Welcome back, you guys.

This is week three of Our Mothers Knew It, and this week we get to

go into some really good chapters.

So, we left off last week, the boys have gotten the plates from Jerusalem, they're

back at camp and they're studying them.

Lehi is studying, Nephi is studying, and they're getting these.

Beautiful revelations.

I feel like that almost sets the stage for what's gonna happen this

week because in this week's study we hear that pinnacle revelation, that

tree of life vision that Lehi has.

We don't get to get all the interpretation yet, that's gonna come in a subsequent

week, but this week you get to hear it the way Nephi heard it, without

interpretation, without explanation, just hearing the vision and trying

to wrestle with understanding it.

So I really love that we're getting these in chunks.

I also love the chapters that bookend the vision of the Tree of Life.

Because on either side, you get explanation from Nephi about the small

plates, why he wrote the small plates the way he did, how he's following

the commandments of God, where he gets great insights from those bookends.

I also think that little chapter in the middle, right before the vision,

you have this experience of the boys going back to Jerusalem again, but

this time to talk to Ishmael's family, to bring wives into the wilderness so

that they can begin these families.

And I loved the fact that that chapter comes first, because I really believe

that exaltation is a family matter.

And these big weighty visionary experiences that teach us all about the

plan of salvation and God's grace and the love of Jesus Christ and all those things.

They sink deeper into your soul when you're beginning a family, I think.

And so I think these boys are now prepared and ready for this visionary

experience and, and it's powerful.

You're going to love this week's chapters, not just because what they teach Nephi

and what Lehi says, but because of.

The way they help us.

I can't tell you the number of conference talks and BYU devotionals that I read

this week about the Tree of Life vision.

There are bullet loads of talks that center on this visionary experience,

because it's not something that just impacted their life in the

Book of Mormon, it impacts us today.

All of us are experiencing journeys.

All of us are given guides, you know, rods to hold on to, and paths

to follow, and all of us encounter myths of darkness, and the mocking

and jeering of the world that comes from the great and spacious building.

All of us encounter those on a big macro level, and also just in our

daily efforts to do what is right.

And I think this week's chapters help you know how to endure it well.

And probably above all other things, this week's chapters teach

you why it's worth it to endure.

Why we want to get to that tree and who we want to be with us in that process.

I just think you're going to love it.

So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

It's time to get started.

All right, you guys, let me share just seven of the sparks that

jumped out at me this week, but honestly, there were so many more.

You can't study a vision like Lehi's vision of the tree of life and not, not

catch your eye on a whole bunch of things.

But I wanted to zero in on seven that I could dig a little deeper into.

The first one hits me in chapter seven.

So in chapter six, you're going to see Nephi introduce the small plates

and talk about why he's writing it.

He's fulfilling the commandments of God.

Then in seven we go back into the storyline.

This is where they're directed to go back into Jerusalem to get Ishmael's family.

I just think it's kind of fascinating when you look at it.

This is, the brothers aren't murmuring on the way this time.

I know it could be that they're eager to have wives and see things progress

that way, but I think it also could be that their hearts are a little

different on the way back to Jerusalem.

You know, they've experienced the last time when they thought there was no hope,

they thought there was no way this could work, and Nephi showed them that it was

possible, that with God, all things are possible, because they came home with

the plates and celebrated as a family, offered sacrifices, offered gratitude.

Somehow in the interim, things start to shift.

So when they go back to get Ishmael's family, there's this

tender mercy that unfolds.

What I love about it is, remember last week we were talking about how

Nephi said, Lehi's life was hard, his calling was hard, but there were

these tender mercies along the way.

For me, one of those tender mercies is this week, when they

go to get Ishmael's family.

Because it certainly seems like they've been prepared.

I don't know the backstory, I don't know if these families knew each other before,

if they're related or, I don't know.

But somehow, Ishmael's family, their hearts have been softened

by the Lord and they eagerly come.

And don't you think that would have been just such a relief to Nephi?

That, I wonder if the whole way back to Jerusalem, they're

Thinking of different strategies.

Remember, it took them three different attempts to get the brass plates.

So I wonder if they were trying to think of all the ways they could persuade

or cajole or bribe this family to come with them into the wilderness.

And when they get there, the problem is solved.

It just reminded me of Elder Koch's talk at conference.

Remember when he talks about being in a taxi cab and he's about to

get on a plane to try and solve this big, weighty business problem.

And by the time he gets there, the problem has solved itself.

I just think That's the Lord's way.

Sometimes he asks us to wrestle and make mistakes and learn and, you

know, we have a brass plate situation.

And sometimes we have a situation like this where he softens hearts and

the solution just presents itself.

What's hard for Nephi is it doesn't last.

So on the way back from receiving this incredible blessing of this

family coming with them, on the way back, their hearts start to harden.

I think the further they step away from Jerusalem.

The harder it is for Laman and Lemuel to want to keep going into the wilderness.

They probably felt the comforts of Jerusalem.

They were back in someone's house.

They were back maybe with servants around them and food.

And boy, it's hard, right, to go out into the wilderness.

They also have Wives now, or at least potential wives that they're going to take

with them who also are nervous to leave.

So all of those forces combine and Laman and Lemuel turn on Nephi.

They turned against him.

And I found myself thinking, how can these turn so fast?

You know, they just got this incredible blessing delivered to them on a

silver platter and they turn from God.

