Hermana Baer: Florida Orlando Mission: "Are they? Are They? are THEY??”

...I love threes." - Larry the Cucumber as Sheerluck Homes

This week happened in 3's: We cleaned a members house after dinner for 3 days in a row, we ate pizza for 3 of the 4 meals on Friday, and I vacuumed out not just 1 cat's bed for the first time in my life, I vacuumed out-- YOU GUESSED IT!! I vacuumed out 3 :) And yes, Hna Andrus, the cats were thorough (We had a service opportunity in Ft. Pierce where, helping a member move into a new house, we cleaned out the fridge that had been left behind by the previous resident who owned 9 cats. That was the hairiest freezer I've ever cleaned/been in!!)

But on one of the other services, she asked us to help, but we had a planned lesson right after that, so we felt super bad as we told her we had to go, but as we started driving away, the lesson fell through, so we rushed back and knocked on her door. The look on her face as she realized that we had come back to help her is one that I won't forget anytime soon. So to all those who are having a bit of a miserable day, grab your broom, mop, and bucket and head over to your neighbors! It'll make you feel so VERY good.

Anyways, more than that, it was just a lot of sitting and eating. We had a cool moment where, as we were running home to get supplies for poster making, we stopped by the house of someone one of our members was trying to share the gospel with. She was really busy and of the 4 kids running around the house, the only one that wasn't running destructively was wailing loudly. As you could guess, we didn't really have a spiritual moment or really anything that could be called 'success,' but I remember feeling just so good as we walked away. Now she knows who we are and will feel a little more comfortable when we show up to the FHE the member's planning with her :D

More than that, I just had a rockin' study on the timelines of the people of Zarahemla compared to the "lost people" of the Land of Nephi and what exactly was happening as a lonely Amaleki was heading towards the grave. If you don't want to read another episode of Hna Baer fan-girling over the Book of Mormon, you can now kindly skip down to the pictures:) (Jokes on you because at least 2 of them are parts of the Book of Mormon timeline I downloaded off of lds.org! Hah!) For those in for the long haul, prepare to be bored with more details than you ever thought would come from a missionary's email!!

OK! After an extensive search, some map comparisons and a 1.5 hour long language study, this is what I learned!: (All of this is based off of Amaleki's contribution to the Book of Omni otherwise known as verses 12-30 as well as Mosiah 9 intro - the intro of chpt 10) (PS Amaleki is actually one of my favorite people in the Book of Mormon for kicking the laziness of his fathers and actually writing in his journal/ the ancient records. And also, who doesn't just feel in verse 30 of Omni??)

Mosiah flees the Land of Nephi aka the wicked land of the fathers, and all those Nephites probably straight up get destroyed. He takes his people with the Lord, and they all find Zarahemla. Mosiah teaches everyone Nephite-eese (aka english classes) then gets 'em up to date on their God. They prosper in the land until the Lamanites eventually get bored and hunt them down again. Mosiah eventually gives the kingdom to his son King Benjamin then goes all the way of the earth. King Benjamin whoops the land into shape and drives all the Lamanites out of it. Before he shuts the mouths of all the false christs and punishes 'em, Amaleki, lamenting the unknown fate of his brother, gives the plates to King Benjamin and kicks the bucket.

MEANWHILE: While Mosiah still alive and enjoying the peace and quiet of being unknown by the Lamanites, Zeniff takes a group of (a little presumptuous, if you ask me) people back to the Land of Nephi to try and re-inherit it [There's a lesson here somewhere...], with the brother of Amaleki in there. So before Mosiah kicks the bucket, Zeniff is attacked by the Lamanites, but they turn to the Lord to help them out of it. They have an amazing testimony building moment as they fight off the Lamanites (killing ~ 3000 and only losing ~250) and continue to keep 'em out of the borders for the next however long time until Zeniff dies, conferring the kingdom upon his son, the infamous Noah. Then, there's about a 7 year overlap between when Noah takes this spirit-filled people (I guess no promises they were still filled with the spirit by the time he gets them...) and runs the nation into the ground and when Amaleki dies, bemoaning the unknown fate of his brother. {Fun Fact: There's about a 10 year overlap between when Noah takes charge and when King Benjamin finally gets everything ship shape and Bristol Fashion.}

SO: When Amaleki is going down to the grave and gives the famous heart-wrencher of a verse 30, his brother is probably doing some gross things/iniquities with his dumb king, Noah, or is too old to stop all the otha' sinna's and is living, like Moroni in the end of the Book of Mormon, in days of sorrow. ...Unless this nameless brother was older than Amaleki and also lived a shorter life than him (which is really unlikely seeing as how the elder brothers generally got the plates before the younger (ponder relationship between Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton)) or unless he had died as one of the ~250; Unless an unusual event/ Divine Intervention kicked in and the brother died at least 7 years before Amaleki, poor Amaleki probably really did have a right to mourn. The people haven't been brought into captivity yet, but are using their agency as rebelfully as possible.

That kinda just makes this part even more sad. Poor Amaleki!! It's alright: They're together now! #FamiliesareEternal #Wait,didtheyhavetemplesbackthen??? #0.0 #DoYourGenealogy!!

That's it for now folks! Thanks to all those who sent me updates on where they were in the Book of Mormon! It was really fun to see others get excited about it too! And for those other Hna's who haven't quite finished yet, I had a cool study about mercy this week. Which I won't share right now, but will summarize to "Keep going! Even if you cross the finish line after the race is over, you at least fulfilled the commitment to finish the race! It still counts!"

Ok. I'm really done now. CIAOOOO!!!

PICTURES!
The Most and Second Most helpful photos I saw this week, in that order.