Is the Book of Mormon True? Day One - questions and answers

After reading Mosiah ch7 and starting 8 - a question arose about the validity of the truths spoken about seers and the use of a Urim and Thummim.  James 1:5-10 came to mind and I read James 1:1-10 until I understood it all with the help of God and patience. then I wrote this;  "the wavering man receiveth nothing from God; James 1 is rockin my world today. rejoice when you are brought low for the blessings more patience will bring, and rejoice when you are exhalted. Pray when you don't know, and be willing to act in faith or you will not get the blessing. Good luck growing more faith =) apparently God grants the gift of faith and all His doings are by the power of faith, so asking in faith for more faith is a very win/win prayer considering God's love for us."

Then I looked in the topical guide and found Old Testament references that confirm soundly the use Joseph Smith claims to have used to see into the past and record the events that were abridged in the Book of Mormon, right down to them being on a breastplate, more still - the way they were using a Urim and Thummim in the Bible seems contextually sound with the way Limhi and Ammon were planning to get the record of the Jaredites translated by King Mosiah; 1 Sam 28:6 and Ezra 2:63 were most helpful.  A cool find while doing the research was when I read ezra furthur back in the chapter and found that men were denied the priesthood because they couldn't prove that their lineage was through Israel.

59 And these were they which went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they could not ashew their father’s house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:

60 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred fifty and two.

61 ¶And of the achildren of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name:

62 These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.

63 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most aholy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.

Very cool to know that the disbursement of the priesthood power was occurring long ago and that the process was a selective process to those in the tribes of Israel, God is the same, yesterday, today and forever, (In the sense that in this instance we still use priesthood power to act in His name and organize His kingdom today.)
       These days we only give the priesthood to those who are made worthy by being accepted or adopted into the house of Israel by making covenants at baptism, and then keeping those associated covenants and coming of age. We would not extend the priesthood to those not of our faith, or those with no record of being of our faith.  They have not made covenants and may not even understand the point of the preisthood.  That's like going to McDonalds and being made manager when you have never worked there, signed no contract, and don't know any of their practices; they wouldn't do it, and it wouldnt benefit anyone anyway.

Networking

Leaders who lack the ability to develop good relationships fail to sell their ideas to others. If someone does not network well or fails to speak up in meetings the impact they have on others is limited.

What are you doing to make sure you are building relationships in your leadership role?

      When I feel up to the task, I help myself to remember key persons names.  I try to learn about them and remember something of note that genuinely interests me.  I learn about families and children's names.  I seek out certain people that might be able to get me a leadership role in my industry.  In my previous leadership role,  I was making a point to ask individuals how they were doing, and how I might personally help them with things they need.

Where have you seen the positive effects of networking and relationship building in your roles or group project?

       I knew the right woman to call about autistic family needs, and my demeanor over the phone, and in person, allows persons to trust me enough to give me more information regarding additional contacts, restrictions etc.  I was able to get five names from one person.  Those five names represented people who lead organizations that related to my group project.  Once I contacted those five people, I was able to find more information and get closer to the actually people I would need to contact for the project.  Networking for my project went very well.
    I had back up plan contacts that I knew all over the city.  I knew in my mind that I could call someone who at least knew the real person I need to contact to book a city building for our activity.  Knowing and caring about others is a gift that needs to be developed.  I often need the friends that I have made over the years.

Do you relate well to others and how can you be better?

        I find I relate well with others when they are going through hard times.   I can relate better to people experiencing joy, if I start allowing myself to be more grateful for what I have.  I need to focus on having a positive mental attitude and a stronger reliance upon Christ.
        I can relate better with others by actually asking questions about their life until I find multiple things we have in common.  I can try to put myself in their shoes and not pass a quick judgment on why they did or did not complete a task.  One important rule of working with people is to remember they are people.  We all make mistakes and can give each other the benefit of the doubt.

What are some skills you have at influencing others?

     I have a lot of energy and optimism when I find something I feel is the right thing to do.  Other people can see and feel the genuine attitude I have toward accomplishing the task, that I am more interested in the people we are serving, than in looking good for the public.  This heart and these skills of communication allow for others to know that they can get excited too!

