March 29-April 4
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “That first Easter sequence of Atonement and Resurrection constitutes the most consequential moment, the most generous gift, the most excruciating pain, and the most majestic manifestation of pure love ever to be demonstrated in the history of this world. Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, suffered, died, and rose from death in order that He could, like lightning in a summer storm, grasp us as we fall, hold us with His might, and through our obedience to His commandments, lift us to eternal life.

“So today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced—to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Where Justice Love and Mercy Meet)

Come Follow Me D&C Podcast 14, “I am He Who Lives. I am He Who was Slain” -- Easter

October 18-24
So, here’s a question: In the midst of all the challenges, trials, privations and difficulties the Saints experienced in Missouri, how is it that when the Church really needed the leadership of the Prophet Joseph, God allowed him to be put in an obscure and remote Jail, ironically called Liberty? Why would God do that? This is the Kingdom of God on the earth. Isn’t the God of the Universe watching out for His chosen Prophet? Let’s explore that question in this episode.

Come Follow Me D&C Podcast 43, “O God, Where Art Thou?” -- Doctrine & Covenants 121-123

January 17-23
When you read the Genesis account you might think this is just a boring genealogy. If you were to think that, you would be wrong. Let’s do some exploring together as we look at our brave and majestic First Parents, Adam and Eve and their family, the first family of sons and daughters of God on earth.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 4, “Like Us, They Could Not See A Far Off”, Genesis 5; Moses 6

May 9-15
Scot and Maurine Proctor are joined today by John Hilton lll, who is a professor of Religious Education at Brigham Young University, an author and humanitarian. In our lesson today, the Children of Israel are in the thick of the wilderness journey, and if hunger and thirst, were not enough to bear, now there are fiery, flying serpents to contend with, and a powerful, spiritual solution which few of the people are willing to do. Why won’t they do this simple thing?

The Children of Israel have also come to the promised land, and while it is indeed a land flowing with milk and honey, ten of the spies who have gone in to take a look, come back into camp terrified. They feel like grasshoppers among giants in this new land, and, therefore, anyone over twenty, except Joshua and Caleb, will wander and die in this wilderness rather than having the abundance the Lord was willing to offer them, if they had just trusted Him.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 20, “You Can Have What You Want or Something Better," -- Num. 11-14, 20-24

June 6–12
Ruth is a happy interlude in these chapters. It’s not a story of a prophet, a war, or a dramatic intervention by the Lord. It’s a family story, a private story in some ways, but it’s the family story of the family of the Savior. Additionally, we discuss the story of Hannah and her faithful commitment to give up her son--the son she waited so long for--to the service of the Lord.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 24, “My Heart Rejoiceth in the Lord,” -- Ruth, 1 Sam. 1-3

We have with us today a special guest, Mark Matthews. Together we discuss Israel’s desire for a king and Saul’s rise to the position, and how he loses his way. We also discuss the story of David facing Goliath and how it can represent much more than we often think about.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast #25, “The Battle Is the Lord’s,” -- 1 Samuel 8–10; 13; 15–18

August 1-7
When we lead our tours to the Holy Land, we will inevitably pull out some humor from the Biblical sources, attempting to create memories of laughter in remote parts of the tour. Our Bible jokes are many and varied and of a quality that only a dad could appreciate. “Who is the great tennis player of the Bible? Of course, everyone knows it’s
Joseph, because he served in Pharoah’s courts! And who was the great comedian of the Bible? It was Sampson. He brought the house down! And what kind of man was Boaz before he got married? Ruthless! … I’m waiting for all of you to finish laughing. And then we pull out the most obvious one: Who was the greatest doctor of the Bible? Some
contend it was Job, because he had a lot of ‘patience.’ But most would agree it’s Moses because he delivered all the children of Israel! All humor aside, we know that the greatest physician in the Bible is the Savior Himself—the one who can heal each of us. This week we will see some of the ways that Job reminds us of Jesus and leads us to
Him.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 32, “Job Reaches Through the Ages to Teach Us,” -- Job