It's a lot like the children of Israel, right?

As they receive these incredible blessings and gifts and miracles

of God and then make a golden calf, and Moses is just caught off guard.

You get that same feel here with Nephi.

So this is 7, verse 8.

And now I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, therefore I

spake unto them, saying, Yea, even unto Laman and to Lemuel, Behold, ye are my

elder brethren, and how is it that ye are so hard in your hearts, and so blind in

your minds, that ye have need that I, your younger brother, should speak unto you?

Yea, and set an example for you.

This is Nephi.

stepping into that role as a ruler and a teacher.

He's both, right?

He's not going to shy away when they make these hard mistakes.

He's not going to just let this happen.

He's certainly not going to let them go back to Jerusalem without at least

talking to them about their real choices.

And he says, how, how have you forgotten so fast?

And I found myself thinking.

Why does this happen so fast?

Both for Laman and Lemuel and for us.

I, that spark just kept catching my eye because I, I do this, right?

I, I, I lose sight of things.

I forget the goodness of God.

I get comfortable in my miracles and I forget.

How dependent I was on God to receive them.

And I think that's what's happening here.

One of my favorite talks was from Elder Renlund It's a BYU devotional

and he spoke about receptors, spiritual receptors, and he said essentially

that the we God's love is constant.

It's infinite.

It is always.

He's always sending love towards us.

But our receptors for that love can dysfunction.

Almost like, you know, a neural transmitter, like the reception of

that signal gets blocked somehow by our choices and then we start to dull and

lose our sensitivity to the Lord's love.

And I think that's what we see here.

Because the same way last week when we were talking about, in order for Laman and

Lemuel to make good choices, they really need to understand the goodness of God.

And because they don't understand his character and his attributes

and his infinite love, they harden and they bristle.

And that's what happens here.

I think what's interesting is what the ramifications of that hardness are.

For me, One of the things they forget fast is their future.

They forget their potential fast.

They want to go back to Jerusalem, a city that they know will burn.

You know, they had witnessed that Lehi was a prophet last week,

and they've already forgotten it.

I think when you block your spiritual receptors with disobedience, you forget

fast your future and your potential.

And you see that with these brothers.

I think you also tend to turn to mortal solutions.

when your receptors are blocked.

They, in this case, they tie up Nephi.

Like, that's their solution to this problem.

They tie him up and leave him for dead.

That's their hope.

What I thought was so fascinating is, I actually think this is one of the third

risk of these blocked spiritual receptors.

I think you start to live by the letter of the law.

Because what this story reminded me of, I mean, it's got certain allusions back

to the Old Testament with Joseph and his brothers leaving him in a pit and

then selling him to the Ishmaelites.

But I think there's also some really good connections to the New Testament.

Because remember when Jesus is in Nazareth, and the people

are so angry at his sermon.

He speaks on Isaiah, and he teaches them, and they get so angry that

they almost force him off a cliff.

Remember when we were studying this together?

The idea of nobody wanted to be the one to push him off, so instead this

kind of mob nudges him forward to the point where he would fall off.

In the idea of, well, there's no blood on our hands.

You know, we didn't do it, he fell.

And I think that's what happens when Satan helps, when Satan gets you

to block those spiritual receptors.

You start to live by the letter of the law.

You start to parse out your obedience and it becomes this

gateway to much bigger problems.

The idea that God doesn't care about the desires of your heart, that he

cares about the letter of the law means You don't get God, and Laman

and Lemuel are right in that boat.

I just think it's interesting to contrast how Nephi sees things.

In that same chapter, if you look in verse 12, Yea, and how is it ye have

forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will

for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him?

Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.

Remember, he's a leader, a ruler, and a teacher.

He's gonna try to pull these brothers back, despite the fact

that they're abusing him and, you know, hating him in this moment.

He still tries to elevate and teach.

One of the things I loved was, as I was studying this spark, is going into the

footnotes, because The footnotes on all things take me to Psalms, and that's

where you learn about those hind's feet.

Remember we studied those rams that can ascend those cliff like dams?

Remember, like, they get this little foothold on this ledge and somehow

miraculously are able to ascend up.

That's what Psalms is talking about.

That's what Nephi understands that the brothers don't.

that they, where they want to parse out the letter of the law and

they want to rebel and turn back.

Nephi has a certainty of God's love and he says, oh no, I know if I jump

there will be a ledge and if that ledge isn't big enough to hold me, my

feet will change so that I can grip.

Like, that's what we learned about those animals in the Old Testament.

That's what Nephi gets and I think it's what we're supposed to get too.

When we have these moments of fear and we will just this week you guys

I went back to school so I left my bachelor's degree, you know plans when

we had Hannah and I Couldn't go back for the six kids afterwards and then

during Jason's sickness I couldn't go back and now I'm finally to the

point where I can go back this week I had an overwhelming sense of panic.

I just started to look at all the things that I needed to do and

all the assignments and all the time and I panicked and I put that

out on Instagram and got a wave of constancy and steadiness back.

People who wrote me back about Revelation and about pursuing Revelation and trusting

that God will do all things and trusting in the grace of God to make up for time

and I just thought it was this beautiful example of where these brothers are.

I've stood exactly where Laman and Lemuel are.

They're afraid of the future.

They're afraid of the unknown, and what they need is what Nephi knows.

What Nephi knows is God is the same yesterday, today, and

forever, and he will be with them.

