1 Nephi 1

This summer the stake youth leaders issued a challenge.  All the youth, and all the leaders will read the Book of Mormon, from cover to cover.  We started on Monday and will finish right before school starts.  I am super excited.  I am excited because I love the read the Book of Mormon in "x" amount of time challenge, I always get so much out of it.  I think the girls will get a lot of out it.  I hope and pray that my Grace gets a lot out of it.  She is a good, great, smart girl.  I want her testimony and her love of the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to also be good and great and powerful.

So, for myself, to add a little something to the challenge I am going to write just a short paragraph about what I learned from this particular reading of the Book of Mormon this summer.  There are so many lessons and insights and inspirations in the pages of that sacred text and I am not even going to try to capture it all.  But I do want to capture a thought from each one. 

Nephi writes a record.  Page one, introductory paragraph we are told that it is, in part, an account of their sufferings. That popped out to me.  I have long been a believer that it is our trials and our adversities that make us who we are, that shape our characters and prove our faith.  We should expect hard things, and in fact every one has a lot of hard hard things in their lives.  Some seemingly more than others but that is in God's hands.  When we are in the midst of our trails do we turn to God in prayer? Do we patiently endure and act in obedience?
We also have a lot of good and joyful things in our lives and that too proves us.  Do we remain steadfast and faithful when the road is easy and times are happy? Do we share of our abundance? Do we grow and stock up our spiritual oil so that we can have a reserve in hard time?

Despite this very core belief of mine I still don't like the trials and fear the ones to come.  I still cling to what I think is best and how I want to find happiness. The Lord must look at me with a smile on His face as he shakes His head and says trust me, it's going to be better, this is part of my plan for you daughter.  Like a parent with a willful child who doesn't see the end from the beginning.

Anyway, those words an account of their sufferings popped out to me and I said, yes.  That is why we are here.  Not to suffer exactly but to learn and grow and that is the vehicle and important to remember and to learn and to grow from.

So what did I learn from my suffering, from Nephi's sufferening.  Today, in that moment?  Well in Chapter 1, the summary it says "-He praises God".  It is a record of Nephi's suffering and he praises God.  That is my lesson this day from Chapter 1.  Praise be to God.  I want to praise Him too.  I want to be ever grateful.  And I am, that's something I am good at.  So I will Praise Him for giving me an eye to see what is good in my life and in the world.  And I will work on being great at it..instead of good at it ;)