17 Weeks to Run My Butt Off - Week 14

This is the week of the yo-yo.  Down to 144, up to 146.. back and forth.  Well, that race this weekend will help me past this frustrating platue.  I think when I ran 7 miles it burned over 1,100 calories.  My brother and sister seem excited, although we are all injured.. Dave has blisters on his foot from over-training, I fell off of Whitney's scooter, going full blast, fell square on my butt and bruised it pretty bad, and Lisa (on top of having a twisted ankle) will be running it after working a graveyard shift and donating plasma.  But despite our best efforts to get out of racing, "Team Whitney" is running!  It will make for good journal entries later on.  Anyway, I'm still going strong and going to work extra hard these last few weeks of my challange.     

Starting ~  163.5 lbs, 42% body fat

Week 1 ~ 161.0 lbs, 41% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 6.37 miles, ave minutes per mile 13:33, best minutes per mile 11:43

Weeks 2/ 3~ 159.5 lbs, 41% body fat, 1.5 lbs lost, 4.12 miles, ave mpm 13:31, best mpm 11:14    Also kayaked and swam.. not as effective.

Week 4  ~  157 lbs, 40% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 9.98 miles, ave mpm 13:02, best mpm 11:21

Week 5 ~  155 lbs, 40% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.31 miles, ave mpm 12:50,  best mpm 10:32

Week 6 ~  154 lbs, 39% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.5 miles, ave mpm 12:31,      best mpm 10:27

Week 7 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 3 lbs lost, 17.91 miles, ave mpm 12:07,    best mpm 10:20

Week 8 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 18.20 miles, ave mpm 11:36,   best mpm 9:30

Week 9 ~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.26 miles, ave mpm 11:27,   best mpm 9:29

Week 10~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 10.34 miles, ave mpm 10:47,   best mpm 8:42

Week 11~ 147 lbs, 37% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 15.74 miles, ave mpm 11:35,  best mpm 8:10 

Week 12~  146 lbs, 37% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.52 miles, ave mpm 11:09,    best mpm 7:42

Week 13~  145 lbs, 37% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.59 miles, ave mpm 11:01,    best mpm 8:32

Week 14~  145 lbs, 36% body fat, 0 lb lost, 13.85 miles, ave mpm 10:53,    best mpm 8:21

Overall Totals ~ 18 lbs lost, 6% body fat lost, 174.05 miles run

Book of Mormon Lesson 22

Book of Mormon Lesson 22
“Have Ye Received His Image in Your Countenances?”

I. Introduction
A. Last week we learned that Alma gave up the judgement seat (secular power) in order to focus fully on his role as leader of the church. What does this tell us about Alma? He was not power hungry. Something that always irritates me about presidential elections is that the only candidates we have to choose from are people who really want to be, and think they deserve to be president. What kind of person can think, “I am better suited than anyone else in the country to lead the free world.” I guess that’s one of the disadvantages of Democracy, and is one of the reasons that Plato thought it an inferior form of government to a “philosopher king” who ruled for the good of the people, not for person gain. But where are you going to find one of those?
B. After giving up the judgement seat, Alma first assembled and taught the people of Zarahemla. Apparently, most of the people here were already members of the church. He then goes to the city of Gideon and teaches the people there, who are described as righteous people. Why did Alma spend time preaching to the converted? We could say that Alma was “fine tuning” the people of the church and getting things in order before setting out on his mission to teach the wicked.

II. “Have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers.”
A. Read Alma 5:3-6. Why does Alma want the people to remember the bondage of their fathers?
B. What did the angel tell Alma the Younger when he appeared to him? Read Mosiah 27:16.
C. Alma the Younger and the people of Zarahemla were living in a situation similar to our own - of relative peace and prosperity. They were reaping the benefits of the sacrifices made by their parents and grandparents. The angel seems to be telling Alma, “Listen, you spoiled brat. Your father and ancestors suffered a lot so that you could have it this good. Stop being such a jerk.”
D. What are some things that our ancestors and predecessors have done for us? What do we have today that we owe to them?
1. Fighting wars to protect us from tyranny.
2. Pioneer ancestors making great sacrifices so that we could worship freely and have the gospel today.
E. How is it beneficial for us to remember “the bondage of our fathers.”
F. One of my pioneer ancestors was William Hyde. Almost every narrative about the Mormon Battalion includes quotes from William Hyde. This was not because he was an important leader in the battalion or because he was a particularly good writer. It’s simply because he kept a journal. One of the stories he tells is the miracle of the turkeys. When he and a group of men were traveling from California back to Winter Quarters to reunite with their families, they were cold, tired and nearly starved to death. He wrote: “ On the morning of the 19th, we all were united in calling on the Lord to regard our situation in mercy and send us food from an unexpected quarter that we might have wherewith to subsist upon. And here the Lord heard our prayer. Soon after......wild turkeys began to pass our camp in droves, and such a sight I never before witnessed. Drove after drove continued to pass through the woods until night set in. We succeeded in getting four, which was one to every four persons, and after this we could not get any more, although our shots might be considered ever so fair, and we concluded to be satisfied. Probably it would have been a damage to us if we had got all we wanted as we were then suffering in extreme with hunger.”
1. I wouldn’t know about the sacrifices William Hyde made and how God blessed him if he hadn’t kept a journal.

