The following transcript is intended to aid in your study. However, while we try to go through the transcript, our transcripts are primarily computer-generated and often contain errors. Please forgive the transcripts’ imperfections.

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[00:00:00] Merry Christmas and welcome to the Christmas episode. So the come follow me manual, it encourages all of us this week to consider that during this Christmas season, as believers around the world are celebrating the goodness of love and God and sending his son, we are supposed to ponder on how the Book of Mormon has strengthened our faith in Christ.

So as we think about his birth, we're also to ponder on why he came to earth and how his coming has changed our lives. Doing this is going to help us experience the true joy of Christmas, that gift that Jesus Christ gives to all. I encourage all of us, as we listen to this week's episode, we think of what the answers are for us, why he came to this earth and how his coming has changed your life.

Welcome to the Sunday on Monday study group at desert bookshelf plus original brought to you by LDS living, where we take the come follow me lesson for the week, and we really dig into the scriptures together. I'm your host, Tammy Uzelac Hall. Now if you're new to our study group, please follow the link in our description.

It's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your life. Your come follow me study, just like longtime listeners, Susanna Lee, Rochelle Crawford and Christelle Gibson, who I met in St. George at the Magnify event. Ladies, I loved meeting you. Thank you for saying hi. Now, another awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined.

Usually by one or two of my friends, but this week, Oh boy, this week. Okay. So a little bit like last week, but you guys, I reached out to five of my friends. Now, last week I had five former guests, but this week, five new friends, five new perspectives, and I asked them to ponder on this idea of why they think Jesus came to earth and you know what?

It's pretty amazing what their answers were. I'm already going to spoiler a little bit because I got to sit down with them and ask them and have really great conversations. And I am so excited for you to hear what these five friends of mine had to say. And they're going to share with us how Jesus Christ coming to this earth.

Has changed their lives. Now you can find pictures and bios about my friends in our show notes, which are going to be found at LDS living. com slash Sunday on Monday. But I'm going to encourage you just to sit back and enjoy this episode. Grab yourself some cheese, maybe a little treat and just have fun as you listen to what my friends have to talk about when it comes to this specific Christmas episode.

Okay. So the first person that I'm going to introduce you guys to our first guest for this special episode, and I knew it had to be this person and she didn't want to do it. I had to talk her into it because she was like, I don't think so. I'm like, Hope, it's you. It's you. And her name's Hope. I mean, how great is that?

It's the perfect name to start out this entire Christmas episode. I want to introduce you to my friend Hope Wright. Hello, Hope. Hi, Tammy. How are you? Good. Okay. Hope, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are from? Anything fun? I am from Mesa, Arizona. Born and raised my family. My father's family actually came to Mesa and founded this area.

We have great heritage here. I have a very large family. Five siblings and 22 nieces and nephews and then on from there. So we are one big party all the time. Oh my goodness. And how much do you love your nieces and nephews? Oh, I love them. I spoil them to death and I send them home. They're your life, aren't they?

It's so great. They are. They're amazing. I have a feeling everyone needs an ant hope for sure. Well, you know, what's funny is they call me. Yeah. Yeah. Which that picked up somewhere. And so it's stuck and I love it. Oh my goodness. Oh yeah. Yeah. That's perfect for you because your personality is so fun. And you are just, when I first met you months ago, you were just on fire and you were a ball of goodness.

And that's why I was like, we got to have hope. We just got to have hope on this episode and hope in general in our life. Everyone needs a hope. Well, And it was such a pleasure to meet you when I did. And just to continually learn from you, it has been such an honor and a blessing. Well, I look forward to learning from you.

So here's the question I posed to hope that I asked her to talk, to think about and then talk about. And this is what it is. Hope, do you have a favorite story or passage from the book of Mormon that you can share with us? So, yes, I do. Um, there are many stories in the Book of Mormon that are absolutely everybody loves.

But what came to my mind immediately was of the stripling warriors. Just the fact that they were willing to do whatever they needed to do, as their fathers had, Had had covenanted with the Lord to not pick up their swords And so these young men knew that this is what they needed to do The first thing I did was I actually went to the 1828 dictionary, which I loved you But [00:05:00] I looked up the word stripling and it said in there all slender youth or a lad So these weren't strong young strong men.

These were young boys and Like we send missionaries out. But then specifically what came to my mind was their mothers. Um, and that has always stuck with me and it doesn't go into a lot of detail about their mothers. We, we know that it says that they did what they did because their mothers knew. And then we think, what did their mothers know?

Um, and I've pondered that a lot of what did their mothers know? Um, I had. An amazing opportunity to be in a little primary program, which is my favorite time of year, um, for in church. And one of them. One of the little primary children said that they trusted in their mother's testimonies. And I had never heard it like that before.

And I thought, you know what? That is so beautiful. They did. They trusted in their mother's testimonies. And what was their testimonies? Their testimonies were, they knew that God Would protect and watch over. They knew that God was directing everything that they did. They knew that the covenant that they had made with their heavenly father was a promise between the mother and God, our father, and that covenant works both ways.

Did they know sending their boys into battle that they would be unharmed? Nothing would happen. No, absolutely not. I'm sure they were terrified. They knew that there was going to be harm and danger and that just relates to every day, all of us. Um, I know now I'm gonna go personal. I know multiple occasions when I've gone to my parents' room to ask them something.

I've seen them. On their knees and as they go through their prayers, they speak each one of our names as their Children. With their spouses, with their children, and they bless the specific need that we have at that time. And I know that these mothers did the same thing. They specifically prayed for their sons, prayed that they would be watched over.

And that even though it was going to be so hard, that the Lord would protect them in everything that they did. And that's what we do today. None of us are on an easy path. We all have things that come in and, but we know the Lord is going to protect us. He has the plan. Well, hope, how has this story of the stripling lawyer strengthened your faith in Christ?

