Hello, hello, I am Cindy Young, and thank you so much for being here with me on Primarily Scripture! If you're new here, let me tell you a little bit about what this is.  This is a show dedicated to big kids and teens, or anybody else, really, who is brand new to studying the scriptures.

A lot of us have been reading the scriptures for a long time, but we're not really quite sure how to STUDY.  We go through just a little bit at a time, and I give you tips and tricks  to help you make your scripture study more effective.

We follow Come Follow Me, and this week we are in Mosiah.  The chapters this week are a little bit confusing because Alma and his people leave, and the wicked priests leave, and there's back and forth, and Ammon comes in, and so you really need to be sure that you understand the story.

I do make worksheets, and they are available to you for free. And so you can go onto   📍 my website, and you can get worksheets. They always have a synopsis of what's going on in the story on the first page, so you can check that out to familiarize yourself with the story.

 Today, I want to talk a little bit about something that's on the third page of these worksheets.  And if you print it in color, you'll see that it's in pink. And it's towards the bottom in that third column. Let me read it to you. It says,   📍 search for feelings.   📍 Read each verse again and   📍 ponder what word might best describe what they were feeling at that time.  Now, this was literally the very last thing that I added to these pages, and I just felt so strongly that I needed to talk about that this week.

Feelings are a huge part of who we are and how we experience life.  Your feelings are going to impact your testimony. They're going to impact your experience with God. They're going to impact everything! It's so important!  Connecting with feelings is going to help you to connect with the Book of Mormon. 

So let's look at these verses. On page three of the worksheet, we are in Mosiah chapter 24. If you don't remember what's going on, the Nephites are basically slaves to the Lamanites.

Okay, so I've got a pen, and I'm gonna start on verse 10, and I'm gonna read one verse at a time, and I'm gonna think about what they might be feeling, and then I'm gonna write that word right in my margin. And you can do this on the worksheet if you want. I just really encourage you to do your marking and taking notes in your actual scriptures.  Verse 10 says, "And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God."  So how do you think they were feeling? You might come up with a different word than I come up with. What word comes to mind? What feeling? I think we can start out with something really simple, like   📍 sad,  right? They do not like the situation they're in and they're upset.  What happened in verse 11?

"And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death."  Oh man, how would you feel if in your trials, you're starting to pray and someone says, you know what, if you pray, I'm going to kill you.

 I would be so shocked and terrified. I'm going to write that right there,📍 terrified. And if you come up with a better word, go ahead and write it in.

Verse 12, "And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him, and he did know the thoughts of their hearts." So how do you think they're feeling now? They're not going to let the Lamanites know about it, but they are going to keep praying.  I bet they were feeling 📍 distraught at this point. Just so upset. worried and overwhelmed. And I can imagine that they just didn't know what else to do.  They're just at their wits end. What else can we do? Okay, we're gonna do what we can to not die so we won't pray out loud. But oh Heavenly Father, please help us.

Have you ever felt that way?   Sad, and terrified, and distraught, and overwhelmed.  They're at the end of their rope.  What else can they do?  Now, if you have not felt that way,  guess what? You probably will. Everybody is going to feel that way eventually, and if you can connect those feelings to your own life, then what happens next in this story is going to be so much more powerful for you, because we see what does Heavenly Father do with his people who are sad and distraught and overwhelmed and terrified and don't know what else to do? What does he do?  We get to read about it right here. And I love these verses! I love it so much!

Let's read in verse 13, what the Lord said to them.   "It came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions."  real quick, because I love this phrase.

I'm going to grab a highlighter and mark that. The voice of the Lord came to them and I'm marking IN THEIR AFFLICTIONS.  Didn't say when they were done, they heard his voice in their afflictions, right in the middle of it,  saying, "lift up your heads and be of good comfort for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage." That would be so exciting! What do you think they were feeling? Any ideas? Feel free to pause at any time and think about this, or just go home and open your scriptures and go through this exercise yourself. What could they be thinking?  I would think hopeful. 📍 Hopeful is the one that I like the most.  To be told, you know what? I know what's going on with you.   I'm sure it was nice to feel seen,  and it gave them hope, and comfort that Heavenly Father knew what was going on, and He was going to do something about it.  

Let's keep going. What else did He say? "And, I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, even that you cannot feel them." Ease the burdens?  He didn't say take away the trials, he said He would make it so that you can't feel it.  "even that you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage."  It's not going to feel like a problem anymore?  That's amazing! I would be  📍 amazed!  Maybe they were feeling a little bit more confident after they received that message from the Lord.  

And then he says, "And this will I do, that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety," (so you can know for sure) "that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."  Oh, what a blessing.  I think that would give me a lot of 📍 peace in my heart. Not because the trial is gone, but because I know Heavenly Father will help out.  

So now in verse 15, let's see how they reacted. "It came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light.  Yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease. And they did submit cheerfully," cheerfully?! I'm going to circle 📍 cheerfully  "and with patience," I'm going to circle patience-  there's another thing they were feeling, "to all the will of the Lord."  Holy cow! 

Okay, let's look at the words we have written. It started out that they were sad. They were terrified. They were distraught. They were just so burdened down.  And then, when the answer came, they felt hopeful. They felt seen, amazed, maybe a little confident, at peace. And then they were able to move forward cheerfully and with patience. 

And then sometime later, then the Lord, where is it? It's in verse  19. The Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites. And in verse 20, Alma and his people departed into the wilderness. They were able to just pick up their stuff and walk away. So cool! Heavenly Father did not take away their trial immediately.  When they prayed for help, help was on its way. But our problems aren't going to be solved overnight.  Wouldn't that be great if all of our problems were just solved overnight? That would be so fantastic! Sorry, bad news you guys. It doesn't work that way.  

So, whether you're going through a trial right now, or just preparing your heart because one is coming for all of us,  these verses can help you to learn what to do and to find that comfort and that peace  even before the trial starts.

Okay?  I want you to think about these feelings. Why do you think their feelings changed?  Think about that because there'll be a time when you need to change your feelings. You will be feeling those negative feelings, and you want to move into the hopeful, faith filled feelings. Right? How do you make that change? It doesn't tell us exactly here, other than they listened to the voice of the Lord.

And so you're going to have to figure out how you can hear the voice of the Lord. Hint!  Scriptures is one of the biggest ways that you can hear the voice of the Lord. And the other one is prophets.  I hope that as you read, you can see those feelings and connect with them. Because then you'll be more connected to the scriptures. which connects you even deeper to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And when those trials come for you, when you're feeling those horrible feelings of overwhelmed and terrified and just, there's nothing I can do and I feel so rotten right now, just know that as you listen to the voice of the Lord, however it comes to you, you will be blessed.

And Heavenly Father's got a plan. You can be at peace, you can have comfort, you can be cheerful and patient, and your life can be good even when you're in the middle of the bad. I know that that's true. It has happened for me. And I hope that these scriptures help you to build your testimony of that principle.

Now there are a lot of ways that you can study the gospel. So many different things out there: YouTube channels,  podcasts, worksheets...  They're a great resource,  but be sure you're opening the actual scriptures themselves. There is a power there that you will find and come to love if you will just give it a chance. 

I'm Cindy Young. Thank you so much for joining me here on Primarily Scripture. Go read and I'll see you next time. 

  📍  Thanks for tuning in to Primarily Scripture with Cindy Young. Don't forget you can subscribe to the newsletter and download free worksheets on the website PrimarilyScripture. com. And if you like the channel, be sure to subscribe, like, share, and leave a review. See you next time!