Scripture Study

"Okay, Joseph, time for scriptures," I said this evening.

"I don't like reading scriptures," he told me.

"Is it because they have lots of words you don't know?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Well, you can ask lots of questions and I'll help you understand the story better."

He seemed to be satisfied with that, so we started Alma 35.

"Why did Amulek make an end?"
"Where's Jershon?"

I answered his questions quickly and we kept going. Then we read verse 3:

"And it came to pass that after the more popular part of the Zoramites had consulted together concerning the words which had been preached unto them, they were angry because of the word, for it did destroy their craft; therefore they would not hearken unto the words."

He gasped. He knows what crafts are! He has done one every single day this week!

"What kind of craft did they destroy?"

I didn't want to redefine the word craft right then. "The bad guys liked to make bad guy costume crafts." Which is basically what was going on.

"Why were they destroying them?"

"Alma and Amulek made it so the good guys didn't want to buy bad guy costume crafts anymore. So they were really mad."

After a few more clarifications, we moved on.

Maybe I just made things worse by taking liberties like that. But kids come up with misconceptions with or without their parents' help. Once we were reading scriptures and came across the word "whoredoms." I am certain my mom didn't define it this way, but based on whatever explanation she gave, for years I thought that meant a woman selling pottery for more than it was worth. Which I guess is still not a good thing to do.

After a few more verses and a few more explanations, we made it to verse 8.

"Now the people of the Zoramites were angry with the people of Ammon who were in Jershon, and the chief ruler of the Zoramites, being a very wicked man, sent over unto the people of Ammon desiring them that they should cast out of their land all those who came over from them into their land."

Joseph wanted to know what was going on. After I explained what happened with the bad guy kicking out the good guys, he asked, "Did they throw the bad guy into the river?"

Like I said, kids can come up with misconceptions all on their own. I can't figure out where that one came from.



Wait. He just watched Up yesterday, and the dogs fall in the river. Would that be why he thought of a river?

After we finished, he asked if there were any pictures, so we looked at pictures of cabins and wagons at the back, and he seemed satisfied that this was a picture book after all. So I would consider scripture study a success tonight.