Because hope you're a single gal, but you have a lot of nieces and nephews. So I want to know how has, why did you choose this story and how has it strengthened your faith in Christ? You know, it, it comes back to knowing that it's all in the Lord's hands. I do have so many nieces and nephews and I see their trials and their struggles and I just continually carry a prayer in my heart for what they're going through, that their burdens might be lifted or how I might be able to serve them or how I can from the sidelines cheer them on.

And I was, I was listening to your podcast. I went back and listened to it. The one on the stripling warriors with the mother and the daughter, Wendy and Shara, they were wonderful. And I truly believe that the mothers were on the sidelines, cheering them on in the ways that they could and just support, I mean, I've never had anything but support from my own parents, not just from my mother, but from my father too.

And I, the same, I believe in the testimony of my mother. I know that she knows, and like I said, we are all going to have hard things. These young men were willing to step up, not knowing what was going to happen, but having complete faith in the Lord and in our Savior. And I, even in my own life, day to day.

You go out. You don't know what's going to happen. You have a little prayer in your heart. Who can I serve today? How can I help today? What can I do to ease someone's burden? And like I said with my nieces and nephews, I just, I always, how can I lighten their burden? What can I do to be better? How can I show up for them when they need it?

Um, and we've had a few things in this last month that we've really drawn closer as a family, and it's kind of put priorities. into perspective. We think we're busy, busy, busy, and then something happens that's very traumatic or [00:10:00] tragic. And you realize the most important thing is the obedience to your covenants, having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and just knowing it's his plan and in his time.

If I may ask, I am struck with the comment you met when you said that this past month has been a little difficult and there have been things about with your family. Is there one story you could share where you had to all put your faith in Christ? Um, so a month ago, my brother in law, his brother, his wife had four children in their car on the freeway.

And got into a very tragic accident, and they lost two of their children. One was the age of nine, and one was the age of eleven. And two of their children survived, a six year old and a thirteen year old. And immediately you go to, I know a lot of people don't believe that there's something after this life.

But immediately you go to, why did this happen to our family? Um, my immediate was how can I support my sister and what she's having to do as her husband steps up as the patriarch of his family. To be there for his brother, for his mother. They lost, he lost his father years ago. It's been over 20 years, I believe.

So he's the patriarch and to see that burden on his shoulders, what I could have get, I would give anything to have taken that from him. Um, and it just completely changed what your priorities are. You think we're busy. We have errands, we have this, we have that. And something like this hits your family and nothing else matters.

Nothing else matters. It all falls on the wayside. And then you go into complete, just relying on the Lord to get, I mean, I pray every day for this family who. are basically my family through marriage. Um, I pray every day for them that they can just get by minute by minute, sometimes hour by hour. I just, I can't even imagine the grief that these parents are going through.

And then. Two weeks later, my cousin was killed in a small aircraft plane. So we were hit with this kind of, it was like a double whammy. And this was a cousin I was very close to. And I just, my first thought was what in the world is going on? What like, God, you've got to give me an answer. I don't get this.

My second thought was. They're taking good ones. He's calling home good ones. And I think that's all the plan. And then it's just faith. Like, I am so grateful to know that when my mortal life is over, I get to hug this sweet cousin and embrace him and see these small children who were just light and joy and all of that and be together with them.

And Completely with my family and it makes you want to do better To be able to be where they are. I want to remember my covenants every day I do want to pray to help I do want to you know, just all of those things Oh, hope. Thank you so much because as you were talking, what I loved is that you don't have answers to all of the life's problems, but every time there was a problem, you did what you, you, your faith in Christ is what's getting you through this difficult time.

And so thank you for bearing witness of that. That was just awesome. Especially at this time of year where we get to focus on the savior and his goodness and you're right all around us. Like, wow. What is happening? I like how you said that. I think many of us are saying that. What is happening? And we have to remember goodness is happening.

The goodness of Jesus Christ and his, his mission is being, I just has got the gospel of Jesus Christ is alive and active and living, and we are witnesses of it. So thank you. It is so true. And what. It is to be or what I'm, I don't even know that I have the right word, but what a wonderful thing to be in this dispensation, even though it's hard.

Um, if I can add a quick little personal thing on that, when I was studying all of this. And studying the mothers, what they did, how they had faith, how they kept their covenants. It reminded me of a challenge that a dear friend gave to me one time. And we were talking about the Book of Mormon, and we were talking about Jesus Christ, and, and our, our Heavenly Father, and how He's [00:15:00] in everything, you know, how we need to turn it over to Him.

And she just said, go to the bookstore. Deseret book, get one of those little paperback 2 Book of Mormons and get several red markers because you're going to need a red pencils. You're going to need them. And she said, and I want you, I challenge you to start at the very beginning in the introduction of the Book of Mormon.

And every time it mentions the savior, our heavenly father, I want you to highlight it. And I thought, okay, this is going to be, you know, I'll read it. I'll highlight it. It took on a whole new perspective for me. And as I went through it, and then of course you get to the Isaiah chapters and you're like, wait, who's speaking, who, where, and I had to, and I had to ask her, I'm like, guide me, tell me.

And at one point I stopped and I flipped through those pages and Tammy, there was not one page that didn't have a red mark. And that just said to me, the Lord is in. Every day of the chapters of our life, and sometimes even in every verse. There's no doubting it, you know, I mean, he is there. Sometimes we may not feel him or see him or be in our time, but he's never leaving us alone.

Oh, he's there. He's there. What a great challenge. I love that. I'm going to do that. Yeah. I would challenge anybody else to do it because literally then you just flip through it and it's just red, red, red, red, and you realize. He never leaves us to be on our own. He's in every page of our lives. Oh my gosh.

Hope. Thank you. Hope. That was awesome. You are. I'm so glad you said yes. We needed your wisdom. I am so glad that you asked. I am so glad that you said, take the leap of faith. I needed that from you. Um, and it has been an honor and a privilege. Ah, love you friend.

Segment 2 - Lori

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Well, I'm so excited to introduce you to our next guest. Her name is Lori Klopfer and we have become friends on social media. She is a longtime listener and longtime friend, and I'm so excited to have her here. And thank you for saying yes to being on this episode. Well, thank you, Tammy. Thanks for asking.

