Book of Mormon – Page 7 – Letters from Home

Losses and Gains

I am home from the hospital, feeling a little neglected because I am not awakened each morning at 3 or 4 am to stand on a scale and have my blood pressure checked. 😉

I have lost a length of my intestine. I have lost sleep, my appetite, and a lot of weight. But I have also lost a level of fear about this time, its isolation and uncertainty, and illness in general. People really do take care of one another. So, with all the losses, there are gains in perspective and understanding.

I am not able to focus on reading very well, so I have been reading my notes I took during my Book of Mormon study before my surgery. On the day I became ill, before I had any idea my life was about to change, I wrote these notes, under the caption of “Life Instructions during the Covid-19 pandemic”:

Remember God has delivered your ancestors. (Alma 36:2)
Trust God. You will be supported in this. (Alma 36:3)
The Atonement [of Christ] covers the harmful effects of [everything]. Let your mind catch hold on this thought: Christ’s mercy. He will make all this suffering better. He is that powerful. (Alma 36:14-18)

Sure things

There is nothing unique about my experience during this past week of cancellations due to COVID-19. I have watched my email folder fill up with messages from schools and church and made necessary adaptations. The boys are home, except when they go out to work or walk. My life stays largely the same, including my level of fear. During most of my adult life, I have regularly expected to catch each illness, die of sepsis from an abscessed tooth, or choke to death all alone… if a car accident didn’t take me first. I have similar fears for each family member. In other words, welcome to my world, world. The real weight of this time for me rests in the reality that Daniel is thousands of miles away, on another continent.

A few sure things to which I cling:

Our Father in Heaven knows where we are and exactly what we need.

Our Savior Jesus Christ knows the depth and breadth of our feeling.

The Father’s plan is never frustrated.

Angels minister to us.

The Holy Ghost never misspeaks or offends. He brings comfort, power, and direction. What an amazing friend and companion.

The Book of Mormon is dear and true. It has helped me through every challenge, my whole life, and it continues to help me now.

No one is unique in their struggles, and my struggles are not more valid than yours. But Sure Beings and the true things carry every one of us through, whether we have eyes to see or not. This I know.

The Book of Mormon and Mental Health

This is a post about how I read the Book of Mormon and some things I am learning. I don’t think my way is better than your way, but it works for me.

For personal study, I try to read a certain amount of time each day. I focus on one topic as I make one complete reading of the Book of Mormon. I don’t mark my scriptures much, but I read with paper and pen in hand to take notes on the topic. I write on loose leaf paper, folded in my scriptures, and when I finish the Book of Mormon, I staple the note pages together and use the notes when I need them. My notes include quotes from the Book of Mormon, but more often, the notes expand beyond the words on the page and reflect what I think the Spirit is teaching me. Over the years, my topics have ranged from the gathering of Israel to qualities of the Savior, and strategies for facing family challenges to forgiving others, and more.

Currently, my focus is, “What does the Book of Mormon teach about mental health?” Holy hand cramps, Batman, there is a lot about mental health in 1 Nephi.

A few of the mental health tips I have gained this week from Nephi:

Keep a record of goodness in your life. (1 Nephi 1:1)

Acknowledge the goodness of your parents above their flaws. (1 Nephi 1:1)

Create things with your hands. (1 Nephi 1:17)

Show courage in your beliefs. (1 Nephi 1:18)

Find evidence that God delivers us and write about it. (1 Nephi 1:20)

Did he mention that murmuring is a bad idea? (everywhere)

Be community minded. It’s not all about you. (1 Nephi 1:5)

Understand you won’t always know what to do, but you can trust that the Spirit will lead you if you are obedient. Also, keep moving even if you don’t know how to proceed. (1 Nephi 4:6-7)

Understand that sometimes it’s necessary to go through really unpleasant things. The difficulty you are facing now may be essential, and may help countless others. (1 Nephi 4:13)

Identify when you have misplaced blame for your own crisis on a loved one, and identify poor logic in your thinking. Be humble, apologize, and share what you have learned. (1 Nephi 5:2-6)

Seek out your genealogy. It will fill you with the Spirit. (1 Nephi 5:14-17)

Search, make use of resources the Lord has provided to inform you and help you. Hint: they are not just the scriptures. (1 Nephi 5:21)

Create goals and value statements, identifying your righteous purposes and live by them. (1 Nephi 6:4-6)

Press forward through the mist, and hold on to your faith. (1 Nephi 8:24)

Nurture humility, practice awe in God’s greatness, and proclaim truth. (1 Nephi 10:8)

