1 Nephi 3:1-8

Nephi begins this chapter by shedding some more light on his relationship with the Lord. Chapter 2, Verse 16 is related to this first verse of Chapter 3. It seems that from an early age, Nephi stating in 2:16 that his was "exceedingly young," Nephi has had a close relationship with the Lord. It makes me ponder on my relationship with Him. Do I try to draw closer to Him each day?

After Nephi prays in 2:16, 3:1 states that he went to the tent of his father. Lehi then relays a commandment of the Lord to get the brass plates. Their importance is paramount for Lehi's posterity. (More of that next chapter.) Again, Laman and Lemuel are not eager for this assignment. (Have to love their attitude.) I love Nephi's response. It is one of the most quoted scriptures. He states that the Lord will provide means for us to complete all His commandments. I believe that is true today. It is not easy, but we can do it. "Just keep swimming." : )

Finally, Lehi was glad of Nephi's attitude and faith. What a wonderful thing for a parent to know that their child is in the right way. I rejoice as Lehi did when my daughters do what is right. Andie loves prayer time and is getting better at being reverent during the prayer, folding her arms, and saying amen. Molly says that she has done her own prayers, too, speaking in her own way. How wonderful.

Thanks for stopping by! See you real soon.

1 Nephi 2:16-EoC

In this section, Nephi records some promises of the Lord concerning his seed and the seed of his brothers in the land of promise. As we will see in the Book of Mormon, the Lord reveals to the prophets revelations about the future. Most in this book seem to be prophesies of destruction unless they repent. Specific accounts of when they will be destroyed are given, again, unless they repent. But the people become wicked and end up being destroyed anyway, exactly and when the Lord said they would. I'm not exactly sure what I mean by this, but I guess I'm saying that even though they could have repented, the Lord knew that they wouldn't. Isn't that amazing? Heavenly Father and Jesus really do know a lot. (I really don't know if all that was comprehensible, but those were my thoughts on Verses 20-24.)

Now I wanted to discuss more about the mysteries of God. Like Nephi, I have a great desire to know of His mysteries. I believe that we know a lot about His mysteries already through current revelation. Here are a some thoughts from Footnote a in Verse 16. From the Topical Guide, 1 Nephi 10:19 stuck out to me. It says that to him that seeketh, the mysteries of God will be revealed by the power of the Holy Ghost. In Mosiah 1:5, King Benjamin talks to his sons about the mysteries of God recorded on the brass plates. I looked up "brass plates" on the Church's website and was reading some very interesting articles about them. They have many parts of the Bible, but much more was written in them in addition to what the Bible contains. The article is called: The Plates of Brass: A Witness of Christ. There are many other interesting scriptures under the Topical Guide entry that I've been referring to (Mysteries of Godliness). I have time for one more. One of the most exciting and promising scriptures that the Book of Mormon has on this subject is Alma 12:9-10. He says that the mysteries of God can be given to anyone, if they are righteous. He also says that they are not to share them, except for special times, under His direction, when He allows a portion of them to be shared. Then, in Verse 10, Alma says that if one does not harden their heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word until he know the mysteries of God in full. This is huge because some of the scriptures in the Topical Guide talk about how infinite and unsearchable God's mysteries are.

Well, good luck Friend in your search. Do not harden your heart, and you can know of the great things of God. Have a great day!

1 Nephi 2:1-15

I wanted to start out this blog entry by saying that with the recent entries, I don't want to come off sounding Pharisaical. I've done so in the past and have caused offense. So, the things that I type as applications of the scriptures that I read are essentially goals for myself and thoughts to consider. I know that we could all be better, but it is really a matter between one's self and Heavenly Father. The Spirit prompts us to know what we need to do better. I just think about how I can do better.

With that said, on to 1 Nephi 2. Here, Nephi shares with us that Lehi is blessed by the Lord for his diligence in keeping the commandments. The Lord warns him in a dream that he needs to leave Jerusalem or be killed by the citizens. Nephi introduces to us his family. His mother Sariah and his three older brothers, Laman, Lemuel, and Sam. (I have always thought that the names of Laman and Lemuel are funny. At the risk of being a little irreverent, and I apologize, because of their actions which are discussed later, I thought of them as "Lame-man" and "Le-mule.")