III. “Have Ye Received His Image in Your Countenances?”
A. Read Alma 5:14.
1. What does it mean to “receive his image in your countenance?”
2. Brother Andrew Skinner said: “An ‘image’ is not just an outward visual impression but also a vivid representation, a graphic display, or a total likeness of something. It is a person or thing very much like another, a copy or counterpart. Likewise, countenance does not simply mean a facial expression or visual appearance. The word comes from an old French term originally denoting ‘behavior,’ ‘demeanor,’ or ‘conduct.’ In earlier times the word countenance was used with these meanings in mind. Therefore to receive Christ’s image in one’s countenance means to acquire the Savior’s likeness in behavior, to be a copy or reflection of the Master’s life. This is not possible without a mighty change in one’s pattern of living. It requires, too, a change in feelings, attitudes, desires and spiritual commitment. This involves the heart.”
3. In 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
B. Alma then goes on to give a long series of questions we can ask ourselves to better assess our own worthiness.
1. Have your been spiritually born of God?
2. Have you received his image in your countenances?
3. Have ye experienced this mighty change of heart?
4. Do ye exercise faith in Christ?
5. Do you look forward to the resurrection and the judgement?
6. Do you have a pure heart and clean hands?
C. Read Alma 5:26.
1. Neal A. Maxwell said: “It is not enough for us to have once been close to the Savior. (So was Sidney Rigdon.) Alma said, if we have once ‘felt to sing the song or redeeming love,’ can we feel so now?’ Dutiful discipleship creates many happy memories, but it does not make nostalgia a substitute for fresh achievement.”


IV. Pride.
A. Alma then goes on to talk about a particular sin. In his book Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis describes this sin in a chapter called “The Great Sin.” I’m going to read how he describes this sin and have you try to guess what it is: “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a mon more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.” What is he talking about? Pride.
B. I enjoy listening to conference as much as the next guy, but I have to admit that off the top of my head I can’t remember much about what anyone talked about in conference last April. But I remember exactly what President Benson talked about in April of 1989, just a few months before I left on my mission. That was his famous talk on Pride. He quoted from and paraphrased much of this Chapter in C.S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity. So I will be referring to it today.
C. Read Alma 5:27-30. At first glance it may seem that Alma is talking about 3 different sins here, pride, envy and mocking. I think that as we look closer at the sin of Pride we will see that envy and mocking stem from it.
D. Why is it so hard to recognize when we are committing the sin of Pride or Self-Conceit? It is not hard to know when we are guilty of stealing, lying, adulatory, murder. We may try to justify these sins, but we know when we’ve committed them. But most of us in this room are guilty of pride and may not even know it. How can we know when we are being prideful? Lewis says a good way to know by how easily we recognize it in others. “I pointed out a moment ago that the more pride one had, the more one disliked pride in others. In fact, if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, ‘How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?’ The point is that each person’s pride is in competition with every one else’s pride. It is because I wanted to be the big noise at the party that I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise. Two of a trade never agree.”
E. Lewis then explains that pride is competitive. “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If someone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”
1. This is how envy is a symptom of pride.
F. Lewis says, “it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.” Why is that? How does pride make us miserable?
G. Lewis observes, “Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity– it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.” How is Pride showing enmity to God?
1. “In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurable superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that– and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison– you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God.”
H. Alma is talking to a group of mostly converted Christians. Why is it important for Christians to constantly be vigilant against Pride? Because we can be religious and still be guilty of Pride.
1. Lewis says, “That raises a terrible question. How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshiping an imaginary God. They theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of this phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how He approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people: that is, they pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to Him and get out of it a pound’s wort of Pride towards their fellow-men.........Luckily, we have a test. Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good–above all, that we are better than someone else– I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil.”
H. Read Alma 5:53-55. How is charity related to humility? It is pride that makes us covet our own processions; that makes us think we deserve what we have.

IV. Conclusion.
A. Throughout chapter 5-7 of Alma we are reminded how we can “experience this mighty change of heart,” and overcome our sins. Read Alma 5:48. It is only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we can be forgiven and become like Him. And it is only by recognizing our own nothingness in comparison to God and Jesus Christ that we can overcome pride. Amen.

