Only through the gospel of Jesus Christ can we receive forgiveness of our sins and be worthy to return to live in God’s presence.)

Background

As King Benjamin neared the end of his life, he instructed his son Mosiah in several key items, including the spiritual care of the plates and the temporal care of the people as king. The people gathered in what we would recognize as General Conference.

We are indebted to God

The opening line of Benjamin’s address is recorded for us in Mosiah 2:9. What does it mean to open our ears, hearts, and minds?

• Ears represent our hearing of the word. This would include our eyes to read too.
• Hearts represent the care we give the things we learn. More than just accepting these words as good ideas or interesting philosophies, we accept them into our lives and love the principles.
• Minds could represent the fact that we use these truths in making daily decisions, and that we strive to find appropriate ways to apply them to our circumstances.

Read Mosiah 2:14-16. I used to think this was a great passage for other people (notably those in leadership positions) to learn from. But back in verse 11 Benjamin says that he is like us. Let’s follow Benjamin’s counsel to open our ears, hearts and minds.

• What does Benjamin say?
• How would his people likely have felt? How do you feel about this teaching?
• What can you do to implement these principles in your life?

Read Mosiah 2:17-21, 34. How do we serve God with our whole souls? What is the result of such service for ourselves? For others?

Benjamin testifies of Jesus Christ

Julie’s younger brother David is preparing to serve a mission to San Diego. He has been emailing a friend of his from Missouri who is a devout Christian and who respects David’s zeal, but doubts everything about the Church, especially our belief in Jesus Christ. Read D&C 123:12-13. I wish he could read Mosiah 3 because of the power of Benjamin’s testimony of the Savior.

Read Mosiah 3:5-12. Follow up with a brief review of the doctrine contained in verses 16-18. This is such a powerful, simple, and clear testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ’s life and mission, his tremendous love for us, and the consequences of both obedience and disobedience in our lives.

Read Mosiah 3:19. I think one indicator of the importance of a verse of scripture is looking at how many footnotes there are in the verse. This verse has 11 different footnotes referencing 17 other scriptures and 11 entries in the Topical Guide.

• What does the phrase “natural man” mean? (See also Alma 42:6-10.)

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: “After the fall of Adam, man became carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature; he became fallen man. … All accountable persons on earth inherit this fallen state, this probationary state, this state in which worldly things seem desirable to the carnal nature. Being in this state, ‘the natural man is an enemy to God,’ until he conforms to the great plan of redemption and is born again to righteousness. (Mosiah 3:19.) Thus all mankind would remain lost and fallen forever were it not for the atonement of our Lord. (Alma 42:4–14.)” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 267–68).

• How do we put off the natural man?

Conclusion

Benjamin’s final “General Conference” address was filled with the powerful doctrines of Jesus Christ. He lives, loves us, and has served us better than anyone else ever could. We are commanded to follow his example and demonstrate our love for God through our love for and service toward others. As we do so, we will be blessed with the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost.

Book of Mormon Lesson Plan 14

Enos’ Progression in Prayer

1. Enos prays for himself

Read Enos 1:2-4.

• How does Enos describe the wrestle he had?  Notice that he doesn’t say he wrestled with God; he says he wrestled before God.  Is there any significance in this?
• Wrestling with God may indicate Enos was trying to coerce God to forgive him, or to persuade God that his sins weren’t really bad enough to worry about.
• Wrestling before God to me implies that Enos was fighting some influence other than God, and that God witnessed the struggle.  I believe Enos was wrestling against the “natural man” (see Mosiah 3:19).  He was trying to purify his heart so he could receive a remission of his sins.
• How badly did Enos want to receive a remission of his sins?  (See verse 4.)
• What was the impetus that got Enos thinking about this in the first place?  (See verse 3.)
• What can we learn from this to apply in our lives today?
• In the first place, we have to know what the prophets have said in order to be able to ponder on them.
• Enos used his equivalent of “commute time” to think on eternal things and let them sink deep into his heart.  What do we choose to think about when we have “down time”?  Does anything sink deep into our hearts?
• The manual asks two questions that make me smile:  “How did Enos know his sins had been forgiven? (See Enos 1:5–6.)”  He knew his sins had been forgiven because he heard a voice telling him so.  Then the follow up question: “How can we know our sins have been forgiven?”  I see two options:
• First, we too can hear a voice telling us that our sins are forgiven.
• Second, if the voice doesn’t come that doesn’t mean our sins are not forgiven.  Read Enos 1:7–8.  Even if we don’t hear a voice, we too can and must have faith in Jesus Christ.  Just like Enos we too have likely never seen him, and it may yet be many years before he manifests himself again in the flesh.  And just like Enos, our faith can be a force in our lives that changes our hearts.

2. Enos prays for his friends and family

Read Enos 1:9-10.  This is a natural progression.  First we are concerned about ourselves, then we turn our attention to those we care most about.

3. Enos prays for his enemies

Now comes the hard part.  Read Enos 1:11-13.  What do you think Enos was struggling about?  I don’t know about Enos, but for me, it would be meaning it when I ask God to truly bless my enemies, not just make them go away or stop being my enemies.

What did Enos request in his prayer for the Lamanites?  (See verse 13.)

1. Preserve the record
2. Give it to the Lamanites’ descendants at some future time

Why didn’t Enos pray for something more like this:  “Heavenly Father, please bless my people the Nephites to always be righteous, and help us to teach the Lamanites about Jesus Christ so they will repent quickly and thou canst bless them”?  See Bible Dictionary entry on Prayer:

Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

Finally, I find it instructive that Enos did not pray for his enemies until after his heart had been changed through repentance and forgiveness.  When we struggle to feel charity in our hearts for those who have wronged us, is it possible that part of the hang-up results from unrepented sin in ourselves?  (Refer to Elder Scott’s April 2008 General Conference address for excellent counsel on this topic.)

A little history

Now we pass through about 200 years and six authors in just a couple pages.  Several important historical events happen:

1. The righteous Nephites leave the land of Nephi (where Nephi and the righteous settled after they left Laman et al after Lehi’s death).  They discover the land of Zarahemla, which is inhabited by the people we call the Mulekites.  The Mulekites left Jerusalem when it was overthrown by the Babylonians.
2. Mosiah is made king of the combined people of Zarahemla and the fleeing Nephites.  The people of Zarahemla have lost their language and have no knowledge of God because they did not have the scriptures.  (Note that by including this account, God demonstrates why it was so important for Nephi and his brothers to get the brass plates from Laban.)
3. Mosiah translates writings on a stone kept by the people of Zarahemla that introduces the Jaredites and Coriantumr. 

After this rapid pass through 200 years of history, Words of Mormon fast-forwards us another 500 years.  Mormon speaks directly to the reader of the Book of Mormon and explains that after abridging the large plates of Nephi, he found another record that covered the same time period.  This other record is what we know as the “small plates” and includes 1 Nephi through Omni.

The small plates were included “for a wise purpose” that Mormon did not fully know, but that in hindsight we can see.  The teachings in these first six books of the Book of Mormon are given to us to compensate for the loss of the 116 manuscript pages that were lost by Martin Harris.  These books are packed with pure concentrated doctrine.  Although we lament the loss of the Book of Lehi, we should cherish the truths given “for a wise purpose.”