I find that it is interesting that he does not mention any sisters. Either he didn't have any at the time, or he just doesn't mention them for some reason. I know that he later refers to them when he separates his people from the Lamanites in the promised land (2 Nephi 5:6). Did he not mention them for a reason? Is it because they were women? I heard once, I think it was in the MTC, that there are only five women's names mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Sariah being one of those. I'm not sure why more aren't mentioned. Sometimes I think that he was referring to the wives of Sam, Jacob, and Joseph, i.e. his sisters-in-law or daughters of Ismael. But I'm not sure. What do you think?

We know that Laman and Lemuel are opposed to leaving, but in Verse 14, Lehi preaches to them the will of the Lord with such power that their frames did shake before him in so much that they did follow him. I think that this is learning the hard way. It reminded me of the time when the Brother of Jared did not call upon the Lord for four years (Ether 2:14). The Lord chastened him for three hours. It might not have been like Laman and Lemuel's experience, but I don't think that it was pleasant for him at all.

I think that this story is a good reminder of how we can follow the commandments. There is a continuum, I believe, of obedience. Where are we on it? Do we follow all the commandments with vigor? Let's start our description on the end where the people of Jerusalem are at the time of Lehi. They are on the end where the commandments are not obeyed at all. They killed the prophets and were wicked. An interesting description of their wickedness is given by Nephi (2 Nephi 25:2). Then there is how Laman and Lemuel obey the commandments: sometimes and when they do it's grudgingly. This might be a little better than not obeying them at all, but sometimes I don't think the Lord accepts their obedience (see Moroni 7:8). Then there is Sam. He is faithful in following the commandments, perhaps because Nephi testifies to him that they should follow the Lord's will. (I'm sure he gained a personal testimony at some point. See tomorrow's entry.) Then there is Nephi. He is specific about his testimony and desire to know the mysteries of God, which in part are the whys and wherefores of the commandments. I feel that this is the model we should follow, submitting to Him the desires of our heart. (Again, more on this tomorrow.)

1 Nephi 1:16-EoC (End of Chapter)

Upon reading and pondering these verses there were a couple of things that came to mind. When Lehi prophesied to the people in Jerusalem about thing he had seen in vision and in the book, they mocked him. I'm sure that the people in Jerusalem at that time were doing some pretty wicked things, but in applying this scripture to us, I wondered if there are some spiritual things that we mock when they are preached to us from a bishop, a stake president, or any general authority.

I don't think that we are doing the things that those in Jerusalem at that time were doing, at least I hope not. But, what about the little things that we endure which drive the Spirit away? If it was suggested to us to avoid those things, would we mock and say that it's no big deal? Elder Bednar came to a stake conference one time when I lived in Arizona. One thing he said really had an impact on me. He said that in the Church we focus a lot on how to identify the times when the Spirit comes and testifies of truth. It is that warm sensation within. However, we don't stress enough about identifying the times when the Spirit leaves.

For example, in the Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood manual it states, "Because He is so sensitive, the Holy Ghost can be offended by what we may consider unimportant things. To keep the Holy Ghost with us, we must live in harmony with those around us. Speaking to the Nephites, Christ said that the spirit of contention comes from the devil (see 3 Nephi 11:29). The Holy Ghost cannot dwell where disunity and disharmony exist. For this reason, arguing with our wife or quarreling with a brother or sister will drive the Holy Ghost away from us and from our homes." This is something that I want to work on.

A final example in which I know that the Spirit leaves is when we endure some TV shows, music, and movies that feature immorality and profanity. If we are watching such things, are we condoning such actions? Is is worth it to endure the bad for a few minutes of jokes, which are probably off color anyway? These questions I leave for you, Friend. Feel free to post comments. I know that the Spirit will not endure such situations.

On a much lighter note, Nephi testifies that the tender mercies of the Lord are over those whom He has chosen, even to the power of deliverance. I believe that the deliverance he refers to is of a temporal nature and a spiritual nature. Lehi and his family were delivered from the people in Jerusalem who sought their lives. In my life, we've benefited from His tender mercies by moving to Georgia. But, also the tender mercies of the Lord have delivered everyone from death. Additionally, if we are righteous, repent, and endure to the end His tender mercies will deliver us from spiritual death. What a glorious thought!

