We now move beyond the writing of Nephi, and enter the writings of Jacob, Nephi’s brother, who became the next spiritual leader. The narrative of Jacob chapters 1-4, which accounts for the beginning of Jacob’s ministry, can be recapped as follows:

• Nephi charges Jacob with the record–keeping responsibilities.
• Jacob works hard to persuade people to believe in Jesus Christ.
• Nephi gets old, and a system for naming his successors as king is established.
• Nephi dies.
• Under the rule of their second king, the people get prideful and begin practicing polygamy.
• Jacob gives a sermon at the temple in response to his people’s pride and sins.
• Jacob writes to future readers of his record.

Most of these narrative elements are found it chapter 1, but the the majority of the text covered in this lesson comprises Jacob’s temple sermon, where he covers the issues of pride and polygamy.

In light of the fact that March is women’s history month, I felt it would be appropriate to have the next installment of “lists of ten” feature ten women in the Book of Mormon. It’s no secret that religious texts tend to have male centric themes, are often set in the framework of patriarchal lineages, and at times can be downright misogynistic. Women are often written off as mere footnotes, or else are ignored completely. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich articulated this when she noted that “well-behaved women rarely make history.”

In examining the Book of Mormon narrative, we learn of several women, some well behaved, and some not, who had a great deal of influence on those around them and had pivotal roles in the sequence of events in which they found themselves.

Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. The resurrection was the crowning element of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and is an essential and centric feature of the Gospel.

The people of the Book of Mormon, although far removed from the Holy land, were well aware of the promise of the Resurrection. Alma taught the Zoramites:

“…Begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead…” (Alma 33:22)

In addition to demonstrating understanding of the physical and eternal nature of the resurrection, the Book of Mormon also uses the resurrection in symbolic terms to illustrate the more abstract concepts of redemption and rebirth that are otherwise more difficult to grasp.

Our next installment in the Sunday School schedule brings us to 2 Nephi 31–33, in which Nephi, finished with quoting Isaiah and adding his own prophesies, now expounds the fundamental doctrines of Christ and leaves his prophetic witness. This segment of Nephi’s writings can be outlined as follows:

• Nephi’s Addition to his Record
• Importance of Baptism
• Enduring to the End
• The Doctrine of Christ
• The Necessity of Prayer
• Nephi’s Conclusion
• Nephi’s Last Goodbye

The essence of Nephi’s words is captured in his admonition to his readers:

“Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: ‘Ye shall have eternal life.’” (2 Nephi 31:19–20)

I have completed uploading and annotating the first 11 chapters of 2 Nephi. Since I do not plan on rendering the Isaiah chapters in plain English, the next batch will consist of 2 Nephi 25-33. That might not happen for a while, however, as I have other projects to work on for a while. In the meantime, feel free to add your contributions to the wiki project. I will be monitoring it during my hiatus.

In preparation to serve a mission myself I have come across a book called “Preparation Precedes Power” from a family member. It has been helpful in strengthening me and preparing me to serve the Lord on a full-time mission. As I have been reading I have realized that we can all be missionaries at any point in our lives. So how do we do that?

Most likely we would all like to be better missionaries by setting good examples and hoping that someone just might show some interest. However, chances are that whenever such circumstances arise and there is even a glimmer of interest, we don’t know exactly how to articulate the Gospel or our beliefs, even if we know them well.

So what are our beliefs? How do we explain who we are and what we know? The following contains several excerpts from the 11th chapter of “Preparation Precedes Power”, where Randy L. Bott gives us a pretty good idea of how to explain what we believe using the Book of Mormon.