Mosiah in My Book of Mormon Journal

Greetings, friends. After I finished journaling the small plates of Nephi, I was exhausted. Not only were the illustrations I had been doing time-intensive, but the rate of achievement plus the time of posting everything was taking a drain on me. I wasn't sure I wanted to keep going.

After a few months of not feeling the strain of expectation (either others or myself), I found myself returning to journaling. I thought I would share with you my few posts through the Book of Mosiah.

"You do not earn a blessing--that notion is false--but you do have to qualify for it. Our salvation comes only through the merits and grace of Jesus Christ," (Elder Dale G. Renlund, "Abound with Blessings," Ensign, May 2019).

When I wrote the following quote, I didn't realize it was the second time I used it (the first time was in 2 Nephi 10). Apparently this quote really resonates with me.

"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).

I love this quote from King Benjamin: "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend," (Mosiah 4:9).

Jumping forward in our timeline, we have Abinadi, arrested and bound before the king. The wicked priests try trick him by asking for an interpretation of several verses from Isaiah. Not only does Abinadi answer them, but he is able to quote back at them an entire chapter of Isaiah! (See Mosiah 14 or Isaiah 53). And which chapter does he choose? One that preaches of Christ. All of it deserves to be written in illuminated lettering, but I chose two simple quotes.

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows," (Mosiah 14:4).

"He was wounded for our transgressions," (Mosiah 14:5).

In chapter 16, we get the last words of Abinadi's sermon---the one that resulted in a martyr's death by fire. What does he tell the wicked priests in the last two verses? "If ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to come--Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father. Amen," (Mosiah 16:14-15). 

In the sidebar, I wrote, "By offering their own little symbolic lambs in mortality, Adam and his posterity were expressing their understanding of and their dependence upon the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the Anointed One," (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Behold the Lamb of God," Ensign, May 2019).

Faced with the verdict of death, the wicked priests offer Abinadi a chance to live, if only he will deny the words of his sermon. In response, Abinadi states, "I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words," (Mosiah 17:10). This reminded me strongly of a Bible quote: "Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me," (Job 27:5). As you can probably tell, I rushed the process and didn't pencil in the word integrity into the banner I had already traced in pen. Oops. What's a girl to do? After much deliberation, I extended the banner and added the final three letters. It could be worse.

Next we have Alma preaching and baptizing in private by the waters of Mormon. In the sidebar I wrote, "This declaration by Alma at the Waters of Mormon still stands as the most complete scriptural statement on record as to what the newly baptized commit to do and be," (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, as quoted in The Book of Mormon Student Manual).