Code of Ethics

Pillar One - Integrity
Since I was a young boy, my father told me stories about my heritage.  My grandfather died when my father was only six years old.  As my father grew there were a few things about grandfather that stood out.  He was only a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a short period of time before his untimely death, but his collection of LDS literature and his zeal toward the gospel began a legacy of faith in the restored gospel.  One thing I was told about Grandpa George was that whether he lost money or made money on a deal, if you said he had said it, he would stick to his word.  Knowing that grandfather was a man of his word has made me cherish the living up to his name in word and deed.  I try to be honest and have integrity in my dealings with others.  If I must choose only eight pillars for a code of ethics, integrity would be among the first.
Pillar Two - The Pillar of Faith
Being a child in a bloodline of good christian values dating beyond my great great grandpa Phillip, I suppose that my heart belongs to God as much as I can give it.  Faith in Jesus Christ to me is like Gordon B. Hinkley's beatitude 'Be Believing.'  I need to cultivate and desire faith throughout my life.  I will make goals in my leadership and management opportunities to stand a little taller and stand out as someone who knows God lives and believes in the Atonement of His son Jesus Christ.  My attendance at the temple, church meetings, participation in ordinances, service to others and my study of gospel doctrines and all scriptures will increase my faith in God, Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.
Pillar Three - Education
Knowledge is power, and the accumulation of knowledge is my goal.  I will build a foundation of knowledge that is part secular and part gospel.  I will study the doctrine of the gospel to build a foundation of testimony that leads to a becoming, the becoming a new creature.  My secular knowledge will enlighten me toward new ideas for leadership and management applications.  I suppose for leadership study we could look to the savior, and for management studies we could look at the style of the apostle Paul or the Apostle Peter.
Pillar Four - Peace
I make it a goal hear an now to study and fast and pray about the individual doctrines of the gospel.  As I learn new things, they must be confirmed as truth and then applied in my life, though sometimes the sequence may be to apply the teachings and then have the truth of them confirmed; in this way I will find peace knowing that the path I am on spiritually is the correct one.  I can also cultivate peace that by living and keeping God's commandments I can have the power of righteousness to pray for God's blessings on my family and business. I can know that whatever happens is the will of God, if I am keeping His commandments.  I do try.
Pillar Five - Self-Discipline/Mastery
I have a tendency to bow out away from hard things.  I need to make a list of the true goals and pillars I have in life on a card and make sure that what I am doing in my life is in accordance with what I want most.  I desire to be with God again in heaven, and I desire to experience the joy that He does.  I believe that self-discipline through reliance on the savior Jesus Christ is the only way to overcome hard things.  I seem to fail every time I do not truly turn to Him in times of trial.   I have a goal for a Godlike marriage and family, which takes great effort to prepare for, even while single; I know it takes continual and sustained effort in marriage as well.  I have discipline problems in many areas of life, thus this pillar is more of a wish at the moment.
Pillar Six - Passion
I love digging to the bottom of things and searching for the best in everything!  I have a passion for doing the best I can with the talents I have been given.  If I can find more hobbies and things I enjoy about life, I will be passionate about them as well.  I love getting excited about the little things in life and about my work.  I cannot see why anyone would invest in me, my work or the gospel if I walked around dispassionate about any of those parts of my life.  My family will be trained to have passion as well.
Pillar Seven - Patience
I tend to rush because of my passion;  I need to learn to be still and wait upon the Lord.  I love the idea of letting time heal wounds and allowing differences to be resolved with love and patience.  I have no desire to have conflict in my life with my wife, my children or co-workers.  If conflict comes it will be the beneficial kind and hopefully be dealt with in patience and love.  Jesus Christ waited 30 years until it was culturally right for Him to begin preaching; before that he prepared and became the man God in heaven needed Him to be for the atonement.  I can wait.
Pillar Eight - Love
I can discipline and teach and lead and manage with an undercurrent and over-current of  love.  Love should motivate all actions in my leadership roles and life relationships.  I will strive to lead like Christ and set a good example of His love. I cannot see a more important quality to obtain if God truly is love.  I must have love in all her forms as a pillar to sustain the best works in my life.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me;  I can love like Christ.

Leadership - Julius

-What did you learn from your leader that can help you motivate others in your leadership roles or projects?

I learned that you can rely on experience from the past as a measure of authority toward convincing others that you are capable of leading and succeeding in the realm of the given task.  I would humbly express to others in my group that I have a talent in the area we are working and would like to share my ideas.  Having an expression of authority would give them confidence in my abilities, and in turn, their faith in my abilities would give me courage and faith to do my best at leading them.

- Which leader (besides your own) surprised you in how they motivated others? - I had quite for gotten that women were so devious.  Marilyn Monroe was a bit scary with her methods of seducing men to get what she wanted. 

Hitler wasn't really a surprise, but I found it frightening that after all our friend had learned about Hitler, his response to motivating most people in most situations was utter fear, fear of death.   I ended up in the group with Hitler and Thomas Monson, things got tricky for sure.

Decision Making

I like what we are learning about the '6' c's of decision making.  We need to continue to collect information with regard to our service project.  I know that the final commitments with regard to location and time will not be important, and we are so ready to give service.  our job right now is to continue to take the idea we started with and keep it moving.  we need more information from anyone willing to participate with us.

We have hit a few dead ends with regards to a location and certain organizations ready to help with the dance.  That's okay.    I am going to try and keep my momentum going and call more persons until we get some options.   Without options and more information, we have no decision to make.  The only decision we can make right now is to stick with the action plan and get phone calls made so that we can get the word out soon and make this event happen before thanksgiving.  We need to kick it in gear and decide to act.

We will consider alternative to size of the project and make sure that we can reach as many as we can, but more importantly have a program.  I do not want to have so much planning that we miss having a project.

Time management

Setting goals for daily homework assignments would really help get school work done over the weekend.  Time easily gets passed from to do item to to do item.   I would much rather do anything else but homework, so it would be smart to put homework and studying first and make other activities a reward.  I need help focusing when I study, so it would also help to have a buddy system for homework.  I can make time commitments and appointments with other students for regular class reading and homework assignments.  The key for me will be to make the timing regular and scheduled.

Putting first things first with a goal for daily scriptures study would enhance my ability to continually put God first in my life and every day.  My current scripture study is sporadic and may happen everyday, but the timing is so irregular that I would not remember if I did or did not get it done. Having a chart, a goal and a daily set time would help me be able to get more out of my study and know that I was getting a good start to each and every day.  I will read

Blog Six For Leadership Class - Teamwork

        I saw all the stages of forming, storming, norming and performing in our group.  The personality type exercises helped us to get out concerns that would have been hard to address if it was not a controlled exercise in the class.  I was also glad to learn that throughout the next few weeks we may encounter relapses into other phases and need to work back toward performing.
        Teamwork was show in our group when we decided what time we could meet to get our work done outside of class.  We met under a vision of getting a common goal accomplished, and because we met on a Saturday, most members wanted to get work done and get the work done as quickly as possible.   We pooled all resources and had great communication.
         We have divided our responsibilities  up and tackled the planning of our program.  Because I get passionate about service, and because I have done many of these kinds of programs, it has been hard to let some of the responsibilities of coordinating and recruiting to other team members.  A lot of trust is involved in this  process, but we are moving a great direction with our program.