Busy week? Me too. LDS Living is here to catch you up and get you ready for discussions on Sunday. Here’s a nugget of wisdom from this week’s Come, Follow Me study of 1 Nephi 1–5.
The words in the scriptures don’t change, but our current life experiences as we’re reading can change daily. Sometimes it takes a specific focus to make very familiar chapters speak with new life. This week on the Sunday on Monday podcast, Tammy and her guests were focused on family.
I Nephi, being born of goodly parents…
The guests on this week’s episode were two sisters, Alexis and Chanté, and they helped paint a familiar story with a familial brush. Nephi’s personal introduction talks about his family in the first sentence, and his relationship with his brothers has a big impact on the first few stories in the Book of Mormon. It’s easier to relate to their time in the wilderness and the chore it was to bring back the plates of brass when we remember that these were real people—siblings even, with all the love/drama that relationship brings—dealing with each other while also trying to answer extraordinary requests from God.
There are many ways we can learn about God throughout our lives, two of which are through the scriptures and our family. Nephi’s family understood that too because the records they went back to retrieve from Laban in these chapters were chock full of scripture and genealogy.
Sister Tamara Runia said in last October’s general conference:
Let’s zoom out to view family relationships as a powerful vehicle to teach us the lessons we came here to learn as we turn to the Savior.
—Tamara W. Runia, “Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens”
Families don’t have to be perfect for us to learn important lessons about eternity. Nephi’s family reminds us of that. And parents can take comfort in knowing that even Nephi’s goodly parents also had two sons who continuously made rebellious choices. Every member of our family will always have their agency.
So no matter how many times you have cracked open the Book of Mormon and read “I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents…” you can always learn something new. Maybe this time look at the story through the lens of family, and see what you can learn about yourself, your own family relationships, and your eternal family with God.
So that was my takeaway this week. To hear more takeaways from other Latter-day Saints on this block of scripture, join our study group on Facebook and Instagram.
Sunday on Monday is a Come, Follow Me podcast hosted by Tammy Uzelac Hall that is released every Monday to guide you through the scripture readings for the week. This week covers 1 Nephi 1–5. Our podcast guests this week were sisters Alexis Bradley and Chanté
Stutznegger. You can listen to full episodes on Deseret Bookshelf Plus and find out more at ldsliving.com/sundayonmonday.
