Reflections of a True Millennial

Obedience and eight years in the wilderness "And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness. And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness." - 1 Nephi 17:3-4 In the Hebrew language spoken by many writers the Book of Mormon, punctuation is not used. The English uses periods, question marks, and other signals of intent, but the Hebrew language uses select phrases at the start of each sentence to convey similar meanings. For example, the phrase "and it came to pass" occurs frequently and basically equates to a period. Another phrase used a bit less often is "and thus we see." This is usually followed by a powerful summarizi...

Living in Humility "And my father dwelt in a tent." - 1 Nephi 2:15 If you have ever been in seminary or any sort of religion class, you surely know this scripture. The famous one-liner seems to have no meaning at all, and is often given jokingly as a devotional by the class clown. It seems like such an obvious, pointless statement. The chapter begins with wise words of Lehi to his sons as they entered the Red Sea, and their reactions of murmuring or acceptance. Then we find the account that Lehi did indeed live in a tent while he was in the wilderness. We know that Lehi departed from Jerusalem after preaching their wickedness and coming captivity at the hands of Bablyon. We know he was on his way to the Promised Land of the Americas, where the Nephites and Lamanites would prosper. And now we know that he dwelt in a tent in between those stages. The significance of Lehi’s dwelling lies in his inherent humility at this stage. He was a wealthy man in Jerusalem, and enjoyed...

A look at the most often-read, yet least understood verse "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days." -1 Nephi 1:1 The Book of Mormon begins with this seemingly simple anecdote from Nephi recounting his youthly circumstances. Nearly anyone in the Church could recite the first line from memory due to its prominent nature as the first verse of a book central to our religion. However, the oft-cited nature does not carry much doctrinal significance for readers. For most, this is an unessential introduction, but if we dig deeper it stands as a symbol of the entire Book of Mormon's message. In the first line, Nephi uses a key word, "there...