A perspective that changed my life. [including a sneak peak at reception pictures!]

I think that the most dreaded section of the Book of Mormon, other than the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi, is the war chapters. There are so many of them, and all it seems to talk about is fighting, armor, fighting, some pretty attractive (in both the physical and spiritual sense) young men, fighting, and more fighting. At least, I thought so until I went to my Book of Mormon class this past Tuesday.

Remember the war in heaven, where the devil convinced a third of the hosts of heaven to follow him and we all had to decide who we were going to follow? You might have thought the war in heaven is over. Well, it's continuing, right now. No, we may not be fighting with swords and armor, but the spiritual war is stronger than ever, and you are a part of it. That's right, we are at war. It doesn't matter if you want to be at war or not, you are. Look at the chapter heading of Revelation 12. "He also sees the war in heaven in the beginning...He sees the continuation of that war on earth."

Now, ask yourself why Mormon included so much war in the Book of Mormon. He saw our day, and he knew that the war against the adversary would still be happening. He included the war chapters for our benefit, because there is a lot that we can learn from them. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

• Alma 43:17 - Moroni was only 25 when he became the chief commander of the entire army. Joseph Smith was called when he was 14. We send missionaries out to share the gospel at the ages of 18 and 19. The Lord isn't afraid of accomplishing some pretty big things through youth.
• Alma 43:18-22 - The Nephites were heavily armed and well protected. The Lamanites who came against them were not. They were full on offense, without a thought of defense. As members of the Church, it is important for us to be on offense, but we must have strong defenses to parry the fiery darts shot at us by the adversary.
• Alma 58:2 - The Nephites didn't dare go into Lamanite territory that was well protected and heavily guarded. They didn't want to "attack them in their strongholds" because that was where the Lamanites had the most power! As I read this scripture, the phrase "stand ye in holy places" (D&C 87:8) came to mind. Stay on the high ground, where the devil has less power over you. Don't go into places or situations where he is strongest.

These are just a few things that I've found and that we talked about in my class. I promise you that as you read the war chapters in Alma focusing on the war in heaven and fight for agency, you'll find so much more than you have before. I've seen it in my own scripture study this past week. It makes all the difference in the world. 

Now for some other stuff :). I got to take pictures at Megan's reception on Friday night, and I absolutely loved it! It was so much fun to walk around with the camera (I even got to borrow my parents' super nice one) and snap pictures. I'm not revealing too many yet, but here's a sneak peak.

I can't wait to edit all of them and see the end result! Unfortunately, the lighting was a little difficult to work with, but I did manage to get some good ones! Stay tuned! (It's just like I got married or something. Don't worry, I didn't, and I'm nowhere close!)