References:

Beardall, William
F., Jim - Times and Seasons
Lewis, C.S. - Mere Christianity, 1952

17 Weeks to Run My Butt Off - Week 13

Sorry this is late.

Well, I did a 7 mile run this week!  My longest yet.  I've really enjoyed this 17 week challange, and can't believe I only have 4 weeks left.  As you can see, I'm working through a platau.. or however you spell it.  Those can be frustrating at times (weigh-in day, mostly) but progress resumes after a couple of weeks.  I just keep on running and counting my calories.  I definitly need to add the weights into my routine.  Having the extra muscle will help burn more fat per mile, give me more strength for speed and endurance,  and, most importantly, it just looks really good in a bathing suit.

Starting ~  163.5 lbs, 42% body fat

Week 1 ~ 161.0 lbs, 41% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 6.37 miles, ave minutes per mile 13:33, best minutes per mile 11:43

Weeks 2/ 3~ 159.5 lbs, 41% body fat, 1.5 lbs lost, 4.12 miles, ave mpm 13:31, best mpm 11:14    Also kayaked and swam.. not as effective.

Week 4  ~  157 lbs, 40% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 9.98 miles, ave mpm 13:02, best mpm 11:21

Week 5 ~  155 lbs, 40% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.31 miles, ave mpm 12:50,  best mpm 10:32

Week 6 ~  154 lbs, 39% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.5 miles, ave mpm 12:31,      best mpm 10:27

Week 7 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 3 lbs lost, 17.91 miles, ave mpm 12:07,    best mpm 10:20

Week 8 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 18.20 miles, ave mpm 11:36,   best mpm 9:30

Week 9 ~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.26 miles, ave mpm 11:27,   best mpm 9:29

Week 10~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 10.34 miles, ave mpm 10:47,   best mpm 8:42

Week 11~ 147 lbs, 37% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 15.74 miles, ave mpm 11:35,  best mpm 8:10 

Week 12~  146 lbs, 37% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.52 miles, ave mpm 11:09,    best mpm 7:42

Week 13~  145 lbs, 37% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.59 miles, ave mpm 11:01,    best mpm 8:32

Overall Totals ~ 18 lbs lost, 5% body fat lost, 160.2 miles run     

 

What if Juno was FLDS

Michelle and I rented Juno last night. It was a pretty good movie that made me laugh out loud several times. (“Your eggo is preggo.”) But, considering recent events, I couldn’t help but notice some cultural irony in the film.

Let's dress the main character in a pastel prairie skirt, make her boyfriend 3 years older and place them on a ranch in Texas. Suddenly we're no longer watching a light hearted, coming of age comedy about a quirky, precocious, pregnant teenager. Instead you have a Lifetime movie about "child abuse" and “sexual slavery” in a "religious cult."



Evidently it’s cute when teenagers have irresponsible sex and impregnate each other. We can even find humor in little Miss Juno’s ill-fated trip to the abortion clinic.

But there’s nothing cute about a pregnant 16 year old FLDS girl. In fact, her very existence is evidence of wide spread sexual abuse -- enough that the state should take away her baby and give him to a nice Baptist family in Dallas so he doesn't grow up to be a sexual predator.

I know from personal experiece on my OB rotation at University Hospital in San Antonio, where over half of the delivering mothers were under 18, that the state of Texas does not routinely treat teenage mothers as abuse victims; we sent babies home with 16 year old mothers and their 19 year old gang-banger boyfriends all the time. So, from what I can tell, the only reason the teenage FLDS mothers were singled out was that their religion and family life was just too weird and icky. Although I personally don’t approve of the FLDS lifestyle (and I find it weird and ichy myself), I think we should take a long hard look at our own cultural problems before we start casting too many stones in their direction.

It was still a great movie though. I'd give in 4/5 stars.

17 Weeks to Run My Butt Off - Week 12

The new training schedual is good, but I seemed to have slowed down on my minutes per mile, which is the opposite of what I want to be doing.  I had a hard time running my 6 mile (long run) today.  It seems that conqering a long run is not like slaying dragons.. (you fight hard, finish triumphantly, and move on).  It's difficult every time in the begining, and slowly progresses into somthing managable.  That is why I've latched onto running, I think.  I progress. I have no natural talent or ablilities for sports, and lack coordination and a "team-player" attitude.  But running is simply moving myself forward faster than I did yesterday.  And so, I progress.  And if it isn't faster than yesterday, it's longer than yesterday.. or it's a recovery day preparing to run faster tommorow.  Speaking of which, Lisa, David and myself are all signed up for a 10K (6.2 miles) June 21st, and my goal (as of today) is to run it under 1 hr 7 min.  Races are so fun!  I'm ready to add another shirt to my collection. 

