"How can chess be bad? It's got four bishops in it!"

So we continued talking about the Sermon on the Mount this week.
First, did you know that near where Christ was giving this sermon, there was a Roman city on a hill that they'd see every night? So when Christ says that "a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid," He's actually referencing something they'd be familiar with.

Then on Thursday, we started talking about miracles, and how miracles don't end with the physical part. You can get a physical miracle, and you can get a spiritual miracle. While the physical miracles often don't last, spiritual miracles do, and they mean a lot more. I really enjoyed talking about the leper in Matthew 8, and one thing Brother Griffin mentioned is how leprosy is often a symbol for baggage that we carry. This leper, when he says, "if thou wilt" is showing that he has faith not to be healed. And that was a difficult lesson for me to learn. In the year that shall not be mentioned, I often prayed that things would get better, and kept getting the answer that I just had to endure. And I wasn't really happy about that. It was miserable. But now I'm grateful I had to wait so I could learn to have faith in the Lord's timing. Just like Jairus, who was delayed on the way to receive his miracle and had his daughter die while he was waiting, for a while, it felt like the time for my miracle had passed, and it hadn't. Things got better, but even more, I learned a lot from the experience. Not that I'd want to go through that again, but it shaped me a lot. And I'm grateful for that.

The first recorded Bible Bash

So this week we talked about Jesus Christ's baptism, being tempted by Satan, the calling of the Twelve Apostles, and the Sermon on the Mount. And it all was really amazing this week!

So first, did you know that Jesus got baptized in the lowest source of fresh water in the world? It gives more meaning to the symbolism in the temple of the baptistry being underground.

Now the temptations- Brother Griffin pointed out that in all three, Satan is trying to get Christ to take the easier way out. It's easier to just make bread than to go back and then find some. If He'd thrown Himself off the temple and been saved by an angel, He would have instantly had more followers. And Satan tried to tell Jesus that He could have kingdoms without performing the Atonement, which was the easy way out. Also, this is the first recorded Bible Bash. Jesus and Satan are both using scripture to back up their arguments. We also talked about how Satan doesn't come blindly at you. He knows your weaknesses. A couple fun thoughts- "How long have you been single? Try millenia! You can wait." "Satan hates your guts because he doesn't have any." Brother Griffin also talked about how Jesus rejected temptation as soon as it came. If we give it time in our brain to rationalize, sin is much more likely to win. But if we outright reject it the moment it appears, it can't win. And I think that's so accurate.

When we were talking about Jesus calling the Apostles, one thing mentioned is that Peter probably gets more corrective feedback than anyone else in the New Testament. And Brother Griffin proposed that this is because he takes it better than almost anyone else. He accepts the correction and works to improve. And I want to say it was Elder McConkie he quoted saying, "If you're not receiving correction from the Lord, you're not praying right." Or something like that. And it makes me feel better remembering that Peter got corrected too.

Another awesome thought from someone in my class: "God used my weaknesses to make them stronger." I hope I can be like that on my mission.

Now for my favorite part- the Sermon on the Mount. First, if you compare Matthew 5 and 3 Nephi 12, the last verse of both, in Matthew 5, Christ doesn't include Himself in that list of perfect people yet, but in 3 Nephi, He does. When He had finished His work, He was complete, and therefore perfect. I still have a lot more to do first to complete the work that God has given me to do, and it's nice to know that I don't have to be perfect now.

Now for the best part- did you know that the Beatitudes are the greatest lecture on repentance ever?

 Here's the picture of the board. First in repentance, you have to be poor in spirit, or lacking. Then you mourn for what you've done wrong. Then you work on being meek, or teachable. Then you hunger and thirst after righteousness and seek to know the right. You have to be merciful and accept that other people have gaps to overcome just like you do. Then you have to be pure in heart and have the right intent. Then you have to take that peace that you've gained through repentance and share it with others by being a peacemaker. Then you have to be willing to be persecuted for righteousness sake, making those changes permanent, and not just in the easy times.

