Sunday, January 22, 2012

Bad Guys of The Book of Mormon


This book is dangerous, I tell you!

When my Mom told me about this book, I ordered it immediately.  When it arrived in the mail, I opened the box and lifted the book out backward.


This is what I read:  "Your enemy is smart.  You can be smarter."


(I like it already...continue...)

"Warning!  This book contains information about a deadly enemy's top secret plans of world domination and total destruction.  Your mission--should you choose to accept it--is to learn what the enemy is planning as well as what his weaknesses are so that you will be prepared to defeat him."



Seriously, sign me UP!

Admittedly, I am a slow reader, and I get distracted EASILY in my home.


HOWEVER:  I am loving this book.


It's full of thrilling tales from The Book of Mormon and words of wisdom from our prophets.


Now last week, MMM asked us to find the moral in his story about a blind man who directed his seeing cab driver through the streets of San Francisco, safely back to his home.

In the second chapter of Bad Guys of The Book of Mormon, in discussing the "great and spacious building" in Lehi's Dream, the author quotes Elder Packer as saying:


"At your baptism and confirmation, you took hold of the iron rod.  But you are never safe.  It is after you have partaken of the fruit that your test will come...

"The mist of darkness will cover you at times so much that you will not be able to see your way even a short distance ahead.  You will not be able to see clearly.  But with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you can feel your way ahead through life. Grasp the iron rod, and do not let go."

How does this relate to a blind man finding his way home through the busy and winding streets of San Fran?  Each one of us walks this life with uncertainties.  There are things that happen in our lives that cast a mist of darkness to cloud up the way, making it difficult for us to see the way home or to see anything at all very clearly.  

Instead of groping around in the darkness, if we receive the Holy Ghost, he will help us to "see" through the mists that blind us, so that we can return home safely.

The Book of Mormon is the word of God.  It is the "iron rod" to which we must grasp and never let go.  It teaches us about the "good guys" in life and the "bad guys."  But most importantly, it teaches us about Jesus Christ and about the tactics that Satan uses to separate us from the Lord and from his love, which is manifest to us in the Atonement of his Only Begotten Son.  By reading The Book of Mormon and abiding by its teachings, we can see past the cares of this world and find the path back to our heavenly home.

22 comments:

  1. Truly, you will not get distracted or be slow at reading. This book MAKES you read on.  It's incredible. And the more dad and i read together, the more we saw these things all around us.  As I'd read, he would raise his hand to interrupt politely to point out something/someone/some event.  I could read much faster on my own, quietly, but actually I think get more out of it doing this way...but it is slow with all the hand raising.  So glad you bought the book.

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  2. oh wait...one more comment. The phrase/sentence that I loved best was in the beginning...when we are told that Satan is lazy, and never changes his tactics.  I loved that part.  We should never be lazy, but always vigilent

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  3. clever hook-sounds like an excellent book to prepare us for the bad guys...lol! Interesting thought that it is after we tasted the fruit of the tree of life that we have to be most careful...

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  4. Karmen Sadler DiazSunday, January 22, 2012

    Jocelyn, I couldn't use the  Linky tools kept getting an error message but I was able to just copy the code...does that work the same?

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  5. I love this book!  It is so fun and enlightening!  I'm working on a project inspired from this book for my children. I highly recommend it!

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  6. Ooh, I can't wait to hear details! Please share!

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  7. Looks like something I need to pick up!

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  8. I think I have this book- an older version.  I need to find it! 

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  9. Karmen Sadler DiazSunday, January 22, 2012

    Can't wait to get my hands on this book...I shall devour it ;)  Thanks for hosting the blog hop...I love reading all these testimonies!!!

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  10. Jocelyn, this book looks rad! I love teaching about the bad guys in the scriptures in my primary class, because they give us such good insight of what NOT to do. I'm excited to pick this up. Hopefully there is some stuff about Amalikiah and Ammoron--two of my favorite sleazy bad guys to learn from. Thanks for the post.

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  11. Oh yeah...there is... :)  You'll totally love it!  Hey make sure you link-up any Book of Mormon posts that you have!!

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  12. I would devour it, but I keep getting interrupted...and I don't want to rip through it, because I don't want to forget anything he says.  I'll probably end up reading it twice,dang it! :)

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  13. There are like a million awesome phrases...I feel like I just don't want to miss a single line!

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  14. Jocelyn, how do I link-up posts? I just installed "LinkWithin" on my blog, but I am still fairly ignorant when it comes interconnected-bloggedness. Thank you for your help!

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  15. It's easy, just grab the link for your POST and click on the words "click here to enter" and follow the directions...Also, if you'd like you can grab the code and host the blog hop in a post on your blog...I'm sure I just lost you... :)

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  16. Wow! This book sounds interesting.  I love how the Book of Mormon teaches us so much.

    Today, I was thinking about how the Book of Mormon testifies of the Bible.  One thing that struck me is how Satan doesn't really "appear" as obviously in the Bible as he does in the Book of Mormon.  It is no wonder that some of the plain and precious things taken from the Bible include the realness of an adversary.

    Anyways...thanks for hosting the blog-hop, and I think that I may want to get this Badguys book!

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  17. Thanks Jocelyn! I am now officially your Padawan learner! :)

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  18. Haha!  I just recently learned what a Padawan is...thanks to my son!  I'd be honored to take on that responsibility!  BTW - I just read your post to my son.  It was his first venture out into blog land...he's six! He loved it and left you his first comment on a blog ever...I mean you had him eating right out of the palm of your hand.  Nice work!

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  19. Wow. So many to choose from. We are so blessed in the Gospel. I live in South Africa and am reminded again and again about how privileged we are to be part of a worldwide church which touches and blesses so many of our Heavenly Father's children.
    I love the family tree ! ! ! !

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  20. I am going to have to pick this book up.  It looks great, and all of the reviews I have read online say it is a must have.

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  21. That book looks like it would be perfect for boys.

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  22. A friend just linked me to this blog. I'm so glad to have found it, and that you are enjoying my book! Thank you for the great review!

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