1 Nephi 3

Summary: Lehi's sons return to Jerusalem to obtain the plates of brass--Laban refuses to give them up--Nephi exorts and encourages his brethren--Laban steals their property and attempts to slay them--Laman and Lemuel smite Nephi and are reproved by an angel

As I started reading this chapter, I immediately had the thought that if the Lord asks us to do something as difficult as what he asked of Lehi (to get the plates from Laban), then He would provide a way to accomplish that task. We just have to have faith that He will help us.

Then I came upon the famous verse 7:
"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 giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them."This principle is very imporatant to me because I will be relying on it a lot when I go back to school!
I also asked myself the question: "Why is the Lord commanding them to do this?"

Answer: vs. 19-20:"...And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God..."
This is very revealing of the type of person Nephi was. He valued the plates for their spiritual value, while Laban mostly valued them because of their temporal worth. He did not care much for what they contained.

Another thing I have not thought of before is the true importance of this mission. As their posterity would multiply into hundreds of thousands in the new world, these plates would be passed down. They needed the plates, not only to study them for themselves, but also to pass down through generations.

And of course we all love the ever doubting Laman and Lemuel. Immediately after being visited by the angel, the question the Lord's power. (vs.29-31). So this made me think, how many times have we been guilty of this very thing? While our witness is not so great as being visited by angels, I know we have all had experiences that have given us reason to believe in the Lord's power.

Something I want all of us to remember is that the Lord can and will move mountains if we but have faith. This week, Jeff and I had an opportunity to fast. He is in the tile business, and it is a miracle he still has a job at this point. He told me they were not going to have any work at all after yesterday. We fasted together on Sunday for work. Monday he called me and told me they had 3 jobs lined up! The greatest miracle of all was when they were given a job from the church, to redo the prophet's home. We heard last week that one of supervisors does not like Jeff's dad, who is his boss, and was cutting them out of doing any work for the church. Then all of a sudden, they got this job! We both cried. That's how I know the Lord can move mountains.