Brothers and Sisters, to help help enhance our weekly study of the Come Follow Me lesson, our wonderful Gospel Doctrine Instructors are providing us with their thoughts and insights gained during their study. The excerpt below is from Melissa Rooley.

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Good Morning Brothers and Sisters!  I sure miss seeing all of you and hope that you are all well enough. 

I say this every lesson, but we have started studying one of my favorite sections in the Book of Mormon.  Who doesn’t love reading about King Benjamin?  I am sure that we all wish that we could have brought our families and our tents and listened to King Benjamin speak to us in person. 

This week, I had a tender experience as I listened to Elder Bednar relate how he hears the voice of the Lord.  #Hear Him   https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/hearing-him-with-our-minds-and-our-hearts

The Spirit spoke to my heart as I watched / listened to Elder Bednar and I knew that what he was saying was true for me also.  The spirit helped me want to be better at receiving revelation.  My heart was changed.  The video is about 1 minute and 30 seconds long and I had tears in my eyes.  The spirit helped me to see some things in my life that I could change and I realized my own carnal state and how I have fallen short of my potential.  I have been blessed to have had the gospel in my life since I was a small child.  I can only imagine how it must have felt to have heard the joyful message of the gospel for the first time, as the people of King Benjamin’s day did.  I am so grateful for the message of hope, love and forgiveness that is found in learning about how to become more like our Savior. 

I hope that you enjoyed your readings this week.  I hope that you let your study be guided by the spirit.  I often start looking at footnotes, then other scriptures, then talks and then before I know it, I am not even in the chapter that I started reading.  This is all good!  Go with what the spirit is trying to teach you.

I thought that I would share some of my favorite scripture passages from this week’s readings.  There are so many things that I could say about why I love each scripture but I will be brief.  I wish that I could hear what your favorite scriptures are and why they are special to you.  Feel free to send me a message if you would like to share your thoughts with someone. 

(Text:  510-857-7755.  Email:  Bobmelrooley@gmail.com)

Take Care and Be Safe! 

Sister Melissa Rooley

• Mosiah 4:3  “And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.” 

How sweet and merciful it is to be granted a “Peace of Conscience”.  As we exercise faith in Jesus Christ and sincerely repent, we receive a remission of our sins.  Here is a great talk by Neil L Anderson, “That I May Heal You”

• Mosiah 4:9-10 “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.”

Belief is one thing but action on our belief is a sign of true conversion and discipleship. 

• Mosiah 4:11 “And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

I found it interesting that we often speak of retaining “a” remembrance but this scripture talks about “always retain IN remembrance”.  This means to me that there is more action required.

• Mosiah 5:7-9 “And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.  And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.”

Ye are made free…these words leave me speechless.  Covenants with God.  Obedience unto the end of your lives.  Taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ.  There is a full lesson on just this scripture. 

Dallin H Oaks gave this talk about the ways we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ and it is wonderful.  I learned a lot reading this talk. 

• Mosiah 5:13 “For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?”

I couldn’t help but think of the perfect example of service that King Benjamin rendered to his people.  He served his people and in turn taught them Christlike charity and love.  I thought about the service that we give to our children.  Are we showing them Christlike Charity and love?

• Mosiah 5:15 “Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all.”

…that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his.  Is there anything that we want more than this?