So Nephi, taking the example scriptural heroes himself, goes back to Laban's place and along the way runs into Laban, passed out dead drunk alone on the ground. And the spirit tells Nephi to kill Laban, put on his clothes and pretend to be him. The spirit continued to explain that Laban was a thief, and even more than that, Lehi and his family absolutely needed the plates or they would be ignorant of the commandments of the Lord. Now, I find this interesting. They have a prophet, and they can make plates themselves, but it gives precedent to the idea that the prophets need something to learn from too. That prophets need scripture as well.
So, Nephi decapitates Laban (which is a little Braveheart) and puts on his armor and tells one of Laban's servants, Zoram, to take him to the plates. After he and Zoram get the plates, Nephi takes Zoram with him toward the gates where his brothers are waiting, but they run scared from him, and in an attempt to stop them from running away, he reveals himself, which freaks Zoram out a little. However, Nephi, being a big guy, keeps Zoram from leaving. Then Zoram takes an oath to go with them and not tell anyone about them or where they have gone. So, the four brothers return to the tent in the wilderness with a little more than they bargained for. They have the scriptures, an extra man, pieces of armor and a sword.

Turns out that not all was happy valley in the time they were gone. Sariah, their mother, was just a wee bit peeved with their father for sending her sons on a potentially life threatening mission. However, their safe return bolsters her faith quite a bit. I find this interesting. She is being told, and not really asked, to sacrifice what means the most to her, only to have it return and her faith bolstered by the experience. And she and Lehi attend to thanking the Lord immediately.

After they give thanks, Lehi examines the newly acquired scriptures, and finds it has what we consider the new testament up through Jeremiah, and a record of his lineage,. And as soon as he is done, he starts prophesying again, which adds to that pattern of the Prophets need scriptures too theme.

Nephi then sums up and says that he isn't going to repeat what has been written already, except that they are from the tribe of Joseph. He doesn't want to waste the space in these new records because he wants the space to write things that bring people unto God.

Overall, I noticed that there are lots of references to scriptures in these passages, which is pretty interesting considering it is the beginning of a book of scripture. I guess it is as good a place as any to remind people from the beginning of a holy book that reading and learning from holy books is necessary.

Those who have read [the Book of Mormon] prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power. … “… Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts … the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.
Gordon B. Hinckley

The beginning of the tender mercies

First we meet Nephi. He introduces himself by explaining that he has been blessed from birth, and that when he describes what happened and why, it is important that we understand that he was blessed from the beginning. In this way, Nephi seems to be one of those golden children. You know the ones I mean. The ones that seem born to lead. The ones that are naturally good, naturally able, naturally more than the average joe. The ones you would be jealous of except they really are as good inside as they appear outside. They are so darn nice, you just have to like them.

Anyway, Nephi goes on to explain that it all started because his father, Lehi, had a vision of the Lord in a pillar of fire, a la moses, and then being overcome, went home, and continued to have visions of the destruction of Jerusalem because of their wickedness and of the eventual coming of a Messiah. He is so grateful for the warnings and the knowledge of the visions that he praises God and then goes out to tell all his neighbors and friends. Not surprisingly, they aren't as grateful for this information and it becomes dangerous for Lehi and his family to continue to live in Jerusalem.

Nephi's story telling here is fascinating. He interrupts the narrative to tell us not to worry because "the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen because of their faith, to make them mighty unto the power of deliverance." He then goes on to say that they are instructed by the Lord to leave Jerusalem, leaving most their worldly possessions behind never to return. Now I don't know if that is the kind of "mighty unto deliverance" they were looking for. It doesn't seem to fit Laman's and Lemuel's, his brothers, idea of it. Nephi shares that L&L are pretty upset about leaving. They tend to think dad is making mountains out of molehills and that leaving all their money and nice things behind is an overreaction that really cramps their style.

They travel into the wilderness for three days, then they make camp in a valley by a river, and Lehi builds an alter to give thanks. Lehi is grateful a lot throughout these early chapters. He then names the valley and the river after Laman and Lemuel to give them a visual to increase their faith and humility. It doesn't really work. But it does get Nephi to thinking, so goes to pray to find out for himself whether what they are doing is right, and then he says the Lord softens his heart and answers affirmatively. But I have to wonder when reading this, how hard could Nephi's heart have been? Unless he is leaving a lot out, he seems to be pretty willing to obey. So, Nephi shares his answer with his brother Sam, and Sam believes him. Now it doesn't say whether Sam prays about it for himself or not. It just says he believes Nephi, which I think makes Sam kind of special. Could it be that Sam's heart was even softer than Nephi's originally was, or am I reading too much into it?