September 12-18
I love that we get to study parts of Isaiah 29 this week where the Lord speaks with this language: "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid," (Isaiah 29:14). I am taken by the word marvelous. Elder LeGrand Richards published a book in 1950 that many of you have read called A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. This used to be standard reading material for full-time missionaries. That word marvelous is used in Section 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants, “Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men,” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:1). But that same word is used in Section 6, Section 8, Section 11, Section 12, Section 14 and Section 18. I think the Lord means to astound us.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 38, “A Marvelous Work and a Wonder,” -- Isaiah 13-14; 24-30; 35

October 17-23
In earlier Jeremiah chapters, the prophet lists the woes that will befall apostate covenant Israel, but he doesn’t leave it there. Only the Lord knows how to turn this level of desolation and mourning to joy.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 43, “I Will Turn Their Mourning into Joy,” -- Jer. 30-36; Lam. 1, 3

October 24-30
The Lord promises the most remarkable thing to His children—even to those who seem to be cast away, like the Jewish captives in Babylon. “A new heart…will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 44, “A New Spirit Will I Put within You,” -- Ezekiel

October 31-November 6
King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem in 605 BC and began his first deportation of Jews to Babylon. He chose the elect to deport first, so this group included “the king’s seed, and of the princes.” Among this group was someone who was most likely a teenager at the time, a young man named Daniel and three of his friends. They were all true and faithful to the living God. Daniel, a Jewish prophet, would serve in the courts of Babylon and then Persia until he was more than 80 years old. Today we’ll tell you the rest of the story.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 45, “There is no other God that can Deliver,” -- Daniel

November 7-13
Hosea may not be a book you have spent much time in, but this prophet gives us the description of the covenant relationship that perfectly reflects that a covenant with the Lord is not just a contract (You promise and I promise), but so much more. The covenant people are His bride, and He seeks a connection with us that is more profound and total than we sometimes know. Patrick Degn joins us to speak on a subject he loves.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 46, “I Will Love Them Freely,” -- Hosea; Joel

November 14-20
Why does it matter so much that we live in a time when a prophet is on the earth? How is it the Lord’s lovingkindness to us? Why does the Lord make known all of his secrets to His prophets? Duane Boyce and Kimberly White tell us why it matters.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 47, “The Lord Reveals His Secrets to the Prophets,” -- Amos; Obadiah

November 21-27
Jonah is much more than a fish story, but the story of a man who is cast down into a boat, down into the hull of the boat, down into a big fish, and at last, covered in seaweed in the utter darkness is rescued. We may see ourselves here when life bears down on us, and we know who the ultimate rescuer is.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 48, “He Delighteth in Mercy,” -- Jonah, Micah

November 28-December
We’ve been studying the Old Testament all year and now we are coming upon prophets that we know little about. These three prophets: Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, likely contemporaries with our friend Lehi, may be deemed by some as only prophets of doom, but, as the Lord always does, before there is imminent destruction of a people who have rejected His commandments, He sends His servants the prophets to warn them and invite them to come to the only One Who can keep them safe: Jesus Christ Himself. Let’s look together today at the Lord’s everlasting ways and explore some thoughts about justice and mercy.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 49, “His Ways Are Everlasting,” -- Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah

December 5-11
You remember that the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and carried away many to Babylon. Well, then Babylon got their due and in 538 B.C. they were overthrown by the Persian empire under Cyrus the Great. He then ended the exile of the Jews and allowed them to start returning to Jerusalem around 537 B.C. Frankly, not everyone wanted to go back and the return happened in waves. Do we get too entrenched in Babylon ourselves? Are we reluctant to come unto the Savior and give our all to Him? Do we understand what he really wants from us? Let’s talk about this.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 50, “Holiness unto the Lord,” -- Haggai; Zechariah 1-3; 7-14

December 12-18
Turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers is one of the most important works in mortality. It has been the burden of the ages and is especially critical in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. This scripture is mentioned in the Old Testament (Mal. 4:5:6); the New Testament (Luke 1:17); The Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 25:5,6), The Doctrine and Covenants (see Section 2) and the Pearl of Great Price (JS History 1: 38,39). We think the Lord is trying to get our attention. Come this week and explore the promises of tithing and the joy of family history work.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 51, “I Have Loved You, Saith the Lord,” -- Malachi

December 19-25
It’s never easy to comprehend that another year has flown past us and it’s Christmas again. Don’t the days seem to go quicker than they used to? With this glorious season upon us, we are blessed to be able to talk about this day of days and this time of times when the Savior came to this earth to experience mortality and to wrought the Atonement in our behalf. Do we realize that this entire last year of study has truly been about God’s people anticipating His arrival? Let’s talk about that.