I, I love being here. Oh. This is exciting for me because I do. I love this podcast. My husband and I listen to it every single week and we have been for about four years. So thank you. Well, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? Um, so I grew up in Salt Lake, graduated from University of Utah, um, but my husband and I, we met at the U, but, um, we have lived all over the United States.

So this is, we're now in Missouri. We've been here for 12 years and it's our ninth. state that we've lived in, but we call it home. Wow. What part of Missouri? So we're in the Kansas City area. We're in a little bedroom community called Klatt City. Oh, how fun. You know, that's And I love it. My little hometown.

I'm 20 minutes from the temple. I know, I know it's where you're from. And I'm 20 minutes from the Kansas City temple. I'm 10 minutes from the airport. Like, it's just perfect. That is perfect. I know right where you live. We used to drive to Kansas City in the summers to go shopping for back to school clothes.

It was an hour and a half long drive, but it, you know, your malls were far better than ours. So yeah, yeah, we love it here. This is, this is home to us now. We have five kids and they're all grown up. My baby's 21. Um, they all live all over the United States, but living in middle America, we can just take one day travel to each of them, which is great.

And this year I became a Grammy to two beautiful grandbabies. Wow! Congratulations! I know, two daughters, two granddaughters. Oh, excited. They were bulk miracles in their own right of getting here. And I'm just thrilled to be a Grammy finally. Well, congratulations Grammy. That's cute. Okay. So, you know, a little bit about what we're going to talk about.

Cause I already gave you the question, but for those of you who are listening, this is our Christmas episode and we get to focus on Jesus Christ, especially viewing him through the book of Mormon and what the book of Mormon has taught us about. So I just first have a question for you, Lori, what has your year been like as you've studied the book of Mormon?

It's been, um, it's been very self reflective, but very amazing. Um, this year I have really pondered the, the miracles of, um, the Book of Mormon and started looking for the everyday miracles in my life and really have found Christ in every single page of the Book of Mormon. Really? Now that's powerful. Well, okay.

So then let's get into the book of Mormon then, because one of the things I asked you to come prepared to talk about was, is there a person or a story in the book of Mormon [00:20:00] that truly has helped you teach you about Jesus Christ? Yes. So my longtime hero of the book of Mormon and my favorite person in there is King Benjamin.

So found in the early chapters of Um, the book of Messiah, I just feel like, um, King Benjamin embodies every characteristic of Jesus Christ. You can tell from his teachings, you can tell, I mean, just even like in Mosiah 1, it talks about, um, that the people were, uh, you know, a righteous people and that was no contention.

And so, you know, as a leader, he must have really, taught them well and embodied all of those characteristics of Christ, especially charity, the pure love of Christ, to have a people that had no contention. My gosh. Like, I've never, we didn't even talk about that this year, that King Benjamin could be a type of Christ.

How did you figure that out? Well, I just really feel like as I study him, um, the things that he teaches, well, first of all, in his sermon, everything is about the atonement of Jesus Christ. And he teaches so much about love and service that I just feel like he embodies just the pure love of Christ, that pure charity.

And you read about how he worked with the people. And then you read about. I mean, I'm assuming he's a good husband. We don't read too much about that. But like, he's a great father, you know, like Mosiah number two came from him and, and we read about how he works with the people and serves with the people.

And I just think the people had such a great love for them that I just, I don't know. They embody all of the characteristics of Christ and what King Benjamin teaches has just been a lifelong lesson for me, um, because it's what I, what I desire. I desire to be charitable. I want to have the pure love of Christ in me.

In me always, and it doesn't come easy at all, um, because I'm too prideful. So it, it, it, it, it's just what I desire. And that last light started probably around 32 years ago. Tell me about that. Well, so kind of embarrassing, just a quick little story. My husband and I were just married. We'd been living in the university village, which is the student housing for married students at the U.

And we'd been there almost a year and. What they call the compassionate service leader at that time But she called me and asked me to bring a meal to someone who had just had a baby and you know We were on a shoestring budget. We had no money that you know We just I went with some spaghetti and a green salad But I thought I would splurge and make them a cheesecake also, so I made a cheesecake now This was not like some yummy New York style cheesecake.

This was like the box of Jell O brand little sure. Oh sure 1. 29 Um, and I made it for them and it looked beautiful and I was licking the beaters, you know, after I made it and I just thought, I want this cheesecake, like this is so yummy. And this was not something that I went out and bought for me and my husband.

We didn't have the money for, for that and, but I really wanted it like really, really, really bad and like, oh, I'm supposed to give it to her, but I really want it. So I came up with what I thought was an ingenious idea. I cut the cheesecake up. Put little pieces on little plates, wrapped them up and gave them like a restaurant style servings of cheesecake.

So my husband and I could have the rest of the cheesecake. Well, shortly after that, I started reading the book of Mormon and Uzziah and I was just really chastised. Like I thought how selfish of me that I couldn't give them the whole cheesecake. And then I really, um, I don't know. Like. My natural man came out, my appetites were literally like took over, you know, and I, I was just embarrassed.

And so that has been my mantra for 32 years, the carnival of the cheesecake, like remember not to be selfish, like don't serve my needs first. Don't give into my natural man tendencies. Don't be prideful, but put the Lord first, serve others first. And then you develop that Christ like charity when you, you know, serve others.

King Benjamin teaches us that, you know, and he, and he says, if you're serving others, then you're serving God in Messiah 2, 17. And I, it's hard, like it's hard, but it's what I want to be known as. I want my family and my friends, I want them to, when I die, I want them to say she had the most charitable heart.

You know, she had that Christ like love for everybody. But it's hard. Like it's really hard. It's so hard. And as you were talking, I went and thought of this scripture because now I'm going to go into my scriptures and I'm going to write the parable of the cheesecake. Next to King Benjamin's address. And then I just, I think of you, you are this verse to me, then you are Jacob chapter two, verse 17, because you [00:25:00] said the Mosiah verse, which is about serving others.