He will steady them.

Where he can't make a ledge, he will make your feet able to catch that ledge.

That's the goodness of God.

Nephi knows it.

Laman and Lemuel struggle, and it will set the precedent for

everything that comes next.

One of the things I love about Nephi is he doesn't just speak,

he doesn't just testify, he backs up his testimony with action.

And that's what you see in this second spark.

I call it letting go of a warring heart.

It's in that same chapter, but it's Nephi's response to his brother's actions.

So basically, where Nephi has just testified that he can

do all things through Christ.

Like, he can do all things.

And the brothers doubt and, you know, fear even to some degree.

I think now that gets put to the test because the brothers basically

say, okay, we're going to tie you up.

You know, I just think this is their way of saying like, oh, you can do all things.

And Nephi in this moment humbly prays for help.

And in that prayer, he prays to be able to have the strength to burst these bands.

And the answer he gets is personal deliverance.

The bands are just loosed off his hands and feet.

If you go into that.

Bible video or the Book of Mormon video, you can watch this play out,

but as soon as he's free and he goes to speak to his brothers again, they

immediately want to tie him up again.

But they're stopped.

Their hearts are softened by the women around them and by the wife of Ishmael.

they seem to be pulled back.

I think potentially because Nephi just testified that he can do all

things and now he demonstrated that he could do all things.

Like they, he is showing them that his faith is real and justified.

And so I think the women are responding to that and they are turning and

saying we need to pull this back.

And of course, Laman and Lemuel in that spot where the women are going Pushing

them to be more forgiving and more patient and more kind, they respond.

They won't always, on the ship, they'll have a similar situation with Nephi's

wife pleading for his, her husband, but they won't respond in that case.

This time, they do, and they soften.

And then they start to seek.

forgiveness.

And this is the part that sparks my eye.

So if you look in the verses, this is um, first Nephi 7 verse 20 and 21.

It says, And it came to pass that they were sorrowful because of their

wickedness, insomuch that they did bow down before me and did plead with

me that I would forgive them of the thing that they had done against me.

And this is 21, at least the beginning of 21.

And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done.

This were that frankly forgive.

And the awe sparked for me.

I found myself just amazed at Nephi's mercy because he has

dealt with this in the past.

Remember he, just last week, he was beaten with a rod for trying to do God's will.

He's been put down and mocked and hated and in this moment somehow

he can frankly forgive them all.

One of the things I thought was fascinating is in the verse 20,

it talks about how they plead that they will forgive, Nephi

will forgive them of this thing.

Almost like this one offense, please forgive us for what we did today.

And what Nephi chooses to do is forgive them for all.

And I don't know if what he meant in that phrase is he forgave all of them,

meaning the brothers, the family of Ishmael that were turning against him.

It could be that.

Or it could be he frankly forgave them.

Of all, because that's kind of how it sounds to me.

I did frankly forgive them all that they had done.

And I just found myself amazed by that offering.

I don't know how you frankly forgive like that.

Because honestly.

They're going to do it again.

They've done it so many times in the past.

Nephi knows their patterns, he knows their habits, he knows their weaknesses.

In my brain, when I know those things about people that I love, or people

that bump up against me, I find myself wanting to teach a lesson.

You know, like, if I forgive too fast, they won't change.

If I forgive too fast, their heart won't soften.

If I forgive too fast, they won't learn a lesson.

I just find myself wanting to Teach and instruct.

And so I withhold mercy.

I withhold Forgiveness what I love is what Nephi teaches us So if you

go further in that verse in 21, you see this beautiful pattern laid out

and I think it's Right in line with what sister Yi taught at conference.

So let me read the rest of the verse So after when he says I did frankly

forgive them all that they had done and I did exhort them that they would pray

unto The Lord their God for forgiveness And it came to pass that they did so.

And after they had done praying unto the Lord, we did again travel on our

journey towards the tent of our Father.

I think what's powerful about this pattern to me is what Nevi is teaching

is that when you choose to forgive, because God has commanded us to forgive

all men, when you choose to keep that commandment and obey, you are not

writing an immunity from God's judgment.

You are not saying to the Lord, you don't need to look at this era of time.

I put it all, I swept it all under the rug.

Like, that is not Nephi's stance.

What he says is, I will forgive you.

I've let go of this and I will hold no ill feelings towards you.

But you need to work out your salvation with God.

You need to talk and figure out how you go forward with God.

Because that relationship matters more.

I love that pattern.

It helps me soften in those hard moments.

It helps me think, I can forgive.

I can frankly forgive in those moments because I am trusting that

God holds people accountable and repentant hearts are forgiven and

unrepentant hearts are forgiven.

Have some life lessons to be learned.

They're just not gonna learn it from me They're gonna learn

them from a divine source and I can set that on his shoulders.

I just think it's this Invitation to lift burdens.

I love the way sister Yi phrased it She said in her this is from her October 22

conference talk to give what you have been denied is a powerful part of divine

Healing possible through faith in Jesus Christ to live in such a way that you

give as Isaiah said beauty for the ashes of your life is an act of faith that

follows the supreme example of a savior who suffered all that he might sucker.

This choice in these moments where you are wounded and hurt and betrayed even

by those who are close to you, when you stand in those moments and you offer

mercy, you come close to the savior.

You have to because honestly there's no other way.

to have your heart turned.

I think that's what Sister Yi's talk is all about.

