The Plan of God (Jacob's Sermon): Book of Mormon Journaling 2 Nephi 6-10 (February 10-16, 2020)

I missed journaling a few chapters toward the beginning of this week (this is life, not a career). On the upside, chapter 9 includes a couple of my favorite illustrations.

It was while I was reading 2 Nephi my most recent time that this thought struck me: The story of Adam and Eve is a love story--the first love story. That was where I got the idea of having their names carved in a tree, which is extra cool, because a certain tree was central to their story. In 2 Nephi 9:21, we read, "And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he sufferers the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam." In the margin, I used a gray Mildliner highlighter (you can substitute a gray Crayola fine-tip) to outline a tree and add some lines to hint at birch bark. Actually, I think I wrote the quote first, then drew the tree around it, so I would know how big it was. I used several colored pencils (i.e.-green, blue-green, sage) for grass at the base of the tree. The apple was using the rose-colored Mildliner highlighter, with a brown Micron pen for the stem. The quote I wrote on the tree in brown Micron pen:
"Ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, Jesus the Christ has offered His mighty arm to help all who choose to follow Him," (President Russell M. Nelson, "Come, Follow Me," Ensign, May 2019).

Later in the chapter, 2 Nephi 9:28-29, is a famous quote about being learned versus being wise. I wrote verse 29 in the margins, underneath a snowy owl sitting on top of three books:
"To be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God," (2 Nephi 9:29).

On the next page, I experimented with illuminated lettering again to write another of Jacob's sayings in the margin:
"Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal," (2 Nephi 9:39).

In chapter 10, Jacob testifies about Jesus Christ. He is able to prophesy to his people that Jesus will be crucified. I found a beautiful quote from Elder Holland. This quote is so beautiful, I included it in my scriptures twice. It was months before I realized I had done that. The second time it appears is in Mosiah 3.
"We are to remember in as personal a way as possible that Christ died from a heart broken by shouldering entirely alone the sins and sorrows of the whole human family," (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Behold the Lamb of God," Ensign, May 2019).

The chapter heading says, "America will be a land of liberty where no king will rule." Verses 11 and 14 state that there will be no king in this land. Years ago, President Ezra Taft Benson stated:
"Washington was offered a kingship, which he adamantly refused," (President Ezra Taft Benson, "Our Divine Constitution," October 1987).

Sorry this week has been a little light on scripture journaling (I'm only writing a novel and raising five children at the same time). I promise, I already have more than twice as many journaling images to share for next week. Feel free to follow my Book of Mormon Journaling board on Pinterest. I pin my blog pictures after I post them.

For a different kind of news (like historical fiction book reviews and updates on my writing journey), you can find me on Instagram at Stephanie.West.McRae.

"We Lived after the Manner of Happiness": Book of Mormon Journaling 2 Nephi 1-5 (February 3-9, 2020)

First Nephi ends peacefully, with Nephi explaining the scriptures to his brothers. Second Nephi begins with Lehi announcing the destruction of Jerusalem as something that has happened. Then we have the counsel and blessings of Lehi to his posterity, which continues part of the way into chapter four. The rest of chapter four is known as the Psalm of Nephi. In chapter five the Nephites flee from the Lamanites and build a temple.

In chapter 1:5-9, Lehi prophesies about the future of the promised land. Ezra Taft Benson quoted 3 Nephi 21:4 (which I've written in blue) and then expounded it with what I wrote in red:
"'For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth,' (3 Nephi 21:4). America, the land of liberty, was to be the Lord's latter-day base of operations for his restored church," ("Our Divine Constitution," President Ezra Taft Benson, Conference, October 1987).

On the next page, I wrote 2 Nephi 1:23:
"Awake my sons; put on the armor of righteousness."
The sunrise/candelabra is not my favorite element in my scriptures, but once I added a shield and sword, it became less of a focal point.

