In the Old Testament I read the story of how the people were starting to build a city and the Towel of Babel and the Lord confounded their language so that they could no longer communicate with one another. After this, they became scattered. Gen. 11: 1-9 "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. nd the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. o to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

In the Book of Mormon I read about how the Nephites used strategy to take the city Manti without the shedding of blood. Indeed, they did not delight in the shedding of blood and wanted to avoid it whenever possible. Alma 58: 26-29 "Now it came to pass that when it was night, I caused that my men should not sleep, but that they should march forward by another way towards the land of Manti. And because of this our march in the night-time, behold, on the morrow we were beyond the Lamanites, insomuch that we did arrive before them at the city of Manti. And thus it came to pass, that by this stratagem we did take possession of the city of Manti without the shedding of blood. And it came to pass that when the armies of the Lamanites did arrive near the city, and saw that we were prepared to meet them, they were astonished exceedingly and struck with great fear, insomuch that they did aflee into the wilderness."

A verse from a thought booklet has Jesus asking Peter who He is and Peter answering that He is Christ of God. Luke 9:20 "He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God." The thought that went with this, written by Petra Lyall from Ulysses, Pennsylvania mentions what various people in Jesus' day must have thought of Him and who He was. She says: Mary would say, "He is my son, whom I love." Someone from Nazareth would say, "He is Jesus. He was a carpenter in my village." Lazarus would say, "He is the man who brought me back to life." The Scribes and Phraisees would say, "He is a law breaker. He works on the Sabbath and associates with sinners." Peter would say, "He is the son of God, the Messiah." Each person would have identifiedJesus based on his or her own relationship with Him. Who is Jesus to you? How does your relationship with Jesus lead you to respond?

In the Old Testament I read a promise from the Lord that never again would He destroy the earth by flood. And as a token of His convenant, He would set a rainbow in the sky. Genesis 9: 11-17 "I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth."

In the Book of Mormon I read about how the Nephites were again delivered out of the hands of the Lamanites because the Lord blessed them. Alma 57: 35 "And behold, we are again delivered out of the hands of our enemies. And blessed is the name of our God; for behold, it is he that has delivered us; yea, that has done this great thing for us."

Some verses with a thought booklet tell us that we need to lay aside every sin and look to Jesus in faith. We need to keep our minds and hearts on Jesus and how he endured on the cross for our sins. Heb. 12: 1-2 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

In the Old Testament I read a verse condoning capitol punishment. If a man sheds innocent blood, by man should his blood also be shed. Genesis 9: 6 "Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."

In the Book of Mormon I read about how the stripling warriors were able to fight the Lamanites in a very valient manner and that they obeyed and performed every command with exactness. Their mothers had taught them well! And they were a big help in gaining victory over the Lamanites. Alma 57: 20-22 "And as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted. Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them. And now behold, it was these my sons, and those men who had been selected to convey the prisoners, to whom we owe this great victory; for it was they who did beat the Lamanites; therefore they were driven back to the city of Manti."

Some verses from a thought booklet remind us of how important our words are. What we say can lift another person up or cut them down. The tongue is sometimes difficult to control and master, but if we cannot control what we say and avoid offending with our words, we cannot become perfect. And if we can learn to bridle our tongue, we can bridle our whole body. It is not right that both blessings and cursings should come out of the same mouth. Our unkind words can be like deadly poisen. James 3: 2-12 "For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in cword, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." The thought that went with this, written by Wilma Musser from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania says: One of my favorite childhood stories is about Chicken Little. When a nut fell on her head, without investigating first she ran wildly about, telling her friends that the sky was falling. Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey, and Foxy Loxy kept the rumor alive by spreading the word. Much damage has been done, not only to individuals but also to communities and to nations, because a rumor--unsubstantiated information--was believed and spread. One of the worst things about spreading a rumor is illustrated by the game of gossip often played at parties. The first person in a line whispers a statement to the next person, who whispers it to the next, until it reaches the end of the line. That person repeats the statement aloud and everyone laughs because it is far different from the original statement. Timothy speaks of tattlers and busybodies, and Peter classsifies busybodies along with murderers and thieves. Spreading gossip and unsubstantiated information is a serious sin indeed!

In the Old Testament I read about how the Lord commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply and gave them dominion over all the animals, fowls, fish, and green herbs. Genesis 9: 1-3 "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things."

In the Book of Mormon I read about how the Lord blessed the stripling warriors and that not one of them was killed in battle. What a miracle! They indeed had fought with the strength of God. Alma 56:55-56 "And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain. But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war."

