Meridian Magazine--Come Follow Me Latter-day Saint Podcast

February 10-16 As you read the Doctrine and Covenants, section 10 seems out of place chronologically. Since it talks about Martin Harris and the translation of the 116 pages, shouldn’t it come after Section 3?  What happened? We’ll tell you in this episode.

February 3-9 Just a few months after the 116 manuscript pages of the Book of Lehi were lost, a young man arrived in Manchester, New York.  He had dark brown eyes, a slight build, a prominent lower jaw, high forehead and, as one described, a roman nose.  He was hired to be a teacher in New York’s Joint District 11. The small frame schoolhouse was located just about a mile south of the Joseph and Lu...

January 27-February 2 Joseph does not shy away from humbly including Section 3 in the Doctrine and Covenants, where he is severely chastened by the Lord for a failing. He could have hid it or polished it up to preserve his image, but because he is so honest, we not only get to see firsthand, the spiritual development of a prophet, but he also gives us all a deep teaching: “You should not have fear...

January 20-26 Do we know every scripture that Moroni told Joseph Smith on his September 21 visit in 1823? Our first answer is, “They are listed right here in Joseph Smith’s history.” Yet Oliver Cowdery told us there are many more. And here’s another surprise—all but two are from the Old Testament.

January 13-19 In every dispensation of the world a witness is called to testify to the people of that day and age that he has seen God and has talked with Him and has received instructions and guidance from Him.  That witness is called to testify in his day that God lives, that He is real, that He cares about His children, that He hears and answers our prayers and that He has a work for us to do....

January 6-12 Hasn’t this been a glorious year in carefully studying the Book of Mormon as individuals and families? Did you notice time and time again that the lesson for that week was just the answer you needed for yourself, your family or for the current situation in the world? Have you found that you have drawn closer to Christ in this past year of study? It’s hard to leave our intense Book of...

December 23-29 Hello and welcome to Meridian Magazine’s “Come Follow Me” Christmas podcast. We are Scot and Maurine Proctor and we love to celebrate the real reason for the season. Our gifts to each other are just symbols of the real gift.

December 16-22 I think it’s fascinating that Moroni starts out chapter 10 by saying that he’d like to send these words to his brethren, the Lamanites. That is a fascinating view of Moroni’s heart. He has seen the Lamanites completely destroy his nation. Because of the Lamanites, he remains alone. Because of the Lamanites, his father has been killed and all of his kinfolk and family are dead. Now,...

December 9-15 Moroni Chapter 7 is a powerful sermon on faith, hope, and charity given by Mormon, but when? You can’t help but wonder. He was born in AD 310, was made a general at the age of 16 and knew war most of his life until he had seen his whole nation destroyed. Was this sermon given at the time when he gave up leading the army? Isn’t it fascinating that there were still enough faithful foll...

December 2-8 Moroni did not know when he would die, attacked by Lamanites or some other deadly surprise, in his 36-year wandering. He tells his latter-day readers goodbye more than once on the plates. Yet even living with that insecurity, not knowing his own mortal future, Moroni trudges on with absolute faith.

November 25-December 1 Moroni may complain about his weakness with words, but he has given us one of the most insightful chapters on faith in all of scripture. We’ll study it in this episode.

November 18-24 We go to a scene of spirits in the premortal world, anticipating. with perhaps some concern, their descent to a darkened world. We knew we would be taking a journey and must have wondered how we could make it across the wilderness where so much would be insecure.

November 11-17 Moroni told us in Mormon 8, “Behold, I would write…if I had room upon the plates, but I have not; and ore I have none”, so there is an untold story between these verses and the book of Ether. Somehow Moroni was able to get more ore and create plates because he gave us the marvelous book of Ether that introduces us to a whole new world.

November 4-10 As we start our studies today on Mormon 7-9, Moroni has taken over the record from his father and is in a tragic position. He has seen his culture destroyed and he is the last survivor of what was once a thriving world. Could anything be sadder than this?

October 28-November 3 Every time I read the Book of Mormon and get to these chapters, I always hope that the Nephites will repent and that their civilization and people will be spared—and then it happens every time! They are destroyed.  And then another entire civilization, the Jaredites, are destroyed for the same reasons.  We can’t change their outcomes, but how about ours?  Is there a message i...

October 21-27 When President Russell M. Nelson taught us that we needed to use the true name of the Church going forward, he was teaching us something deeper than we might have understood at the time. Something, in fact that can open up whole new realms of gospel understanding. Let’s explore in this episode.

October 14-20 If you knew that the Lord Jesus Christ would spend the day with you and all who would come to the occasion from your home stake, what do you think He would teach you?  What do you think He would do?  What would be the most important truths He could communicate with you?  What would YOU want to know from Him?  Let’s explore these thoughts and explore the record of actual witnesses to...

October 7-13 Can you imagine the joy that would fill your souls if you were witnesses to the visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ?  How could you possibly describe your feelings?  How could you even handle the happiness that would overwhelm your whole being?  The faithful who had gathered at the ancient temple in Bountiful had spent a number of hours with the Lord Jesus Christ and now it was time f...

September 30-October 6 If you were to do a survey to determine the most influential talk or sermon in history, surely the results would point to the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.  Here are contained the eternal “beatitudes;” here is contained the Lord’s Prayer spoken each week by untold millions of Christ’s followers throughout the world; here we have “the golden rule.”  The Sermon on the Mount is o...

September 23-29 How can you not be just thrilled with this week’s readings?  The entire Book of Mormon has been centered on one Person—Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer—and His coming to the earth and the promised visit to this righteous branch of the tribe of Joseph in the Americas.  Lehi testified He would come. Nephi saw in vision that He would come. Jacob gave bold witness of His mission a...

September 16-22 I was pondering very early this morning as I looked out the window: “What if at 4:00 in the morning on a fall day I looked out the window and it was as bright as day?  Would my heart take a leap and would I think: What is going on?!”  It was pitch dark when I peered out my window and yet, we have record of an event in this week’s reading, where untold thousands of people could not...

September 9-15 In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites always think of themselves as the good guys. In a movie, they’d ride in wearing the white hat or the gold star, signifying their goodness. Yet, the Book of Mormon demonstrates that often the Nephites are relentlessly blind to their own wickedness and it is the Lamanites who are the most faithful and true. Enter the scene into the wicked Nephite ci...

September 2-8 As Helaman chapter 7 opens, we see a prophet pleading with God for his people in great agony and heaviness of Spirit. The Gadianton robbers had usurped legitimate authority and taken over much of the government, the people have become corrupted and Nephi is deeply grieved for the wickedness which abounds. In a video for General Conference a little girl asked President Russell M. Nels...

August 26-September 1 In Helaman chapters 1-6, the Lamanites become the righteous and the Nephites the wicked. How does this switch come about? And the new enemy are the Gadianton robbers, who capture the allegiance of many of the Nephites. Things happen fast in the Book of Mormon, a roller coaster of righteousness and wickedness. I used to think it was hard to imagine such reversals and drama in...

August 19-25 The ten chapters that we look at today are about both the low and high points of the Nephite nation. This is a time of continual war, brought on in large part by the “contentions, and dissensions, and all manner of iniquity of the people of Nephi” (Alma 62:40) At the same time, just as the light shines more clearly in a darkened world, we see the power of goodness in Helaman’s 2060 st...