She basically talks about that experience of her own, that this is

something that she needed the grace of Jesus Christ in order to be able

to forgive, in order to be able to let this go and to frankly forgive.

I just think there's so much power in that understanding.

What I love is that promise extends to us as well.

When we choose to offer beauty for ashes, we are showing gratitude to

our Savior who did the same for us.

And we emulate Him in this life as we extend that goodness towards others.

It's just this beautiful invitation to come unto Him.

And I love that you see that in this chapter.

It's really interesting to me that both Lehi and Nephi have personal

deliverance moments in this week's chapters where Nephi had that

deliverance moment from the ropes.

Lehi has a deliverance moment from darkness in his vision.

So when you go into chapter eight, you're going to see the vision unfold.

He's teaching this to his kids.

Again, I think it's significant that his kids are in front of him and

now the people that they're going to marry or have married are nearby and

he can see his posterity beginning.

You know, that same way you feel when your first kid gets engaged.

It's like you can see a whole internal family just beginning and Lehi.

He's worried for his family because not all of them are on

the right track and he's worried.

When this vision happens, he has this time of darkness.

He follows a man in white who guides him and he has this period

of darkness and he prays for deliverance the same way Nephi did.

Lehi prays for help and the answer to his prayer is this vision.

It was fascinating to me that the way Lehi is personally delivered

is by understanding better how to guide his family home, how

to get his family to the tree.

I think that's what the vision is all about.

To me, I was just listening to President Oaks general conference talk this

morning, and I think it's quoting President Nelson where he talks about

salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter.

I think that's what Lehi gets.

And he's saying for me to come close to the Lord, I need to

bring my family to the tree.

And so this vision opens up to help him understand.

Exactly how to do that, how he's going to teach, what he's

going to help them understand.

It's just fascinating to me how he describes it.

So after this period of darkness, the deliverance comes, he's at the

tree, and he partakes of the fruit.

This is from verses 10 to 12 of chapter 8.

And it came to pass that I beheld a tree whose fruit was

desirable to make one happy.

And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof,

that I beheld it was most sweet above all that I had ever before tasted.

Yea, I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all

the whiteness that I had ever seen.

And as I partook of the fruit thereof, it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy.

Wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of

it also, for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.

Lehi has partaken of this fruit, and he knows for himself exactly how good it is.

But he had to go through a period of darkness and testing first.

And I think that's what's really interesting about how this vision unfolds.

First, I love that he describes what that fruit tastes like.

Because it doesn't just entice his family, I think it also entices me.

You know, I read it and I think, I want that fruit.

I just, even over, you know, generations of time and thousands of years, when he

describes it, I find myself wanting it.

But it was so funny because Recently, my family, we all

went to go watch Wonka together.

I don't know if you guys have seen that movie.

It came out around Christmas time.

And this is the whole idea of Wonka the Chocolate Maker, his origin stories.

All he wants to do is bring people joy and happiness and he somehow can bake it

into his chocolate, you know, this ability to make people feel certain emotions

or experience hope or experience ideas.

Like that's the whole premise.

And I found myself thinking like I want.

to taste it.

You see that in the movie too, that people just come in roves to

try and taste what he has created.

What's fascinating to me is there's this one scene in the movie where

he's sharing his chocolates and two different groups of people eat them

and have very different experiences.

I actually think both of them taste it and it tastes good.

But the bad guys, when they taste it, they also taste Threat.

You know, they taste change.

They taste the risks that will come if this other chocolatier can make

chocolate and get their customers.

They are afraid in that moment of what they would have to let go of

in order to fully enjoy the fruit.

That's what I think it means when we talk about the fruit being an acquired taste.

I think one of the reasons it's hard for others to come close to

the fruit is because they're Afraid.

They're afraid for what they have to set down.

It's interesting to me because you see Laman and Lemuel react to their father.

He's beckoning them to come.

Nephi comes, Sam comes, Sariah comes, but Laman and Lemuel don't come.

In fact, if you look in 17 and 18 it says, But they would not come

unto me, and partake of the fruit.

It's interesting to me that they don't turn away.

Laman and Lemuel don't turn towards the great and spacious building.

They don't jump into the river of filthiness.

They just don't come.

But what Lehi does in this moment is powerful to me.

If this were me My gut reaction would be to take the tree, take the fruit

in my hand, and run it down to them.

You know, with the idea of, if you just taste it, just take a taste of

it, and you'll understand how good it is, and then you'll want to come.

But that doesn't work, because I feel like The fruit of the

spirit is an acquired taste.

I think if he was even able to bring the fruit to them, it wouldn't

taste the same, because they need to know the bitter to taste the sweet.

That's the Lord's pattern.

Lehi knows that in order for them to really succeed and come

to the tree, he needs to stay.

He needs to demonstrate.

With his face and his actions and his testimony why it's worth it and how it

tastes and let his boys come Let them make that journey towards the tree I

think it's really powerful that when his boys reject him and he feels I imagine

so That's a hard feeling, you guys.

When you teach truth to your kids, especially you teach it to

them their whole life and they turn away from it, it is hard.

And I feel like what is powerful to me is what opens up next in the vision.

When Lehi has tried his best and the boys don't come.

When he chooses to stay by the tree, what he then sees is new

parts of the vision open up.

This is when Lehi sees the rod.

That's when he starts to see the path, and he sees all these concourses of people who

are on the right path coming towards him.