Come Follow Me OT Podcast 52, “We Have Waited for Him, and He Will Save Us,” -- Christmas

April 15-21
We love Easter as the most important celebration of the year because it is Jesus Christ’s atonement and resurrection that answers every uncertainty, loosens every bond and supplies every hope for our mortal experience. More people saw the resurrected Jesus than we sometimes realize, including John Murdock, an early convert to The Church of Jesus Christ in Kirtland. He described what Jesus looked like in detail and then said this, “It left on my mind the impression of love, for months, that I never felt before to that degree.”

Come Follow Me Latter-day Saint Podcast 15 “O Grave, Where is Thy Victory?” -- Easter

July 22-28
Why does Joseph Smith directly compare himself to Paul? What did he see in Paul’s experience that made him feel that the two held so much in common?

Come Follow Me Podcast 29 “The Lord Had Called Us for to Preach the Gospel” -- Acts 16-21

December 30-January 5
I was reading a very short notice this past week in a local newspaper that was just over 300 words long.  This is not a well-known national periodical, in fact, it’s quite obscure—but the notice I read is probably the most important thing ever published in the news.  The paper was The Wayne Sentinel and the date was Friday, March 26, 1830.  This was the first announcement that The Book of Mormon was now available to the world.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 1, “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” -- Introductory Pages

January 6-12
We all know the 1st book of Nephi so well, you may wonder if there is still more to learn. Welcome to the inexhaustible Book of Mormon that always surprises us with its spiritual richness and historical authenticity. You may know these stories, but we are about to enter a treasure room.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 2, “I Will Go and Do” -- 1 Nephi 1-7

January 13-19
I remember once being so tired as we made our way out of a remote area of the Sinai Desert in Egypt.  It was night and we wanted to drive all the way back to Cairo but we were just too exhausted from having hiked Mt. Sinai at 2:00 o’clock that morning.  We pulled over to rest.  We got off the main road and pulled up onto a small hill.  We watched from our perch, as an occasional car would go by.  And then it happened.  We watched as a dark mist or fog rolled in like a slow-motion wave of the sea.  We were both wide awake now—the mist completely obscured our view of the road below us—we could no longer see headlights or anything.  It was almost an inky black. This was the mist of darkness Lehi had talked about!

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 3, “Come and Partake of the Fruit” -- 1 Nephi 8-10

January 20-26
After Lehi had his dream of the tree of life, his sons had some choices, and, based on those, in the next few hours had radically different experiences. Laman and Lemuel went to their tent and fought about the meaning of the dream, and Nephi was swept up to a mountain and given a vision. What Laman and Lemuel missed out on in insisting on their war of words!

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 4, “Armed with Righteousness and the Power of God” -- 1 Nephi 11-15

January 27-February 2
A theme is so prevalent throughout scripture, and especially in the Book of Mormon, that you would think we would never miss it, and yet we do. What is that elusive theme? We’ll tell you in this episode.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 5, “I Will Prepare the Way Before You” -- 1 Nephi 16-22

February 3-9
How can Lehi who has suffered so much in the wilderness journey, including the murderous rejection of his own sons, Laman and Lemuel, possibly write that man is that he might have joy? Does he know something that we sometimes forget? We’ll find out as we study together.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 6, “We Lived after the Manner of Happiness” -- 2 Nephi 1-5

February 10-16
Do you know how many times the word “plan” shows up in the Book of Mormon? 66 times! How about in the Old Testament—only three times, and none of these is talking about the plan of salvation. The New Testament has no mention of “plan” at all.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 7, “O How Great the Plan of Our God” -- 2 Nephi 6-10

February 17-23
There was a story told of a man in war and in the heat of the battle he was shot in the chest. By a miracle he was spared being killed. As he was taken back to the safety of the nearby camp, he was examined and he had a small copy of the Book of Mormon he had been carrying in his uniform. They opened the book and the bullet had penetrated only into about the middle of 2 Nephi—right in the heart of the Isaiah chapters. It was said that even a speeding bullet couldn’t get through Isaiah—well, let’s try to prove that wrong today. Let’s have some fun studying these seemingly difficult chapters together!

