Joyful Wells | Sharing Cups of Water

We have tussled many times about how we, as a family, want to conduct 'church' at home with our young children. For those who do not attend a local church and who struggle with formulating some kind of structure for your kids' learning, here's what we have been doing as of late with success.                       (Click to enlarge) We picked up a copy of The Book of Mormon Family Reader at the D.I. for a couple of bucks a little over a year ago, but it can be bought new or used from Amazon here . The book offers a reading plan for families to follow. It's designed for kids to read snippets of Book of Mormon stories chronologically. Additionally, it offers thought-provoking questions at the end of each lesson.  We use the new Covenant of Christ to become more familiar with that edition but follow the same reading plan from the book. We will also watch relevant videos online here and here  [1], and utilize a whiteboard...

From the Historical Introduction of Joseph Smith Papers  Documents, Volume 11: September 1842–February 1843: " JS published a notice in the 1 December 1842 issue of the  Times and Seasons  denying responsibility for the publication of a pamphlet by  Udney H. Jacob , titled  An Extract, from a Manuscript Entitled The Peace Maker,  that advocated the practice of polygamy. . . .  Because JS owned the  printing office , the pamphlet listed him as the printer. Although as owner JS served as the nominal head of the office and the editor of the  Times and Seasons,  in practice he typically played a minimal role in day-to-day office duties. . . .  According to  John D. Lee ’s later autobiography, the pamphlet caused considerable “excitement among the people” in Nauvoo and “no one was more opposed to it than was his [JS’s] brother  Hyrum , who denounced it as from beneath. . . .  Amid this negative reaction to the pamphl...

I was reading in the new Covenant of Christ this morning and realized something I hadn't noticed before in Lehi's telling of the future John the Baptist. He notes that John would baptize "on the other side" of the Jordan River: " He also spoke about a prophet who was to come before the Messiah to prepare the way for the Lord,  who would cry out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord and follow in His straight path. There’s one standing among you whom you don’t acknowledge, who’s far greater than I; whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to even touch. My father spoke at length about this.  My father said that prophet would baptize in Bethabara on the other side of the Jordan River . He also said that he would baptize with water, including baptizing the Messiah with water,  and after he baptized the Messiah with water, he would testify that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who would redeem all of creation from the Fall." ( 1 Nephi 3:3 ). This hit me like ...

I’m convinced God's word is superior to anything else at changing hearts and minds and drawing a people close to Him. Many other modalities will  bless your life to varying degrees but will eventually come up wanting. God wants to fill the clefts of your heart Himself. As a case in point, Alma was sick at heart knowing that some of his people separated themselves from God’s congregation and followed a path that led to iniquity. He decided to go on a rescue mission to help these people.  Before departing, the account discusses Alma’s stratagem: “Now preaching the truth was more effective to lead the people to do what’s right — indeed, it had greater effect on the minds of the people than the sword or anything else available — therefore Alma thought teaching God’s word was their best alternative. […] Now the Zoramites were previously part of the Nephites; so God’s word had been preached to them. But they had fallen into great errors, since they failed to carefully keep God’s com...

I consider this the most important post I've written thus far. Most scholars believe Lehi was born between 660-640 BC. These birth dates are based on the information and clues we get from 1 Nephi that: (1) Lehi lived in Jerusalem his whole life (2) he lived there during the first year of king Zedekiah's reign around 600 BC (3) he was already married at that time with at least four kids (some of whom were old enough to be married) and (4) after eight or so years of traveling in the wilderness he and Sariah were considered "old".  For the sake of argument, let's say Lehi was born at the earliest accepted date, around 640 BC. This means by the time king Zedekiah began his reign around 600 BC, Lehi was about 40 years old. Again, for the sake of argument, these dates are give-or-take a couple years.  If Lehi was born around 640 BC, this also means that he grew up during king Josiah's reign, which was from 640-609 BC ( 2 Kings 7:5-12 ). For those who need a quick re...

We rely on history books to inform us of any past events before we were born. To truly understand the past before us, we also rely on honest people to tell the tale or we must receive an inspired retelling of events from heaven.   From accurate scriptural stories and inspired retellings, it’s clear that God’s people must continually and faithfully serve Him to merit His blessings and divine justice in their favor. If they do not, God  stirs  up the people in a way that causes them to remember Him.  This is abundantly clear. Example after example has been given to us. So much so that I’ve been humbled and made to fear (in the right sense of the word) the Lord God.  For example: “So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed. And there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord said unto him, Stop now your hand, it is en...

The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Despite what the many false and foolish teachers say, we actually have to obey Him and walk in His ways continually. Nothing less will bring us the satisfaction we (and the Lord God) seek.  Doing what He asks - precisely how He asks - is how we follow Him and become like Him. And if we want to be where He is, we must seek to be like Him.  “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his eyesight.” - 2 Sam 10:6 There are many reasons to think otherwise. There are enough voices in our own lives that try and justify why...