Thanks again, Friend for stopping by. Have a great day!

1 Nephi 1:2-15

The next major part of this chapter involves Lehi's "First Vision." I have always been interested in the similar themes of the first visions that are recorded for some of the major prophets in the scriptures. These happen so often that I might venture to say that all prophets have this vision at the time they are called. What do you think? I believe that there is a distinct change that is wrought upon a man when he receives the mantle and calling of prophet. I noticed it when President Hinckley was called. Is this type of event part of that? Well, here are some examples of this event that are recorded in the scriptures. Some accounts are more or less detailed.

Let's start with Nephi, the son of Lehi. The account of his vision starts in 1 Nephi 11. He sees the same vision of the Tree of Life as his father did (in a later vision), Christ's birth, life, and death, and the commission and ministry of the 12 apostles. It continues in Chapter 12. Nephi sees his posterity in the land of promise (the Americas) and their eventual fate: total destruction. He also sees that the Lamanites will be the ones to inhabit the land. In Chapter 13 he sees the colonizing of America and the restoration of the gospel. He sees that the Bible and the Book of Mormon will go forth among the people. Finally, he sees the last days and the end of the world.

Nephi's description of the typical themes of this vision are pretty good. In essence, he sees Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation in full. There is a lot that this covers. It is also likely that he sees many more of the mysteries of God, but does not write them because God wants us to be righteous enough and have faith enough for them to be revealed to us.

Here are the other accounts that I've found in the scriptures of prophets having visions similar to Lehi's and Nephi's: Brother of Jared (Ether 3:6-28), Abraham (Genesis 12:1-5, 15:1, 17:8, Chapter 22), Moses (selections of text found from Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), and John the Beloved (Book of Revelations).

Friend, do you know of any others? You may post them as comments along with other ideas about this subject. Thanks for stopping by!

1 Nephi 1:1

The Book of Mormon begins with the writings of a prophet named Nephi. He lived in Jerusalem about 600 years before Christ was born. The first part of the Book of Mormon was written by Nephi 30 years after it happened (see 2 Nephi 5:30-31). Thus, in the first verse, Nephi is able to speak from a lot of experience and says a few things about the time in general.

He starts by saying that he was born of goodly parents. I've heard many talks about that verse with the speaker saying the same thing. I can say no different. I feel that my parents learned a lot about parenting while they were raising us. They were not perfect, but I feel that they are goodly parents. They loved us and provided all they could for us. They made sure that we were spiritually nourished, too. For the major part of our lives, we read the scriptures as a family every day and prayed every day, too. This is a huge example to follow. I'm doing my best to follow it.

Nephi follows this by saying that he was taught in all the learning of his father. I think that he learned what his father did for a living and followed in those footsteps. I've heard from somewhere that Lehi, Nephi's father, was a trader. This could be one of the ways he has obtained so much "gold, silver, and precious things." (This is, of course, speculation from an old memory. I welcome comments, which fortunately can be done on a blog, from those who know more so we all can be edified.) Well, whatever Lehi did, this passage could mean that Nephi did it, too. Nephi could also mean that he learned about the world and spiritual matters, just as Lehi did.

He next mentions that he has seen many afflictions in the course of his days. This is true for all of us, I believe. I have seen my share, much of which I have kept inside, knowing that they are trials from Heavenly Father that have tested me and will test me (some like Abraham) to see if I will continue to be on His side and follow the commandments. My family and extended family have helped me through those times. I know that I am stronger for it.