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 8, “We Rejoice in Christ” -- 2 Nephi 11-25

February 24-March 2
Nephi, of course is heartbroken because he has seen in revelation the destruction of his people. He says, “O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people” (2 Nephi 26:7). He says it consumes him. But he is given a promise of comfort. What is it? We’ll talk about it in this episode.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 9, “A Marvelous Work and a Wonder” -- 2 Nephi 26-30

March 9-15
When Jacob speaks at the temple in the book named after him, it is with both anxiety and boldness, setting an example for all us who have to teach the people we love in this difficult world. It is not a time to shy away from the truth.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 11, “Be Reconciled unto God through the Atonement” -- Jacob 1-4

March 16-22
One of my favorite olive trees in the entire world is inside the walls of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies in Jerusalem.  I remember Truman Madsen telling us all about how it was long-lined from a helicopter all the way from the Galilee to the center.  They were concerned about the shock of its journey, but they promptly planted it.  And then it died…at least they thought it did.  We’ll tell you all about it.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 12, “The Lord Labors with Us” -- Jacob 5-7

March 23-29
I remember, following Enos’s example, of going to the woods to pray in my life, in fact, more than once. Then, I recently was talking about Enos with a friend, and he said he, too, had gone to the woods to pray. I know, Scot, that you took Enos’s example, but went to a mountain. I don’t think the location matters because it can be right in our own bedroom, but there is something magnificent to learn about prayer from Enos in his book.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 13, “He Works in Me to do His Will” -- Enos-Words of Mormon

March 30-April 12
I love the season of spring.  I love the newness of life.  I love the crocus, daffodils and tulips just popping through the winter-hardened earth.  I love the buds that magically appear on all the trees.  I especially love the redbuds and the dogwoods that were the first to show in my home-state of Missouri on our forested farm.  Most of all, though, I love the fact that “all things are created and made to bear record of [Jesus Christ]…things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of [Him].” (See Moses 6:63) What an exciting thing to talk about this week: the newness of life that comes and the celebration of Easter—the atoning sacrifice, death and resurrection of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 14, “He Shall Rise with Healing in His Wings” -- Easter

April 13-19
Elder Neal A. Maxwell called the chapters we are studying in this episode the “Manual of Discipleship”. Since Mormon could include only the hundredth part of the records he had available to him, this may be the reason he zeroed right in on King Benjamin’s address and gave us so much of it. He knew we in the latter days would want to learn discipleship too.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 15, “Filled with Love Towards God and All Men” -- Mosiah 1-3

April 27-May 3
Elder Richard G. Scott said, “Help from the Lord always follows eternal law. The better you understand that law, the easier it is to receive His help.” The chapters that we are studying in this podcast demonstrate just that.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 17, “In the Strength of the Lord” -- Mosiah 7-10

May 4-10
There are many times in our lives when we just have to stand up for the truth and, sometimes we stand alone. Has that ever happened in your life?  Has it happened in the lives of your ancestors or the lives of your children?  President Nelson said recently: “Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested.” This week’s material is a great lesson on boldness, standing up for the truth and being faithful when it is not too popular.

Come Follow Me BofM Podcast 18, “A Light … That Can Never Be Darkened” -- Mosiah 11-17

May 18-24
When I was growing up and first learning about the story of Alma the Younger’s conversion in the Book of Mormon, I always pictured him as a rebellious teenager who hung out with the four sons of Mosiah and together, the five of them wreaked havoc on the Church.  If you look closely at the record and put the facts together, you come to know something altogether different.

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