Nephi also shares this experience with L&L and their reaction is not as nice. Nephi doesn't extrapolate but whatever they do or say must be pretty serious because it makes Nephi "grieve" and pray for them. Nephi's prayers for his brothers are answered sort of half and half. The Lord starts by telling Nephi that he is blessed and will be a leader and a teacher to his brothers, but his brothers will continue to be rebellious and will eventually be cut off. He is also promised that his brothers progeny will be a scourge unto his own descendants when they forget that they are blessed. Sort of an odd thing to have to take comfort in.

When Nephi returns, his father sends he and his brothers back to Jerusalem. (I know it is irreverent, but all I can think of during this section is the part in the Blues Brothers when they say "we're on a mission from Gyad".) They are sent back to get copies of the records of Lehi's ancestors and the writings of the prophets, so basically a copy of the scriptures. This is where the adventure really starts. L&L don't want to go, which I find rather odd. I mean, they didn't want to leave Jerusalem and now they don't want to go back, even to visit? This is when Nephi gives the famous "I will go and do what the Lord hath commanded" quote, and the adventure really begins. The four brothers head back to Jerusalem, and when they get there they draw lots to figure out who is going to talk to Laban, the guy with the records. I find this odd. I am the oldest of 6 and I can assure you that if my brothers and I were on a similar venture, I would be sent in first no matter what. The fact that Laman doesn't just step up goes to show why it is prophesied that Nephi will lead the family. The lot falls to Laman anyway, so he goes and asks Laban for the records, but Laban throws him out on his keister. So the brothers mull over the problem and decide that maybe they can offer to buy the records, so they go and get the good stuff from their abandoned house, and Laban takes the loot and then throws all of them out and has them chased by his guards. You gotta lay odds that the guy who has the records is a rich thief with armed guards at his disposal.

So, the brothers are out of ideas, and when they can't think of anything better to do, L&L decide to blame Nephi for their troubles and they start beating up their younger brothers. As the L gang is beating the younger ones with a rod, and angel comes to the rescue! He stops L&L and tells them that basically Nephi will eventually rule over them, and that if they go back to Jerusalem, Laban will be delivered to them and they will get the records. When the angel leaves, L&L still don't want to go, and Nephi says "ummm. Don't you get you do something when an angel tell you to?"
to be continued...

There is a book we need to study daily, both as individuals and as families, namely the Book of Mormon. I love that book. It is the book that will get a person nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than any other book...I bless you with increased discernment to judge between Christ and anti-Christ. I bless you with increased power to do good and to resist evil. I bless you with increased understanding of the Book of Mormon. I promise you that from this moment forward, if we will daily sup from its pages and abide by its precepts, God will pour out upon each child of Zion and the Church a blessing hitherto unknown—and we will plead to the Lord that He will begin to lift the condemnation—the scourge and judgment. Of this I bear solemn witness.
Exra Taft Benson

I, Rachel, knowing better...

I have been instructed since I was young to read the Book of Mormon daily and for a long time I did just that. However, following my mission, I experienced what I can only describe as Book of Mormon burnout. I had read it so often and so long, that no matter how disciplined I tried to be, I felt bored by it. Every chapter and verse had been examined, and like someone that had over-eaten their favorite food, it lost its savor. I am not saying this because I am proud of it, or faulting the scripture. The familiarity of it was just no longer comforting. I have read from it often since then. I have picked it up and searched through topics connecting different scriptures and ideas together, but I have to say that I have not read the BOM from start to finish in many years. So in an effort to re-commit myself to daily reading it and discipline my effort, I have decided to read it in the next 90 days, which averages about 3 chapters a day. Hopefully, I will have some new inspiration from each reading that I will want to write about, or this blog will be a bore. Feel free to chime in with insights and corrections! I am sure I will need it.

As one of a thousand elements of my own testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I submit this as yet one more evidence of its truthfulness. In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth? Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless. Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be “houseless, friendless and homeless” and that their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and an untamed prairie floor. Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters of this earth that they know the Book of Mormon ...to be true. Disregard all of that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that! They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
Jeffrey R. Holland