Elder & Sister W. Mark Bassett of the Seventy
Tuesday devotional, February 4, 2020
Tuesday devotional, Elder and Sister W. Mark Bassett, February 4, 2020
Sister Bassett:
- In the prophetic allegory found in Jacob 5, verses 71-72 state: “And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come. And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their might; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.”
- We will work in the vineyard one last time, and the master of the vineyard will work with us. You are those workers. What a remarkable privilege!
- You all have received your calls from a prophet of God.
- The ‘message’ of your name-tag is for others to see, but it is also a poignant reminder to us who wear that tag.
- Jacob 5 tells us to labor with all our might. We never stand alone because Jesus stands with us.
- The message of the Book of Mormon is to ‘look forward with hope’.
- How would your life be different without the restoration of the Gospel?
- Every missionary learns a ‘language’, that is, the language of the Spirit.
- As you work, you will find people who have been prepared to meet you and your message. You will connect with them ‘one-by-one’.
- We always learn the most when challenges drive us to our knees.
- Doctrine and Covenants 138 teaches us that we received our first ‘lessons’ in the premortal life. That concept is so reassuring! We were taught our purpose, and we were taught how to succeed.
- Our real home is with the Father.
- The first word spoken by Deity after centuries of apostasy was ‘Joseph’!
Elder Bassett:
- Thank you for your consecration.
- Have you considered President Nelson’s invitation to prepare yourselves for the upcoming General Conference?
- How have the people in the Book of Mormon affected our lives?
- How does the Book of Mormon clarify Bible principles?
- The ‘gate’ is mentioned in Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:24, but we are not told where the gate is, how to get to the gate, and how we can pass through the gate. The Book of Mormon clarifies all those questions in 2 Nephi 31. The gate is defined and we are told how to enter.
- Charity is presented in 1 Corinthians 13, but we are not told exactly what it is. The Book of Mormon clarifies this in Moroni 7. It tells us charity comes from the heart and is the pure love of Christ.
- Likewise, the Book of Mormon clarifies the atonement, charity, the gate, what is means to fulfill all righteousness, etc.
- Lehi and Nephi’s experiences in the book of 1 Nephi are so similar to Joseph Smith’s initial experience. They all saw visions, had dreams, were persecuted for what they shared, saw the Savior, etc. It shows us a pattern that the Lord follows when he calls a prophet. Vision after vision, revelation after revelation.
- The Book of Mormon teaches us how God speaks to His children. People can learn how to communicate with God.
- The Book of Mormon was translated in 65 working days, or about 8 pages per day. This is phenomenal. What a miracle.
- I served my mission in Guatemala, and the Book of Mormon was my main tool in reaching the people.
- The Book of Mormon contains many ‘Hebraisms’, or Semitic word patterns and words that Joseph Smith could not possibly have known about. Examples are altar of stone, dreamed a dream (a cognate), worked a work.
- There are also many examples of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Examples are Psalms 3:7-8, Genesis 7:21-23, Mosiah 3:18-19.
- The translating and publishing of the Book of Mormon preceded almost every other important event in the restoration. In Doctrine and Covenants 5:4 the Lord admonished Joseph to pretend to no other gift. In other words, FOCUS ON THE BOOK OF MORMON! Even the coming of Elijah with the sealing keys waited until the completion of the Book of Mormon.
- Alma 7 teaches us that Jesus knows exactly how pain and suffering and sorrow feels.
- The characters in the Book of Mormon bear solemn testimony of the truths contained therein:
- Joseph Smith — it is the most correct of any book on the earth, and a man will get closer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book.
- Nephi — 2 Nephi 33, ‘…you and I will meet before the judgement bar of God and you will know that I was commanded by God…’
- King Benjamin — Mosiah 1:6
- Alma — Alma 3:12
- Nephi — 3 Nephi 5:13
- Mormon — Mormon 7:9
- Moroni — Moroni 8:13-14
- Mormon told us that he has seen our day and that he has seen us, and that he knows our doings.
- In Doctrine and Covenants 17:6, the Lord bears His testimony of 1) Joseph 2) the Book of Mormon 3) of the Father 4) of Himself.
Click here to return to the General Authority speakers index
Click here to return to the MTC index page