And did you ever noticed that only two have the same promise- poor in spirit and persecuted for righteousness sake? That's because it's a cycle. You just keep climbing up towards being with God. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. When you look at the Beatitudes like this, it fits so well with how we work to become more like our Father in Heaven.

Know that you are loved!

"You didn't bring your virtual recommend with you."

Yeah, we couldn't enter the Holy of Holies in class. Speaking of which, you should totally check out http://virtualscriptures.org/virtual-new-testament/. It's this amazing app that lets you look around places in the New Testament, like Temple Mount and the Pools of Silom. Seriously, check it out. My mind was blown by how amazing it is. Even the curtain in the temple moves after you go through it.

Anyways, we talked about the early life of Christ this week. Did you know that the words to More Holiness Give Me go really well with the tune to Away in a Manger? Anyways, we talked a lot about Greek and how some of the words may not have translated well. Did you know that 'inn' also could be translated as 'guest chamber'. In Greek, the word is katalyma, and every house of decent size had one. So when it says that "there was no room for them in the inn," (Luke 2:7) what it probably actually means is that none of their family would let them stay- hence they were probably disowned. Brother Griffin mentioned that it's interesting that the Son of God would be born to a woman who was despised and rejected of men, a woman of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Also, did you know that there was an aqueduct that flows from Bethlehem into Temple Mount that they used to clean the waste out of the temples? So the waste was thrown on the east side of the alter. Then there would be water that would wash most of it into drains, which would flow to a stream to the east of the temple. And guess what else is to the east of Temple Mount? Gethsemane. There is so much more symbolism in the law of Moses than I ever thought there was. Also, when you pluck a turtledove, there would be a drop of blood in every pore. Isn't that symbolism just amazing?

So every class, Brother Griffin ends by saying, "Know that you are loved." And I just want to pass that on to you- know that you are loved.

Samson died of a fairly common foot condition- fallen arches

What a week this has been. But I've been able to see the Lord's hand in everything that's happened.

This week, we got to the New Testament and started talking about the Gospels and the Church of Jesus Christ. We discussed the name of the church today, as given in Doctrine and Covenants 115:4- the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. First, 'the' indicates that it's singular- one church. Second, 'of Jesus Christ' indicates ownership. It's Christ's church. And third, 'of Latter-Day Saints' indicates joint partnership. One thing that I liked that he said was, "He combined His perfection with out imperfection." And that's really what the Church is.

But my favorite thing was when we talked about the Atonement for just a bit. He said, "The Savior was declared guilty during an imperfect judgement for our sins. At Judgement, He can proclaim us not guilty, because He's already been pronounced guilty for those things." And I'd never thought of it like that. I love that I have a Savior who loved me enough to give His life for me.

At the end of class on Thursday, Brother Griffin told a story about how he was an institute teacher up at Utah State and absolutely loved it. Then one day, a couple religion professors from BYU came up and asked if he'd be interested in teaching at BYU. He wanted to say no, but the Lord clearly told him, "Don't close any doors." Well, he ended up doing a guest lecture at BYU, and they offered him a job, and he felt like he needed to take it, even if that wasn't what he really wanted. And he talked about how he didn't think it could possibly be better than at Utah State, but it is, and he's blessing the lives of so many more people in one semester here than in six years there.

And I really needed that. It's been interesting being back here. I have realized that if I pay attention, every day I see a reason why I needed to be here today. Some days, I learn something that will really help on my mission. Other days, someone needed my help or just needed me to be there. And I have no doubt that this is where I'm supposed to be. But for a while, it was hard because I knew that I was supposed to go on a mission, and I wanted to know why I couldn't go then. At first, it felt like the Lord was saying I wasn't ready yet. And to be fair, I've already grown a lot being back here. But Brother Griffin's story just hit home that the Lord knows what's ahead of me, and that I'm supposed to be there at a specific time, and that things will be so much better than I ever could imagine. I don't remember who, but someone told me to pay special attention the last six months of my mission, because if I hadn't been delayed, I wouldn't have been there, and who knows what the Lord needs me there for. I'm still tired of waiting for my call. I just want to know where I'll be going. But I love being back.