And then you can connect it to Jacob chapter two, verse 17, which I think you are now based on the story that you shared in your goal. And here's what the verse says. Think of your brethren like unto yourselves and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.

And I think that's what you've tried to do is just to be familiar with them and to be free with your substance, even if that's only a cheesecake. Yeah. Even if it's only a cheesecake. And that's what, I mean, I love that. I love that you connected that because it has been what I wanted. And what I love about King Benjamin's speech is, you know, he talks so much about the tome and Jesus Christ and gives you the, you know, teaches you the opportunity to change.

And to be better and to repent of those natural man and put off the natural man, you know, and to repent and be better. And that's what I. I've tried, you know, I've tried really hard to do, but, um, I don't know, you know, President Nelson always teaches us to minister to the one and I, I think that's what King Benjamin did.

I think he ministered to the one and that's what he was asking his people to do and I think that's why there was no contention in the land. Yeah. Is because they did, um, like I remember when we moved across country, my, I had four little kids at the time and they were, we moved from Colorado to Las Vegas and it was hard as a middle of a school year.

So we had to go and we had to learn like all about their new schools. We had to learn about a new ward. We had to learn about a new area. We had to figure out how to live in Las Vegas. I mean, all of those things. And my kids were just really contentious at the time. And of course I went to. King Benjamin's speech to figure out how I was failing as a mom and, and the scriptures from Messiah 4, 13 through 16 just jumped out at me and became our first book for family theme 22 years ago.

So it says, and you will not have a mind to hinder one another. But to live peaceably and to render to every man according to that which is due. And you will not suffer your children that they go hungry or naked, and neither will you suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel with one another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which has been spoken of by our fathers.

He being an enemy to all righteousness, that you will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness. You will teach them to love one another and to serve one another. And also you yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor and will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need.

And you will not suffer that the beggar put up his petition to you in vain and turn him out to perish. And so this like, It hit me so hard that if my kids were sitting there fighting, they needed to serve one another so that they could love one another. And I, I thought about like a mom who does everything for her baby, right?

Feeds, diapers, clothes, I mean everything. And you talk to any mom and they have that pure love of Christ for their children. And I truly believe it's because they've spent so much time with their kids. So much time serving their children. And I thought my kids need to do that with each other. And as they've grown and they've had mission companions and roommates and that they struggle with, you know, they come and ask for advice.

They're like, mom, how do we deal with this? And I'm like, you need to get the pure love of Christ in your heart. You need to serve them and kill them with kindness. And I. I just think that if there's more of that in the world, um, we would not have contention in the land. And it needs to start with our families and then our communities and our ward families and stake families and, and it will grow, but it's hard.

It's hard because people hurt your feelings and you become a natural man and, and you know, it's, it's hard to kind of put aside your prideful heart sometimes. But how cool that you just pointed out to all of us, especially at this time of year, this is the week, this is Christmas week, where we can, we read those verses, especially as you're reading those verses.

I thought that those verses are Christmas. That's exactly what Christmas should be about helping each other and not fighting with each other. But how perfect that Christ has set up his church in families. Because when you said that was the theme for your family, But then you said we're in ward families and stake families and regional families.

I love that idea so much because you said that was the theme scripture for your family. I, I challenged, maybe that should be our theme scripture for our whole family for next year, for the world, that scripture that you read. I just think it was perfect timing for you to share your story and to challenge all of us to just really put off the natural man and look for ways to serve and get along in 2025.

So. Thank you, Lori. That was wonderful. Thank you so much. I learned so much from you. That was great. I learn from you every week. So thank you.

Segment 3 - Tara

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[00:30:00]

Next up is my friend Tara Hall. Now, no connection that we know of, but I'm pretty sure we're related somewhere down the line. We decided that even if we aren't related genealogically, we're just going to be sisters, right, Tara? Heck yeah. Yeah, we're related. So Tara, I thank you for being on the podcast, especially at this Christmas time.

Thank you so much for asking. So I just want to know, cause we've been talking about Christ and the Book of Mormon and we've been studying the Book of Mormon all year. And I just wanted to know, from your experience in studying the Book of Mormon, how have you found evidence that Christ can save you or redeem you?

No, I, uh, as I've thought about this, I've thought about experiences in the past that me and my family have gone through and three different scripture sets come to mind. Share them with us. Yeah. So the first one, what I find interesting is that it mentions the borders and. Actually, let me give a little back story.

So in 2011, my nephew was diagnosed with cancer and it ultimately took him eventually, um, about a year later. And right after he was diagnosed, my parents and I were reading in Third Nephi 22. And, uh, starting in verse 7, and they just, they've stuck with me ever since. But for a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.

In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee. On thee, sayeth the Lord thy Redeemer. For this the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee.

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed. But my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, sayeth the Lord that hath mercy on me. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. Amen. Um, so I love the idea of having our tent borders laid with pleasant stones. And, you know, when I first read this, I was like, what's a carbuncle?

Isn't that just like a growth or something? But it is actually a rare stone, which I just think is kind of interesting. But. At that moment, we were not comforted. We, we were tempest tossed. And I just remember, it's gonna be really hard. This next chapter, it's gonna be really hard. But you're gonna be okay.

And everything will be okay eventually, um, obviously it didn't turn out like we had hoped, but it will be okay eventually. And so that was the first thing that came into my head with that one. It's just beautiful. And I love how you shared that because when you read verse seven, I have for, for a moment, for a small moment, have I forsaken me?

And I'm sure your family felt that way because I'm imagining that. Did you pray and fast that your nephew would live? Oh, all the time, right? And so when he didn't, but how beautiful for verse 13, all the children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of my children. And when you say that it was, it did get better eventually.

Was there peace involved in that feeling of it getting better? Oh yes. You know, really trying to accept his death. Was so hard, but we have eventually gained a piece from all of that. And, you know, I can't speak for the rest of my family, but for me, it was, you know, Jesus makes everything okay in the end, everything will be made right in the end for his covenant keepers.

