In my Book of Mormon class this last week, we discussed the scripture Moroni 7:45, "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." After reading this scripture, our professor told us to replace the word charity with Christ. All these things that describe what charity is, describe who Christ is. He went on to say that charity is not something that we can have without Christ. Charity is the “pure love of Christ” and because of that, we can become charitable through Him. As we take in the love which our Savior gives to us, it is through Him by which we are enabled to reflect that love and extend it to those around us. Without Christ, true charity is not possible. Christ really is the only truly charitable person to ever live, he was and is charity. Even when Christ was on the cross He prayed these words of charity, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This insight caused me to really reflect on how true of a disciple of Christ I am. It’s so easy to love someone and treat them with kindness when life is going well, but how do we do when times are at their worst in our own personal lives, do we extend our hand in Christlike love to others? This is the true test of a disciple of Christ. May we all strive to look to the Savior to receive charity for others in all circumstances. I am so grateful for the role Christ plays in our lives and I know that He will come to our aid and give us true charity if we look to Him for that love.

This past week in class, we discussed the story of the Brother of Jared. We specifically talked about Jared as he had to prepare the barges to cross the ocean. There were several problems with the boats and in Ether 2:19 he prays to Heavenly Father saying “And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.” In the following verses, Heavenly Father gives him answers to each of these problems in three ways. The first way He answered was by telling Jared, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” just as He did with the steering of the barges. The second way He answered was by giving step by step instructions as He did with solving the problem of no air. Then the third way He was by letting Jared choose how to solve a problem just as He did with the problem of no light in the barges. We can always be assured that God will answer us. He will always answer us in one of these ways every time we ask Him for an answer to problems we are facing, but, most often, He will answer by letting us choose what we will do to solve the problem, in turn, giving us an opportunity for more growth and change. By doing this He shows us the importance of agency; that it is truly a gift. If, whenever we were faced with a problem and He gave us a direct answer either by telling us what to do or by saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” we would not learn, and our hearts would not change. Overall, we could not become like Christ.

  In our discussion is class this past week, we went over 3 Nephi 13:16 which says, “Moreover, when ye fast be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” This lesson on fasting was a good reminder to me on how I should be on fast Sunday. I often worry more about my physical body being fed than my spirit. Our professor reminded us to look at fast Sunday as a day we can learn to fight against those things we seek after according to the flesh and to learn to let our spirit control our appetites and instead feed its hunger. He also compared this to learning to control our lusts and other worldly desires as we go throughout the rest of the month. Fast Sunday really is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our spirit and to put off the natural man. We should really be joyful instead of fasting with “a sad countenance”. This opportunity we have to fast each month can really be an amazing way to fill our souls with The Living Water and the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father will reward us, as it states in the scripture, if we come unto Him to fast and fast not unto men.