In chapter 2, Lehi is speaking to his son Jacob. It is so sweet that he calls him his firstborn in the wilderness. In Biblical times (and Lehi, culturally speaking, is a Biblical-type prophet), being the firstborn was an honor and a responsibility. In 2 Nephi 2:8, Lehi tells his son that "no flesh can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah." In the margins, I wrote Alma's testimony (to his son Shiblon) of the same:
"There is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ" (Alma 38:9).

One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 2:25, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." There was a time when my children were little that, if we were too tired to get out the scriptures, I would recite this verse to them at bedtime. In the next verse, Lehi explains that the Messiah comes to redeem the children of men from the fall. In the margins, I quoted from near the end of "The Living Christ:"
"He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come."

In chapter 3, Lehi speaks to his youngest son, Joseph. He tells his son about the Joseph who was sold into Egypt, as well as the Joseph who would be raised up in the latter-days. In the margins I included a quote from Genesis about our first Joseph:
"The Lord was with Joseph and shewed him mercy . . . and that which he did the Lord made it to prosper" (Genesis 39:21, 23).

On the next page (2 Nephi 3:12) Lehi quoted Joseph about the writings of his posterity and Judah's posterity growing together in the latter-days. In the margin I wrote:
"Take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand" (Ezekiel 37:16-17).

After I wrote the quote, I drew a scroll around it.

Chapter 4 begins with Lehi speaking to the sons and daughters of Laman and Lemuel. He tells that that "if ye are brought up in the way ye should go ye will not depart from it" (2 Nephi 4:5). In the margin I wrote:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

The rest of chapter 4 is commonly called the Psalm of Nephi, by scholars who have compared the pattern of the writing with traditional Psalms in the Bible (which were written before Lehi left Jerusalem, and therefore could theoretically have been included on the brass plates). In small print beside the verses, I wrote the breakdown of the psalm: Invocation: 16-17; Complaint: 17-19; Confession of trust: 20-30; Petition: 31-33; Vow of Praise: 34-35.
In the margins I wrote portions of Nephi's beautiful words:
"Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard" (2 Nephi 4:16).

"Upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. Why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow?
"Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul" (2 Nephi 4:25, 26, 28).

In chapter 5, the Nephites have separated from the Lamanites. Nephi teaches his people how to work with wood and metal (remember, the Lord taught him how to build a ship). Then he constructs a temple "after the manner of the temple of Solomon." My artistic interpretation of these two verses (2 Nephi 5:15-16) was a temple with architecture like Solomon's, but built out of wood and metal, using Nephi's special skills.
This reminds me a bit of President Hinckley's small temples. Those were scaled down, but still holy places.

If it isn't obvious, I relied heavily on a straight-edge to outline the temple. It is outlined with gray Mildliner highlighter (though a gray Crayola fine-tip marker might be similar). The planks and wood grain are done with a sharpened colored pencil (black, I think).

On the next page, I put a scripture in the margin:
"We lived after the manner of happiness," (2 Nephi 5:26).

What were your favorite verses this week?
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Journey to the Promised Land: Book of Mormon Journaling 1 Nephi 16-22 (January 27-February 2, 2020)

After two weeks spent in dreams and visions, we are now back to the adventuring chapters of 1 Nephi!

This week I have a lot of journaling to share. The density is partly due to the fact that I started my journal in 2019 before the 2020 schedule was made public. I had no way of knowing that all the beauty of these seven chapters was going to be squeezed into one week.

In 1 Nephi 16:7, Nephi, his brothers, and Zoram all marry daughters of Ishmael. Speaking of "tender mercies of the Lord" (1 Nephi 1:20), nothing is more touching to me than that the Lord remembered Zoram. He was the outsider. The odd one out. Was it a coincidence that Ishmael had five daughters instead of four? The Lord knew his plan from the beginning. He remembered Zoram.
In the margin beside the marriage verse, I wrote:
"Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart," (D&C 42:22).

