Day Eight 1st Nephi 22 & 2nd Nephi 1-2 (6/15/09)

I was reading some background information and it said that 2nd Nephi can be considered as Nephi's witness of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer.

I used the website where you can look for quotes that go with certain scriptures and I found this talk from Elder Hales about enduring to the end. (I looked up 1st Nephi 22:31) He shared the following and I thought it was a good reminder to me and maybe to others...

"During the past year, I have been touched by those who understand this doctrine. They have faithfully endured opposition, trials, and tribulation in their lives and, in doing so, were not only personally strengthened by their experience, but they also strengthened those around them by their example.

One young woman wrote about the lessons she has learned in her struggle to recover from an automobile accident in which she received severe head injuries.

“I didn’t know how strong I was until the spring of 1996. The incidents of one afternoon completely changed my expectations of how my education would proceed. One minute I was on a path to my future, much like every other high school student. The next minute life was no longer ordinary for me. I was on my way to strengthening myself in ways I would never have guessed. … I was on a road to relearning instead of learning. … I relearned how to eat; swallowing the food in my mouth was a hard task that I had to relearn. I went from the bed to a wheelchair to standing and walking in over a five-month period. … I have learned many great truths from my diverse trials this past year. Prayers are really answered. Fasting is a power in my family. Love has kept me alive. … I have learned what I can tolerate. … Throughout all of this I have learned that I am a lot stronger than I thought. I have learned that if you need help, it is OK to ask for it; we all have our limits, strengths, and weaknesses. … All knowledge … is ‘spendable currency’ for me. Like a baby bird broken from its shell, I am learning to fly again” (letter from Elizabeth Merkley).

Often we do not know what we can endure until after a trial of our faith. "


Here are some gems I found using 2nd Nephi chapter 1 and 2.

This first one is a quote from Elder Maxwell based on 2 Ne. 1:14

"Father Lehi once described himself as a “trembling parent” ( 2 Ne. 1:14). There are trembling parents and grandparents today! Some of today’s families already exist in a worse wilderness than did Father Lehi’s. Healthy, traditional families are becoming an endangered species! Perhaps, one day, families may even rank with the threatened spotted owl in effective attention given!"
His talk is really powerful and good. He doesn't mess around and he said a few things that made me do a double take. If you want to read the entire talk you can find it at http://www.lds.org/ - Neal A. Maxwell, “‘Take Especial Care of Your Family’,” Ensign, May 1994

I think what Lehi has to say to his children in chapter 1 is so powerful. I think the imagery is interesting. He is basically begging the usual suspects to wake up or they'll suffer woe, be bound to chains that will lead to an eternal gulf of misery and woe... then contrast that with what he says his future will be --- in verse 15 he says.... "But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his
love. "
Well I don't know about you but that sure sounds a lot nicer than misery and woe!

I have to include this snippet from a talk given by Elder Robert D. Hales

I once had an opportunity to accompany President Spencer W. Kimball to a distant land. We were given a tour of the various sites in the area, including underground catacombs—burial grounds for people who had been persecuted by Christian zealots. As we came up the dark, narrow stairs of that place, President Kimball taught me an unforgettable lesson. He pulled my coattail and said, “It has always troubled me what the adversary does using the name of our Savior.” He then said, “Robert, the adversary can never have joy unless you and I sin.”

As I contemplated this comment and studied the scriptures, I began to understand what President Kimball may have meant. I recalled the word of the Lord to all the inhabitants of the earth as recorded in the Book of Mormon: “Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people.” 19 [ 3 Ne. 9:2] It is our sins that make the devil laugh, our sorrow that brings him counterfeit joy.

Although the devil laughs, his power is limited. Some may remember the old adage: “The devil made me do it.” Today I want to convey, in absolutely certain terms, that the adversary cannot make us do anything. He does lie at our door, as the scriptures say, and he follows us each day. 20 [See Gen. 4:7; Moses 5:23] Every time we go out, every decision we make, we are either choosing to move in his direction or in the direction of our Savior. But the adversary must depart if we tell him to depart. He cannot influence us unless we allow him to do so, and he knows that! The only time he can affect our minds and bodies—our very spirits—is when we allow him to do so. In other words, we do not have to succumb to his enticements!

We have been given agency, we have been given the blessings of the priesthood, and we have been given the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost for a reason. That reason is our growth and happiness in this world and eternal life in the world to come. Today I ask, have we received that Spirit? Are we following on the strait and narrow path that leads to God and eternal life? Are we holding onto the iron rod, or are we going another way? I testify that how we choose to feel and think and act every day is the way we get on the path, and stay on it, until we reach our eternal destination.

Now, none of us are on the narrow path all of the time. All of us make mistakes. That is why Lehi, who understood the Savior’s role in preserving and reclaiming our agency, taught Jacob—and us: “The Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon.” 21 [ 2 Ne. 2:26] That is the key—“to act for themselves and not to be acted upon.”
Robert D. Hales, “To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency,” Ensign, May 2006, 4–8
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One more addition. I decided to see what the institute book had to say about these first two chapters in Second Nephi - and it had a lot a great quotes and ideas. Check it out...
http://www.ldsces.org/manuals/book-of-mormon-institute-student-manual/bm1996-03-2ne-3-1.asp