1 Nephi 1... and starting 2!!

So this morning I am reading in 1 Nephi 2! I finally finished one earlier this morning (it was wonderful) and now I am on to chapter 2 and it feels great haha. I need to figure out a more efficient system I guess :). A couple interesting tidbits from chapter one:

*there are 30 references to deliverance in 1 Nephi

*Lehi was praying and "there cam ea pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock" - this rock was likely an altar.

*What struck me while reading 1 Nephi 1 this time was that God really loves all of His children. I especially loved vs 14 where it talked about how His "power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth." Sometimes it is hard to imagine Him loving everyone so so much - but I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and how it helps me see that a little bit more each time I read it.

*vs. 20 - they "sought to take his life." They probably wanted to stone him (what a horrible way to die). Interestingly enough, "stone" in Hebrew means "eben" - or a combination of the father and son. Pres. D says that stoning, therefore, is a symbolic judgement of God

*I like vs 20. A LOT!

*"faith" in Hebrew comes from the root "aman" & it means "to make sure." The Greek word is "pistis" and it means "to obey." That gives a different spin on what our part of the deal is with faith - no passiveness allowed! We actually talked a lot about how to actively use our agency last night in my institute class. For something we fought so hard for, we need to use it as much as possible :) - in good ways of course!

Starting chapter 2:

it's the end of Lehi's prophesying mission. This part had never made me sad before but this time I definitely felt something different as I read "And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness." Lehi had been preaching diligently to the people of Jerusalem. He was from the Jerusalem, Israel mission and I am sure that he was attached to some of his investigators. He probably still had hope for them... and then he got transferred out. Permanently... I bet he was sad. Even though on areas in my mission we weren't having much success, I still felt pain when I got transferred out and had to leave the people I loved behind. Lehi, as a prophet, likely had a special gift to really love the people and see them more the way God sees them... and leaving them behind was like leaving them to their deaths. Ayyyy.

Well, I'm off to school! HAVE A GREAT DAY! The scriptures rock!

Oh, and to answer your question, dad, Ezekial and John were 2 examples of prophets that had to eat their scriptures... look it up - it's pretty interesting.