And I, I was studying this scripture and at the very end of the chapter, In verse 17, about halfway through it says, this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me. Say it the Lord. So that is a heritage of our cov of covenant keepers. And if we our covenant keepers, it's [00:35:00] going to all be okay in the end.

Oh my. It's goodness. All gonna be, I'm marking that in my scriptures. I had just come across that. Earlier today, I was like, yes, it's the heritage that is exactly it. Oh, Tara, I'm so sorry for the loss of your sweet nephew and for the grief that your family must have gone through. But I'm so grateful for the testimony that you've just been able to bear about how just those verses right there, you just shared with us beautiful example of how the savior redeems us in the book of Mormon and how, like you said, he makes everything better in the end.

Still waiting on a few things, but you know, it'll move right in the end. I love that. And if it's not right, I remember a woman said to me when I was single, um, she says, everything's going to be fine in the end. And if it's not fine, then it's not the end or something like that. And I, I remember one woman looking at me going, it's not the 11th hour.

Oh my gosh, Tara. That was, that was perfect. That is exactly what we needed. Thank you. So, Tara, you said you had three. What's the second one? Okay. Um, it is, it also, um, talking about my nephew, the, the other scripture that I thought of was Mosiah 24. And Elder Bednar has, uh, A whole conference talk about this specific chapter, but when we read this the first time as a family, um, I mean, we'd have read the scriptures, read the book of Mormon all throughout our lives, but, you know, some things just hit you every now and then.

In Mosiah 24, when Amulon has the tasks placed upon the shoulders or the backs of Alma's people and Amulon bans them from praying out loud, but the Lord knew their thoughts, the thoughts of their and intents of their heart and starting in verse 13, and it came to pass that the voice of the Lord Came to them in their affliction, saying, Lift up your heads, and be of good comfort.

For I know of a covenant which ye have made unto me, and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage. And this will I do, that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter.

And that you may know of a surety that I, the Lord God do visit my people in their afflictions. It keeps going, but the part that we love is it says the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the of the Lord. Um, that, that word cheerfully, not as easy as It may seem, um, it's not easy sometimes to cheerfully submit to the Lord's will.

Again, being covenant keepers, we just hold on to our faith in Christ and Christ's power to redeem and to save. I love the phrase, the Lord is mighty to save, you know, Hank Smith kind of talks about it in his podcast a few times, but he's not puny to save. He's mighty to say that it's going to be amazing what he can do for us.

If we let him Tara, let me ask you this in your 38 years of life, what has he done for you then? Um, what hasn't he done? Holy cow. Um, he has been my best friend when I'm lonely, you know, in middle school and high school was, middle school and high school are just really tough years. Right. He just, he got me through a lot of things.

Also being unemployed for a while, um, and just taking a leap of faith and saying, okay, I'm trusting you. I don't know how in the world this is going to work out, but it does eventually somehow it does, and there's something bigger and better for you. So I, you know, I, that, and then I eventually landed with my dream job.

So it's, it's amazing. He has done so much. So much for me. Well, I just so appreciate you teaching us about that verse of scripture. That was awesome. So what's your last scripture? Third Nephi, again, another Third Nephi chapter eight, just before the Lord comes when all of the, you know, the three days of darkness and the people are be moaning their fate.

I remember listening to that on my way To work one day and, you know, they say, Oh, that we had repented before this great and terrible day [00:40:00] and not stone the profits. And, you know, it was all of these cities that are just destroyed people being obliterated, you know, flooding everything, just so much destruction.

And they're just in the deepest literal darkness of three days, but they don't know what's about to happen. And I just remember saying out loud. You have no idea what's coming. Like, one of the best things in the world is about to happen. You have no idea what's coming. Just keep holding on. Jesus is coming.

And I just, I've always remembered that. He is coming. And I wonder if on the other side of the veil, that's what all of the angels are crying to us. You don't even know. Just hang on. Yes, the best is coming. The, you know, the greatest manifestations of the Lord's power. Yeah. President Nelson said. He is coming.

You might feel like you're in darkness. Hang on. Oh, that's what we are, right? Absolutely. Tara. That was, that was perfect. That is exactly what we needed. Thank you.

Segment 4 - Brent

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All right. I'm here with my friend Brent. Bye. Hi, Brent. Hello. How you doing? I'm good. Brent's been on a couple of times with his wife and his two cute daughters were on just a couple of weeks ago. Love that episode. Oh, that was, tell me about that experience though, because they didn't tell you they were going to be on the podcast.

Yeah. You didn't tell us and they didn't tell us. They kept it secret. And, um. I was at work that Monday morning and a neighbor had already heard the podcast early and she texted us, my wife and I, and she's like, they were so great. They're awesome. We're like, who? And so we hurry and listen to it and heard our daughters.

And I'm still upset with my. Second daughter because you asked them what's old age to you and one said 77 and Brooke said 52 and I'm older than 52. So I can't believe she said that. I told her we were going to hold her to that when she's 52. I'm going to call and remind her. Remember when you said, They're old.

That was funny. That was a funny moment. I'm surprised. So, okay. So I have a question for you because it's Christmas time. I just want to know, tell me when your family gets together for Christmas, what is, what are some of the family traditions you do at like a family party or maybe growing up as a kid?

Was there anything you did as a family? So often at parties, we would play like the white elephant game, And in fact, that's how I asked my wife to marry me because, so I was off to dental school back in Nebraska. She had just gotten home from a mission and we had talked and got a ring order and all that stuff, but I hadn't asked her officially to marry me.

And so I flew home for Christmas.

And, uh, so you're playing the white elephant game, right? And you have numbers and you take turns taking the gifts and there's different gifts, you can steal gifts, all that stuff. So a sister in law opened the gift and it was Rochelle's ring. And she's like, well, what's this? And I had the last number. So at the end of the game, I had the last number and I got the ring from my sister in law and asked Rochelle to marry me.

So, so fun tradition. And, uh, kind of a silly way to ask my wife to marry me, really. But it worked. She said yes. Tell me why that makes you emotional. I don't know. I think I've been up too long today. But, um, anyway. Well, because marriage is a good thing, you know? It's what it's about, so. Yeah. And I'm glad I married her.