All of us have things to overcome, including mental health challenges, and God has prepared a way for each of us. (1 Nephi 10:18)

When you don’t understand something, or why something has happened, push forward in your mind the knowledge that God loves his children. (1 Nephi 11:17)

The Atonement of Christ is necessary in a journey to better mental health. Don’t forget that one fruit of the Atonement of Christ is joy. (1 Nephi 11:22-23)

Believe that angels minister to you, and prepare you for healing in Christ. (1 Nephi 11:30-31)

No one escapes mists in which the devil seeks to tempt, blind, and harden. No one escapes some degree of misery, but having an overriding perspective that good will triumph can be helpful. (1 Nephi 12:17-18)

We don’t draw up the contract of how we will be acceptable to God. Crippling perfectionism, and dependence on self mastery alone cannot save us. We must look to the words of Christ to know the terms by which he helps us and saves us. (1 Nephi 13:41)

I don’t think Nephi set out to write about mental health, and if you look up the references to what I have written, you will see that the scriptures that inspired these thoughts are not really about mental health. But that’s the beauty of the Book of Mormon. It is a means to receive revelation for what we need right now.

What have you learned from the Book of Mormon recently? It doesn’t have to be about mental health. Truly, I would love to hear from you.

Joy, December 21

And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.
Alma 31:38

Thinking of our son today…and every day, hoping that his difficulties are covered by the joy of his message.

Joy, December 20

“…O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.” And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come…
Mosiah 4:3-4

When I was very young, I remember putting this exact scripture to the test. I had done something wrong and I had confessed and tried to make things right. Then I prayed in my room and asked if I might feel this kind of joy, too. And I did.

I didn’t understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ very well back then, but I surely felt its effects. I think we’re all immature in our understanding of the Atonement of Christ, but we aren’t asked to comprehend it, but to have faith in it. This is the path to joy.

Joy, December 16

…a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery; Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people…
Alma 48:11-12

My neighbors showed their “souls’ joy” in their brethren being free “from bondage and slavery” by giving to local refugees this week for Tim’s Eagle service project. It was an overwhelming experience to witness so much generosity.

Joy, December 14

Behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
Alma 26:11-12

I like these words of Ammon, “In his strength I can do all things.” This phrase is actually an echo of the words of Ammon’s convert, Lamoni. In Alma 20:4, Lamoni tells Ammon, “I know, in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things.”

We think we go about doing good, but really, it is the Lord working in us, and we come off as beneficiaries. Sometimes the Lord blesses us through the people we serve. In this case, Ammon’s friend Lamoni gave him a phrase full of truth that Ammon remembered years later as he reflected on his missionary work.

Today I praise God for the strength to face difficult things alongside my friends. I rejoice in the things I have learned about myself, what’s important in life, and the power of God.

Joy, December 12

Blessed art thou…therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God…
Alma 8:15

I like this scripture because these words are given at a time when Alma was weighed down with sorrow and cast out for teaching the gospel. The Lord says something similar to Lehi, “Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to take away thy life.” (1 Nephi 2:1)

This is the Lord’s direction for his righteous, imperfect children: rejoice. As our counselor and comforter, our Prince of Peace, he can help us rejoice even though there are empty places at church or at the table. The fact we are sad for others is a sign our hearts might be closer to the Lord than we know. And as for those we think we have failed to help, I know the Lord has things covered. He knows their needs and will give them the right number of opportunities to choose Him.

Joy, December 8

And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel. And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.
Mosiah 4:11-12

Self esteem, as the world peddles it, is not scriptural. There are scriptures that say we are children of the Most High, and that God so loved the world that he gave His Only Begotten Son, but there is nothing I have found that says that men and women are great in any frame of reference that excludes God. So, what can I do to be more dependent on him this week? What can I do to be more childlike in my humility?

Joy, December 7

Wherefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.”
2 Nephi 10:23

Is it just me, or do you get the idea that Nephi’s brother Jacob in the Book of Mormon was a little depressed? He was definitely a little down on the day he engraved on the plates that they were wanderers, mourning out their days (Jacob 7:26). So, when somebody like Jacob who has felt quite low tells us to cheer up our hearts, I think he knows something of what he speaks. He knows the power of mindset.

Hey, I can cheer up my heart when someone is thoughtless towards me because I have power to choose my reaction. Hooray for agency! And I can cheer up my heart because I can pray silently anywhere, anytime. I am never alone! I can cheer up my heart because the path to eternal life isn’t closed when I mess up. The Savior can help me with every step.