It's then when he sees those things, and I just thought This happens to me

sometimes when I worry for my own kids and I feel like my own best efforts

fail and they turn What the Lord often opens up as oh, this isn't all on you

You know, I you you're not the only one that's out here to save your family.

I've got and women leaders to help.

I've got friends who I'll put in their path.

I've got mission companions who will bring them back.

You know, like the Lord has other plans.

We are not the only solution.

We are just a pivotal one.

So he needs us to stay by the tree.

He needs us to keep partaking of the fruit, and he needs us to teach truth.

And if we'll do that, he'll find other solutions.

I love the way Sister Runya talked about this in the last conference.

She said like Lehi, he knew that you don't chase after your loved ones who feel lost.

You stay where you are and you call to them.

You go to the tree, stay at the tree, keep eating the fruit and with a

smile on your face, continue to beckon those you love and show an example

by eating the fruit that, that by eating the fruit is a happy thing.

This is a little later.

If the Savior's, it's the Savior's work to bring our loved ones back.

It's his work and his timing.

It's our work to provide the hope and a heart that they can come home to.

We have neither God's authority to condemn, nor his power to redeem, but we

have been authorized to exercise his love.

President Nelson has also taught that others need our

love more than our judgment.

They need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected

in our words and actions.

That's why you stay by the tree.

Because it's not your job.

to get them all the way home.

It's your job to be an example.

It's your job to teach and to pray and to plead and beckon, but it

is his job to bring them home.

Spark number four, catch hold of the rod and hold fast.

In the next part of Lehi's vision, he's going to describe several

different groups of people.

You know, some who work their way towards the tree, but they don't even hold on

to the rod and they wander and are lost.

As these myths come, they get off on other roads.

You also have some that seem to catch hold of the rod, but they don't have

a continuous hold on it, and they let go and wander off and are lost.

Some catch hold and get all the way to the tree, partake of the

fruit, and then are ashamed.

You know, they hear the taunting of the great and spacious building,

and they set that fruit down, and they wander off and are lost.

I just thought it was really interesting to see Nephi's guidance,

well, through the, through the words and vision of his dad, about how

to hold on and make it to the tree.

How to be the kind of people that are changed by the time you get to the tree.

And that's what I love.

So if you look in 8 verse 30.

But to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing

forward, and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron.

And they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of

iron, until they came forth and fell down, and partook of the fruit of the tree.

This to me demonstrates That's why they need the journey, why they need that

process of deciding for themselves day after day, grip after grip, that they're

going to keep going along this iron rod because I want them to become something

by the time they get to the tree.

I think that's what President Oaks talked about in conference as well.

This idea of it's not just like this list of deposits you're making

in some fancy account in heaven.

It's.

You're becoming something different.

The people who come to the tree and are so overjoyed to be there that they fall down,

I think that shows you the state of their heart and that they made it together.

It reminds me a lot of, you know, I've been in a couple of half marathons and

one marathon and you have this stage where you make it together and people

just fall down at the finish line.

You're exhausted and you're so overjoyed that All those months of training

came to this point and you finished.

I don't think most of us really care what time we finished it.

We were just so grateful that we could do it.

And I think that's the emotion that these people at the tree feel.

It's why I don't think we can shortcut the process and take the fruit to them.

I think we need them to feel that gratitude.

What I loved As I was studying this section of scripture is this constant

emphasis on holding to the rod.

I like that Levi emphasizes that they had to start at the beginning of the rod.

He calls it the end, but I think he means like the end farthest away from the tree.

They had to start at the end, meaning nobody could put them

on the middle of the path.

Nobody could give them a head start.

You know, Elder Newman talked about this in conference too, this idea

that you can't pass on your testimony as an inheritance to your kid.

They have to Grab a hold of it for themselves at the beginning.

Even though we can give our kids a really good foundation I feel like every one

of my kids at some point has to decide how they feel about God the Father.

Do they feel connected to him?

Do they feel like they're his child?

Every one of them has to start at the beginning of do I believe in

Jesus Christ that he really did?

rise again and that he really did atone for my sins.

They have to decide how they feel at the beginning about Joseph Smith.

Form that foundational testimony.

Was he a prophet?

Did he see what he said he saw?

Is the Book of Mormon true?

That to me is the beginning, catching hold of the end of the rod of iron

and working their way forward.

What I like about that visual is I think the rod of iron is our constant

source of strength in this process.

It's not just something to cling to, it's something to give us comfort.

In my brain, this is just me because I'm cold all the time and I really like things

that heat up and keep me warm, I like to picture the rod of iron Warm, you know,

I know iron is usually cold, but in my brain I picture those mists of darkness

as cold and the winds coming off the river as cold and that rod is warm You know

when I encounter the comfort of the Holy Ghost when I encounter the Word of God in

Scripture It is warm to my touch It holds me for that day so that I can make one

more step forward and cling again the next day When I listen to a conference talk

from our living prophets and apostles, I feel the warmth I think that's the rod.

It's not just stability.

It's not just creating a barrier between us and the river.

It's warmth.

It's almost like you're getting a little taste of the tree of life along the way

and saying, the Holy Ghost comforting you saying, This is gonna be worth it.

Keep going.

Keep striving.

And I love that.