I am too, because the two of you are phenomenal and you're our good friends and we love you guys. And now you have this cute family of your own and you're a grandpa. How about that? Yeah, it's the best thing ever. I need more kids getting married so I can have more grandkids. Yeah, exactly. Well, I'm curious to know, in your family traditions, do you do anything like a nativity or is that something you'll start doing now with your grandkids?

We've, we've done that. Um, we have stuff. So I was in Israel study abroad years ago. We, um, Things we brought back like kathias and things like that, right? And then you, we've just accumulated things. So many times when the kids were younger at the Christmas party, we would do the nativity reenactment with the kids and all that.

And that was always fun. And now that they're older, we haven't done that as much, but now where you have grandkids, then now you're going to get to where you start doing that again. But it kind of, it kind of waned a little bit as the kids got older. But those are, those are great traditions. I think they are too.

It's so much fun to reenact that birth scene and where all the animals and then the shepherds come in and the wise men come in and I, [00:45:00] every year I beg to be Mary and you know, my family will laugh at this because. I, for so long, didn't get to do it. And finally, I remember the year they came to me and said, this is the year you're married.

I was like 28. I'm like, now this is just cruel because I'm not married. I'm not dating anyone, but I love this idea of that tradition and thinking about the birth of the savior. And here we are at Christmas time and this is the time of year where we just get to think about his birth. And my question for you that I've asked you to kind of ponder is As you think about his birth, I want to know is how has his coming and being born into this world changed your life, Brant Baugh's life?

Um, so I've, I've thought about that and there's a lot of, I mean, I wouldn't be where I am right now. I wouldn't be doing what I do, the way you socialize with other people. I guess, let me take this. Um, when I went to dental school, I was at Creighton university, Creighton university is in Nebraska. It's a private Catholic school.

And historically they liked a lot of Utah and Idaho people. And they had some deals with the schools from Utah and Idaho. We had probably half my class were LDS in a private Catholic school. Wow. And so I, I think they saw the value of what our religion has done to us. Um, the guys that were there from the church were married off.

Most of them, they're having families. They've been on missions. I remember a guy going around from Nebraska. He's like, do you have your eagle? You know, scout award. I'm like, yeah. And he's like, what? You go to the next guy. You have your eagle? Yeah. What? And so they were always surprised at that. But, um, I think because of our upbringing, um, These guys that were from the church of Jesus Christ.

The latter day saints LDS. They made that school look better because they, you know, Usually did better on tests. They were hard workers. Um, they had good values. And so I think Brayton at that time were saying, Hey, this, these guys and girls are golden and they help our school look better. And it was a good relationship.

And I think In, in a small example of that, that goes over the whole world where you'll see a lot of people who have the same upbringing and testimonies and it's the same thing. People want to associate with them because their values and their, and their desire to do what's right. Oh wow. What a powerful story about the, you know, the role that the Savior's played on your lives and brought you, I mean, everybody to Creighton.

That's pretty cool. Yeah. So now let's take this whole idea and let's go into, you're married, you've got kids, and now you're a grandpa, which is a whole new phase of life for you. And I want you to finish this sentence then, because of Jesus, I blank. I pray, I read scriptures, I'm, I'm thoughtful. Um, I talk to my family about, uh, things I've learned.

So over the many years of Things that I've had challenges with or studied or my testimony, I impart that to them. Okay. I'm going to ask you another one now. Okay. Finish this sentence. Because of Jesus, I know blank. Because of Jesus, I know my purpose on the earth. I know every time I've ever heard the plan of salvation, I, I know it's true, um, because of Jesus.

I mean, everything you do, I think of road rage, right? Somebody cuts you off. And if you're. Going okay, that. Made me angry. And if I don't do anything, I feel better about it. But even something silly and stupid like that. I think, uh, I would, I live a different life. I think, okay, what would Christ do? Or how, how should I act?

I shouldn't be that way. And so I think that. Translates to other things in life, the way we treat other people, whether they're your neighbor, whether you work with them and your honesty level and how you work with other people, all those things. Tell me about your thoughts on the plan of salvation then, because of, because of Christ, you know, the plan of salvation is true.

And I've always since, uh, I'd say as a little kid or on my mission teaching it, I've always, um, When, I mean, just the basics, when you talk about where you come from and why you come to earth, what our life experience is about, about the fall of Adam and Eve and the need for a Savior, about Christ coming to earth, His atonement, the chance that we know that we will die someday, and my dad just passed away in April, all those tender moments, you know.

We're working in the temple, you know, there's another world that our lives [00:50:00] just don't end and last conference you had, I don't remember who said that they were talking about how one couple had left the church and then the husband was successful, but then quickly passed away. It was really hard for the life.

I don't know if you remember this. And then there was another family that had some hard times, but they were comforted because of what they. of their testimonies. And I think of that, I think that's a strength. Um, President Nelson's talk last conference, he talked about how it, you know, when they were attacked, uh, when they were somewhere and someone put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger and it didn't do anything.

Yeah. Um, those experience gives you confidence, gives you comfort that you know that, um, there's more beyond right here, right now there's eternity. Um, when things go hard, whether self inflicted or not through the atonement, there's, there's comfort. There's, there's peace that, you know, can come. Brett, thank you.

As you were talking about that, I was answering that question for myself based on your answers because of Jesus, there is peace and there is comfort. And I think that is something that every one of us can lean into, especially right now with the world we live in. And it's easy to do at Christmastime. But I think especially going into 2025 because of Jesus, I know there can be peace and comfort.

So thank you for teaching that. Thanks. Thanks, friend.

Segment 5 - Michelle

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And lastly, I have invited my friend, Michelle Grant, and she's delightful. And this is exciting because Michelle is coming to us live, well recorded from a far, far away place. Michelle, where are you today? Just hoping to skip across the pond in the UK. I'm coming from just outside of the Manchester area in the northwest.

