You’ll find that Laman and Lemuel (the oldest brothers) are constant
whiners through the whole journey. But to their credit—they go! Laman and
Lemuel make me think about how often I cooperate with God’s commandments but
complain about it the whole time. I love the insight in this verse:
12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.
I can think of lots of hard times in my life that I regret
moaning over so much because now I can see the good that came of them. Heavenly
Father probably got a bit annoyed that he was doing something good for me and I
only gave Him grief the whole time.
Nephi and his brother Sam have a better attitude about the
whole thing—but notice it wasn’t automatic.
16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.17 And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.
Nephi had to want to believe/feel good about it, and then seek
help from the Lord. It’s ok to ask God to help us change our hearts when we
need it—or even to help us know IF we need to change our hearts in the first place.
--Megan
I think Megan's point about Nephi 'having great desires to know of the mysteries of God' is key. The first time I read the Book of Mormon all the way through, I did it as an assignment from a school religion class. I didn't get hardly anything out of it and it did not have a great impact on my thinking or behavior because I was not reading it with 'desires to know of the mysteries of God'. I was only reading it because of the assignment. However, a few years later, I was at a place in life where I really, truly cared and 'desired' to know if God was real and if the Book of Mormon was divinely inspired. When I read the Book of Mormon with those desires I had an entirely different experience. The Book of Mormon then had a powerful impact on me. I could feel very strongly that what I was reading was in fact true. From that experience I lost all desire to do things that I knew I shouldn't do. My only desires were to do good and be good to others. I am an infinitely happier and better person since having this experience reading the Book of Mormon.
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