Something a little different...

Last week, being Father's Day, I was asked to speak in church about fathers; in particular, I was asked to speak about father and son relationships in the Book of Mormon.

Quite naturally, I started with Lehi and his sons and the interesting relationships there. My theory is that leaving all their stuff behind when they fled Jerusalem had a greater impact on Laman and Lemuel because they were the older brothers. It didn't bother Sam and Nephi as much because they were the little brothers who were always in the way and never got to play with the cool toys anyway. All the later problems stemmed from giving up all their cool stuff.

The Alma family (Alma, Alma the Younger, Helaman, Shiblon and Corianton) had some interesting things going on, too. Powerful men, but a bit of a rebellious streak that shows up in all three generations, ya know?

My favorite father and son team is Mormon and Moroni. They were both pretty cool in and of themselves. I think it's way cool that they both wrote in each other's books, and that it was Moroni who delivered the plates that became the Book of Mormon. Their letters to each other became scripture, they encouraged each other in troubled times. One particular point that shows the strength and depth of their relationship was after Mormon was killed in battle (along with all the rest of the Nephites), Moroni took up where Mormon left off by saying, "Behold I, Moroni, do finish the record of my father..." I think it's meaningful that he didn't say "the record of my people," but rather, "the record of my father."

Anyway, all that leads to today's piece. This is another in our series of bookmarks, this one of Moroni burying the plates.

If you want to know more about the Book of Mormon and what it's all about, I suggest starting here.