For anyone who knows England very well. Wow. It's very exciting. And I met Michelle this summer. She came to Utah and we finally got to meet in person and it was just lovely. And Michelle runs a bookstore in the UK that sells LDS church books, which I think is so cool. What's the name of your store? The latter day bookstore and more because it's got books and it's got all kinds of other stuff as well.

So there's something that you want that's going to uplift you. We might have it. So, um, and we sell your books. More importantly. Well, thank you. Yes. That's how we got to know each other. Oh, I love you. Okay. So we are on borrowed time. It's snowing right now in England. And so we're not sure how the internet's going to go.

So we said a couple of little prayers and let's just get started, Michelle. And here's my question for you, Michelle, do you have a favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon? You asked me this question and I've spent days. Trying to work this out. Um, and it's kind of like asking me to choose my favorite child.

Which, if you ask my kids, all six of them, they'll say I dislike them all equally. So, you know, but the Book of Mormon isn't quite like that. I have a few that kind of filtered to the surface as I kind of thought through this week. So, I love, love, love, love First Nephi right in on the beginning. Um, because it means, Hey, we're reading the scriptures.

Um, there's actually a quote that I'll just share with you, if that's okay, that I have stuck in the front of my scriptures. There is a power in the book of Mormon, which will begin to flow into your lives. The moment you begin a serious study of the book, you will find greater power to resist temptation.

You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the straight and narrow path. And you will find it in greater abundance. Um, and that's by Ezra Taft Benson. And I have that like right on page one because every time I start over it reminds me that there's that power in we're in there.

We're gonna do this. So I love that. I've got big favorites. Probably some of the same ones you have. You know, I love everything King Benjamin had to say. I could spend hours in there. Um, I love Mohammed Moriankuma. I'm never quite sure if that's how you say it, but that's how I say it. Um, and because obviously, you know, he had the faith that meant God couldn't hide himself, you know, from him, which is incredible.

I love Laman Lemuel, which might seem a bit obscure, but because they're, to me, they're like little reminders of. We're all a little bit lame and a lemuel at times, and, you know, if I keep going down that path, then I'm heading to, to not good stuff. Um, and then, my dad's favorite scripture was, um, one in 2 Nephi, and I had to look up the reference, and he would be horrified and turn in his grave, That I haven't got it embedded in my brain, but it's 2 Nephi 28 21 where it talks about being led carefully down to hell Um, so, you know, that was always a reminder in our house You know, [00:55:00] is it is this the careful path that you're taking or are you taking a good path?

Um, so all of those like went through my mind My husband's fed up with me asking him what his favorite one is because I've asked him several times this week. What do you think about this one? What do you think about this one? Um, but then two, I guess. And you're to blame for one of them, actually, Tammy. So, oh, my father dwelled in a tent.

Okay. Love, love, love that one, one little tiny verse. Um, and I guess this year, I'm a seminary teacher and I teach a come follow me group at church as well. And this year I've really loved like properly getting into the Book of Mormon. Um, and when we hit and my father drowned in a tent, um, it was a seemingly nothing kind of verse, but it kind of stuck out to me and I highlighted it and I was like, Why?

Why was something so unimportant kind of referenced, you know, well, my parents live in a house. There you go. You know, so what kind of thing? Um, and then I listened to the podcast that you guys do and you kind of set me off down a rabbit hole with, as soon as you mentioned like Bedouin camps and tents, and we went to a Bedouin camp and how the tents were.

And I was like, I was in it. Dig, dig, dig. And then when I, we met when I was in the U S and We were at a conference, and there was a picture there, which just immediately again, bubbled up all these emotions of that verse of scripture. Um, and it was by J. Kirk Richards, and it is a tent, and it's all different colored patches on the tent, and all different pieces, and Christ is stood outside the tent, because that was where I went with my father to write on the tent.

The comparison to it being actually my savior has a tent and he has all of this space and he's invited me in and so this picture by Jacob Richards was absolutely incredible. And it incorporated everybody of every different genre. You know, it didn't matter whether you were married or single, or if you were young, old, if you maybe fell into a minority group within church, or if you were kind of mainstream, everybody's in, everybody's welcome in the tent.

So that one is way up there, but I think my favorite, I know you asked for one and you've got like ten so far, Um, it's probably taken from Nephi again. So it was 2nd Nephi chapter 5 and there's a whole passage here, which I kind of really learned something this year when I was reading it that I hadn't learned about the whole of the Book of Mormon before.

We're at the point where the Nephites have just left the Lamanites, they're already in the Promised Land, they've settled, and then all of a sudden we're no longer, we're no longer settled, we're on the move again, they're setting up new, um, and Nephi's teaching, and this whole kind of passage, probably from about 5 through to 17, talks about, you know, Everything they've done, they've gone and they're learning to do this and they're learning to do that and they're raising flocks and they're planting things and, and it's just this whole catalogue of things that they're doing.

And I remember reading it in preparation for our seminary lesson and thinking, what on earth? Why? Why do my seminary kids need to know any of this? In fact, why do I need to know any of this? And so I really kind of had a bit of a rethink and I thought, We know that this is kept for us now. This verse of chapter, chapter of scripture, sorry, is for now.

It's not for the Nephites. It's not for the people who lived in the 1600s or 1200s or any other period of time. It's for me today. So what am I missing? And that was the approach that I took with this passage of scripture. Kind of a big, so what? So what was the point of this being kept? And I think in verse 14, it says, And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any other means the people who were now called the Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us.

For I knew their hatred towards me, and my children, and children, and for those who were called my people. Um, and that was the verse where I just kind of thought, wait a minute. What's going on? I don't need to know how to make swords. I know Nephi has a bit of an obsession. Convinced that he's, you know, probably into metal generally, and especially swords and other shiny objects.

Um, he's a boy. What do you expect? And so I just thought. He's not telling me here to make a sword and it kind of swung back to Ephesians in my mind and The armor of God and all that kind of stuff. I thought he's talking about the spirit He's talking about, I need to arm myself with the spirit. I need to arm myself with [01:00:00] truth all the time.

