Book of Mormon Progress - 1 Nephi (1-8)

President Russell M. Nelson, our current leader for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has challenged us to read the Book of Mormon, from start to finish, between now and the end of the year.

While I am slow on my reading (I've only read eight chapters thus far), I have begun. And I suppose the whole point of this challenge isn't how quickly you can read this book, but rather how well you understand it.

Are you actually reading it?

Are the words on paper more than mere words on paper?

Even though I have the first book of Nephi pretty much memorized, reading it again (especially tonight) still made me realize a few things.

For instance, there's Nephi's relationship with his brothers. I always felt bad for Nephi, with Laman and Lemuel always picking on him and even threatening his life more than once. It makes me go, "Sheesh, talk about sibling rivalry!"

And yet, even though Nephi has every reason in the world to give up on his brothers, he doesn't. He still loves them and sincerely keeps working on them, and it's their own fault that they end up estranged from each other. His brothers were worth saving, but they had as much freedom to choose as Nephi did and they had to live with the consequences of their actions.

Then there's Nephi's other brother, Sam. He doesn't get much fanfare, but his loyalty to Nephi through it all is truly inspiring. Sam makes me think of Hyrum Smith, brother to the prophet Joseph Smith, who also didn't get much of the limelight...but he was a strong, faithful man in his own way. I think it was no coincidence that Hyrum and Joseph died on the same day, within mere minutes of each other.

The story of Laban and the brass plates teaches us that no task the Lord assigns you is impossible to achieve, even if you have to make more than one attempt.

I also think it was no coincidence, accident, or a simple stroke of bad luck that Nephi and his brothers didn't achieve their goal on the first try. Perhaps the Lord meant to teach them that you have to get up each time you're knocked down (literally, in Nephi's case), and that it's not necessary to know beforehand everything you will say or do. Sometimes you just have to take it one step at a time, and if you keep taking those steps, you'll reach your destination in good time.

Reading about Sariah's complaints against Lehi, along with Lehi's tender, gentle response to those complaints, reminded me that wives need to have faith in their husbands, and at the same time, husbands must have compassion for their wives.

And tonight, I just completed the story of the Tree of Life, which I know by heart but it spoke to me all the same.

One aspect of the story that stood out to me this evening is the great and spacious building, which appears to float in midair. This means there's no solid foundation to hold this building up. The people inside the building appear to have it all, but tragically, they go down with the building when it finally collapses.

In the end, what good does that building do any of them?

It's a sad but invaluable lesson. Those who believe money, popularity, and all the other "things of the world" are central to the scheme of life will only end up feeling empty. What appears to be true happiness is but a fleeting pleasure, leading to permanent misery.

And I know all too well about the mocking and pointing of fingers. It's happened to me plenty of times on social media. Some of my own friends, whom I care about a great deal, just don't understand my beliefs and they have no qualms mocking them...or me because of them.

Sometimes people try to rope me into a heated debate. It doesn't occur to them why Sunday is so important to me or why I believe so strongly in marriage between a man and a woman. They accuse me of homophobia because I don't support gay marriage or homosexuality, they swear liberally around me, and they bad-mouth Joseph Smith and other prominent Church leaders in front of me.

I try not to misjudge any of these people. I try to "heed them not," as Nephi put it. But there's no denying their words are hurtful.

On a more positive note, Lehi's sincere desire to share the sweet heavenly fruit with his family (and all the rest of the people on the path) alludes to that Christlike love. When you have something this good in your possession, you just can't keep it to yourself. You want to share it. You need to share it. You consider the welfare of others as much as you consider your own, perhaps more.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a priceless treasure that everybody can--and should--have a part of.

That's all I have to say for now. Hopefully I'll gain momentum in the following week, and my enthusiasm will increase with my reading.