1 Nephi 1-5

This is my first blog post, so please be bear with me.  I hope to post regularly although I am not sure who will actually be interested in what I have to say.  Today I would like to share my thoughts and insights from a Fundamentals of Religion course I am taking.

As part of this week's lesson, I am to organize what I have learned from course work, other students and my instructor into an effective form of communication. The type of communication I chose was to write a Church talk.  One of the other forms of communication was a blog entry.  I realized that I would like to share that talk with others because I may never get to deliver this talk in Church.  So, I am including it here on my new blog and combining a talk and a blog post into one.

My talk is as follows:

Brothers and Sisters, today I would like to relate my thoughts and feelings regarding the first five chapters of 1 Nephi.   I am studying the Book of Mormon in one of my classes, Fundamentals of Religion, in the Pathway program. Just as many of you, I have read these chapters many times.  I know what is contained in these chapters fairly well.  I thought studying this first lesson was going to be a piece of cake. That I would breeze right through them on my way to meatier stuff. However, I was very surprised at what I found; what I had never noticed before.  Now I know some of you are more well versed in the Book of Mormon than I am, but please bear with me as I share  my insights today.

The first thing that struck me as never before were the tender mercies of the Lord which we read of in 1 Nephi 1:20. Tender mercies can be a blessing, strength, deliverance, spiritual gifts. If it weren’t for my study guide, I might not have looked for them .  Lehi was the recipient of many tender mercies;  he had gifts of the spirit; he was visionary and he was warned to leave Jerusalem. He was delivered from those that sought to take his life and his is family survived in the wilderness.

Additionally, Nephi was gifted with obedience; we have a primary song that praises him for his obedience.  I have sun that song hundreds of times, yet never thought of obedience as a tender mercy. When Nephi prays to know the truth of what his father has seen in a vision, he is visited by the Lord and given confirmation. In Chapter Four as Nephi again tries to try again to obtain the brass plates he came upon Laban lying on the ground in a drunken stupor. The Holy Ghost gave him strength to do as he was commanded and slay Laban.

Also, we have tender mercies that come to Laman and Lemuel who were visited twice by an angel.  Even though they chose to ignore these blessings, they were still tender mercies. 

Further into my study I had a couple of other thoughts on Laman and Lemuel.  They murmured against their father and they were violent toward Nephi. However, I had never stopped to think about what it must have been like for them.  One of my fellow students pointed out they were probably close to a marriageable age, ready to take wives and receive their inheritance.  I asked myself if I was moved to the wilderness and made to leave behind all I held dear, including a substantial inheritance, how would I feel?  I felt I should show them a little charity.

Finally, I remarked on how Lehi, Sariah and their family weren't so different from a modern day family. The father is a bit of a dreamer (visionary), the mother is a bit emotional thinking her sons are lost. I suppose would be a bit emotional too, if my sons were overly late coming home. The older kids are upset over the upheaval and are rebelling.  Many of our older youth would be upset by an untimely move during their senior year also. Hopefully, there would be no violence though. Then, we have the younger kids who just want to do what is right.  Sounds somewhat like a modern day family dynamic, minus the violence of course.

These are my insights and I am sure many of you could add to my knowledge of these scriptures. I would welcome the chance to discuss them with you.  I bear testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I have a tendency to write a talk in a conversational and familiar form. I write as I would speak in front of a congregation. I hope you have enjoyed my reading my talk.  If you have further insights I would appreciate hearing them. Thanks for stopping by.