Starting ~  163.5 lbs, 42% body fat

Week 1 ~ 161.0 lbs, 41% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 6.37 miles, ave minutes per mile 13:33, best minutes per mile 11:43

Weeks 2/ 3~ 159.5 lbs, 41% body fat, 1.5 lbs lost, 4.12 miles, ave mpm 13:31, best mpm 11:14    Also kayaked and swam.. not as effective.

Week 4  ~  157 lbs, 40% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 9.98 miles, ave mpm 13:02, best mpm 11:21

Week 5 ~  155 lbs, 40% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.31 miles, ave mpm 12:50,  best mpm 10:32

Week 6 ~  154 lbs, 39% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.5 miles, ave mpm 12:31,      best mpm 10:27

Week 7 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 3 lbs lost, 17.91 miles, ave mpm 12:07,    best mpm 10:20

Week 8 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 18.20 miles, ave mpm 11:36,   best mpm 9:30

Week 9 ~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.26 miles, ave mpm 11:27,   best mpm 9:29

Week 10~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 10.34 miles, ave mpm 10:47,   best mpm 8:42

Week 11~ 147 lbs, 37% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 15.74 miles, ave mpm 11:35,  best mpm 8:10 

Week 12~ 146 lbs, 37% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.52 miles, ave mpm 11:09,    best mpm 7:42

Overall Totals ~ 17.5 lbs lost, 5% body fat lost, 146.25 miles run

Books I Can Remember that I've Read - update - May '08

This month I read a book called One Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions by a guy named Sephen W. Gibson. If you're only giving "one minute answers" to anti-Mormon Questions you have to cherry pick for some of the easier ones, but he still did a pretty good job. I found the chapter on the Book of Abraham enlightening. You can actually read the entire book from the link above.

I'm studying for my family practice recertification exam and I just finished First Aid for the Family Medicine Boards - 718 pages of high yield topics, lots of pneumonics and charts. I hate to give it a rating before I actually take my test in August. I'll go ahead and give in 3 stars, but if I ace the test I'll go back and give it 1 more and if I bomb it I'll take away 2. It seemed like a pretty good review though.

Studying for my test made me remember a bunch of other board review books I read for steps 1,2, and 3 of the USMLE and my Family Practice boards, so I added them to the list. I also remembered getting freaked out by Jay's Journal when I was in jr. high and reading the play La Casa de Bernarda Alba in my Spanish Literature class in college. I also added a few random trivia books and comedy books I read several years ago.

===========================================================

Books I Can Remember that I’ve Read (In no particular order)

I'm only counting text books if I read the entire thing.
I'm counting books that I read more than half of but stopped because I couldn't stomach it (Lolita) or hated (Moby Dick). I'm not counting books that are mostly pictures (The Cat in the Hat) although they are still some of my favorite books. I'm counting books twice if I read them in English and in Spanish. Also, I have not counted all the Bathroom Readers I've read, mostly because I'm ashamed of how much time I spend on the pot. I've read almost all of them however.

