Why am I writing this? Nephi's non-dilemma
While reading in 1 Nephi 9 with my wife - I mean, my lovely wife -, I came upon those two tender verses at the end (v. 5-6) where Nephi explains that the Lord has commanded him to make these plates "for a wise purpose...which purpose I [Nephi] know not." Now, think about it. Here we are reading the account of Nephi and he tells us that he didn't even know why he was writing it. He's writing The Book of Mormon , for crying out loud - this is the most correct of any book on earth, it contains the fullness of the gospel, the knowledge contained within is essential for our eternal exaltation. And here we have good 'ole Nephi engraving in his spiritual record for God knows why. Now, given the rest of Nephi's writings, I'm guessing he wasn't 100% ignorant of what would become of his record. However, in these verses he shows his willingness to do whatever the Lord commands him to do, whether or not he knows why. Nephi has total trust in the Lord; he might ...