Welcome back, you guys.

This is week two of Our Mothers Knew It.

And before we get into the verses this week, I wanted to take a

second to help you understand why we have this name change.

So for the last four years, this course has been called Creative Come Follow Me.

And as we were heading into this new wrong.

Remember last week we talked about the spiral staircase and how we're going

to go across that same ground but we'll be at a higher vantage point.

I felt like we needed to embrace that with the course and we needed a fresh new name.

So I batted around a lot of ideas.

I asked some of you guys on the live.

I asked friends and family.

I prayed a lot and the one that seemed to resonate the most

ironically came from my own mother.

She's the one that recommended it.

Our mothers knew it.

And let me tell you why this one clicked right into my soul.

Here's what I love about that story.

Basically, that story comes with the stripling warriors.

So you get that verse, that line of text at the end of their story, when

they're on the battlefield with Helaman and he is worried for them and they

declare boldly that they're not afraid.

They don't fear death.

In fact, if you look in the verses, this is what it says.

This is Alma 56, 47, and 48.

Now they had never fought, yet they did not fear death.

And they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers

than they did upon their lives.

Yea, they had been taught by their mothers that if they did

not doubt, God would deliver them.

And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying, We do not doubt.

Our mothers knew it.

What I think is so powerful about this part of their story is that the

well of testimony that they seem to be pulling from comes from both parents.

I love that what they saw their fathers do was keep covenants,

despite tremendous obstacles.

I mean, it would have been really tempting to unearth those weapons and go

fight for your family and defend them.

And in this moment, the fathers chose to keep their covenants and stop

and let their sons fight instead.

And I can't imagine how hard that was to keep.

In addition to what those fathers taught, they also have

the wisdom of their mothers.

These are converts for the most part.

I mean, we've only had the gospel with this group of people for 20 or 30 years.

And so all of them are fairly new, which means I can't imagine these mothers were

incredible, eloquent, scholarly teachers.

They were just diligent, and they had a rock solid belief that God would deliver.

And they taught it to their sons, and because the sons had this well

of understanding to pull from, in this key moment, they stood,

and they stood without fear.

That's what I hope with this course.

In fact, it's what I hope for my come follow me, in general, with my own family.

That somehow, The fire of my testimony and the testimony of my husband will

get passed to that next generation.

They'll be intrigued and come close and through the experiences that

we have together that they'll want to hold on to that fire themselves.

I, that's why, that's why the name change occurred.

I hope we can capture that.

We're going to do it this year, like I mentioned last week, by changing

up the structure a little bit.

What we'll start with are the insights, this will be a recap for some of you,

but we'll do seven insights in these videos to give you some ideas about

things that caught my eye and how I went into them a little bit deeper to try and

understand what they meant for me, what these verses are trying to say to me.

The other thing we'll do is ask five questions.

So at the end of the insights video, you're going to see five questions.

These are just designed to help you.

stimulate conversation.

I, even if you never tell me your answer, I hope the spirit prompts you

with answers or it pushes you into your scriptures to go find the answer or that

it just gives you ways to have really good conversations, like on your way

to dropping your kids off at school, or as you're out with your spouse on

a date that you guys can talk about these things and, you know, mull it over

and see what the spirit teaches you.

And then last but not least, as always, there will always be three object

lessons, just because I think this is a way to Ignite fires in your kids,

get them to come close, be curious, and want to know for themselves

the same way these soldiers did.

I just think there's power in that passing of the torch, and I hope to reinforce

that this year with Our Mothers Knew It.

This week we're going to study five chapters.

They're probably five of the most familiar chapters of the entire Book

of Mormon because so many of us have started and restarted in these same

verses, but I actually think there's so much depth and weight to these chapters

because this is Nephi's origin story.

He's going to tell us how things began for his family, where things pivoted in

a dramatic way and how it impacted them.

For me, what I think I loved the most is it felt like a coming of age story.

Those are some of my very favorite novels to read or biographies for that matter.

But I really love a coming of age story because you get this Arc, right?

You get a innocent beginning and then you get trials and struggles and very

memorable experiences, and then by the end, the main character has changed.

Somehow they have matured and aged.

What I think is fascinating about those movies or those books

is that not everybody changes.

Usually the protagonist changes and they age in a matter of days or weeks

through these different experiences, but not everyone around them does.

And that's, it's the contrast that catches your eye.

And for me, it kind of tethers that character to my heart.

That's what I see with Nephi this week.

'cause where we begin in chapter one, he's gonna talk about

himself being exceedingly young.

And where we end in four and five, he's gonna talk about being a man,

a man of large stature, a man.

He repeats it over and over again.

And I only a few weeks, maybe a month passes between those two dates.

You know, they're gonna go into the wilderness and have to come

all the way back to get the plates.

And by the time we're in five, we're at the where they have the plates.

They're gonna still.

be in the wilderness for eight more years, but not that much time

has passed as far as I can tell.

And so something dramatic happens for Nephi in these intervening weeks

and you get to study it this week.

I think you're gonna love it.

You're also gonna love, I think, getting to know Lehi because you get

to know Lehi through Nephi's eyes.

And Nephi, who's writing this after his father has passed away, has

incredible things to say about his dad.

His dad, the prophet, his dad, the imperfect father, his dad, the The one

who continually forgives and extends hope and that's his dad and you get to read

all about him in this week's chapters.

I kind of see Nephi R.

Z.

Lehi a bit like a renegade of sorts.

I really love in Joseph Smith history he talks about how

Satan saw him as a disturber.

Remember when we studied that together?

Like he knew that he was going to be a disturber of Satan's plans.

I see that with Lehi.

He is someone who is not afraid to Push back against the traditions of his day and

to say I want my own connection with God and I want to know for Myself what is true

and then because of what he knows he goes, you know He gets direction and he takes

his family and they go and we're gonna learn all about it I think it's it's got

really familiar Hope in it, you know, the same way you felt with Abraham when he has

to make a big departure or later when we read about Alma Senior leaving the court

of King Noah and making a big departure and Joseph Smith in the first vision when

he has to make a big departure of these, these moments where they make that choice

and they take those few first steps into the wilderness are so riveting to read.

So this is going to be a really good week of study.

You guys grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

It's time to get started.

I call this first spark, finding a holy place in the wilderness.

This comes mostly from chapter one, but also a little bit

that you find in chapter two.

I'm reading chapter one and I'm seeing a little bit about Lehi's

story, you know, how things began.

For me, Lehi is a lot like Amulek.

So do you remember when Alma is coming into his city and Amulek is kind of a.

big deal there.

You know, he has friends.

He's got family.

He's sounds like he's pretty wealthy.

He's got a very established life.

And then he encounters Alma.

In fact, he talks about how he resisted it a few times and then finally submitted to

the spirit and, you know, invited Alma in.

And then he becomes this mighty mission companion for Alma.

And Lehi kind of reminds me of that, in that I don't know

much about his backstory.

I don't know if before this point in time, he was just a righteous man who

kept all the laws of Moses and did all the things and He just had these

stirrings, almost like Joseph Smith did, that something wasn't right.

