Elizabeth spent the weekend with her cousins. Such beautiful and silly girls!!
Beautiful girls at church.
Handsome men in matching grey suits.
“My Days” of Temples and Technology
Elder Anderson"You are not the first to wonder about the time and place of your life. A prophet living in the Americas asked the same questions. His name was Nephi—not the Nephi in the beginning of the Book of Mormon but Nephi the son of Helaman the second and the great-grandson of the prophet Alma the Younger.
In the world in which Nephi lived, money, power, and popularity were more important than what was right. Many of the people openly disregarded the commandments. They lied, took what was not theirs, and ignored the law of chastity. Those who kept the commandments were ridiculed and mistreated (see Helaman 7:4–5, 21; 8:2, 5, 7–8 ).
“When Nephi saw [these things], his heart was swollen with sorrow … and he [exclaimed] in the agony of his soul:
“Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord—
“Yea, if my days could have been in those days, then would my soul have had joy in the righteousness of my brethren” ( Helaman 7:6–8 ).
Nephi was an amazing prophet of God, yet for a moment he wondered why he was living on the earth during his time. He knew that the Savior was to come to earth in the not-too-distant future, but for the moment, it appears that the beautiful events just around the corner seemed to elude him.
In only 20 years from the time he spoke, a night would pass without darkness and Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Within 55 years, the Savior, resurrected and glorified, would descend out of heaven to the Saints in the land Bountiful. Nephi’s son would be there, and the Savior would address him personally and ordain him as one of the twelve disciples selected in the Western Hemisphere. We could suppose that Nephi’s daughters and sons and granddaughters and grandsons were among the 2,500 Saints whom Christ invited one by one to come forward and personally feel the prints of the nails in His hands and feet. It would not be difficult to believe that Nephi’s great-grandchildren were among those little children that the Savior blessed one by one and who were encircled with fire and ministered to by angels. Had Nephi clearly seen the future of his righteous family and friends, surely he would not have wanted to alter the time of his mortality.
Gratefully, Nephi remained righteous, taught the people with courage, worked mighty miracles, and along with the prophet Samuel prophesied of the imminent coming of the Savior. The Lord with His own words promised He would bless Nephi forever (see Helaman 10–11; 16 ).
Although he had wondered about his time and place, he concluded with very powerful words: “Behold, … these are my days” ( Helaman 7:9 )."
I loved the way Elder Anderson put Nephi's words into perspective. It helped me have hope in the future. That even with all the wickedness around us there is a bright future and that Christ will win. The world has to become more wicked in order for it to be ready for Christ. That doesn't mean we need to give up and let the bad take over. But we must continue to fight and delight in the future and not get disappointed in today.
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