***** - I really liked
**** - I liked
*** - OK
** - I didn’t like
* - It sucked.


1. The Great Gatspy - F. Scott Fitzgerald****
2. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce**
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen****
4. Walden - Henry David Thoreau**
5. Claudius the God - Robert Graves*****
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez***
7. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess****
8. As I Lay Dying -William Faulkner***
9. Animal Farm - George Orwell****
10. The Book of Mormon - Written by the Hand of Mormon. Translated by Joseph Smith Jr.*****
11. The Holy Bible - King James Version*****
12. The Doctrine and Covenants - Joseph Smith, others****
13. The Pearl of Great Price - Moses, Abraham, Joseph Smith****
14. Travels with Charley (In Search of America) - John Steinbeck****
15. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket***
16. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Reptile Room - Lemony Snicket***
17. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Wide Window - Lemony Snicket***
18. Les Liaisons Dagereuses - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos****
19. Tom Sawyer Abroad - Samuel Clemens***
20. The Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey****
21. The Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell***
22. The Faith of a Scientist - Henry Eyring****
23. The Power of Myth - Joseph Campbell****
24. What are People For - Wendell Berry***
25. The Miracle of Forgiveness - Spencer W. Kimball****
26. The Greatest Salesman in the World - Og Mandino***
27. 1984 - George Orwell****
28. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Samuel Clemens*****
29. On the Road - Jack Keroac****
30. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens****
31. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller****
32. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra****
33. Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe***
34. Deliverance - James Dickey****
35. The Best of Edward Abbey***
36. Rosaura a las Diez - Marco Denevi****
37. Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow****
38. Tom Sawyer Detective - Samuel Clemens***
39. The Iliad -Homer****
40. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein*****
41. Notes from the Underground - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky***
42. The Double - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky***
43. The Trial -Franz Kafka***
44. Moby Dick - Herman Melville**
45. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison***
46. Principles of Surgery Companion Handbook - Schartz, Shires, Spencer*
47. Standing for Something - Gordon B. Hinckley***
48. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis*****
49. The Sound and the Fury -William Faulkner**
50. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck****
51. Slaughter House-Five - Kurt Vonnegut****
52. Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald****
53. Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry**
54. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -Samuel Clemens*****
55. Darkness at Noon - Arthur Koestler*****
56. The Call of the Wild - Jack London****
57. Kim - Rudyard Kipling***
58. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens****
59. Howards End - E.M. Forster****
60. Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence***
61. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad***
62. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -Robert M. Pirsig****
63. The Stranger - Albus Camus****
64. To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf***
65. The Lonely Men - Louis L’Amour***
66. Sacred Clowns - Tony Hillerman***
67. The Covenant - James A. Michener****
68. Prentice Alvin - Orson Scott Card****
69. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy -Douglas Adams****
70. The Quick and the Dead - Louis L’Amour***
71. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*****
72. The Gift of the Jews - Thomas Cahill****
73. The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis****
74. Iberia - James A Michener**
75. Ender’s Game -Orson Scott Card*****
76. People of Darkness - Tony Hillerman****
77. The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis****
78. The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis****
79. Memory of Earth - Orson Scott Card***
80. The Odyssey - Homer****
81. The Source - James A. Michener*****
82. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger****
83. The Story of England - Christopher Hibbert****
84. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway****
85. The Changed Man - Orson Scott Card****
86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl****
87. El Milagro del Perdon -Spencer W. Kimball****
88. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley****
89. A Marvelous Work and a Wonder - LeGrand Richards****
90. A Treasury of Classical Mythology - A.R. Hope Moncrieff****
91. The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien****
92. Pure Drivel - Steve Martin***
93. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens****
94. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens****
95. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone - J.K. Rowling*****
96. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling*****
97. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -J.K. Rowling*****
98. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -J.K. Rowling*****
99. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling*****
100. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling*****
101. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling*****
102. The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis*****
103. The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis*****
104. Out of the Silent Planet - C.S. Lewis****
105. Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis*****
106. The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis*****
107. Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis****
108. That Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis****
109. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway***
110. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov**
111. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley****
112. I Claudius - Robert Graves*****
113. Anthem - Ann Rand***
114. Lord of the Flies - William Golding****
115. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner***
116. The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad***
117. Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein****
118. A Room With a View - E.M. Forster****
119. Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad***
120. Citizen of the Galaxy - Robert Heinlein****
121. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesley****
122. Tunnel in the Sky - Robert Heinlein****
123. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum****
124. Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card****
125. Xenocide - Orson Scott Card****
126. Songmaster - Orson Scott Card**
127. Saints - Orson Scott Card****
128. Red Prophet - Orson Scott Card****
129. Cruel Shoes - Steve Martin***
130. The Great Brain - John Dennis Fitzgerald****
131. Me and My Little Brain - John Dennis Fitzgerald****
132. Jesus the Christ - James Talmage*****
133. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas****
134. Dracula - Bram Stoker****
135. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown***
136. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown****
137. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire****
138. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - Roald Dahl**
139. How the Irish Saved Civilization - Thomas Cahill***
140. Fundamentals of Family Medicine - Robert B. Taylor***
141. Medical Physiology - Rodney A Rhoades and George A Tanner**
142. D'aulaires Book of Greek Myths - Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aurlaire****
143. El Libro De Mormon - Un Relato Escrito por la Mano de Mormon. Traducido de las Planchas por Jose Smith, Hijo*****
144. Generation X - Douglas Coupland***
145. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe****
146. Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice****
147. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde****
148. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen****
149. History of the English-Speaking Peoples - Winston Churchhill****
150. A Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking - Barbara Bates**
151. Complete History of the World - Richard Overy****
152. The American Religion - Harold Bloom***
153. The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck****
154. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote****
155. A Rumor of War - Philip Caputo****
156. Religion in the New World - Richard E. Wentz***
157. The Moon Is Down - John Steinbeck****
158. The Pearl - John Steinbeck****
159. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck****
160. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - John le Carré****
161. The Education of Little Tree - Forrest Carter*****
162. The Chosen - Chaim Potok****
163. The Work and the Glory, Pilar of Fire - Gerald N. Lund*****
164. The Work and the Glory, Like a Fire if Burning - Gerald N. Lund*****
165. The Work and the Glory, Truth will Prevail - Gerald N. Lund*****
166. The Work and the Glory, Thy Gold Refine - Gerald N. Lund*****
167. The Work and the Glory, A Season of Joy - Gerald N. Lund*****
168. Stepen King On Writing, A memoir of the Craft - Stephen King***
169. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris****
170. Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited, The Evidence for Ancient Origins - Edited by Noel B. Reynolds. **** (March '08)
171. The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko****
172. Naked Ape : A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal - Desmond Morris****
173. Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes****
174. Mormons and Masons, Setting the Record Straight - Gilbert W. Scharffs* (March '08)
175. San Manuel Bueno, mártir - Miguel de Unamuno****
176. Critiquing the Critics of Joseph Smith - Hartt Wixom**** (March '08)
177. Mormon Country - Wallace Stegner****
178. The House of God - Samuel Shem**
179. The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler****(March '08)
180. The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel**** (April '08)
181. Religions of the World - A Latter-day Saint View - Spencer J. Palmer, Rober R. Keller, Dong Sull Choi, James A. Toronto****
182. Julius Caesar - William Shakespear****
183. Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare****
184. Hamlet - William Shakespeare****
185. Macbeth - William Shakespeare****
186. One Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions - Stephen W. Gibson*** (May '08)
187. Jay's Journal - Beatrice Sparks**
188. Blueprints in Obstetrics and Gynecology - Tamara L. Callahan, Aaron B Caughey and Linda J Heffner***
189. Clinical Microbiology Made Rediculously Simple - Mark Galdwin and Bill Trattler****
190. Prescription for the Boards USMLE Step 2 - Radhika Breaden, Charyl Denenberg, Kate Feibusch, Stephen Gomperts***
191. The Instant Exam Review for the USMLE Step 3 - Joel s. Goldberg**
192. Appleton & Lang's Review of Pediatrics - Martin I. Lorin**
193. Pathology - Arthur S. Schneider and Philip A Szanto**
194. Internal Medicine - Edward D. Frohlich**
195. The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien****
196. The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkien****
198. The Mountain Meadows Massacre - Juanita Brooks****
198. A Thief of Time - Tony Hillerman****
199. Naked Pictures of Famous People - Jon Stewart**
200. La Casa de Bernarda Alba - Federico García Lorca***
201. Why Things Are and Why Things Aren't - Joel Achenbach****
202. Why Things Are - Joel Achenbach****
203. Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? And Other Imponderables - David Feldman****
204. First Aid for the Family Medicine Boards - Tao Le, Christine Dehlendorf, Michael Mendoza, and Cynthria Ohata*** (May '08)
205. Why Don't Cat's Like to Swim - David Feldman****
206. The Naked and the Dead - Norman Mailer**** (June '08)
207. Encounters with the Archdruid - John McPhee***
208. Desert Solitaire - Edward Abby***