Or maybe he heard some of the prophets in the area who were

teaching against the establishment.

You know, Jeremiah is happening.

There's several contemporary prophets in this time.

You can go in the notes and learn more about that.

But I don't know if he heard Jeremiah teach and then

Something lit a fire in him.

Almost the same way you have, you know, Abinadi catching

fire in Alma Senior's heart.

I'm not sure what happens with Lehi, but in this moment he chooses to pivot.

He chooses to turn to the Lord and learn.

What I like is he gets this clear vision.

So when he seeks additional light and knowledge and he prays directly to the

Lord, he gets an incredible vision.

He sees the fate of Jerusalem.

He sees that a Messiah will indeed come, and a little more

context about how he'll come.

We don't have the full story because Lehi's record was lost with the 116 pages.

So we have Nephi's kind of abridged version of Lehi's story here, but it seems

to be that promise of a Messiah that is coming and that he sees God on his throne

that helps Lehi know the established religion that you've been a part of.

Some things have been distorted, and let me teach you something true.

I want, I want to bring your family somewhere else.

So if you look in 15, it says the power that comes from it.

And after this manner was the language of my father, and the praising of his God.

For his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled because

of the things which he had seen.

Yea, the Lord had shown them unto him.

This is the result of his efforts.

He feels this joy.

In addition to the fact that he saw all of Jerusalem destroyed in

this vision, he still feels joy because he knows destruction is

temporary, but a Messiah is permanent.

And so I think he feels bolstered by this vision of things.

And so then he goes out.

Because remember, as soon as you know something, you can't wait to tell someone.

The same way, as soon as you really solidify your testimony, you're eager

to do your calling and you're eager to serve a mission and because you

know it's true and you know what your life was like before you knew

and you know what it's like now and you Want other people to taste it.

That's Lehi.

He is out in a city that he loves, trying to share what he knows now.

It just doesn't go very well.

So this is 19 and 20.

And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the

things which he testified of them.

For he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations.

And he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things

which he read in a book, manifested plainly in the coming of the Messiah

and also the redemption of the world.

And then in 20.

And when the Jews heard these things, they were angry with him.

Yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned,

and slain, and they also sought his life, that they might take it away.

I just think this would be such a hard spot to be in.

I think to feel so motivated by goodness, you know, that you see hope and you want

to share that message with the world and have these doors slammed in your face.

In fact, it's even a step beyond having a door slammed in your face.

These people want him out.

They want him gone.

They want him killed if need be.

They want his message squelched.

And I just think there's this.

Heaviness to his calling that I think must have been so hard for Nephi to watch.

Nephi's a teenager at this point in time, at least most scholars seem to

think that he's somewhere in his teens and that would have been really hard to

see your father who was like Amulek and probably popular and probably wealthy and

to descend that social ladder so fast.

Um, but I think it's interesting to see how the Lord reassures Lehi.

This is where that bridge happens between chapters 1 and chapter 2.

In chapter 2, verse 1 and 2, he says this, For behold, it came to pass

that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said unto

him, Blessed art thou, Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done.

And because thou hast been faithful, and declared unto this people the

things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to take away thy life.

And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a

dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.

I found myself asking, if Lehi is so blessed, then why does he

have to go into the wilderness?

Why can't God just change the hearts of the people in Jerusalem?

If he's trying so diligently to do what God asked him to do and to

preach the word, why did he fail?

And I just found my heart aching for him because I've felt this way in callings

in the past where I felt like I was following promptings, I felt like I

was doing what I was supposed to do.

And things Fail, or they seem to fail.

What I love that you get, this is where the spark hit in one

and two, is God doesn't measure failure the way we measure failure.

For him, Lehi chose to be obedient.

He chose to seek more light and knowledge and then act on it.

He chose to set down his social importance.

He chose to set down even the love of some of his sons in order to face God

and tell the truth, speak clearly.

And God measures that.

Abundantly.

I think that's why he asked him to go into the wilderness.

What I learned in my study as I was digging into that word wilderness,

I just found myself intrigued by it.

Why does God send us into the wilderness?

And I think for me, the wilderness sometimes is a holy place.

I think Lehi's situation with his family is a chance for them

to take a breath of fresh air.

To get his kids away from all of the influences that are pulling them down.

To get them out of a city that inevitably will burn and be destroyed

and people taken off into slavery.

Like, that's already kind of beginning to happen in Lehi's day.

So this isn't Crazy new doctrine.

Jeremiah's been teaching the same thing.

And he gets this chance to depart.

Unlike Jeremiah, who has to stay and watch the destruction of Jerusalem happen, Lehi

gets a chance to go into the wilderness.

What I loved is the promise that comes when he chooses to go.

I think a lot of people in scripture have this opportunity to leave

what is comfortable and familiar and go into the wilderness.

And it's hard, and you have to set down a lot of Things that

the world says are important.

Like with Lehi, he has to set down his wealth, he has to set

down his family's inheritance.

I mean, that's land and property that's probably passed down for generations.

He has to set all that down and he has to choose to go out

into this barren wasteland.

But what he gets in exchange is a promise.

In fact, I love that in this, in these chapters, it's called a land of promise.

It's not a promised land, although I think they probably mean the same thing.

In this case, I feel like what the Lord is saying is, this is

a land where there is promise.

There is hope for your posterity.

There is a future that is open ended, as opposed to Jerusalem

that has an absolute cutoff time.

There will be a day when that city is destroyed and not one

stone is left on top of another.

The land of promise is open ended.

If they are righteous, there is no limit to what the Lord can bless them with.

And that's what he's promised.

I think what's powerful is He finds a way to make this wilderness a holy place.

Part of the way he does that, I think, is by dwelling in a tent.

You know, he changes everything about his family's lifestyle and their

structure and they create a holy place.

That's really different than what the Jews of his day taught.

Especially the, you know, very Orthodox Jews of his day would have

said the temple is the holy place and only certain people can go and

only on certain times of a year.

But Lehi, in this situation, he takes that tent and he makes it a holy place.

They will build altars.

They will make sacrifices in their own place because I think it's

exactly what President Nelson has taught us about the home being

next to the temple in sacredness.

It is someplace where Holiness happens, and I just think, for me, one of the

most powerful things I learned this week is I need to make holy places

out of my wilderness experiences.

Hard callings, hard relationships, hard medical situations, like when we've

been dealing with chemo, I feel like he almost pushes us into the wilderness.

But in those wilderness moments, I also get a chance to find a holy place, you

know, this center point where I can figure out my faith and I can come to

love God and know Him and see His hand.

When he asks you to go into the wilderness, I think what he's

really doing is inviting you to help create a holy place.

And Lehi and Sariah do, and I loved that part of these first few chapters.

My second spark comes a little bit later in chapter 2.

So this is when they're en route, right?

They're on their way out of the city, heading into the wilderness,

and some of the family is not happy, and they are making it known.

What I think is really powerful in this, This exchange is that in this moment,

when his sons are grumbling against him and have these really hostile feelings

toward him, Lehi elevates, you know, he chooses to see his children afar off.

