Catch Up--Jacob 6 and 7

I have been unable to post for a while.  I thought that something was wrong with the blogger website, but I finally tried from a different computer and it is working, so there is something going on with my computer.  My laptop internet connection is sketchy at best, so it goes without saying I'm not happy with computer technology right now.  Mat would probably say the computer doesn't love me either.  I tend to have more problems than the average person with computers breaking when I'm around. :)

I just want to mention a few things in way of catching up even though I've tried not to read too far ahead of the blog.  Jacob 6 has a couple of favorites in it worth mentioning.  Jacob 6:5 uses the phrase "full purpose of heart" which I have like for years.  I think it is a wonderful way to describe the way that I want to follow the gospel.  No vacillating between what Heavenly Father wants me to do and what the world says.  I have noticed that it can be challenging and yet I wonder if an individual is really sincere in that desire, does it get easier?

Jacob 6:12 is such a wonderful scripture.  It connects me to Jacob like nothing else that he writes.  He has been preaching to the people, trying to deliver the messages Heavenly Father has told him to, and trying through persistent effort to have an effect on the Nephite's behavior hoping to create in them a desire to do good.  In verse 12, I can almost hear him sigh as he says:  "O be wise; what can I say more?"  Don't you just feel like that sometimes as a parent or a friend trying to get through to someone?

Jacob 7 tells the story of Sherem who denies Christ and flatters people away from the gospel.  It is a pretty straight forward story about the way the devil works to deceive.  What really struck me in this chapter was verse 24 where Jacob says that "many means were devised to reclaim and restore the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; but it all was vain..."  I think it stood out to me because in Primary we are studying how Ammon and the sons of Mosiah are finally successful in preaching to the Lamanites.  It makes me wonder about life.  Jacob was obviously a faithful prophet of God and yet he had no success in bringing the Lamanites back to the gospel.  Maybe sometimes our best faithful efforts with others won't yield the results we desire, but that doesn't mean we are doing anything wrong.  Maybe what matters is the fact that we put forth the effort, that we are faithful in performing that which was asked of us, and that we do not despair and give up.  Sometimes it can be hard when we don't see the results that we desire, but we need to keep trying.