A verse from a thought booklet warns us not to answer someone before we've at least heard what they have to say. To do otherwise is folly and a shame. Makes sense. Have you ever tried to talk to someone who won't hear you out but just keeps talking over you? Very frustrating! Or who rushes in with advice when all you wanted was a listening ear? How important that we truly listen to other people when they talk to us, not just with our ears but with our hearts. Prov. 18: 13 "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." The thought that went with this, written by Elaine Parsons from Midland, Michigan says: "My friend's daughter called from college. She was just beginning her freshman year, was away from home for the first time, and was frustrated with trying to get a math class to fit into her schedule. My friend switched into Advice-Giving-Mom Mode. Finally, the daughter interupted. 'Mom, I didn't call for advice; I called for you to make me feel better.' My friend quickly switched to Shoulder-to-Cry-On Mom. Although she missed the point at first, she came through in the end. Sometimes people don't need us to fix their problems; they just need us to listen and to show that we care." I think this thought makes a very good point. I remember an Education Week class I attended several years ago in which the instructor made this point. He said that often people come to us with problems and we try to come up with advice to "fix" their problems when what they really need is just a listening ear. We should never offer advice unless asked. And even if we are asked, we should hear the person out completely before we rush in with answers.

In the Old Testament I read about how Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings to the Lord. The Lord promised Noah that he would never again destroy every living thing from off the earth, and as long as the earth remains there will be seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night. Genesis 8: 20-22 "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

In the Book of Mormon I read about the great courage and faith of the young stripling warriors and about how their mothers had instilled this faith in them from a young age. They knew that God was with them and they did not fear. Alma 56: 45-48 "And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites. For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus. Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

A verse from a thought booklet tells us to pray always. Luke 18: 1 "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;" When I've heard admonitions to pray always I've wondered how we can do this. We can't be on our knees praying 24 hours a day 7 days a week and never do anything else. I think it means to have a prayer in our hearts. Sometimes we might feel like we're too busy to pray. But actually the time we spend in prayer is very well spent. It prepares us for the day and helps us accomplish the many things we need to do. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first six hours sharpening my ax." He explained that most people would rather spend the entire eight hours hacking away with a dull ax but that he would rather have a sharp one. When we take time to pray, it's like sharpening our ax. We'll accomplish more with a sharp ax than we will spending more time hacking away with a dull one. Something to think about.

In the Old Testament I read about how the Lord commanded Noah and his family to leave the ark, and allow the animals to leave also. They were all commanded to be fruitful and multiply. Genesis 8: 15-19 "And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him: Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark."

In the Book of Mormon I read about how Moroni was about to regain the city without shedding blood. He administered wine to the Lamanites and when they were drunken he was able to sneak into the city where they were holding many prisoners and arm them. When the Lamanites woke up the next day they were surrounded by Nephites from without the city and the prisoners within were armed. So they gave up without a fight. This was according to Moroni's plan, who did not delight in the shedding of blood. Alma 55: 13-24 "And it came to pass that they did take of the wine freely; and it was pleasant to their taste, therefore they took of it more freely; and it was strong, having been prepared in its astrength. And it came to pass they did drink and were merry, and by and by they were all drunken. And now when Laman and his men saw that they were all drunken, and were in a deep sleep, they returned to Moroni and told him all the things that had happened. And now this was according to the design of Moroni. And Moroni had prepared his men with weapons of war; and he went to the city Gid, while the Lamanites were in a deep sleep and drunken, and cast in weapons of war unto the prisoners, insomuch that they were all armed; Yea, even to their women, and all those of their children, as many as were able to use a weapon of war, when Moroni had armed all those prisoners; and all those things were done in a profound silence. But had they awakened the Lamanites, behold they were drunken and the Nephites could have slain them. But behold, this was not the desire of Moroni; he did not delight in murder or bloodshed, but he delighted in the saving of his people from destruction; and for this cause he might not bring upon him injustice, he would not fall upon the Lamanites and destroy them in their drunkenness. But he had obtained his desires; for he had armed those prisoners of the Nephites who were within the wall of the city, and had given them power to gain possession of those parts which were within the walls. And then he caused the men who were with him to withdraw a pace from them, and surround the armies of the Lamanites. Now behold this was done in the night-time, so that when the Lamanites awoke in the morning they beheld that they were surrounded by the Nephites without, and that their prisoners were armed within. And thus they saw that the Nephites had power over them; and in these circumstances they found that it was not expedient that they should fight with the Nephites; therefore their chief captains demanded their weapons of war, and they brought them forth and cast them at the feet of the Nephites, pleading for mercy. Now behold, this was the desire of Moroni. He took them prisoners of war, and took possession of the city, and caused that all the prisoners should be liberated, who were Nephites; and they did join the army of Moroni, and were a great strength to his army."