I just think, you know, we learned about that a little bit in the New

Testament, but it's this idea of like, I'm going to look beyond how you are

today towards what I know you can be, which is exactly what our father in

heaven does for us every single day.

I'm going to look past who you are today, Maria, and trust that you can be.

A lot better.

I love that you see Lehi act in this way, because what he does in this moment,

when I would have been frustrated and kind of commanded and said, this is

what we're doing and you're coming.

He instead.

Elevates and he compliments his sons.

So he basically says to them what he hopes for them to be.

He actually can picture Laman and Lemuel as different men in this

moment, not just because he's a prophet, but because he's a father.

And in this moment, he can see.

uh, far off.

And he says to them, I think you're greater than this.

In fact, I think you can be like this mountain.

I think you can be like this river.

I think it's a river and a valley.

You can go in the notes and learn more about why I love those two

comparisons for these two boys.

But I just think his, he's trying to elevate and he's trying to

comfort himself in that moment to say, no, I see more in you.

I think this is parenting all the time that we're supposed

to come with hope filled eyes.

Remember repentance is all about having a fresh perspective on things.

Lehi demonstrates that for us.

He is coming with fresh eyes and saying to his sons, I still

see this bright future for you.

You could be like this river.

You could be like this valley.

It's powerful.

And the reaction to that powerful spirit driven parental

commentary is more murmuring.

This is what you see in 11.

Now, this is chapter 2, verse 11.

Now this he spake because of the stiff neckedness of Laman and Lemuel.

For behold, they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a

visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem to leave the land

of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious

things, to perish in the wilderness.

And this said he that they had done because of, they said he had done

because of the foolish imaginations of his And thus Laman and Lemuel.

being the eldest, did murmur against their father.

They did murmur because they knew not the dealings of the God that created them.

I love that Nephi tells us the source of a hardened heart.

Their murmuring comes because they don't understand God.

They don't understand who he is, his character, his attributes, his nature.

They don't have that personal relationship, so they can't see clearly.

And I think Lehi, as their parent, knows this.

I think he sees that they have a clouded vision.

They are seeing through a glass darkly, and he wants them to.

Open their eyes.

And the only way they can come to trust him is to know God better.

We know that because we see the contrast in Nephi's words.

So if you look from like 16 and then 19 and 20, this is Nephi.

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless

large in stature, and also having a great desire to know the mysteries

of God, wherefore I did cry unto the Lord, and behold, he did visit me.

and did soften my heart, that I did believe all the words which

had been spoken by my father.

Wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.

And then 19 to 20.

And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying, Blessed art

thou, Nephi, because of thy faith.

For thou hast sought me diligently with lowliness of heart.

And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and

ye shall be led to a land of promise.

Yea, a land which I have prepared for you.

Yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.

This is the contrast to me.

Nephi.

is obedient, even though he doesn't understand fully.

He hasn't seen the visions his dad has seen.

He doesn't have that fire the same way that Lehi does, but he is

obedient because he trusts his dad.

And I think sometimes with us, that's what's required.

You know, sometimes when the Lord asks us to do hard things, I don't think he has

the time or we probably don't have the maturity to process all the reasons why.

So he just says to me, Maria, I need you to do this.

I need you to do it now.

You won't understand it now.

Just go forward.

That's what Nephi does in this moment.

And because he chooses to say, I trust you, dad.

I don't get it, but I trust you.

Because he chooses to do that, the Lord can bless him with his

own light and understanding.

The Lord visits Nephi.

He sees for himself what his father saw.

And I just think that's a huge evidence to me that when I choose to

take steps forward in those moments where I feel like he's asking me

to do something I don't understand.

I am blessed with light.

Not immediately, always.

I think Nephi had to take a few more steps into the wilderness, maybe days or weeks.

But that light came because he trusted in his dad enough.

That light came.

And that's the promise he gives to us as well.

I loved Elder Maxwell.

You can go in the notes and learn more about this full talk.

He has a whole talk about murmuring and another one about Laman and Lemuel.

And I learned boatloads from both those talks.

Here's a quick quote about Laman and Lemuel.

In short, Laman and Lemuel's own lack of character kept them from understanding

the perfect character of God.

No wonder the Prophet Joseph Smith said, If men do not comprehend the character of

God, they cannot comprehend themselves, or they do not comprehend themselves.

Laman and Lemuel did not realize either that a loving God will inevitably be a

tutoring father, who wants his children to be truly happy and to come home.

Not understanding God's dealings sufficiently, Laman and Lemuel

miss the most important attributes of God's character, His love.

The closer we come to God, the easier those moments will be.

When we feel our heart hardening in moments of challenge and trial

and test, we have to remember the character and nature of God.

That's why I think Remember last week when we were talking about how

that visit in 3rd Nephi are the fast growing seeds of the Book of Mormon?

And if you study the miracles of the Gospels, they're those fast

growing seeds of the New Testament.

It helps you know the character and nature and attributes of God.

And when you know that better, your heart softens.

And in these moments of decision, you can Be humble, even lowly of heart,

and receive the light and understanding you need to carry forward in faith.

There's just an epic promise in it.

One of my favorite sparks is spark number three.

I'm calling this passing of the torch, and this is why.

So in, after this last section where Nephi has a visionary experience of his

own with the Lord, and he learns some key things that there is a promised land.

He learns that he's going to be a ruler and a teacher over his brethren.

He learns that His father is indeed a prophet and has been

teaching the words of God.

Like he knows all those promises are true and he comes with that knowledge.

And I imagine he rushes to Lehi, right?

Wouldn't you want to come and tell your dad?

Like, I know, I know for myself, I saw it myself.

What's interesting to me is as soon as Nephi gets to the tent of his father, he

hears about a vision that Lehi has had.

I don't even know you guys, if Nephi gets a chance to tell his dad what he just

experienced with the Lord, he instead.

evidences what he experienced with the Lord in this chapter, and I just love it.

I think this must have just been one of the high points of Lehi's life in these

verses, because basically what Lehi tells Nephi is all about the brass plates, that

there, there is a record that needs to be brought back, that even though they've

gone weeks into the wilderness, now they need to turn around and the sons need

to go on their own back to Jerusalem to retrieve these plates because it has

a record of their fathers and it's got the law written on it and they need it.

And even though.

Nephi's older brothers resisted and murmured and saw it as Lehi's,

you know, opinions and not God's.

Nephi doesn't.

Nephi has this powerful reaction.

It's the one that you probably have memorized.

It's in seven.

I just don't think you can ever read seven in isolation.

So seven says, And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my

father, I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded.

For I know that the Lord gives no commandment unto the children of

men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish

the thing which he commanded them.

Nephi is no longer obeying his father out of You know, a good

hearted son obeying his dad because honor thy father and thy mother.

He is obeying this commandment because of what God promised.

That is the passing of a torch of testimony.

I feel like when Nephi makes his choice, it is evidence to his

dad that he knows for himself.

And I just think it's so weighty.

