How People Appreciate "Messages from the Scriptures"

So the books have been on the shelves for a while, and I've had a few copies even earlier that I gave to some family members. I don't hear back from a lot of cases, but I thought I'd share a few that I thought were interesting.

My sister lives in Virginia. I sent her a copy of the book since I gave one to my other siblings. A week or two ago, she sent me a message on Facebook telling me that she couldn't continue reading it because her mother-in-law had borrowed her copy. I think her mother-in-law still has it, and last I heard she's really enjoyed it.

One of my best friends lives two blocks from where I live. We've been friends since 7th grade. His wife texted me a few weeks ago explaining that she had ordered a copy off of Amazon but that her husband didn't know. (He was getting it for Father's Day.) She asked if I would sign it for him. Of course, I did. When I next saw them about a week ago, he proudly declared that he has a signed first edition. Heh heh... yep, he does. I think he probably has the first copy that was ordered from Amazon, actually. I'm guessing they bought it almost right after it was made available.

I went camping last weekend with some of my extended family. My younger brother was there with his wife. They had forgotten to bring any scriptures, so since they couldn't have scripture study they read Messages from the Scriptures instead. I thought that was pretty nifty, and it's true that the book has plenty of scriptures lined throughout every page. I'm glad that they were able to read that... but hopefully they'll remember to bring their scriptures next time so they can get it right from the source. As much as I hope Messages from the Scriptures helps others enhance their personal scripture study, there is of course no substitute for actually reading the scriptures themselves.

This last example comes from Tammy, a woman I've never met. I wouldn't even know that she bought my book except that she left a comment on a post here on this blog. I let her speak for herself by directly quoting the comment she left: "I bought your book tonight for a friend. I will have to go buy her another because I read the whole book tonight and highlighted tons!! I loved the insights. I know it takes great effort and sacrifice to write a whole book and just wanted to say thank you for doing so. I highly recommend your book. :)"

Not Enough to Be Members

In fast and testimony meeting two days ago, a recently returned missionary stood up and bore her testimony. One of the brothers before her had bore his testimony and mentioned how grateful he was that we live in a land of liberty... the United States. (It was the day before Independence Day, so I suppose everyone's thoughts were on that.) But this returned missionary had just returned from Peru. And she mentioned how grateful she was that we are all members of God's restored church. But then she went on to say that it isn't enough to be members -- we must be saints.

That is how we officially refer to ourselves, as saints, so it makes sense that we should live according to the title. In Spanish, santo is the same word that means "holy." Do we live in a way that we are holy? I hope we all do. And if we don't, we can always strive to do better.

Every Idle Word

Matthew 12:36: "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."

Last night I was working a little later than I normally would in order to meet a deadline I had. Almost everyone had gone at this point. In fact, I thought everyone had gone, but it turns out that a few people were still around (though I'm not sure why). While I work on a floor with approximately 50 people or so, I'm in an office with four people that are on my team specifically. But due to the vents and such, we can hear what's going on outside of our office uncomfortably well. So last night, I just happened to hear two individuals outside of my office completely and utterly badmouth my team.

It was one of those moments when my blood started to boil. "What? We don't know what's really going on in the company? We don't understand what's really important? We're completely disconnected?" I wanted to go out there and let them know that they were the ones who didn't understand. But I didn't. Instead, I just said goodnight when I left. I could tell they didn't realize I had heard everything they said.

It's still frustrating to me today, but it refreshes a good point. Have you ever heard it said that you should only say things about people if you were comfortable if they were listening? Some times those people are listening. And quite frankly, it just isn't worth it. Many bridges can be burnt that way.

It's often those who are closest to us that bring up the worst comments, I think. I know there have been several things I've wanted to say to my wife... but I know that if I do, I will never be able to take them back again. You can apologize a million times, and you can even be forgiven, but you can't change the fact that the person heard them.

It's important to be nice... to always be nice.

Facebook Trivia

So I decided to make the Facebook fan page a bit of a trivia page just so I wasn't tooting my own horn about my book all the time. After all, that's not the kind of fan page that I'd want to be part of. So I've posted trivia questions there. Unfortunately, it's not caught on very much, so I thought I'd publicize it a little more -- like here. If you're a fan of scripture trivia, check it out. This is the current question:

Gideon (from the Book of Mormon) had violent confrontations with two people. One of them he almost killed (but spared). The other he admonished with the word of God... for which he was slain. Who were the two people?

This is a fairly easy question, I would think. Once it is answered on the fan page, I'll add another trivia question. (I've got a good one that I think is a lot harder.)

Oh, and here's the link:

Messages from the Scriptures Facebook Fan Page

P.S. I think you have to like the page and be a fan before you can post an answer on the wall.

"Messages from the Scriptures" is Now in Stores!

My book, Messages from the Scriptures, was recently printed and has been available on Amazon.com for a month or so. But this last week, I received a text from my brother who attends BYU that he saw it for the first time in the BYU Bookstore. I thought that was pretty exciting, so I dropped by Deseret Book in Spanish Fork, UT to see whether they had it in stock -- and they did! It's exciting to be able to walk into LDS bookstores and find my book on the shelf.

Response to 1 Nephi 11:17

A little while ago I tweeted 1 Nephi 11:17 to correlate with something I had posted here on this blog: "I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." When I was on my mission, this was one of my favorite scriptures to share with people. Sometimes there simply aren't things that we know or understand. But it is enough to know that God loves us.

In response, @Maserati_SMI brought up 2 Nephi 32:3-5:

Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.

For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

 In other words, we may not know everything -- but ultimately we do know the things that we should do. Maserati_SMI explained that as an MTC teacher, missionaries would ask how they could tell the difference between emotions and the Spirit. The answer? Are there things you should be doing that you aren't? Start doing them, and the Spirit will become more discernible.

As Maserati_SMI pointed out to me, we shouldn't worry about not knowing some things because they simply aren't revealed at this time (see Alma 37:11). But God has revealed enough that we know what we should be doing.

I thought this was a great insight, and a fantastic response to the thought that I shared earlier.

God is Incredibly Good to Us

God is infinitely better to us that we deserve.

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. (Mosiah 4:11)

Mormon wrote that it was “impossible for the tongue to describe, or for man to write a perfect description of the horrible scene of the blood and carnage which was among the people” (Mormon 4:11). When he saw his people die in wickedness, he said, “my soul was rent with anguish, because of the slain of my people” (Mormon 6:16). Yet he also wrote, “I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ . . . . Surely he hath blessed the house of Jacob, and hath been merciful unto the seed of Joseph” (3 Nephi 5:20–21). He was sad, but he was not bitter against God. He understood that in spite of all the bad that happens, we should recognize that God “is good; for his mercy endureth for ever” (1 Chronicles 16:34). As Ezra said, “thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (Ezra 9:13).