Week 13: Because They Were Different

The book of Ether (which is contained in the Book of Mormon) is a record of a civilization who inhabited the Americas called "the Jaredites."  They traveled by barge-like vessels from the Old World to the Americas at the time when the Lord confounded the language at the Tower of Babel. The Jaredites started out as an extremely righteous people. After many years of living in the Americas (like a ton of generations later) the people reverted to wickedness as they sought power through secrecy and deceit. The Lord sent many prophets to call the people to repentance in hopes that they would return to Him and not destroy themselves. For many years the people didn't listen and war spread throughout the people. One of the prophets the Lord called was named Ether.

By the time Ether comes along, people are basically hopeless. Ether tries to get the people to repent many times, but is rejected consistently. Did I mention war is everywhere? Wicked abounds so much that Ether has to hide himself "in the cavity of a rock" just to stay safe.

Years later, the prophet Moroni is called by God, and he abridges the record of Ether (Moroni and Ether were from two totally different societies).  He too lives in a wicked society and has to hide to save his life. He spends many many years alone and has to watch the destruction of his people.

These men didn't have easy lives. Being among the very few righteous people who weren't killed, they had to have been extremely lonely. Moroni often talks about his feelings of inadequacy and weakness. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be the only one left.

Today, I hope these men know what a difference they have made in my life. I'm not sure how we'll all meet up in the next life, but when I get to the other side, I'm excited to shake their hands and sincerely thank them for their faith and perseverance. I want to thank them for not conforming to the wicked practices they were surrounded by, and for showing me that even people as strong as them feel inadequate sometimes. I want to thank them for showing me that you never stand alone when you stand with God.

I want to thank them for being different. 

Elaine S. Dalton provides me with the take away lesson for today. In this last weekend's general conference talking about saints in our day she said, "they made a difference, because they were different."

Moroni and Ether were definitely different from the worlds they lived in, and now that their records are available to us in The Book of Mormon I can only imagine the influence they have had, and will continue to have in years to come. They have surely made a difference because they were different.

I hope that throughout my life, like Moroni and Ether, I will be able to make a difference by being different.