On the same page (1 Nephi 16:10) is where the Liahona is discovered (fun fact-the word Liahona isn't used until the book of Alma). In the same margin, I wrote this perfect quote from Elder David A. Bednar:
"As we each press forward along the pathway of life, we receive direction from the Holy Ghost just as Lehi was directed through the Liahona" (Elder David A. Bednar, "That We May Always Have His Spirit to Be with Us," April 2006 Conference). I do recommend looking at more of the talk. There were a lot of other things he said about the symbolism and purpose of the Liahona.

Still in chapter 16 (verses 14-32) we have the adventure of the broken bow. As with every other challenge they faced, Laman and Lemuel murmured. So does the rest of the family. For once, even Lehi starts murmuring. Nephi, however, gets industrious and makes a bow. It isn't a fine steel bow like the one he has been using for their journey through the wilderness so far, but he has faith enough to make one and then respectfully ask his father where he should go to obtain food. Everyone repents,  Nephi gets dinner with a homemade bow, and everyone rejoices. In the margins I wrote two quotes:
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse," (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Tongue of Angels," Ensign, May 2007).
"Have . . . the courage not only to face the challenges that inevitable come but also to make a second effort, should such be required," (President Thomas S. Monson, "Living the Abundant Life," Ensign, January 2012). [My apologies for not including a link. That one article in won't pull up for me today].

On the next page, as Lehi's family continues their travels, I traced/drew Daniel H. Ludlow's map of Lehi's travels in Arabia as it is printed (and adapted) in the Book of Mormon Student Manual:

In chapter 17, I really struggled to choose just one quote. And failed. Here are three. In verse 7, the Lord tells Nephi to "Arise, and get thee into the mountain," so I wrote:
"Let us go up to the mountain of the LORD," (Isaiah 2:3) [I just added more Isaiah to the Book of Mormon. This is funny]
Back up to 17: 5, and we have the description of the Arabian Bountiful, which was named because of its much fruit and wild honey. I traced a hexagon stencil to get a honeycomb, and wrote:
"The judgments of the LORD are . . . sweeter also than honey and honeycomb," (Psalms 19:9-10).
In 1 Nephi 17:8, Nephi is commanded to build a ship.
"Sometimes we need to make a bow and arrow before revelation comes as to where we should search for food. Sometimes we need to make tools before revelations come as to how to build a ship" (Elder Dale G. Renlund, "Abound with Blessings," Ensign, May 2019).

Before Laman and Lemuel help with the family work project of building a ship, they whine, murmur, and doubt. Nephi gives them a spiritual pep-talk, where he again likens his family unto Moses and the children of Israel who also wandered in the wilderness. In 1 Nephi 17:30, Nephi reminds his brothers how the Lord led them (the children of Israel) through the wilderness by day and was their light by night. In the margin, I drew a simple Edison bulb (I suggest penciling this in before tracing it in pen) and wrote:
"The LORD is my light and my salvation," (Psalms 27:1).

Back up to 1 Nephi 17:21, where Laman and Lemuel were still whining. Among their arguments is this amusing verse: "Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy." Come on boys. Don't you know stuff doesn't equal happiness? I wrote:
"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God," (Psalms 146:5).

Believe it or not, this was the page where I almost abandoned my Book of Mormon journaling. Why? Because I wrote that quote on the wrong page. In pen. I was devastated. Thank heaven I kept going. There are so many beautiful things I would have missed if I had given up over one (or five) mistakes I made in pen. Pretty sure there's a life lesson here.

In 1 Nephi 18:3, Nephi mentions going into the mountain often to pray. In the scriptures, mountains often symbolize temples, but I already had a temple quote  in the last chapter, so I went with a prayer quote from Psalms (lots of Psalms this week!):
"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray," (Psalms 55:17).

I used colored pencil for the sunrise/sunset (yellow, orange, red, purple, and blue) and outlined the stars and sun in a brown Micron pen. Use the side of a sharpened colored pencil, not the tip, for the soft gradation of color, and overlap your colors slightly.