There's Lamanites there. Who are my Lamanites? Um, and that opened a whole new kind of way of thinking as I studied through that whole verse of the whole chapter of scripture, because who are my Lamanites? Who are the people that are trying to take me away from where I am and where I should be? Who's trying to take away my freedom?

Who wants to impact my family and my children and The people in my ward and everywhere else, who, who are they? And actually, how can I protect myself with the spirit? And he talks about teaching others to make swords. Well, how can I teach others to arm themselves with the spirit? Um, and so that kind of became a bit of a thing in our, in our seminary, where we were like, so who are our Lamanites?

Come on, let's write them all down. And the kids were amazing. I mean, they teach me way more than I can teach them, you know? And they're like, Well, the internet's kind of like a Lamanite, really. Yeah, okay. And they're like, it's got good stuff in there too, but, you know, and TV shows. And then there were onto things like, you know, people at school and friends.

Some friends are great friends and some kind of pull us the wrong way. So I think, for me, reading these scriptures and reading through the Book of Mormon this time, I've kind of I read it in a different way because I kind of thought, what is the little love note that's left for me? What's the little kind of coded message that Heavenly Father's left for me and my Savior Jesus Christ left for me in the scriptures this time?

Because he needs me to know that I need the Spirit as my Protection. He needs me to know that I need to protect myself against the Lamanites. Um, you know, and it goes on and it talks about the temple and all kinds of things, you know, constructing temples. Probably not going to build a temple out of anything but Lego, you know, and so for me, what's building my temple?

Well, my home's a temple. I'm a temple, you know, and if I'm going to build myself and protect, you know, so it was just kind of, it was really cool to go through and If you haven't done it that way, go back through that chapter with a bit of a different mindset because it really opens up so much that was kind of, in my mind, superfluous.

It was stuff, who needs to know this? I don't need to make a sword. I'm not building a temple. I've got a grocery store. I don't need to grow wheat and learn how to, you know, cut stone or do any of the things that they're telling me. But actually I do, because each of those little things was a coded message for me today and not just for them.

So, um, so that was kind of where my favorite fell, which is a bit abstract. I'm sure other people would have had a lovely fluffy scripture about Jesus Christ or something, but Listen, Michelle, here's what I love that you do. You question the scriptures. You ask the why, like, okay, I read the verse, I read the story, but what's the why?

The so what, as we like to call it as seminary teachers, and you challenge the scriptures to apply to your life and look what you did. You found love notes. I love how you said that you have borne witness of that today by sharing your. Abstract favorite scripture. I say, bring it on. We want more abstracts because what you just taught us was awesome.

And the spirit was so strong. Michelle, thank you for sharing that with us. You have to remember though, tell me as well, when you find a love note market, I have little hearts in my scriptures. So whenever I've got a love note from my heavenly father of my savior, there's a little love heart in the margin, just so I know that was a love note for me.

So don't just read it and think it markets. So next time you remember just how much he loves you. I'm going to start doing that immediately. Put a little heart in there, Michelle. Thank you. We love you. Thank you for having me.

Segment 6 - Tammy

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And now it's my turn. So the scripture that stood out to me, I'm going to share with you one of my favorite scriptures from this year, and it's found in Ether chapter 12 and it's verse 41 and here's Moroni. Remember, he doesn't have a lot of time left, not a lot of space on the plates. He decides to include the story of the brother of Jared, which I've often thought, you know, if he'd ended at Ether chapter five, It would have been great ending, really good story, but he doesn't.

He goes on to tell us this horrible, sad story about a civilization who they just destroy themselves. And you know, it really stood out to me was, and I didn't even notice this when we had the discussion with the young boys. It took several weeks later when I was in gospel doctrine and I had this aha moment.

I realized that Moroni actually then. Does that about face where he inserts this whole awesome dialogue about faith. And I thought, you know, it would have made more sense to include the story about faith after the brother Jared had touched the stone stones and seen Jesus Christ, but he didn't. He waited to insert the story about faith in the midst of a horrible [01:05:00] war and people are dying and it is awful.

And it hit me so hard because I thought, isn't that the truth of our lives? Like, sometimes it isn't when everything's going good that we recognize faith. Moroni wants us to look at faith and find it when things are really hard. And so in Ether chapter 12 verse 41 he reminds us and he says, and now I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written that the grace of God the Father and also the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them may be and abide in you forever.

And I just love Moroni's words. I loved his approach. I love the last things he had to say to us, but that powerful seek this Jesus, that's it. If that is what we're doing, we're going to be okay because here's the daily guys, Jesus is coming. He absolutely is coming again. And when he comes, I hope, I hope I recognize him.

And I think the only way I will is by seeking this Jesus. And so that's my goal. That's kind of what has been with me this year, and I'm just, I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon. I love that we've been anticipating Jesus this whole year, and I love that next year we're going to ask Jesus, we have an acronym for next year, A.

S. K., which stands for Always Seeking More Knowledge. That's what the Doctrine and Covenants is about. So what are you going to ask? But before you even ask anything, my goal is for all of us is to just seek this Jesus, seek him and find him. And I promise you life will be so much more abundant and blessed.

It just will. Okay. So I want to know what is your verse of scripture that stood out to you this year? That's the question we're going to ask. Join our group on Facebook or Instagram and I want you to comment on the post. We usually ask the question on a Saturday. So comment on the post that relates to this specific lesson and share your verse of scripture.

You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at LDS living. com slash Sunday on Monday. And it's not a bad idea to go there anyway, because it's where we're going to have links to all the references as well as a transcript of this whole discussion. So go check it out.

The Sunday on Monday Study Group is a Desert Bookshelf Plus original brought to you by LDS Living. It is written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall, and today our, oh, so fabulous study group participants were Hope Wright, Lori Klopfer, Tara Hall, Brent Baugh, and Michelle Grant. And you can find more information about these friends at ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday. Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited and mixed by Cole Wissinger and our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom. Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week. And please remember that you are God's favorite.