Alma 7: 11-12

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind...that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Alma 7: 11-12

I cam across this scripture while preparing my visiting teaching message and I loved it! It teaches us that Christ loves us, and that he went through so much for us. Sometimes it is hard to believe that someone would love me so much. After all, I'm not perfect! Christ doesn't care if we are perfect because a perfect person wouldn't need a Savior to make up the difference.

I like how this scripture talks about how Christ suffered in the flesh so that he can know how to help us with our weaknesses. He didn't just suffer for our sins. He experienced everything we are ever going to go through. He knows what it is like to lose someone you love, to move away from home, or to have health problem that restrict you. He knows how you felt when your sibling left on a mission, or when you got that flat tire, or when you were so tired from staying up late doing homework. He gets it.

It is comforting to know that Christ is always there for me. He is an all powerful being, but he is also my brother and friend. No only that, but he understands perfectly who I am and what I am going through. If you receive and answer that wasn't what you wanted, then just know that Christ knows exactly what you need. After all, he has already knows what will happen to you, and what will be the best for you. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the knowledge that through Christ nothing is impossible.

Tender Mercies

I want to share an experience that happened to me a few weeks ago. My roommates and I were going on a run past the temple when a woman stopped us to talk to us. She said that she was a convert to the church and that she had just gotten done with baptisms. She asked us if we would each bear our testimonies to her. It was an amazing experience to hear my roommates each tell her why thy love the gospel. We all love it for different reasons, yet we all feel the same about it. We know that it is true. I am so grateful for the small missionary moments I am able to take part in.

Today I am especially grateful for the priesthood. I spoke with someone yesterday who gave his first priesthood blessing. I don't know why, but I got so excited for him. It is so amazing that the young men I meet are able to call upon the powers of God. A priesthood  holder is more powerful than anyone else on the earth. I think one of the reasons why I love the priesthood so much is that I don't have it. I have to trust and rely on the men to be worthy to hold it so that I ca be blessed. The priesthood blesses my life every day and it is proof that God loves his children.

2 Nephi 3

"The fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written...shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the later days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord." -2 Nephi 3:12

I like this verse because this prophecy has already come true! The Book of Mormon, and the Bible work together to confound false doctrine, and bring us the truth that the gospel of Jesus Christ has. It frustrates me when people think that we don't believe in the Bible and that we aren't Christians. Christ is the head of our church and I am so grateful to know that his church is perfect. I am so glad to be a part of it.

" I know their faith" -2 Nephi 3:19

Christ knows us better than we know ourselves. He has suffered for us. Not just for our sins, but for everything we have ever gone through. He has suffered for experiences that we have yet to go through. If he knows us so well, then why is it so hard for us to accept his will? Sometimes we get frustrated when answers to prayers are not what we want. Christ knows us. He will guide us on paths that will bless us.

Side note on Chapter 3: I am sure that the blessings Lehi gave his children were very sacred to them. I am so lucky to have a father who, like Lehi, holds the priesthood and is able to give me fathers blessings. For the first time I am on my own, but I know that my Dad is still there for me and I am so grateful that he has given me blessings during times of need. I love you Dad!

I am also so beyond excited for that day, sometime in the future, where I will be sealed to another righteous priesthood holder. I want so badly for my future husband to be able to bless my children like my Dad blessed me. The priesthood is amazing blessing that we should thank Heavenly Father for every day!

2 Nephi 1-2

"And now, Zoram, I speak unto you...though art a true friend unto my son, Nephi, forever. Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful thy seed shall be blessed" 2 Nephi 1:30-31

When we think of the story of 1 and 2 Nephi, we often overlook Zoram. He must have had a tremendous amount of faith to leave Jerusalem with Nephi, who just killed Laban. If someone killed my boss, my first thought wouldn't be to flee into the wilderness with him. Not a chance! But here we see that Zoram is righteous and that his posterity will be blessed with Nephi's. Zoram is an example of faith.

“And thou hast beheld in thy youth his glory” -2 Nephi 2:4

Is this scripture telling us that Jacob actually saw Christ? I believe he did. Over the summer, while I was in Kirtland, Ohio, we learned that Joseph Smith doesn’t distinguish between actual visits from Christ and visions. I think Lehi is telling us that it was a vision of Christ. I’m not sure if we will ever know whether Christ actually appeared to Jacob, or if it was a vision, but what we do know is that Jacob must have been a very righteous boy. We should all follow his example of righteousness.

"Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin" -2 Nephi 2:7

How many times have we heard this phrase: "sacrifice for sin"? Probably hundreds of times. But how often do we really stop to think about it? Christ sacrificed himself for the sins of the world. For me and for you. What will you be willing to sacrifice to overcome sin? Christ has done so much for us. We owe it to him to try harder to be better.

“For it must needs be that there is an opposition in all things” -2 Nephi 2:11

If there needs to be sadness in order for us to feel happiness, will we have trials in the Celestial Kingdom? As far as I know there are no scriptures that teach us that we are going to feel sorrow in the Celestial Kingdom. D&C 76, which is one of the best sources to go to regarding the Celestial Kingdom, and it doesn’t say anything about sadness. My guess is that we are feeling our sadness now so that we can enjoy the blessings of the Celestial Kingdom later on. I am unsure of this because I know that God is saddened when we do bad things. If we are striving to become Gods ourselves, does that mean that we will feel sorrow for what our children do? Maybe there isn’t a for sure answer about this and we just need to trust God and follow his plan.

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Danielle Jones and I am a freshman at Brigham Young University in beautiful Provo, Utah. I am originally from Alpine, Utah (which is just a hop, and skip, and a boat ride away from Provo), and I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints my entire life. I have two parents, obviously, and three siblings. I enjoy singing, playing my guitar, cooking, and running in my spare time.

I started this blog for three reasons: the first is because it is an assignment. Give me a break, I am in college after all! The second is to deepen my own understanding of the atonement, the Book of Mormon, and God's hand in my every day life. The third is that I hope that this blog will touch somebody, and help them feel God's love. We are all sons and daughters of God. We just need a reminder from time to time because we are all imperfect. He loves us, and anxiously waits for us to recognize the tender mercies he places throughout our day.

This blog has two different types of posts, discoveries, and tender mercies. The first type is the things I discover while reading the Book of Mormon, and a record of the insights I learn while in class. The second part is where I will post about the times where I notice God's hand in my life, or in the lives of the people around me. I am very excited to share my experiences with all of you!

I hope that by reading this blog, that you will realize that you are not alone, and that God is constantly watching out for you. God loves you. I challenge you to spend time every day looking for the tender mercies that God grants you. Soon you will be able to feel how much God loves you. I bear testimony that God lives, and that through his son, Jesus Christ, we can be saved. I am so grateful for Christ, my elder brother, because he has done so much for me. It is amazing to think that someone loves you enough to suffer and die for you. Christ doesn't care that I am not perfect, because he has made it possible for me to be saved anyway.

I also want to testify about the Book of Mormon. This book is true, and if you choose to let it, it will change your life. I have felt God's love for me while I read this book, and I have seen this book soften the hearts of people around me. I hope that through this blog, I can help some of God's children gain a deeper understanding of the book. Christ lives, and through this book, we can learn how to return to him again.