I think two big things jumped out at me about this verse.

First, I love that when Nephi chooses to articulate his testimony, he

doesn't just say what he believes.

He also says why he believes it.

He believes he can go and do things because he trusts

that God keeps his promises.

I'm like, when I bear my testimony to my kids, I want to do this better.

I don't just want to tell them that, yes, I believe in Christ or

that I believe Christ is merciful.

I want to back that up with, let me tell you why I know he's merciful.

Let me tell you the stories I read in the New Testament about

how he showed mercy to others.

Let me talk to you about.

What I know about Jesus Christ from the Book of Mormon and how

He extends mercy over and over.

That's how I know Jesus Christ and I know He's merciful.

Do you know what I mean?

I love how Nephi captures both in this moment.

And so I think the resulting impact is what you see in 8.

So it says, And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words,

he was exceedingly glad for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord.

I don't know that Lehi ever knows exactly what happened to his son in that

vision, but he can see it in his face.

The same way, you know, when Hannah went out on a mission and had spiritual

experiences, I don't think I ever got to feel or know all the details of

what happened to her on her mission.

I just could see it in her face when she got home.

I knew what she knew, and that is one of those moments where

you as a parent get to Rejoice.

You know, you don't rest, because I don't think you ever really

rest as a parent, but you rejoice.

And Lehi does in this moment, because the testimony that he's been kindling

and building now just got picked up.

In fact, I love what you see in 9 as well.

And I, Nephi, and my brethren took our journey in the wilderness with our

tents to go to the land of Jerusalem.

The real way Nephi evidences that he knows God lives and will keep his promises

is that he picks up his tents and his brothers who are grumbly and hard and

says, we got this dad, we're going to go.

You know, when you go, the power of God rushes in because Nephi

doesn't know everything yet.

He knows almost nothing yet other than God keeps his promises.

This is what God wants from us.

Here we go.

I just love that.

I love it as a parent.

I love it as a disciple.

I just think there's power in it.

I also think Nephi is taking on this role as a leader and a teacher of Brothers.

It would have been, I think, to some extent, easier for

Nephi to say, Dad, I got this.

I'm going on my own.

But that was not the direction that Lehi got.

As a prophet, he got direction that all the brothers were supposed to go.

So Nephi, as a follower of the prophet, says, I'm going to take my grumbly

brothers, who never pull their weight, and I'm going to take them with me.

Because I think Nephi knows something about their heart.

Now that he understands God better, he understands them better, too.

I learned this from President Eyring.

Let me read you this quote.

He says, the more we have the doctrine of Christ in our lives and hearts,

the more we feel greater love and sympathy for those who have never had

the blessings of faith in Jesus Christ or are struggling to maintain it.

It is hard to keep the Lord's commandments without faith and trust in him as

some lose their faith in the Savior.

They may even attack his counsel.

calling good evil and evil good.

To avoid this tragic error, it is crucial that any personal revelation

we receive be constant with the teachings of the Lord and his prophets.

Brothers and sisters, it takes faith to be obedient to the Lord's commandments.

It takes faith in Jesus Christ to serve others for him.

It takes faith to go out and teach his gospel and offer it to people who may

not feel the voice of the Spirit or may even deny the reality of his message.

But as we exercise our faith in Christ and following his living prophet,

faith will increase across the world.

I think Nephi gets this about his brothers.

He can see that they can't see clearly because they don't understand

the nature and character of God.

So he is more sympathetic, I think, when they bristle.

He is understanding when they murmur.

He doesn't like it and he sure hopes to change it.

But he gets where that comes from, and I think what's powerful about

Nephi is, as a ruler and a teacher over them, he's going to continually

try to help them understand God.

Because instead of just correcting their behavior, if he can help them

understand God, and God's promises and God's scriptures and God's prophets,

then they will understand how to move forward in faith like he does.

They'll be on common ground.

So that's going to be his focus from this point forward.

Spark number four I call Redefining Failure, and here's why.

This is covering that section of scripture where you learn about

their attempts to get the plates.

Multiple times the brothers tried different strategies to go in and get

these plates from Laban, and he refuses.

In fact, it ends with them getting chased for their lives out of the city.

Doesn't go well.

And I found myself really sympathetic to Nephi because he's trying so hard.

You know, when they first go to the city and their first attempt

is, you know, beginning, they draw straws, which is basically just

a way to kind of know God's will.

That was their tradition of the day is if you drew the short straw,

that meant that God willed you to be the one and you'd probably have

the most success out of anybody to accomplish the work ahead of you.

So when Laman goes and Laman shuts him down.

I bet Nephi wondered, you know, like, why didn't you tell me?

In fact, the same thing happens on the second one, but even more intensified.

Because on the second attempt, Nephi is the one that has the idea.

So he says to his brothers, hey, we've got riches back at home.

Remember, we had to leave all of our treasures behind.

Let's go get those and we'll offer a trade.

Let's take them to Laban.

We know he likes shiny things.

Let's trade.

And so they do, all of them go and they get the belongings and

then they go into Laban's house and they They are chased out.

Laban wants that stuff so much that he's willing to break the law of Moses and

commit murder in order to acquire it.

And I just found myself sympathizing with Nephi, because I have taught my kids

and myself the story of green lights.

So, you know, you probably have said this to your kids too, where basically

when it comes to Revelation, oftentimes I think the Lord is giving us a chance

to do what we think is best, right?

And that he promises.

If you don't hear from me, keep going forward.

I teach this with green and red lights, basically saying that if, if I don't

hear anything else, if I don't see a red light, I should assume it's green.

And if there's something I'm going to do that's wrong, the Lord will give

me a bright red light and I'll know.

And I teach that you guys, and I found myself thinking with Nephi.

Where's his red light?

You know, like when Laman was the one that drew the short straw,

why wasn't there a red light?

Something that said, actually, no, it's Nephi that's gonna pull it off.

Why, when Nephi has this great idea that was probably, you know,

brought on by the Spirit to bribe Laban, why doesn't that work?

And why did they have to waste all that time and Why didn't he get a red light?

And my heart went out to him.

Cause I feel like I've had those moments where I'm like, you didn't protect me

from this failure, this, this falling.

Why didn't you protect me?

And what I love is as I was studying these verses, you guys, understandings

came that the reason there were no red lights is because he was learning

at every step of this process.

I don't think the Lord put thoughts in Laban's heart to push these guys

out or to chase them down and have them murdered, but I do think he can

take any situation that we're in and make it work together for our good.

So when I looked at this all again, in fact, when I talked to

my YSAs about this, I gave them the comparison of Ocean's Eleven.

That's what I've written in my margins.

Because in any of those heist movies, you know how they have that

sequence of scenes where they're doing some reconnaissance work?

And so they go to the casino and they like, see which employees

are working which station.

And then they watch the padlock and see what, what numbers get punched.

And then they check to see when, you know, the catering staff comes in.

They do all this reconnaissance work to learn things before

they ever go in for the big.

moment, the big heist.

And that's how I read these chapters.

I think each of these encounters with Laban teaches them things.