Book of Mormon Lesson 20

Book of Mormon Lesson 20
“My Soul is Pained No More”

I. Introduction.
A. Have you heard of Christopher Hitchens? He is a very vocal atheist who recently wrote a book called god is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, in which he blames religion and the belief in God for all the problems in the world. You may remember him as the one who the Reverend Al Sharpton was debating when he implied that Mormons don’t really believe in God. You may have heard him on CNN or other talking head-news programs talking about how certain religious beliefs (specifically Mormonism) should be enough to disqualify them from holding public office. In his book Mr. Hitchens shows what an expert he is on Mormonism by telling us how the Book of Mormon is the story told by “Nephi, the son of Lephi.” If you were to place a bet in Vegas on who would be the next President of the L.D.S. Church, how many of you would put your money on Mr. Hitchens? What are the odds that in the next few years Christopher Hitchens will have a change of heart, actually read the BoM, repent, be baptized, become an apostle and eventually the president of the Church? In Zarahemla in about 120 BC these were about the odds that Alma the Younger would become leader of the church. We will be discussing the conversion of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah today. A few things we should take away from this story.
1. The power of repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ to heal even the “vilest of sinners.”
2. That we should never give up on wayward children or even enemies of the
Church. That we should continue to praying for them. (I have to admit, until preparing this lesson it had never even crossed my mind to pray for people like Mr. Hitchens, that they would accept the Gospel.)
3. The change that comes when we are truly converted.

