This week in my religion class, I had the opportunity of studying 1 Nephi 1- 5 in the Book of Mormon.This is the first time in a long time that I have really studied the Book of Mormon. I learned lessons that I hadn't realized were in these chapters.
In these chapters Lehi prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed and takes his family to the wilderness as directed by the Lord. Then, he is given the commandment to send his sons back to Jerusalem to get the brass plates from Laban, the king. Laman and Lemuel murmur. Nephi tells his father that he will do it because it is a commandment of the Lord. After two failed attempts, they obtain the plates and a new traveling companion, Zoram, Laban's servant. Upon returning to their parents, they discover that Sariah, their mother had complained about her sons going back and had worried that they had been killed. Lehi calms her by telling her that he knew that he was asking a lot, but these were the Lords directions. When the brothers returned, their parents rejoiced and thanked the Lord. Then, they read from the plates of brass.
In the class we were provided with clips of General Conference talks that go along with these chapters that I have taken for granted because, as most Mormons, I have read them more than the majority of the book. There were two that talked about murmuring. These clips opened my eyes to the negativity that I have been spreading. Elder Neil A. Maxwell explained that murmuring is a half complaint and that we do this because we want the Lord to accept us on our own terms rather than His. Elder Jeffery R. Holland explained that when we murmur people don't like to be around people that negative. My favorite quote from his talk, "The Tongue of Angels," was, "No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse." He relates this to Laman and Lemuel in chapter 3 where they are striking Nephi and have him tied up. He says that Nephi may have been more accepted of the beatings because it meant they were not murmuring while hitting them. He then quotes Ephesians 4:29-33 which says, "Let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth...be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
From these scriptures and talks, I learned that I need to be more willing to follow God's plan for me with our complaining (murmuring). It, also, taught me that it is better to forgive others as Nephi did after the angel rebuked his brothers in chapter 3.
