Spiritual Insights...and other stuff

I've been robbed. Someone out there, someone who’s totally miserable, has it out for me. And I know exactly who it is. Do you believe in little people? I do. They get up in the middle of the night and use some kind of thieving contraption to sap all my energy so when I wake up, I’m pooped--completely divested of my vivacity. All that’s left is a semi-liquid-like slop, which, upon hearing the alarm, clumsily spills out of bed onto the floor into a puddle of exhaustion.   I have attempted staying up all night, waiting for them to show up so I can laugh in their puny, little faces while I squish them, but they're too small to see so my efforts to stop them fail every time. I get out of bed in the morning only to find that they've made off with my energy yet again! It is MOST disconcerting, and I only hope I can find a way to exterminate these pests entirely, though I am surviving.  Things used to be worse, you know. If it weren't for some things I learned, they pr...

While studying this week, I found a peculiar passage in Helaman chapter six referring to "the Lamb," which set me on quite the mental adventure. It all started when the Lamanites were preaching vigorously to convert the wicked Nephites, which they achieved. Many Nephites became "humble followers of God and the Lamb." ¹ Who's the Lamb? I looked to the New Testament to answer that question: when Jesus went to John the Baptist to get baptized, John sees Him and says, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." ² So, Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the Lamb. In this post, I wanna focus more on His role as the Lamb and how we can more deeply understand this metaphor. Before I get into it, I found John's testimony of Jesus to be highly fascinating. He said, "Behold the Lamb of God." If we interpret that "of" to mean possession or some other association, Jesus is God's Lamb. I think we can agree on that. ...

Have you ever tried explaining something to somebody and they just don't get it? You try saying it slowly, reordering the words, maybe in exasperation you try a different language, and they STILL don't understand. Things are warming up, and before you know it, you are practically livid and on the verge of exploding into conniptions because they can't comprehend this one thing. Finally, you say it as plainly and simply - and as loudly - as you can, and voila - they understand. I imagine our Heavenly Father and the Savior sometimes feel this way about us. Remember the time when Christ visited the Nephites after his resurrection? He commanded them to do away with contention and specifically admonished them that there be "no disputations among [them] concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been" (3 Nephi 11:28). They weren't understanding. There had been prophet after prophet teaching them the doctrine of Christ and they still didn't get...