None of these got red lights because they, the Lord could

use this and teach them things.

When Laman goes in the first time to Laban's court, he

knows what Laban looks like.

He knows where his house is.

He learns about Laban's greed.

Like he, learn some key things that he can take back to his brothers

and add to the reconnaissance pile.

When the second attempt fails and they bring all the riches in, now all

four of them know where the palace is.

They know how to get in and how to get out.

They know what, maybe what Laban's armor looks like.

They certainly know what his face looks like and what he sounds like.

So all of a sudden, when Nephi, down the road on the third attempt, needs

to know what Laban sounds like and needs to know what that armor looks

like and All of a sudden he knows.

So I found myself thinking, these aren't failures.

These are stepping stones.

The Lord can take any mortal circumstances, things that we chose

or things that agency just causes to happen for us because of other

people's choices, and he can make all things work together for our good.

That's what I see in this story.

It is oceans 11, but multiplied.

It is, he has all the information he needs to accomplish what

needed to be accomplished.

And so he goes forward in faith.

If you go on the notes, you can read this great talk from Lindsey Robbins,

where he talks about basically why good things happen to leaders.

And I loved his four points.

He basically said first, sometimes the Lord knows that these things give us

experience and shall be for our good.

Second to allow us to taste the bitter that we may know, the

prize know and prize the good.

Third, to prove that the battle is the Lord's, and it's only by

his grace that we can accomplish his work and become like him.

And fourth, to help us develop and hone SCO scores of Christ-like

attributes that cannot be refined except through opposition and

in the furnace of affliction.

So amid a life of stumbling blocks and imperfection, we are

all grateful for second chances.

That's how I see this story.

Now, it is a story of second chances where God says.

You made this call and I didn't stop you because there are things we can learn and

let me help you take those things that you learned on this failure and help it

build to the success that is inevitably coming because I keep my promises.

Spark number five, I'm calling the blinders of unbelief and it kind of

revolves around that moment between the second and third attempt.

When the brothers of Nephi attack.

Basically, they are so angry.

I think even humiliated.

And they're angry at their father and they're angry at Nephi.

I think they're probably even angry at God that they are in this state and

that they are failing time and again.

So remember, they don't have the sight of Nephi.

They haven't kept the commandments.

They don't have the spirit prompting them.

They don't believe in prophets.

And so they Struggle to see they see through a glass darkly and the reaction

they have is violence and so they come and they beat Nephi and Sam with rods

and in the middle of that beating an Angel comes and reminds them who Nephi

is that he is he will be there ruler.

He will be someone who leads them because of their unbelief.

That's why they've sold their birthright and they can't have that, that position

anymore, that preeminent position to lead a people because they aren't worthy of it.

They sold it when they murmured and turned against God.

And so he's making that really clear.

What I think is interesting is, as soon as the angel leaves, they murmur again.

I know all of us have kind of been baffled by this couple of verses, but I think

it makes sense when you don't believe.

This is why miracles don't convert well, because they don't have that lasting

hold unless you have that well of faith and hope and even charity to pull from.

And Laman and Lemuel are in shallow waters when it comes to their faith,

and so they It doesn't hold them.

Here's what, how it plays out.

So this is chapter three, verses 30 and 31.

And after the angel had spoken unto us, he departed.

And after the angel had departed layman and Leal again began to murmur, saying,

how is it possible that the Lord will deliver layman into our hands?

Behold, he is a mighty man and he can command 50.

Yay.

He can even slay 50.

Why not us?

It's the why not us part that sparked multiple times as I

was going through these verses.

For me, this is the saddest phrase in this whole week's chapters, one

of the saddest in the whole Book of Mormon, because I feel like what these

brothers evidence in this moment is.

They see themselves as the same as everybody else.

They've lost sight of the fact that they are children of the covenant.

They've lost sight of the fact that they are disciples of Christ.

They've lost sight of the fact that they are a child of God.

And a child of God never is the same as anyone else.

A faithful, covenant keeping child of God who believes in Jesus Christ has power.

They have an opportunity to rise.

They are not the same as everyone else.

They don't need to be afraid.

To me, this is a lot like the situation we saw with David and

Goliath in the Old Testament.

Remember when David talks to his brothers and he has the faith that God will

preserve his people, that even if he walks out there alone against Goliath,

he'll have the strength he needs and he can defeat This gigantic enemy.

And his brothers laugh at him.

And they mock him.

And even his dad doesn't believe.

And King Saul tries to put armor of an adult on him.

And David's like, I, this isn't me.

I, that's not gonna help me.

I I just need God.

If I have God, and I take my smooth stones, and I go out into that

valley of Elah, I can be successful.

And that's what I think Lehi wanted for his sons.

I think when, what I want for my kids, my daughters, and my sons, is

when they face these insurmountable obstacles, whether it be a Goliath,

or an army of 50, in whatever metaphor you see those, I think what I want

them to feel is what Nephi felt.

He doesn't need to be afraid.

Because he knows that he, plus God, equals enough, every time.

He is a child of the covenant, he's a disciple of Christ,

and he is a child of God.

And he will not be left alone.

When he's on God's errand, and he's doing what the Lord prompted him to

do, he'll have the help he needs.

And so he can face mountains and say, move.

That's what happens in these verses.

For me, one of my favorite conference talks about this

concept comes from Elder Bragg.

It's from a couple conferences ago where he talked about Christ like poise.

That's what I feel like Nephi has in this moment.

He is unafraid.

It's what the stripling warriors have when they face that gigantic army.

It's what David, little David, had in the Valley of Elah against Goliath

and scores of other scripture stories.

They have poise that comes from understanding that Christ

is on my side, and if Christ is on my side, I cannot fall.

So this is what he says.

He says, if you go in the, in the If you go on the conference talk, you

can read Elder Poise's full talk, but I love these verses from Nephi.

This is where he demonstrates it.

It's in chapter 4, verses 1 and 2.

And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying, Let

us go up again unto Jerusalem.

Let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord.

For behold, he is mightier than all the earth.

Then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, or even his tens of thousands?

Therefore let us go up.

Let us be strong like unto Moses.

For he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea, and they divided.

Hither and thither, and our fathers came through out of captivity on dry ground,

and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea.

Nephi, we'll talk about this in the object lessons too, but he just, he

knows his scriptures, and because he knows his scriptures, he is unafraid.

He has poise in this moment.

That's why we have to teach our kids the scriptures.

It's not just so they know the stories and they have comfort, it's

so that in these moments, those anthems can come back to them.

They'll think about Moses, they'll think about David, they'll think about

those key characters in the scriptures and they will say, no, I can do this.

Me plus God equals unstoppable.

Nephi knew.

I call spark number six, taking courage.

Something about that verb choice that I really like.

Let me tell you why.

So this kind of comes at the end of that story.

So after Nephi has acquired the plates, so he's slayed Laban.

You can go in the notes.

I know I'm kind of jumping things, but I promise in the notes, you can learn

a lot more about all that happens in the middle, but he has slayed Laban.

He has put on his armor.

