The War Chapters in the Book of Mormon & The Battle Against Pornography

What am I feeling today?

I woke up early and went to my meeting for BNI, then came home and just felt a bit off.

Here are some of my feelings:

• I think I was bummed that Becky and I didn’t get in the tub
• I think I then fought that feeling because I don’t want to have any expectations
• I think I feel ongoing stress about the SEO work for the U: being proactive, implementing, streamlining, scaling, reporting, who does what, etc.
  • With this, I feel the next best step is to work with Upcity to have them do some of the work initially
  • I’m also working with John on some of the local SEO and want to build that relationship more
• I think I always feel a little off with BNI – I don’t have close friends there, some of the people there have been clients but it hasn’t gone as well as I’d like, there can be a negative vibe, etc.
• I feel stressed about getting systems in place for fulfillment of online marketing strategy
• I feel stressed about completing the 10K course and getting processes in place for that
  • I need SEO fulfillment
  • I need local SEO fulfillment
  • I need social media marketing fulfillment
  • I need video fulfillment
  • I need UX fulfillment
  • I need good sales copy fulfillment
  • I need PPC fulfillment
  • I need help with email marketing fulfillment
  • I need Google Analytics assessment fulfillment

The hardest part about that last one is that I feel I could learn it all or at least know something about it all, but I don’t really know it that well.

I have upwork as a solution, but I don’t always know the type of quality I’m going to get there unfortunately.

I also feel like I want to connect with God more. Writing things out is helpful. I’m going to reach out to Mark and get a new accountability partner – someone I can work with that will help hold me accountable for the day to day work I want to be doing in recovery.

I feel connected with Becky, especially night before last as we had a great talk. I don’t want her to worry or be triggered by my feelings of inadequacy or fear of the unknown with business stuff.

I want to be selling more and more and get everything streamlined better.

I want to study more about the Gospel too and apply what I’m learning to my recovery.

I want to analyze the correlation between the war chapters in the Book of Mormon and the battle against pornography and lust. I feel there is such a direct relationship there.

Why Should I Study the War Chapters in the Book of Mormon?

I researched the war chapters in the Book of Mormon and found this:

• As [you] study these chapters, [you] can learn from great examples, such as Captain Moroni, Pahoran, and Helaman and his young soldiers—lessons that will help [you] stay safe and secure.
• [You] will learn the price of contention and the power of righteous unity.
• [You] will see the result of keeping covenants and the blessings that can flow from being true in whatever circumstances [you] face.
• [You] will see the blessings of gospel-centered homes.
• [You] will gain increased appreciation for the Lord’s closeness to His chosen servants in times of difficulty and trial.

What can I learn from the examples of Captain Moroni, Pahoran, and Helaman?

When I think of Captain Moroni, words like fortify, prepare, awareness, strategy, protection, and submit come to mind. He was always fortifying the weakest cities and asking God what he could do to protect his family and his people.

Who was Captain Moroni really?

11 And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.

13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

14 Now the Nephites were taught to defend themselves against their enemies, even to the shedding of blood if it were necessary; yea, and they were also taught never to give an offense, yea, and never to raise the sword except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve their lives.

15 And this was their faith, that by so doing God would prosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger;

16 And also, that God would make it known unto them whither they should go to defend themselves against their enemies, and by so doing, the Lord would deliver them; and this was the faith of Moroni, and his heart did glory in it; not in the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity.

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

18 Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God.

Captain Moroni was submissive to God. He understood the will of God for he and his people. Because of his willingness to submit to the will of the Father, the devil never had power over his heart.

He was firm in the faith of Christ. He was grateful for all the blessings the Lord had given him and he recognized those blessings.

How does this apply to me? How can I be like Captain Moroni? I can continue to labor diligently to keep the goals I’ve set this week:

• stay away from KSL
• reply to at least one of my sponees emails each day

What is the price of contention?

What is the power of righteous unity?

What results can I find of keepings covenants and the blessings that can flow from being true in whatever circumstances I face?

What are the blessings of gospel-centered homes? And how can I find this in these chapters?

How can I better gain an increased appreciation for the Lord’s closeness to His chosen servants in times of difficulty and trial?

Why did Mormon record so much about war?

I will study about each of these questions as I continue to think about Captain Moroni and what he did to conquer Satan’s forces.