I also think it's a natural barrier against the people in the great and

spacious building because it makes you not care the closer i am to the words

of god whether it be through prophets or through scripture or for my own personal

revelation the less i care about the world in fact i was just listening to

elder anderson's talk about tithing i wouldn't think that that talk would

apply to this week's study but when i listened to it again i was like i loved

the phrase he used he was quoting Elder Benar, President Ben, or no, I'm sorry,

he was quoting President Eyring, and he was talking about how there were people

who were worried about silicone slopes.

You guys remember that part of his talk?

And he, President Eyring, basically promised them that if they would pay their

tithing, they would have less desire.

In fact, I wrote it down.

It says, Elder Eyring cautioned the saints about comparing what they

had with others and wanting more.

I will always remember his promise that as they paid an honest tithe,

their desire for more material possessions would diminish.

That's, I think, the promise of grabbing that warm iron rod and clinging to it and

steadily working your way forward is that you heed them not because you don't care.

Your desire for those things diminishes.

That's the gift of what he's offering in that rod.

It doesn't just make it, make you able to get there.

It gives you the warmth and the comfort and the pep talk you need to keep going.

I call spark number five trust in the wise purpose.

I just think Nephi's humility and stance about the small plates is inspiring.

So after the vision wraps then Nephi gives us this little other

bookend where he talks about the importance of these small plates.

He's already written all the large plates by the time he writes the small

plates and he doesn't exactly know Why he has to write them, and it's

powerful to me to hear his stance.

So this is in 1st 5 and 6.

Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these

plates for a wise purpose in him.

Which purpose?

I know not, but the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning.

Wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works

among the children of men.

For behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words.

And thus it is.

Amen.

What I love about Nephi is, he understands that he doesn't understand all things.

He understands that Lord's going to use a lot of people to carry his work forward,

not just Nephi, and he's okay with that.

He understands there are some things that are bigger that his mortal

mind will not comprehend or aren't in, needed for him to understand

right now, and he's okay with that.

And what I love about that is, it reminds me a lot of what we saw with Adam and Eve.

Remember when we studied in the Pearl of Great Price together, and we see

them offer sacrifices to the Lord, and that messenger comes and asks Adam

why he's offering sacrifices, and he basically says, I don't know, you know,

I know not, save the Lord commanded it.

It's that stance.

It's that stance of, I don't know why I'm doing this, but

I know there must be a why.

That tells me how much Nephi knows the Lord's heart, and how much Adam

understood God's heart, that he can trust.

In his goodness, and I think that same thing is asked of us.

What I love is Nephi probably wondered why these small plates needed to be written.

He never really probably knew why it all worked out.

In addition to the fact that we lose the 116 pages, I think there's so much More,

you know, I think these small plates from Nephi to Omni from first Nephi to

Omni I feel like this introduces us to some incredibly powerful prophets and

doctrine to me When we talked earlier about this idea of catching hold at the

end of the rod, you know I have to form my own foundational testimony of the

Book of Mormon where that end is is right here in the small plates When I begin a

Book of Mormon study seriously for the first time, the prophets I encounter are

Nephi and Jacob and the words of Isaiah.

That's in the small plates.

It's a beginning that is so warm to my touch that it makes

me want to work my way forward.

I loved Elder Holland talked in his book about how He would never give up the small

plates in order to get the 116 pages back.

He's like, well, yes, we want the 116 pages, and I hope

someday that we have them.

But you would never swap them.

He's like, what we have in the Book of Mormon is beautiful and enticing and warm.

And to me, that's, that's how I feel about these small plates too.

So you should trust in God's widest purposes.

I think they're always powerful.

Here's Elder Clayton's direction on that.

This is back in his 2017 talk.

He said, God will always bless us for our steadfast obedience to his gospel

and to his loyalty to the church.

He rarely shows us his timetable for doing so in advance.

He doesn't show us the whole picture from the outset.

That is where faith Hope and trusting in the Lord come in.

God asks us to bear with Him, to trust Him, and to follow Him.

He pleads with us to dispute not because ye see not.

He cautions us that we shouldn't expect easy answers or quick fixes from Heaven.

Things work out when we stand firm in the trial of our faith.

However hard that test may be to endure, and slow the answer may be incoming.

I am not speaking of blind obedience, He said, but of thoughtful

confidence in the perfect love and perfect timing of our Lord.

I think Nephi exemplifies that in this other bookend of the chapter.

We won't get the full interpretation of these symbols until we read

Nephi's account of this same vision.

But I do like chapter 10 because it's sort of Lehi's way of saying, let me help

you understand what this vision means.

It reaffirms what we know so far and what prophets have taught and it gives

us greater understanding about the gift of grace that's available to us.

So when he goes through it, he talks about those gifts.

First, he reaffirms his prophecies about Jerusalem being destroyed and about why

they've been broken off, that they're part of the house of Israel that have

been broken off and scattered for this wise purpose, this probationary time.

Then he teaches about the Redeemer.

To me, this is him trying to help them understand all of us

are going to be on that path.

All of us need the help of the Savior in order to make it from where

we are today to get to the tree.

So he's reaffirming that with his witness of the Savior as a Redeemer.

And then he has this interesting addition.

This is what caught my eye.

He talks about John the Baptist.

He talks about John the Baptist for a little while.

It's in seven and eight is where he begins.

He says, and he spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the

Messiah to prepare the way of the Lord.

yet even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of

the Lord and make his paths straight.