On the next page, also in 1 Nephi 18, I went to a lot of effort to draw a rather mediocre looking ship with Mildliner highlighters and colored pencil. The one thing I like about the drawing is the lightning. I drew it with a yellow Mildliner highlighter, and left a little white space around it when I was coloring the sky gray.

Skipping ahead to page 46 (1 Nephi 19:18-21) Nephi remembers the prophets of old. In verse 18, he shares his reason for writing the record he has been writing (to "persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer). In the margin I wrote:
"Having prophets is a sign of God's love for us," (Ulisses Soares, "Prophets Speak by the Power of the Holy Spirit," Ensign, May 2018).

On the next page is my second case of wrong-page scripture quotes (more mistakes in pen!). I'll address them in the order they were intended.
1 Nephi 20:10 quotes Isaiah, saying, "I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." I love this reminder that we are of great worth even in our trials. I don't know about you, but I tend to feel better about myself when I am "successful" in my plans and projects. I don't usually feel as good about myself on those days (or weeks, or months) when it seems that everything is going wrong. Often when everything around me is going wrong, I feel like somehow it's my fault. I'm failing. But here in this beautiful verse from Isaiah, we are reminded that the Lord sees our worth even in the "furnace of affliction." In the margin, I wrote a lengthy quote from Zechariah:
"I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say: It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God" (Zechariah 13:9).

I had a lot of fun with the next page. And, no, I'm not pretending that Lehi's family wandered through a caricature of a desert in the American southwest when they were busy in Arabia. I just felt like drawing some cartoonish cacti. It isn't meant to be taken seriously.
In the margin I combined parts of 1 Nephi 20:21 and 21:10 (I love how it reads like a Psalm!):
"They thirsted not: he led them through the deserts . . . neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them."

I used colored pencil for my desert: a light tan in the foreground, brown on the mountain, blue in the sky, green for the tall cactus, and blue-green for the round cactus. Both cacti were given stripes with green Mildliner highlighter (though Crayola green marker would be pretty similar). I outlined the sun and mountains with brown Micron pen, and both cacti in the foreground with green Micron pen, adding prickly bits with a v-shaped mark. And, yes, I traced the circle for the sun. A penny would work in a pinch, but I'm pretty sure I used a circle stencil.

1 Nephi 21:16 is one of the most poignant, heart-tugging verses of all: "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands . . ."
In my wrong-page margin, I wrote:
"What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends," (Zechariah 13:6).

Then it bothered me having a blank margin on the "correct" page blank (not sure why. I have other blank pages in 1 Nephi), so I wrote what Christ will say in a future day on the Mount of Olives:
"Then shall the Jews look upon me and say: What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet? Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God," (D&C 45:52).

In 1 Nephi 22:2 we step out of Isaiah quotations and back into Nephi's world. Nephi has just finished reading two chapters from Isaiah, and his brothers, understandably, ask what they meant. Nephi prefaces his explanation by reaffirming that these were revelations given to the prophets. In the margin I wrote:
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets," (Amos 3:7).
I traced a banner stencil and key with a bullet journal stencil.

On the next page I traced another banner and a circle (for the world).
1 Nephi 22:9 includes the promise to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." In the margin I wrote:
"The Lord Himself prophesied that before His return, the gospel would be preached in all the world 'to recover His people, which are of the house of Israel,'" (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, "Preparing for the Lord's Return," Ensign, May 2019. See JS Matthew 1:31 and D&C 39:11).

Near the end of his book, Nephi brings in a lovely sheep metaphor, "And he gatherers his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture," (1 Nephi 22:25). This reminded me of Psalm 23 (which might have been on the brass plates as David predated Nephi). In the margin, I wrote the first four verses:
"The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He taketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leaders me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leaders me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me," (Psalm 23:1-4).

Did you choose different quotes for 1 Nephi 16-22? Please share in the comments section below.

For more posts, browse my blog or visit my Pinterest board Book of Mormon Journaling (it's organized!).