II. Background.
A. The Nephites moved around a lot, but eventually all ended up back in the area around Zarahemla.
1. The Nephites left the land of Nephi under the original King Mosiah and found the land of Zarahemla and the Mulekites. We learn that although the Nephites were a minority with the Mulekites, that they apparently became the ruling class.
2. A group under a man named Zeniff left Zarahemla and went back to the land of Nephi. They lost contact with the people of Zarahemla. King Noah was his son. Alma the Elder lead a group that separated themselves from the other Nephites in the land of Nephi - in a land called Helam. Limhi becomes king after Noah dies. Both the Nephites under Limhi and the Nephites under Alma come under bondage to the Lamanites. Both escape and find their way to Zarahemla and join with the Nephites there.
B. This is how chapter 25 of Mosiah starts - all these different groups are together in Zarahemla and Mosiah calls all the people together and reads the records of all these different groups.
C. Read Mosiah 25:19-22.
1. It appears that up until this time Mosiah was acting as both secular and spiritual leader of the Nephites. This may be the first time in human history where a separation of church and state was attempted.
2. Up until now we don’t have mention of any organized church among the Nephites. Why now, 500 years after Lehi left Jerusalem? They had become so numerous that it was necessary. Up until then religion was taught by one person - the king - in the manner of King Benjamin.

III. The Younger Generation Rebels
A. Read Mosiah 26:1-4. Why did many of the youth fail to believe the words of King Benjamin? Is it always possible to convey our own spiritual experiences to our children? They can’t continue forever going on borrowed light. Eventually they have to get their own testimonies and have their own spiritual experiences.
B. Read Mosiah 26:6. Are there people today who use “flattering words” to try to drive people from the Church?
1. I have a close friend who is not active in the Church, but who is still a believer. We have another friend we grew up with in the same ward in Mesa. Her father was an institute teacher. She was very intelligent and had a masters in engineering at ASU. She has left the church completely and now lives in a commune in California. A few years ago she came to Arizona and went to lunch with my other friend. She said to him, “you’re a smart guy. You don’t really believe all that stuff about the church do you? Your more intelligent than that.” To his credit, my friend told her he did still believe.
2. Pride, sophistication, often makes some people question their beliefs.
C. Read Mosiah 26:7-13. A struggle between secular and ecclesiastical authority. Neither Alma or Mosiah knew exactly how to deal with these people.
D. Alma prays and God tells him that those who do not repent should be excommunicated from the church.
E. We learn that the non-believers “persecute” the people of the church. It doesn’t say how they were persecuted. In chapter 27 King Mosiah forbids persecution for beliefs.

