Nephi talks extensively about his role as brother and son, but what about his experiences as husband and father? The entire book is focused on his descendants and their fate, but no mention of his own children.

The family members that Nephi identifies as bitter about the death of Ishmael would have included his own wife.

Nephi creates a pattern of Resentment, Rebellion, Rebuke, Repentance

Bummer! My insights from yesterday weren’t published and now they are gone. I can’t remember them of course, it I really liked them.

Today I am thinking about Nephi’s reaction to his father saying he had seen a great vision from God. Nephi turns to God for answers and says his heart is softened and he can believe. Two important things here. First, Nephi asked questions about what his father had seen. He questioned and tried to understand for himself. Second, his “heart was softened”. Maybe he was prideful or stubborn or selfish or hard-headed or quick to judge or struggling to understand the experiences his father was talking about. So he asked, studied it out in his mind, and came to a conclusion. Based on Nephi’s narration, it sounds like Laman and Lemuel might not have made it this far in the process (or did they, and they just weren’t able to come to the same answer, no matter how hard they tried to be like Nephi?)

Themes I can look for when reading the story of Nephi:

Where does faith come from and how does it develop?
Family relationships
New beginnings
Religious violence. When is violence okay, or is it?
The purpose of afflictions

Nephi uses verses like 1 Nephi 3:5 to help us understand that what he has accomplished is both a commandment of God and prophecy fulfilled. False prophets were common in that day and it would be important to establish that what Lehi said came true.

Sariah’s acceptance of her husband “now I know of a surety” is meant to be a model for readers.

Nephi narrates the story of going back for the plates in such a way that he is the hero. He always does right, his brothers always do wrong. But why don’t we hear anything directly from Lehi about he glorious job Nephi did in triumphing over Laban?

Saraih’s complaint against Lehi is one of only two times that Nephi ever directly quotes a woman. And how does Nephi know about this conversation, since he wasn’t around to hear it.

Lehi’s profession of faith sets up him and his family to be potential victims (they would have died with everyone else if they hadn’t left) and deflects from the things that Nephi and his brothers did — killing and stealing from the man they just killed.

1 Nephi 1

Now that I’ve learned that Nephi is a middle aged man writing down his story it’s so different reading his writings!

He really respects his parents and has a good relationship with them. His writing seems to convey that his father chose favorites and Nephi came out on top. I think this helped shape who Laman and Lemuel eventually became and it’s something to work to avoid in my own parenting.

Leno went out and prayed to the Lord. He was praying on behalf of the people. He was seeking a solution.

Nephi says that Lehi “thought he saw God”. Maybe the things he saw were confusing. Or unclear. Why is God sitting on a throne in so many visions. I think it’s because many of the men who describe such visions lived in cultures with monarchies or dictators. God speaks to us in the way our minds work.

The Reader’s Guide says that after Joseph lost the 116 pages, he continued translating through the end of Moroni, and then picked back up again to add what was lost by translating from the Small Plates. Very interesting. The more I read about the timeline, and manner the translating was done, the stronger my testimony becomes.

Nephi is a middle aged man writing about the things he did as a teenager/ young adult. His words need to be read in this context.

I started reading Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide and wrote more notes about it, but they were erased. It going to be an excellent companion to my reading of the Book of Mormon though.

Joseph Smith’s Testimony

Things we learn from this testimony:

Joseph was praying and reading amid seeking out the things of God
The angel lit up the room like the noonday sun
He was able to hover off the floor
If the fullness of the Gospel is to be found anywhere in the BoM, it is likely going to be in 3 Nephi when The Savior.
Angels are able to impress visions in our mind that are as clear as if had taken a picture
Joseph Smith Sr immediately believed the story Joseph told him.

I wonder why angels always seem to wear robes. I presume they can choose any outfit they please? *Robes are*comfortable. And maybe they never do any of the hard physical labor that requires pants.

If the BOM contains the fullness of the Gospel, why is so much revealed in the D&C? Maybe that is part of what was lost in the 116 pages. Or what was never translated. I think there was a portion that was never translated? (The sealed section)

I need to read more about how the translation happened. Why did Joseph read out of a hat if he had the seer stones?

what are these judgements on the world and why is it important for Moroni to convey them to Joseph?