He's walked to the treasury, met Zoram, got the plates, and now Zoram

is following him out of the city.

In fact, if you ask me, I really think that walk from where Laban died to

the treasury is probably the scariest part of Nephi's whole experience.

Not walking into the city alone, but actually that distance.

Because in that moment he has Nephi, or he has Laban's armor on, meaning like

he's wearing evidence of the crime and he's going into a treasury and he's You

know, pretending to be someone he is not.

I just think that must have been terrifying, except for the fact that

this is Nephi, and now he's heard the voice, the voice of the Lord,

and now he knows for himself, and now he has seen Laban be given to him.

In fact, go in the notes, you can learn more about how that plays out,

but he has come to an understanding of why he is doing this work and

what, what needs to happen next.

So he's got certainty and miracles flow, you know, somehow, miraculously,

he fits in the armor of Laban.

If he's an exceedingly young kid and now can fit in the armor of Laban,

I don't know what happened, like some Captain America type situation.

I don't know, his voice changes like to the point where Laban's

servant assumes this is Laban.

It's, it's miraculous to me.

But it's on the way out of the city that, that the spark

lit up the brightest for me.

This is what happens.

So this is when Nephi invites Zoram to be a part of their family because basically

Zoram puts them in a very delicate spot where Nephi was allowed to kill

Laban because it was directed by God.

You can go in the notes and learn more, but that was a clear direction.

He is not directed to kill Zoram, but Zoram is a risk.

If Zoram goes back to the city, people will know that they took the plates.

People will know that Nephi killed Laban and people will come.

And so he's a liability and Nephi is, I'm sure, trying to figure out

what the Lord would have him do.

What he chooses to do.

is so powerful to me.

This is in 32 through 34 of chapter 4.

And it came to pass, that I spake with him, that if he would hearken unto my

words, as the Lord liveth, and as I live, these are solemn covenants, solemn

oaths, even so, that if he would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life.

And I spake unto him with an oath, that he need not fear, that he would

be a free man like unto us, if he would go down into the wilderness with us.

And also I spake unto him, saying, surely the Lord hath

commanded us to do this thing.

Shall we be not diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?

Therefore, if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father,

thou shalt have place with us.

What I love in this moment is Nephi doesn't just command him

to come under threat of his life.

He doesn't command him to come and tell him he's going to be a slave.

He doesn't keep him in his current social station.

What he does is he elevates Zoram and he says, if you come with

us into the wilderness, you will have an equal place with us.

This means he's going to be A son, a son like Nephi and Laman and Lemuel and Sam.

He will have inheritance.

He will have a name.

He will have freedom.

He is offering him all that he has.

That's the piece I loved.

Nephi, in this moment, invites Zoram.

to all that Nephi has because he'll be a, a joined heir with Nephi

under Lehi and, and that plays out.

Zoram takes this opportunity and he goes forward.

That's the part that caught my eye.

So if you go in 35, you can see Zoram's choice.

When Nephi chooses to handle him in this way and to teach

him this way, Zoram responds.

And it came to pass that Zoram did take courage that those

are, that's the praise I love.

He took courage at the words which I spake.

Now Zoram was the name of the servant, and he promised that he would go down

into the wilderness unto our father.

Yet he also made an oath unto us that he would tarry with us from that time forth.

And now they have peace.

They don't have to be afraid anymore.

They don't have to be watching their backs because the Lord

has taken care of all things.

As long as Nephi was willing to offer up all that he has in order for Zoram

to come, then the Lord could preserve and protect and make them feel safe.

And I I just thought there were so many, you know, types and

shadows with the Savior there.

Um, essentially, what Nephi knows that Zoram probably doesn't know yet is that

there's no real alternative for Zoram.

He goes back to the city and that city burns.

You know, that city is destroyed.

Nephi knows that firsthand now because he heard it from Lehi, and he had

his own experience with the Savior.

And he knows that if Zoram goes back, He'll be destroyed.

And so in reality, this is his only option.

But he gives Zoram the choice.

He says, I want you to have all that I have.

I will give you a covenant and a promise right here that you can

have it if you will just Come.

And when Zoram chooses to take courage, to hold on to those privileges,

to grab hold of the opportunity in front of him, his whole life changes.

Isn't that a beautiful metaphor for what the Savior offers?

Jerusalem will burn.

Every other alternative, every other choice that is not the

Savior's plan ends in disaster.

But he offers us this choice and says, I want to give you all that I have.

I want you to come home with me and be a son just like I am.

Come home.

I can't make you do it, but I want you here.

And when we choose to take that, when we choose to take hold of

that courage, we change the whole trajectory of not just our lives,

but everybody who comes after us.

There's a great talk from Elder Cook all about Zoram.

Well, a piece of it is all about Zoram.

This is what he said.

Zoram suffered many afflictions in his new life.

Yet he pressed forward with faith.

We have no indication that Zoram clung to his past or harbored

resentment toward God or others.

He was a true friend to Nephi, a prophet, and he and his seed dwelt in freedom

and prosperity in the promised land.

What a huge, what had been a huge obstacle in Zoram's path eventually

led to rich blessings due to his faithfulness and willingness to

keep, just keep going with faith.

That's Zoram for me.

He chose to take hold of those promises, to live up to these new privileges that

were offered him, and because he does.

His whole trajectory changes.

Okay, time for spark number seven.

I call this one Soraya's Boat Full of Fish, but it'll take me

a second to help you understand why that's the title I gave it.

Basically, what happens at the very end of this story is Soraya and Lehi

have been waiting in the wilderness for their sons to come home.

Remember, they had traveled at least a couple weeks into the wilderness

when they, when Lehi got this revelation to send the sons back.

So that means it's probably two, maybe even four weeks before the

sons make it all the way back home.

Possibly more.

And that whole month, Soraya is worried.

Lehi, I have no doubt, is as well.

But remember, Lehi had a vision.

He had an experience with the Lord for himself, and he knows some things.

And Soraya, to me, represents those who don't.

There's a lot of these examples in scripture where you have a couple

who don't get the same revelation, at least not at the same time.

So, for example, one of the reasons this sparks for me is when we were in

the Old Testament and we were studying about Abraham and Isaac, I found

myself always wondering, Oh, I wish we had Sarah's part of this story.

You know, I wonder if she knew, I wonder if she understood what

was happening when her husband and her son walked up Mount Moriah.

You know, they had to take a big journey to get there, but I

wondered how much she understood.

And I found myself thinking, why does this happen?

Why doesn't Soraya get the same kind of vision that Lehi got?

It's her son's.

Why doesn't she get to know?

And I don't, I don't know the answer to that.

I do know that it doesn't always go in that order.

For example, there are times in scripture where The women get answers

first, like with Mary and Joseph.

Mary gets an understanding first and she gets to choose first.

Same thing happens with Eve and Adam.

She gets an understanding first and makes a choice and then

gets to talk to Adam about it.

Like, I don't think we should see any unfairness here.

This is just how this particular story plays out in this marriage.

What is powerful to me is what happens next.

