Admittedly it has been a while since I stopped and looked/read ABEV. While I chuckled at M’s global warming warnings, I found this entry to be absolutely intriguing. I am not sure how you get this information, and I would certainly like to read the articles/books that you have read on these subjects, but I had one very interesting thought that I thought would add to your entry here.

I realized that while the calendar year you are talking about was based on the lunar calendar and as such, quite different than the one we use today. However, the significance of the beginning of the 7th month can not elude our modern situation as Americans. As you mentioned, just as it was clear that the 2,000 sons of Helaman were to be spared, it was also clear that America would gain its independence–for it absolutely needed to happen for the church to be restored.

Rosh Hashanah as you have explained it above would perhaps be very close to the time frame that the Declaration of Independence was signed. Again, we see a rather ancient reference to deliverance based on the faith of the people, although the calendar was not used the same way. (I could be wrong about all this, but it came to my mind as I was reading)

At any rate, that’s my two bits.

As to the post, the insights in it came largely from the Edgemont 14th Ward Sunday School class. It just goes to show that a well prepared teacher who is willing to teach rather than just read from the manual can make a class a very rich experience. Well informed comments from class members help a lot too, as the post notes. The comment about the seventh month setting for the 2,000 Ammonites in Alma 56 was made by Allison’s dad. Other members of the class, whom you likely know although not related to you, contributed some of the other insights, such as the one in the first paragraph.

We enjoy a similarly rich experience in our Sunday School class here in London. Although class participants here are not on the same level of historical/cultural interest or knowledge in terms of ancient anthropological or archaelogical knowledge as a class full of BYU Professors and FARMS subscribers in Provo, that’s just a matter of life experience and substantive interest. The comments that we enjoy in our Sunday School class here, which I might add also benefits from a teacher (hint, it’s Allison) who is well prepared and loves to teach (and only uses the manual as an occasional guide as to what general direction to take the lesson, as it is meant to be used), benefit from the fresh look at the Gospel that comes from being a relatively recent convert. Many of the members of our class were adult converts, some within the last five years. They have very interesting and moving things to say about each topic.