For there standeth one among you whom ye know not, and he is mightier

than I, whose shoe latched I am not worthy to unloose, and much spake

my father concerning this thing.

It's interesting to me that he spent so much time thinking about John the

Baptist and even quoting John the Baptist, who hasn't even lived yet.

You know, this is, that's prophecy for you.

We studied those exact words in the New Testament.

What's fascinating to me is Why Lehi focus is here and it wasn't until

I was listening to a Strather And she's BYU professor and she said

this little phrase that just kind of caught my brain She basically said

they're very similar Lehi and John the Baptist are in a similar spot.

Both are going into the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord.

And as I stood on that and went back and re read those verses, I thought, maybe

this is why Lehi feels such a desire to re emphasize the ministry of John,

because this is what his family will do.

His family's work is to prepare the way in the wilderness.

They're going to go out away from what is comfortable and what is

familiar and establish truth.

They're going to teach it purely to their children.

They're going to set up their children to experience the coming of the Lord.

What Lehi promises in these chapters, I think it's in verse

11, that he, that Christ will manifest himself to their people.

So I think In my mind, what Lehi's trying to do here by emphasizing John the Baptist

is helping his kids get a longer view.

Even if they struggle to see the day to day need for repentance or the

day to day need to change and come closer to Christ, he hopes they'll

catch sight of that long view and say, there's purpose to our pain here.

There's dignity to our struggle because we are part of the

prophecies of the work of the Lord.

We are a piece that has been broken off, that we'll set up over here so that we

can experience the Savior for ourselves, and then we will be grafted back in.

Our, our people will come back together.

That's the promise.

So in my mind, it's almost as if he's It's inviting me to

help my kids see the long view.

I think this is why it's so important to have our kids receive

their patriarchal blessings.

It's a way for them to see afar off when it's easy to get lost in the day to day.

And I just love his perspective on it.

I think in a grand scheme of things.

All of us play this role.

Not just Lehi's family, but all of us.

All of us, when we left home and came to this mortal life, we are broken off a bit.

We become scattered.

We lose our understanding.

We pass through this veil and we have to figure things out for ourselves

and let him manifest himself to us.

When we come to know him, then we get to be grafted back in.

We become His children of the covenant will become his and that part I loved our

last spark comes at the end of chapter 10 This is when Nephi wants his own witness.

So it helps to remember what Nephi has already experienced, right?

He's already studied the brass plates and seems to know the scriptures.

Well now he's just listened to Lehi teach about this vision and heard all the words

of the living prophet and now he wants that third understanding revelation that

comes he wants to know for himself so he prays so in 10 17 this is what he says

i nephi was desirous also that i might see and hear and know these things by

the power of the holy ghost which is the gift of god unto all those who diligently

seek him as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself

unto the children of men and then at 19 for he that diligently seeketh shall

find and the mysteries of god shall be unfolded unto them by the power of

the holy ghost I love that Nephi seems comfortable with the unfolding process.

Sometimes, I am not comfortable with the unfolding.

I want answers now.

I want solutions today.

I don't want layers of Revelation.

I would like it all at once.

And it doesn't come that way.

And I think Nephi knows that.

I think he's come to understand that he'll get Revelation minute

by minute if he needs it that way.

Or line upon line, stretched out over months and years if he needs it that way.

He just trusts in the timing of the Lord.

I think the risk is if we get antsy, then we start to lose sight of these sweet,

simple revelations that are coming.

Nephi seems to appreciate them.

And I, in fact, it was articulated beautifully by Elder Bassett.

So let me, he calls it prying at the plates.

This is from his 2016 talk, and you can go in the notes and learn more about

this whole talk, but he says, Sadly, our development and learning can at

times be slowed or even halted by an ill conceived desire to pry at the plates.

These actions can lead us to seek after things that are not necessarily meant

to be understood at this time, all the while ignoring the beautiful truths that

are meant for us and our circumstances, the truths that Nephi described as

written for our learning and our profit.

Nephi's brother Jacob taught, Behold, great and marvelous

are the works of the Lord.

How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him, and it is impossible

that man should find out all his ways.

Jacob's words teach us that we cannot successfully pry at the

plates or force the mysteries of God to be revealed unto us.

Instead, the mysteries of God are unfolded unto us according to his will

and by the power of the Holy Ghost.

I loved that reminder.

Nephi seems content to trust that he'll get the revelation he needs.

And he doesn't need to worry about what he doesn't know.

I think he's always seeking, he's always inquiring, he's always

studying, but he's not struggling.

I think that's tempting in our world.

You know, it's tempting to try and spend a whole year studying about Heavenly

Mother when there's not a lot revealed yet, or to study about these little small

parts of Church history and dive into them deeply, when sometimes that means

we miss the truths that He needs us to know now, the truths that are already

revealed in the words of the Scriptures, in the words of living prophets, and

in the revelation that can come to our heart to confirm those things.

I love that Nephi reminds me of that in this last part of the chapter.

Hank, before we wrap up this video and head into the creative object

lessons, I wanted to give you a chance to mull over some questions.

If you have thoughts on these or if you get into your scriptures and you

find answers, I hope you'll share them.

Post them in the comment thread on the YouTube video or in

the comments on the course.

One way or the other, share your thoughts or just share them with

your family or your classes as you consider these questions and get into

your scriptures to find the answers.

Most of these, I don't know the answer to.

I'm mostly just hoping that you'll come up with some good

ones and share them with me.

