King Benjamin

King Benjamin teaches his People

King Benjamin was a Nephite prophet king in the Book of Mormon.  He was a righteous or good king.  He did not put heavy tax burdens on his people.  He worked for his own support.  He defended the kingdom from its enemies.  And he did just judgement on the people.  When he was getting old and knew his time on earth was very limited he called his people together to teach them and to turn the kingdom over to his son Mosiah.  King Benjamin's people were too numerous for them all to hear him.  So he had a tower built for more people to be able to hear him.  He also had scribes write the words and had messengers or curriers take them out to the people who could not hear.  So all the people could receive the message.  People came and set up their tents facing the tower so they could see and hear their prophet king.  The king is wearing a feathered head dress as a symbol of his royalty. 

Among those teachings are a great truth in my opinion.  King Mosaih, a Christain, said,
   
"When you are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your God."
        -Book of Mormon   Mosiah 2:17

I find that statement to be profoundly true.  I hope my readers and those who color my drawings enjoy doing so.  For me, a very disabled retired teacher, this blog is part of my service to my fellow beings.  I find that when you stop thinking about your own trials, pain, and problems and focus on serving others, you actually find your challenges more easy to conquer.  Or at the very least, serving others helps us to get out of our own head and stop feeling sorry for ourselves.

My father was a physician or medical doctor.  He felt like he needed to do more good for the people of Central America.  We don't know for sure, but it seems likely that the Mayan may have been at least in part the people whose records were recorded to one day become the Book of Mormon.  My Father set up a medical mission on his own. . . without any help from a church.  It was a non-denominational medical mission.  Dad got doctors and dentists to use their vacation time to come to a tiny village in the Quiche mountains of Guatemala.  There were many people there who had never seen a doctor or dentist in their entire lives.  The great majority of the patients were not Mormons like us. Many of the doctors and dentists were Mormons and many were good Christians who also wanted to make a difference.  I would encourage you, whatever your religion, if any,  to find ways to serve others and you may be surprised at how it helps enrich your life and soul.

Dad also set up a prescool to teach the Quiche children how to speak Spanish so they could succed at the local public school.  There was only an elementary school in the valley so Dad also started a High School.  The town was called Cunen.   Also, the people, young and old alike were kind and welcoming to us.  My best friend was named Mario.  He lived in a bamboo house in the middle of a corn field.  I went to much of first grade in Cunen, Guatemala. 

The organization lives on in a group of dentists in California who go to other countries and help with dental work for disadvantaged people.  It is called Ayuda.  This is a good example of being of service to our fellow beings is also how we serve God.  (Ayuda means Help in Spanish/)

FYI ... The patterns on the clothing is patterns from the Mayans of Guatemala. My wife and I got to got to the old Mayan ruins of the city of Chichen Itza and there is an observatory there.  .   .  and a great pyramid . . . it is a step pyramid. 

We members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints do not know exactly where the events of the Book of Mormon took place. . . but we believe it was somewhere in the Americas.  It seems quite probable that it was among the Mayans because they had a tradition of the written word in their codex books.