A Study of the Book of Mormon

Mosiah 25:1-13 Upon the arrival of the people of Alma to the land of Zarahemla, king Mosiah caused that the records that had been kept by the people of  Zeniff, and also the account of Alma, should be read among all the people of Zarahemla, which at this point in time now consisted of Nephites, Mulekites, and the newly joined people of Limhi and Alma (though they too were also descendants of Nephi). As I've contemplated the purposes for which king Mosiah would cause to read this history, there are a couple of thoughts that impress me about this. I am reminded also of President Hinckley's emphasis on our own pioneer history. Strategically, here king Mosiah had received a notable influx of new citizens among their own, the natural human tendency, without understanding of where they were coming from and what hardships they had endured, would probably have given way to gossiping and other forms of potentially harmful misunderstandings. To completely eradicate such a tendency, and t...

With the flood tide news of the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley, perhaps it's only fitting that I take an entry to express some thoughts related. President Spencer W. Kimball is the first prophet that I have recollections of in my early childhood, followed by President Ezra Taft Benson, and then briefly President Howard W. Hunter. But by far, President Hinckley is the living prophet whose teachings have had the most impact upon my life and the direction that I've taken. I was seventeen when he became the prophet. It was the decisive year of my youth. The major life changes that have affected who I am today have been made during his tenure as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I choose to serve a full-time mission at the tender age of nineteen. When I received my call to serve a mission, his signature was on the paper that sent me to spend two years of my life serving the people of Costa Rica. This was a decision that has had a more profound i...