So, here's your first question.

It comes from 1st Nephi 6, verse 4.

This is when Nephi is beginning to talk about small plates, and

he's telling us their intent.

That he intends to provide a fullness so that he can persuade men to come unto

the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

What I found myself wondering is, why do we always list those together?

I mean, I know they're a family unit.

I know it's grandfather, father, and son, but Why is it

they're always listed that way?

Why is it the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

Is it something about their unique testimonies together?

Is it something about the chain that happens with eternal families?

I don't know.

But I'd love to know why you think that's an important way to phrase

it, because it's so frequently listed that way in scripture.

Why is this covenant line always listed as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

That's question one.

Question two.

This comes from chapter seven.

This is verses 17 and 18.

Nephi has repeatedly been abused and belittled by his older brothers.

At this point, they're tying him up, and Nephi asks for

strength to burst the bands.

What's interesting to me is God loses the bands instead.

And we talked a little bit about this in the Insights, but I want to

know what you think that teaches you.

Why does it happen that way?

Why doesn't Nephi get what he asked for?

Why doesn't he get to burst the bands?

Why does God offer deliverance in this other way?

I'm curious about your thoughts.

Okay, third question.

This comes from chapter 8.

This is around verses 6 through 9 or so.

This is when Lehi's directed to follow this man in white.

His vision begins and he sees a man in white who urges him to follow him.

Lehi does that and then ends up in darkness for several hours.

Like before he prays and the vision opens up, he's following and being

obedient, but he's wandering in darkness.

So I guess my question is, Why does following promptings sometimes

lead us into more struggle?

I, I wouldn't say this is always the case, but sometimes this has happened

for me, where I feel like I'm following Revelation and it leads to conflict

sometimes in relationships that I'm having or in a calling I'm trying to perform

well or it doesn't always go Beautifully because I'm following directions.

Sometimes it leads to what feels like darkness and I'm curious why

you think that happens Why was the darkness there and does it help him

appreciate the tree somehow differently because he experienced it So that's

your third question fourth question.

There are a lot of really powerful contrasts in the vision of the tree

of life In fact, that was one of my favorite things to study this week.

I started laying out explanations about the tree and explanations about

that building, the Great and Spacious Building, and seeing their comparisons.

You know, this tree that's rooted and deep and steady and thriving, and

this building that has no foundation.

In fact, it hovers in the air and it's Full of people that are jeering and the

contrasts of these were powerful to me that the path to the tree is straight

and narrow The path to that great and spacious building is wide and broad I

thought it was interesting that the tree is surrounded by people that have agency

you actually see that play out, right?

Some people partake of the fruit and stay Some people fall down and worship

and some people partake of the fruit and leave whereas one of the things that

I thought was so fascinating about the building is Nobody seems to be exiting.

People are entering the building, but no one seems to be going, and I wondered

if it was something about agency.

I just wanted to invite you this week.

Your question is, what about the fruit?

Is there a contrast?

Lehi describes the fruit so vividly that it's sweet above all that is sweet.

It's white above anything he's ever seen.

It brings joy.

What is Is the contrast of that in the great and spacious building?

Is there something they're consuming, and what does it taste like?

I guess this is my question.

Last question.

Okay, Nephi taught about this time being a probationary state.

This is towards the end in chapter 10, like around 20 and 21.

He understands what this whole mortal life is all about.

This is a probationary state where we'll be judged for our doings, and then he

teaches us all about the grace of God.

both from the vision that his father has had and from his father's

prophecies about the Messiah coming.

So I guess my question is, if we know that we need grace in order to

obtain salvation, we can't earn it, we can't have enough good doings

to, to earn our way in, into that.

Blessing.

We need the grace of God.

My question is, what does the Tree of Life vision teach you about the grace of God?

Maybe about its permanence, about its availability to all, about,

what, what does the Tree of Life vision teach you about our need for

grace and I hope you'll share it.

That's one of those questions that, when I started to let that stew

in my mind, lots of ideas came.

In fact, other verses in the Book of Mormon came to mind, and I

hope that happens for you too.

So stew over those five questions.

If you get a chance, leave your responses here in the comment thread or over in the

course, and let's start a good discussion.

All right, that's the end of the insights video.

The creative is coming up next, but there's just one little thought I wanted

to add in about the vision of the tree I think one of the reasons we study

it so much and so many prophets and apostles have spoken about it and drawn

our eyes Towards it is because it has this big gleaming promise that the gate

is unlocked That all can come unto him and all are being beckoned unto him.

I love this quote from Elder Uchtdorf.

You can read the full quote in the notes, but this is what

he says, The gate is unlocked.

The grace of God does not merely restore us to our previous innocent state.

If salvation means only erasing our mistakes and our sins, then salvation,

as wonderful as it is, does not fulfill

That's the vision to me.

It's this path upward.

In fact, when I picture the straight and narrow path, I don't picture a

flat, almost like, you know, one of those moving escalators in an airport.

I picture a very steady, slow ascent.

I think it's always going to be a climb up.

But what I love about it is.

There are concourses of people trying to get there.

There was so much comfort in that.

I feel like that's who we are, right?

We're the concourses of people working together and cheering each other on

and trying to help each other have the tools and the understanding so

that we can take another step forward.

We can get one more grip on that warm iron rod and keep going on this path.

So hopefully you find that this week as you study.