IV. The Conversion of Alma the Younger.
A. Read Mosiah 27:8-10.
1. What do you think it means that he was an “idolatrous man?” It could mean he worshiped idols. Last month we got the Conversion of Alma the Younger DVD from the Living Scriptures for my daughter. In it, Orson Scott Card portrays Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah as worldly and materialistic. That may be what they mean by “idolatrous,” putting material things before God.
B. Read Mosiah 27:11-17.
1. Comparison with Paul (Saul). In what ways are the stories of the conversion of Alma and the conversion of Saul similar? Both were going about to destroy the church. Both heard heavenly messengers - Alma an angel and Saul the Lord. After these experience both went through a time where they were physically impaired - Alma was comatose for 2 days, Saul was blind. Both were converted and became great missionaries for the Lord. In fact, there are so many similarities between Alma and Saul that detractors of the BoM often accuse Joseph Smith of plagiarism here. They could just as easily accuse Matthew of plagiarizing Exodus when Herod slays the children in Bethlehem. It shouldn’t surprise us that God acts similarly with different people throughout the scriptures.
2. The angel tells Alma that he came to him because of the prayers of his father. How many of us have children or family members who are wayward? How many times have we prayed for them to come back to the fold and repent? Why does the Lord send an angel to Alma the Younger when sometimes it seems like the prayers for our loved ones fall on deaf ears? Did Alma’s prayers have more juice because he was the prophet?
3. Alma the not-so younger.
a. We usually think of Alma and the sons of Mosiah as a gang of punk teenage kids or twenty somethings. That may not be the case. We learn in Mosiah 29:45 that a short time after this experience Alma the elder died at age 82. If Alma the Elder was in his 70s or 80s when this experience happened, how old would Alma the Younger be? His 40s maybe?
b. Alma may have been wayward well over 20 years and his father had continued praying for him. How heart breaking was it for Alma to see his son going about trying to destroy his life’s work. And yet he did not give up on his son. He continued to pray for him, apparently for many years.
c. Maurine Jensen Proctor says of Alma’s faith: Here we see something about the constancy that is demanded of faith. Faith is not a momentary enthusiasm or sudden fling of concentration aimed heavenward. It is a steady way of living and seeing. It means that prayers are continued even when they seem to fall on deaf ears. It means hope is not dimmed when for all practical purposes it should be. It means that in the face of disappointment or failed expectations, the light inside still burns.
Alma teaches us that, and his message is particularly poignant for parents who suffer for the waywardness of their children. Even if you can do nothing else for them, you can always pray. As it turns out, praying is actually the most you can do for them. These are prayers with the eye that sees that these are not your children alone, but his.
It is irony that sometimes makes it difficult to continue to pray in faith. Irony is a bitter pill when that thing that you want the very most is the thing you don't seem to have. Irony burns when the thing you cherish the most is taken from you. Certainly Alma, watching his precious child undo his precious work, must have felt the sting of irony. But he still prayed in faith.
4. We need to continue to pray for good things and continue to have faith even when it seems hopeless. Abraham Lincoln said, “I have been driven more times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”
5. The same friend I talked about before, who is inactive and not living the gospel. He has made some dumb decisions and committed some grievous sins. My wife often vocally wonders why I remain friends with him. This is the reason why. I’m not giving up hope that he will come around and I’m not going to stop being his friend.
6. I went to another friend’s missionary homecoming just a few months after I’d gotten off my mission. This was back when they still let the parents speak at farewells and homecomings. His mother got up and talked about how her son always saw the good in people. She told how he had a friend that she never really liked and wished he wouldn’t hang out with because she thought he was a bad influence on him. But he still wanted to be his friend. She says she put restrictions on what he could do with this guy - encouraged him to invite him to their house and if they did go out that they bring along another friend she approved of. She said that this guy eventually turned out OK. And I thought, “yeah, Christian is a good guy who always sees the good in people. I wonder who that little jerk was......wait a minute.” Then I remembered that whenever I called him to do something he’d say, “why don’t you come over to my house and hang out instead,” and whenever we went out he always had to have our other friend Rex come too. I’m glad he and his parents didn’t give up on me (although I don’t think I was really that bad) just the way I’m not going to give up on my other friend and the way Alma didn’t give up on his son.
C. Read Mosiah 27:18-19.
1. I have often wondered why so many people in the BoM people are falling on the ground like they were dead all the time, when that doesn’t happen to us at church very much. Alma, King Lamoni, Ammon. I’ve had a theory that there was some genetic, neurologic condition that made them do this. I’ve been studying for my recertification exams for Family Medicine and I was reminded of a condition called cataplexy. “Cataplexy manifests itself as muscular weakness which may range from a barely perceptible slackening of the facial muscles to the dropping of the jaw or head, weakness at the knees, or a total collapse. Usually the speech is slurred, vision is impaired (double vision, inability to focus), but hearing and awareness remain normal. These attacks are triggered by strong emotions such as exhilaration anger, fear, surprise, awe, embarresment and laughter.” There is an anecdotal story of Allison Burchell, a sufferer of severe Cataplexy, has been sent to the morgue three times. It is a rare condition that is genetically inherited.
D. Repentance
1. After Alma the Elder has his priests fast and pray for 2 days Alma the younger comes to.
2. Read Mosiah 27:24-31.
a. Alma had a true Born Again experience - it was as if he were dead and came back to life.
b. Alma tells us from where his salvation came - the Redeemer and his atonement.
3. In Alma 36, Alma relates to his son Helaman his conversion story. The entire chapter is an elaborate, intricate and beautiful chiasmus. (Much to the dismay of critiques of Mormonism, the BoM is filled with chiasmus.) The first part of the chiasmus describes the torment he went through because of his sins and is contrast with the second part where he describes the joy after he repented. The center of the chiasmus focuses on Jesus Christ - Read Alma 36:17-18. It is only through Jesus Christ we can be saved from our sins.
4. Again Maurine Jensen Proctor:
In this story we also see beautifully portrayed the sheer, radiant, joyful power of the atonement. If Alma the Younger, the talented, slick-tongued, evil sinner can be redeemed, and in fact born again, to be the prophet who inspires and lifts his people, this atonement must be cleansing indeed. It must be able to penetrate the darkest recesses of our soul with its marvelous light and transform everything it touches.
If Alma can repent, so can we. If Alma can remake his life into a thing of beauty with the Lord's help, so can we. We don't have to think it is too late, or the disappointment in our lives or our selves is too much. However big our weaknesses and faults, the atonement is bigger still. The Lord waits with outstretched arms to encircle us in the arms of his love. Who are any of us to think we are so ragged with regret that his cloak cannot cover us?

E. Alma and the Sons of Mosiah after their conversion
1. Read Mosiah 27:32
2. Read Mosiah 28:1-3.
3. One way to know if you have truly been forgiven and born again is if you have this type of feeling - that you want to share the gospel with others, that you can’t stand the thought of others not having this knowledge.

V. Conclusion
A. The story of the conversion of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah is a reminder that we should never give up and stop praying for our wayward loved ones or even our enemies. It is an example of the power of repentance, that the vilest of sinners can be forgiven through the miracle of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Amen.

References:

Beardall, Bill
Dauvilliers Y, Arnulf I, Mignot E. - Lancet. 2007 Feb 10;369(9560):499-511.
Gibbons, Ted L.
Proctor, Maurine Jensen - Meridian Magazine.
Wikepdia entry on Cataplexy