I read some verses in two different thought booklets today which both seemed to be talking along the same lines--about the sin of fornication and sexual impurity, which is a sin against our own bodies and needs to be avoided or it will entrap us and destroy us. 1 Cor. 6: 18-20 "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s." Prov. 7: 4-27 "Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine aheart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." The thought that went with these last verses, written by Joanna Ronalds from Warragul, Victoria, Australia says: I love chocolate. If there is chocolate in the cupboard, I find it hard to resist, so it's best just not to keep chocolate in the house. If I don't put it in my shopping cart, it won't be in the cupboard, and if it's not in the cupboard, I can't eat it. If it is in the cupboard...well, it takes just twenty-five minutes to bake those yummy triple-chocolate brownies I love. The young man in Proverbs didn't have access to the Internet, but he made his first mistake when he went near the corner that he knew was his weakness. It's easier not to end up with a prostitute if you stay clear of the brothel. It's easier not to eat chocolate if it's not in the house. So whatever your weakness is, be aware of it. Then put some steps in place to make sure you stay away from whatever it is, so you don't have the opportunity to do something you'll regret. This is the first step to victory. Dear Lord God, please give me the strength to avoid situations where I might be tempted by things that I know are my weakness.

In the Old Testament I read about how Noah sent various birds outside the ark to see if the ground had dried out enough to leave the ark. First he sent out a raven and then a dove, who just flew back because they couldn't find anyplace other than the ark to rest. But then a dove came back with an olive leaf and then later flew away and didn't come back. After waiting another week, Noah removed the covering of the ark and saw that the earth had dried. Genesis 8: 6-14 "And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried."

In the Book of Mormon I read some verses that describe how the people of Ammon had made a covenant with the Lord not to take up arms or shed blood again, after they repented of the many murders they'd committed before coming unto Christ. The Nephites had protected them, but now that the Nephites were faced with battles against the Lamanites, the people of Ammon were thinking about breaking the oaths they had made and taking up arms to help defend them. However, Helamen convinced them they should not break their oath, lest perhaps they would lose their souls. However, they had 2,000 young sons who had been too young to make the oath not to fight in battle, and these valient young men joined with Helamen as their leader to fight in defence of their freedom and their country. Alma 53: 10-21 "And now behold, I have somewhat to say concerning the people of Ammon, who, in the beginning, were Lamanites; but by Ammon and his brethren, or rather by the power and word of God, they had been converted unto the Lord; and they had been brought down into the land of Zarahemla, and had ever since been protected by the Nephites. And because of their oath they had been kept from taking up arms against their brethren; for they had taken an oath that they never would shed blood more; and according to their oath they would have perished; yea, they would have suffered themselves to have fallen into the hands of their brethren, had it not been for the pity and the exceeding love which Ammon and his brethren had had for them. And for this cause they were brought down into the land of Zarahemla; and they ever had been protected by the Nephites. But it came to pass that when they saw the danger, and the many afflictions and tribulations which the Nephites bore for them, they were moved with compassion and were desirous to take up arms in the defence of their country. But behold, as they were about to take their weapons of war, they were overpowered by the persuasions of Helaman and his brethren, for they were about to break the oath which they had made. And Helaman feared lest by so doing they should lose their souls; therefore all those who had entered into this covenant were compelled to behold their brethren wade through their afflictions, in their dangerous circumstances at this time. But behold, it came to pass they had many sons, who had not entered into a covenant that they would not take their weapons of war to defend themselves against their enemies; therefore they did assemble themselves together at this time, as many as were able to take up arms, and they called themselves Nephites. And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage. Now behold, there were two thousand of those young men, who entered into this covenant and took their weapons of war to defend their country. And now behold, as they never had hitherto been a disadvantage to the Nephites, they became now at this period of time also a great support; for they took their weapons of war, and they would that Helaman should be their leader. And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him."

A verse from a thought booklet tells us how mercificul and gracious and slow to anger the Lord is. If we're willing to repent, He will be merciful and willing to forgive us. Ps. 103: 8 "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." The thought that went with this, written by Leah West from Jacksonville, Florida says: I sat on my bedroom floor and sobbed for what seemed like hours. My face was red and blotchy, and my eyes were a swollen mess. I cried out to God for what seemed like the umpteenth time to forgive me for the sins of my past. As I sat with my face to the ground, drowning in my tears, God spoke to my heart and said, "I have already forgiven you. Now forgive yourself. Guilt and shame are not from me; your sins have been forgotten." It took awhile to finally forgive myself for the things I had done before returning to God. Eventually the guilt and shame left when I realized that God was not sitting in heaven with a huge tally list of all the things I had done wrong. None of us is worthy of God's forgivenss, but God gives it to us willingly and freely because of the sacrifice of Jesus. Let go of your past sins and understand that you have truly been forgiven. Lord, help me to receive your forgiveness and truly understand the depth of your grace. Help me to let go of my past shame and guilt and move forward in my walk with you.