She basically struggles because, like Sarah of the Old Testament,

Sariah, when she sent her sons, put all of her sons on the altar.

She doesn't know how the Lord will save them.

She doesn't have the same clear witness that her husband does.

She didn't see it the same way.

And so she has to trust in His word.

And that's hard.

It's hard, especially after time has passed and worry

sets in and your mortal fears.

Spin and so she's showing the repercussions of those that time that

where she's worried and she's afraid and she doesn't know for certain and I just

think we have to give a lot of sympathy to her because this isn't just her only sent

these are all her sons that she's offering to the Lord in order to send them back.

Because remember, Lehi's been hunted.

He's hated.

He's now left his position.

They don't have the friends they used to have.

They don't have the popularity they used to have.

His sons would not be treated well, let alone the fact that they've got

this gigantic journey to cross both ways that is totally treacherous.

So in any way, she's bound to be afraid.

And she voices that in the verses.

So if you look in verses one and two of chapter five, it says this.

And it came to pass, that after we had come down into the wilderness

unto our father, behold, he was filled with joy, and also my mother,

Saria, was exceedingly glad, for she had truly mourned because of us.

For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness, and she had also

complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man, saying,

Behold, thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are

no more, and we perish in the wilderness.

I mean, that's as dark as it gets for a mother, right?

That you think you've lost all your kids and you have no hope of making it,

the two of you out in the wilderness together, and you're just despondent.

That's where she is.

What I love is how Lehi reacts, because in marriage, this happens all the time.

One of us is going to be strong and steadfast, and one of us is

wavering, and we strengthen each other, and we take turns throughout

our marriage on where we are.

And in this moment, Lehi comforts, but he doesn't sugarcoat.

He says, I know this calling is hard.

I know it requires big things of us.

To me, just between you and me, this felt a lot like some of the conversations

Jason and I had had when he was serving as bishop, because it's a hard isolating

calling at times for it was for me and there we have a lot of conversations

where it's like i know this is hard and it's putting a lot of weight on your

shoulders and i'm he basically said like this is just what the lord's asked me

to do we got to do this together and we rally and that's what you see lehi

do with soraya they rally together lehi chooses to comfort her rather than to be

offended by her And I felt like Jason did that really well in our marriage, too.

This is in 6.

And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying, I

know that I am a visionary man.

For if I had not seen the things of God in a vision, that I should

have not known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem,

and had perished with my brethren.

But behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in the which things I do rejoice.

Yea, I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring

them down again unto us in the wilderness.

This is his looking far off.

They're not in the land of promise yet.

He has no idea how they're going to get to the land of promise.

It's going to be years and years until they get there.

And this is him saying, no, I can see it.

Honey, I can even taste it.

You know, like he knows for a certainty and he knows she doesn't know.

So he's helping her see.

I think this is what marriage is all about.

It's, it's helping each other see the promises of far

off and hold tight to them.

And she chooses in this moment to lean in to his promises.

But what I love is when her boys come home.

Because then she knows.

She no longer just has to believe in the words of the prophet.

She has the evidence in front of her that he's a prophet.

Because her boys, against all odds, and Laban's forces and

everything else, come home.

And can you imagine what this feels like to her?

She Sees all four of them come home safely and a bonus son and

she feels assured in those moments.

It reminded me of the New Testament.

This was really interesting.

You can go to learn more about my thought process here, but in the New Testament,

in almost all the Gospels, maybe even all of them, I can't remember, there's this

one miracle that's cited over and over and over again, and it's that Peter's

mother in law was healed by the Savior.

And I found myself, when we were in the New Testament, wondering why

that's such a noteworthy miracle.

There's very few miracles that are mentioned in all the Gospels,

or the majority of the Gospels.

So I found myself thinking like, What is it about Peter's mother

in law that's such a big deal?

And it wasn't until he was in Sunday school in our ward.

They were teaching that lesson.

Um.

And an understanding came.

He was the teacher who I love.

He was asking about our personal experiences, about

when miracles are just for us.

And it sparked this understanding in me of what if this miracle

was her boat full of fish?

I don't know Peter's wife's name.

But what if it was her boat full of fish moment?

She didn't get to see the boat full of fish.

She didn't get to walk on the water.

She probably didn't get to follow the Savior around Galilee.

She had other roles and responsibilities that were, she was needed for.

But she needed to know for herself.

And so I feel like when the Savior Himself probably comes to her home and heals

her home, it's her boat full of fish.

She knows.

And she can then send her husband out to do whatever the Lord needs him to

do, because she knows for herself.

To me, when her sons, Soraya's sons, you know, Cross that

crest and head into their camp.

It's her boat full of fish.

She knows.

She knows for a certainty.

Not just that God loves her and will watch out for her family, but that her

husband is indeed a prophet and that his work is necessary and called by God.

That is a profound gift that the Lord gives her when this moment happens.

In fact, I love the way it's described.

So we look at 7 and 8.

And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold, their joy was

full, and my mother was comforted.

And she spake, saying, Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my

husband to flee into the wilderness.

Yea, I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons,

and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them the power

whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them.

And after this manner of language did she speak.

This is a matriarch to me.

She is leading her family by showing her vulnerability and saying,

Here's what I know for certain, and let me tell you how I know it.

This is a testimony that reverberates through generations because of

how she chose to phrase this.

She knows of a surety now.

She believed before and now she knows.

And there is something so powerful about a mother who knows.

And I just think You can't, you can't combat that kind of testimony, and she's

gonna need to lean on it again and again.

And imagine how this felt to Lehi, to hear his wife testify

about him being a prophet of God.

Because now he knows, now their marriage can like, progress faster.

In fact, I love what they do next.

So if you look at 9, And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly.

They, the couple, rejoiced exceedingly.

And did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord.

And they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.

Together, they They are united because they needed each other.

They will always need each other.

And I love that in this new setting, you know, where they're out in the

wilderness and they only have a tent, you know, another translation of tent

is tabernacle, they have created a holy place where they can worship together.

There's no court of the women, there's no boundaries or bricks

or places to keep them apart.

They are together in their worship.

I don't know what that looks like and I'm not pretending I do, but they're together.

when they offer these sacrifices to the Lord.

And that, to me, is one of the sweetest parts of being pushed into the wilderness.

Because in those wilderness moments, especially in your

marriage, you come close.

Come close to each other, and you come close to God.

And that gives them the power they need to last.

There's a great talk from Elder Christofferson in this week's notes.

You can find it.

It's from April 2015.

He was talking about marriage This is one of the parts I really liked.

He says each individual carries the divine image, but it is in It is in

the matrimonial union of male and female as one that we attain perhaps

the most complete meaning of our having been made In the image of God male

and female neither we nor any other mortal can alter this divine order of

matrimony It is not a human invention.

Such marriage is indeed from above, from God, and it is as much

a part of the plan of happiness as the fall and the atonement.

I just thought that was like a power packed statement of the value of marriage.

And I love that Lehi and Sariah evidence it in this chapter.

As vulnerable and weak and hard as it was, they evidence the power of

marriage and why it's ordained of God.

