Sunday. Nice day today.

Raining like the dickens. Flood watches out, windy. Oh, well.

Went to bed at 1 a.m. Woke up at 2 a.m. Decided at around 6 a.m. to ride the bike. So I rode 20 miles to Sunshine, Ontario with this beautiful river scene nearby. I've found that my quads are getting tough, but my knees are getting very sore. Was going to ride some more today, but I'll take a break.

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Working on my lesson for tomorrow morning: Alma 17-19. Why do they choose such huge blocks of scripture to cover in one lesson, and then Chapter 20 in one day, too? Frustrating. So this is what I'm covering: Matthew 10:16, commanded to be wise yet harmless. Alma 18:22, Ammon is "harmless". Yeah, right. Tell that to the seven he killed and the many more whose arms he cut off. So "harmless" must mean something other than physical prowess. It must mean something spiritual. I believe it does.

Chapter 18-19

I always wondered by Alma the Younger got to see an angel, spend just three days in hell, and then be born again apparently overnight. Easy road, joe. The rest of us schmucks have to work it out over a long time to get the same results. Then Lamoni gets his "Alma experience". Even the queen gets one, Abish, the other servants, etc. They all have this miraculous experience and we don't. Well, I don't. I have to be tough.

Then it hit me. The Lord had to get Alma's attention and that's what it took. Then Alma spent three days in hell being buffeted by Satan and atoning for his own sins to some degree. Who wants that? Do you? Really? I do not. I've seen into hell for about five minutes a few times and I don't like it, I don't want any part of it, I want out, I want to be good. The Lord had to get Lamoni's attention, too, and then teach him quickly. The queen was being given the reward of her faith, a sign to confirm her faith. Abish, too, but the Lord was using her as a tool to get the others' attention. Same with the servants who had carried the arms in to the king.

So, if you want to spend a weekend in hell, by all means pray for that. But good luck to you. Let me know how that works out. I'll be out here praying NOT to go there. It's not a time share I want to buy into.