The name Mormon
We don’t know much about the language spoken by Book of Mormon people, but Moroni refers to the written language as reformed Egyptian.
Taking Ancient Egyptian as a clue we will look at the meaning of the name Mormon.
(I am not a scholar of ancient languages but I did find some hieroglyphs on Wikipedia.)
;)
There are two different glyphs to represent "beloved" but both have the MR sound:
MN means "permanance" or "enduring"
Beloved, Enduring
Love Everlasting
It is an interesting side note that Frederick G Williams, Second Counselor to Joseph Smith, provided a character which he said came from Joseph Smith signifying the name Mormon, which has some similarity to the hieroglyphs above:
This is the character that FGW claimed to signify "Mormon."
Benjamin Urrutia, “The Name Connection,” New Era, June 1983:39.When Mormon abridged the account of Alma and his people, he used the name Mormon frequently. It is mentioned 12 times, including 6 times in one verse: "And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever."
So, maybe Mormon just likes to write his name, or maybe there is some message he is communicating with that name. Maybe beloved forever works here. Let’s reread that passage.
"And now it came to pass that all this was done in beloved forever, yea, by the waters of beloved forever, in the forest that was near the waters of beloved forever; yea, the place of beloved forever, the waters of beloved forever, the forest of beloved forever, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever."
Beloved Forever is also a very fitting name for the man who wrote these words:
And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
Beloved forever ≈ Charity never faileth
So, studying the Book of Mormon? You might just be studying the Book of Beloved Forever.
There are two paintings in the baptistry. One is the baptism of the Savior by John the baptist. The other depicts Alma Baptizing in the Waters of Mormon.
That painting was placed there very intentionally. Originally, there was a painting of Joseph and Oliver baptizing in the Susquehanna. However, before the temple was finished there were some inspired changes that were made and one of those changes was to swap out that painting for the Book of Mormon story and the image of the Waters of Mormon.
Let this remind us at the temple that the covenants we make bind us to God and make us His beloved forever.
As it says in Psalm 118: "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy* endureth for ever."
*Hesed means loyal, steadfast, or faithful love based on a promise, agreement, or covenant.