I just loved chapter 5.

Time for the question portion of the insights video.

So this is my hope is just to get ideas flowing in your mind.

And I think good questions prompt the spirit because you'll get

your own insights and your own understandings that are filtered

through your life experiences.

And those are so much better than just hearing mine.

So I'm just hoping to plan some ideas and start some really good conversations.

So here's question number one.

So first off, this comes from First Nephi one.

Verse one, the verse you probably have memorized.

It talks all about Nephi having goodly parents.

And I've always thought I knew what that phrase meant.

It's one of those phrases.

I just assumed they were nice people.

And if you read in the verses, you can kind of see that they

gave him a good education.

He knew languages and other things.

But I guess my question is after this week of study.

What else do you think goodly parents means?

He writes this 30 plus years after this event occurs.

And who knows how many years?

I haven't done the math to figure out since Lehi passed away.

What does he mean by goodly parents based on what you read this week?

Where do you see goodliness in Lehi and Sariah?

individually and together as a married couple.

I'd love to hear your answers.

Second question.

This one comes from that same chapter, but verse 20, this is where you're going

to hear how Lehi was cast out, how they mocked him and they tried to get rid of

him the same way they did other prophets.

And then you hear this little addition at the end of the verse.

It says, But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender

mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen because

of their faith, to make them mighty, even unto the power of deliverance.

So my question here is, what are the tender mercies?

You know, there's that great talk from 2005, I think from Elder Bednar,

where he talks all about what tender mercies are, but what ones did you

specifically see this week in their story?

And how is it power of deliverance?

You know, it seems like the Lord Delivered the plates.

The Lord delivered the sons.

The Lord did all those things.

How is he giving the power of deliverance to this family by their faith?

That's what I want to know.

And if you're up for a bonus question, I think it's really interesting

how he says they're unto all.

I really think.

The blessings and the power that God gives us with our obedience spills over.

I don't think it just blesses us, I think it spills over to all sorts

of people who are in our sphere.

I think it's the Doctrine and Covenants that talks about this, where he causes

the light to shine on the good and the evil, you know, that's the Lord's

way, so I guess, I wonder, as a bonus question, where do you see that happening

with this family, especially this week?

Okay, third question.

This is all about the tent situation.

So the very fact that they have to go out into the wilderness, they have to dwell in

a tent and change their whole lifestyle.

I thought it was really interesting to read this week's study

alongside Elder Stevenson's talk.

So he was trying to teach us how to have more holy experiences, more, more

revelation, more understandings, more appreciation of our spiritual gifts.

And he gave us these four tips.

So he says you should stand in holy places, stand with holy people.

Testify of holy truths and listen to the Holy Spirit.

And I thought it was really interesting to read these verses with that lens.

In fact, you might even want to go and mark up your scriptures to show where you

see those things blessing this family.

Almost as a reinforcement from what the apostle taught us at conference.

My question here is, how do you see these ideas, these four things?

exemplified in Lehi's family's story, especially this week.

Tell me what you have in your mind.

Okay, the next one.

This comes from First Nephi chapter 2, verse 22.

This is where the Lord has come to Nephi, who is the youngest brother,

and he tells him what to expect.

That his father was a true prophet, that he's going to be a ruler

and a teacher over his brothers.

Even the fact that, you know, if they choose the right, then there will be

Blessings that come to his posterity and the posterities of his brother, brothers.

And I thought it was interesting that ruler and a teacher combination.

I guess I want to know what you think the difference is between

being a ruler and a teacher.

And then also, why are they together?

Why does Nephi need to be both of those things?

I have some thoughts and ideas.

You can read some of those in the notes, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What is a ruler?

What is a teacher?

What's the difference?

And why are they often given as a role together?

Most leadership callings.

I mean both, and I'm curious to know why.

Okay.

Last question.

So, after expressing gratitude and making sacrifices, Lehi

and Nephi study the scriptures.

We didn't get to this part.

It's at the very end of chapter five, but they study those brass plates.

I do love that they give sacrifices first before they even crack open the

plates, you know, before they even decide what's in there, they express

profound gratitude that they've been kept safe and that they have this record.

And then they study, you know, this father and son pour over these plates

and learn about their genealogy.

They learn about the laws and the ordinances and, you know, even

prophecies of current prophets like Jeremiah, they're in these plates.

And I guess my question is, well, you see what happens with.

with Lehi in this moment.

One of my favorite moments in this is when he reads about his family line.

He learns that he is a descendant of Joseph, like Joseph in Egypt, Joseph,

you know, Pharaoh's court, Joseph.

What's powerful to me about that connection is, it's even in the

verses, Lehi himself kind of describes this, or I guess Nephi, in Lehi's

words, says basically that This is someone who had to leave his family.

In fact, he was pushed out of his family and sold, you know, similar

to Lehi who was driven out of his city and threatened with death.

He leaves in order to save his family, not just like his, you

know, big group of brothers, but all the family that comes later.

And don't you think that would have been so comforting to Lehi to read that

that was his family line that somebody else in his family line had to do.

Just what Leah has been asked to do.

And what I love about these verses is The Spirit pours in.

As soon as Lehi knows his family story and he understands who he is, the

Spirit pours in and prophecy comes out.

I just think it's awesome to see.

This is the reason we do family history, you guys.

I feel like not just that we know the stories of our ancestors and

know who their names, but that we perform ordinances so that we are

tied together, sealed forever.

So I guess my question is, when have you seen that happen?

How does studying your history pour out blessings?

When have you seen the Spirit?

Surge into your life because family history has been a part whether it's

in finding names and research or in the temple itself Tell me when that has

happened for you, and I would love to hear your stories We're gonna get to the

creative video here in just a second, but before we wrap up, I just wanted

to draw your eyes to one last verse.

In fact, the very end of the very last verse is, this is in the end of chapter 5

when Nephi talks about these brass plates being such a blessing to their children.

That will be something that will be passed on and it will be a blessing to them.

What I loved about it is, Nephi doesn't have children at this point in time.

In fact, he doesn't even know how he's gonna have a wife yet.

I guess when he writes the records, he does, but at this point in time,

Those are promises afar off still.

He doesn't know how that's going to come about.

But he chooses to believe.

He chooses to see what is not there and to trust.

I think that's the whole message of not just this week's study, but all

the weeks of the Book of Mormon.

The reason I think I need to be in these verses and to really study

and search them is because it helps me see Promises are far off.

It helps me live as though those promises are fulfilled now, you know, I

think I choose to be like Nephi and to say, I don't have those promises yet.

He doesn't have a wife.

He doesn't have kids yet, but he chooses to live as though he does because he knows

the promises of God are always fulfilled.

It's one of my favorite messages of the Book of Mormon.

In fact, you hear it resounding out in Alma.

We'll get to these chapters, but I love Alma 37, 17, for he will fulfill all his

promises, which he shall make unto you.

For he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

The Book of Mormon is a witness of the promises fulfilled to our fathers.

It is also a witness of the promises that will be fulfilled to us, either

in this life or the life to come.