Nevertheless, like Nephi, I have been highly favored of the Lord. One big blessing that I'm thinking about right now: schooling. This has some to do with the learning like Nephi mentioned earlier. I have had the opportunity to get an elementary, middle, and high school diploma. I have been able to get a Bachelor's in Mathematics from Arizona State University and a Secondary Mathematics Teaching Certificate not have to pay much out of pocket, perhaps only a few classes. I am about to get a Master's in Math Education from Brigham Young University. I just have to finish the thesis, which I need to get back to. It was paid for by an assistantship from BYU. Finally, I'm here in Georgia on another assistantship. It will pay for tuition and give a stipend, too, like BYU. I'm in the doctorate program at the University of Georgia in Math Education. So, this blessing shows that Heavenly Father is generous and loves us. I know that if you think hard, you will find that you can count your blessings from God and realize that He knows you and loves you, too. This is a good thing to do when you are sad because of life's trials. I find it interesting that Nephi mentions this after he mentioned his afflictions (see also 2 Nephi 4).

He mentions that he has a great knowledge of the mysteries of God. From this account of the small plates, we know some of the mysteries he had learned from God. I think that the majority of his writings in 1 Nephi and 2 Nephi are about those mysteries specifically. Because of time, won't mention them all, but I look forward to going through them here with you. : )

In the last part of this verse, Nephi mentions that he is making a record of the proceedings of his days. This is also what I'm doing here and in my own journal. I enjoy rereading them and others' blogs, too. So, thanks for sharing the proceedings of your days, may they be blessed.

Moving to Georgia

Hello, everyone! The trip to Georgia went well. It was interesting to see many parts of the United States that I haven't seen before. First, we went from Utah to Colorado and spent the night in Dillon, CO. It was just an hour west of Denver. There were many pine trees and mountains there. After Denver, the terrain changed to flat. Previously, I though that flat meant really flat, but Kansas did have some hills. We spent the next night just outside of Independence, MO. Missouri is when the country gets green and has lots of trees and rivers. This is how Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia are.

My father-in-law listened and conversed. We listened to Truman G. Madsen's insights to the latter-day prophets from Joseph Smith through Heber J. Grant. I have listened to these presentations before, but there were still many things that I learned this time around. They are interesting people. One thing that they all said in common was that Jesus Christ heads this church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). At times they thought of ideas of who should serve as an apostle or what direction the church should go, but the Lord inspires them to do different things and call people they've never met. Then we can see great things come to pass because of it.

We also listened to a couple of novels by Brad Thor. He writes about an agent guy that is fighting Islamic extremists to protect the world. His latest is called The Last Patriot. Here is what Amazon says about it (mostly from the back cover):

"June 632 A.D.: Deep within the Uranah Valley of Mount Arafat in Mecca, the Prophet Mohammed shares with his closest companions a final and startling revelation. Within days, he is assassinated.

September 1789: U.S. Minister to France Thomas Jefferson, who is charged with forging a truce with the violent Muslim pirates of the Barbary Coast, makes a shocking discovery - one that could forever impact the world's relationship with Islam.

Present day: When a car bomb explodes outside a Parisian café, Scot Harvath is thrust back into the life he has tried so desperately to leave behind.

Saving the intended victim of the attack, Harvath becomes party to an amazing and perilous race to uncover a secret so powerful that militant Islam could be defeated once and for all without firing another shot, dropping another bomb, or launching another covert action.

But as desperate as the American government is to have the information brought to light, there are powerful forces aligned against it - men who are just as determined that Mohammed's mysterious final revelation continue to remain hidden forever.

What Jason Bourne was to the Cold War, Scot Harvath is to the War on Terror. Brad Thor has created "the perfect all-American hero for the post September 11 world" (Nelson DeMille) and will keep readers glued to the pages as he once again takes them across the globe on a heart-pounding chase where the stakes are higher than they have ever been before. "

When we stopped for gas and food, my father-in-law and I were always excited to get back in the moving van and head on the road to hear more of the story.

Also on the way over here, I finished my current reading of the Book of Mormon. I am starting over and will use the blog to discuss my thoughts about every chapter of this book. I'm not sure how long it will take, nor do I think I will be able to post every day, but I will try. I do make sure that I read something from its pages everyday though.

Georgia is hot and humid, but not as much as I thought it would be. Perhaps the summer is mild this year. Our ward at church is very nice and I am looking forward to making new friends. I miss Utah a lot, but life must go on and changes are inevitable. It feels a lot like the time I moved from Arizona to Utah. I love and miss those I know in both states. Here's to the next adventure!