Answer the Call
Lesson 17: Mormon & Benjamin— Fathers & Kings Who Changed History
This lesson will become available on April 17, 2024! Stay tuned!
Set the Course
Embark on the Journey
Monthly “I Am a Latter-day Nephite” Theme!
I will defend marriage, the family, and sacred Priesthood covenants as ordained by God.
Remember: While you absolutely may do every activity suggested if you would like, it is certainly not needed, nor are you limited by the ideas given here. Choose one or more that will work with your learning style, available time, or the group that you are working with. Even if you are an adult, don’t hesitate to choose an activity originally aimed at children—those can be the most fun!
Feel free to run with any other ideas that come to your mind! Allow the Lord to guide you in choosing the best activities for you. The ultimate goal is to engage with the material and become a “doer of the word.”
- If this is your first week here, welcome! Please review our “Welcome & How to Join the Quest” for some helpful information on how to use this resource. You may also want to check out the Embark on the Journey section of Lesson 1 for some activities that will be helpful in getting you started on this quest. In particular, you’ll want a journal, and perhaps the “I Am a Latter-day Nephite” resolution and a fun Book of Mormon reading chart. Just start where you are in the year—don’t feel like you have to backtrack and do every lesson, but grab these helpful tools and you’ll be good to go from here!
- If you choose to download or purchase a designed cardstock version of the “I’m a Latter-day Nephite” resolution, you may want to post it where you will see it every day—on the fridge or your mirror, for example. Ponder on this month’s statement “I will defend marriage, the family, and sacred Priesthood covenants as ordained by God.”
- Read more about biblical birthright in this article published in the November 2005 New Era (now For Strength of Youth) magazine, “You Have a Birthright.”
- Birthrights come with greater blessings, but those blessings are meant to be used to serve, help, and bless the other members of the family. Have a discussion in your family or class on your birthright as a member of the House of Israel. What blessings do you receive through the Abrahamic Covenant? What responsibilities do members of the House of Israel have in these last days? If you have received your patriarchal blessing, do some additional research on the role of your declared tribal lineage.
- As a family, have each person write (or draw) a biographical story or two on a piece of blank paper. Glue a dowel or stick on each short end of the papers and roll them together to make scrolls so that each family member has a scroll with their story. Take turns reading the scrolls aloud to the family. You can even introduce each family member’s scroll as the “Stick of _____”. Have a discussion about how the Bible is one scroll (or “the stick of Judah”) and the Book of Mormon is another scroll (or “the stick of Joseph”). Like your family’s scrolls, each book of scripture tells the story of one part of the family (or the House of Israel), but alone, the whole family’s story is incomplete. In the same way that we need every family member’s scroll to tell the story of the whole family, we need both the Bible and the Book of Mormon to tell the story of the whole House of Israel.
- Imagine you are nearing the end of your life. Think about what you have learned throughout your life that you would want to make sure your family and friends knew. What is your testimony? What spiritual knowledge do you hope those you love will learn? Gather together and share your wisdom like King Benjamin did with his people, or write down your thoughts in your journal. You could even write letters and send them out.
- Build forts in your living room or yard and face your “tent doors” toward the TV or a projector, and re-watch some of your favorite General Conference talks. You could also pair this activity with the previous one and have parents or grandparents share their life wisdom like King Benjamin.
- If you wanted to celebrate Passover this year, it is April 22, 2024 (this week). See Lesson 13 “Resurrection Sunday” for ideas on how to put on a Passover meal.
- Robert L. Millet wrote a paper titled “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” for the Second Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU. He said:
“The Prophet Joseph Smith stated in 1841 that a man could get “nearer to God by abiding by” the precepts of the Book of Mormon “than by any other book.” Those who have made the Book of Mormon more than casual reading know of the truthfulness of the Prophet’s declaration; they can testify with President Ezra Taft Benson that the serious study of this sacred volume can bring “spiritual and intellectual unity to [one’s] whole life.” The Book of Mormon has been preserved and prepared with our day in mind. Prophets and noble men who wrote on the plates knew of our day, sensed and saw our challenges, and were fully aware of the sublime strength that the Nephite/Jaredite record could be in a troubled and uncertain world (see Mormon 8:35; 9:30). The Book of Mormon has been given to bring men and women to Christ—to point them toward the reality of his existence, to bear witness of his divine Sonship, and to demonstrate how the peace which comes through a remission of sins here and the ultimate peace through salvation hereafter are to be had through calling on his holy name, and in no other way. The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ because it is a masterful revelation of him, an additional witness (with the New Testament) that he “hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). It is indeed “another testament of Jesus Christ.”
In a revelation given at the time of the organization of the restored Church, the Lord explained that the Book of Mormon had been given for the purpose of “proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true” (D&C 20:11). Presumably the expression the holy scriptures refers to the Bible. That is to say, the Nephite record has been delivered to this final dispensation to establish the truthfulness of the biblical record, or, in the words of Mormon, “this [the Book of Mormon] is written for the intent that [we] might believe that [the Bible]” (Mormon 7:9). The Book of Mormon establishes clearly that the Bible is the “book of the Lamb of God” (1 Nephi 13:28); that Old and New Testament characters like Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, John the Baptist, and John the Beloved were real persons through whom God fulfilled his purposes; that the miracles and wonders described in the Bible (for example, crossing the Red Sea, healings through looking upon the brazen serpent, displacing the Canaanites from the promised land) are genuine manifestations of divine power.
Most important, the Book of Mormon attests that Jehovah, the God of ancient Israel, truly became the Son of the Highest; that Jesus of Nazareth came to earth through birth and took upon himself a physical body; that he submitted to the throes and pains of mortality; and that he lived a sinless life, took upon him the sins of all mankind on conditions of repentance, was crucified, died, and rose again three days later into glorious immortality. In other words, the Book of Mormon is another testament of the gospel, the glad tidings that deliverance from death and hell and endless torment is available through the infinite Atonement and by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel (See 3 Nephi 27:13–21).”
- In your journal, reflect on how the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together to testify of Jesus Christ and to teach us correct doctrines. What would we be missing if we only had the Book of Mormon and no Bible? What does much of the world miss by only having the Bible?
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All Hands on Deck
- Pray each morning this week for the Lord to give you an opportunity to share your thoughts on the Book of Mormon and/or what you’ve learned this week with someone.
- Join the For Our Day community on social media for uplifting shareable content, ideas on how to implement For Our Day in your home and classes, and to connect with others on the journey. You can find us here: Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Share one your Embark on the Journey activities on social media. Be sure to tag us #ForOurDay so we can see the fun ways you are bringing Book of Mormon parallels to life!
Find the Treasure
Content coming soon!
