I have found it helpful to see how Nephi laid out his themes into chapters. I find more nuance and more meaning by thinking about the "how" as well as the "what" Nephi is telling his descendants (and us of course) on these plates.

I find it very rewarding to not only imagine the life of the people in scriptures, but to try the best I can to understand their life, their culture, their history, and how they lived. This gives me much greater insight into what they are writing, what their prophecies may mean, what message they are sharing, and what I could gain from that message. It also opens my heart to the spirit of the Lord where I can gain my own personal insight.

On Christmas Day this year, I was struck by how important remembering is. Christmas is a time when families and individuals repeat long used traditions. It is a time when we remember the times we were young, or when our children were young. We remember good Christmases and bad ones. There may be pain and sadness as well has joy and laughter in those memories. Remembering is such an important part of the holiday.

We should all learn to give greater attention and work harder to remember and to implement all the good things that we learn in this life. From good books, great art, from our teachers, parents or friends, or any other source of wholesome and righteous materials we gain great insight and ideas.

In my professional life, I have spent the last decade or so asking and teaching my co-workers to "fall in love with the problem." At times it feels like I'm preaching to them. I have worked hard to try to be better at this myself as well, as it is always a struggle. This process was recently shaken for me. Combining a faith approach to this took some thinking.

I have found myself stuck in prayer many times, not knowing what to say or how to approach my thoughts. In the moment I can lose any connection to God or to my own thoughts. Here are some tips I’ve picked up to help.

“God uses the weak and the plain to bring about His purposes. This truth stands as a testimony that it is God’s power, not man’s, that accomplishes His work on the earth.”

While I was taking a walk today and thinking about this, the thought came to my mind that small deviations from what we should do today have a large effect on what we want to be in the future. That effect will only grow larger in the next generation.

We need to see our homes more as the training grounds, the place to learn of Christ. Churches are there to support those efforts. The home is where it becomes real.

Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. Add light and darkness ceases to be. The more light, the more darkness is removed. The opposite of darkness is light. In the same way the opposite of fear is faith.

Our prayers are the daily verses. The story of our personal lives, the struggles we feel, the help we need, and the joys and the gratitude we feel all are written into our daily verses. The chorus becomes the weekly Sacrament Prayers

Elijah had shut the heavens and caused a three-year drought which caused much hunger and suffering. Elijah meets a widow and asks her to make him some food. She only has enough flour to make one more cake for her and her son, at that point she assumes there will be no more to be found, and they will starve.

Look and pray for more questions, not just for answers. Questions are way more powerful than answers.

The ship, crew, and especially the goods on the ship are in danger, and Paul tries to warn their leader and the people. The centurion is the one in charge of Paul and the others with them, but he chooses to not put his trust in Paul and his warnings.

I’m sure Peter believed in his heart and mind, and felt as if he knew for sure, he would never ever leave or deny the Christ. He would never leave Jesus's side. Jesus had given him experiences and opportunities that only he knew, and that had literally made him a new man. His loyalties were strong and un-changeable, and he would defend the Christ to his death.

The Hubble Field is an area smaller than a point of the pen held at arm’s length. The Hubble telescope took a look in a space exactly like that and found millions of billions (a very big number) of objects that are more then 30 billion light years away.

Prophets have been prosecuted, rejected, hated, and killed. Even the Lord was treated this way. Messages, teachings, and prophecies have been rejected, mocked, and disrespected.

My good friend implored me to read "Everybody, Always" by Bob Goff. Bob Goff is a New York Times bestselling author and known for his unique perspective on life and faith. In this book Goff challenges readers to love everybody, always, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Through his own personal stories and experiences, Goff shows how loving others can change both their lives and our own.

A new feature I’m trying out - What I learned (or relearned) on the Sabbath. July 23, 2023 Edition

Mary’s example in Luke 2 is something we should ponder, just as she did at the time "in her heart". I could do more to keep things in my heart longer, and let thoughts and experiences affect me at a deeper level.