9/17 Family Home Evening

Today was a nice day and it turned into an impromptu FHE. Aaron skipped class today as they usually just do homework in class and as he said "I can do that from here". So we decided to take the baby out for a walk to the library since The Boy had to check out a book for a report he has due next week. It was really nice to go out in the fall weather in our warmer clothes and walk in the neighborhood to the library. The Boy took some extra time to find a book at this grade level that he hasn't already read, so we took Baby Boy over to the kids section to check out the fish in the tank. We even got to use the self check-out scanner, which impressed The Boy.
On the way home my hubby and I talked about our neighborhood, which he happened to grow up in, and how we'd like to buy a home there. He said that he often wonders what I think of Riverside and I think it's a nice quite little place for a family.
When we got home, we put Baby Boy down for bed after feeding him dinner, and then we pulled out the Book of Mormon for some family scripture reading. We've been trying to incorporate it into our daily lives as we're told all the time how important it is for us to read not only on our own time, but as a family. So The Boy and I have been reading to BB and he reads a chapter and I read one. Well, when he went to get his book (cause we've been using his) he lost the bookmark and we lost our place. The last thing I remember us covering was 1Nephi, ch4 so I picked it up in chapter 5.
This chapter jumped out at me this time around and it makes me wonder if Heavenly Father didn't have his hand in TB's losing of our place, because as I read it again out loud I really got it. (By the way, we're really on ch 12.) Anyway, in this chapter, Lehi's wife Sariah is upset with him about the state they find themselves in and is really worrying about her sons. They are living in the wilderness after leaving Jerusalem on God's orders to avoid being carried away into captivity when the Babalonians invade. Lehi has a vision and tells his sons, lead by Nephi who is the youngest son, that they need to go up to King Laban (a distant relative) and get the plates that contain the record of their family geneology and the scriptures and commandments that amount to what we now know as the old testament. They will need this when they travel to the promised land, to have it to guide them in keeping The Lord's commands.
So, they've been sent off on a really tough mission and Sariah as a mother and a wife who didn't have her own testamony yet of Gods plan, is along for the ride. She has left her home of great wealth and privalige to flee 3 days journey into the wilderness. She's having to make due and live in the harshness of the wilderness and I doubt that fresh food is just readily available to them. She has her oldest son's complaining all the time about what they gave up, and trying to rebel against her husband. Now, as if that isn't enough, add to the mix that her sons...all of the...have been sent off on what could be a suicide mission. Her sons have to go back into the city, convince the King to give them the record that has been in his family for generations and contains the sacred record of the gospel, and come back all without being followed.
Now ask yourself, as a mother...what kind of mental state would you be in? So now I imagine that Nephi and company had to travel 3 days back into Jerusalem. Then go to see the King only to be told in no uncertain terms, "no". They leave and try to regroup and figure out what to do next. I imagine that at least one day goes by while they try to figure it out. So they decide to go back to their home, which they abandoned earlier, and gather all their money and jewels and anything of value to see if they can get the King to sell the plates to them. This probably took some time to do so lets just say there's a good chance that another day has passed. They go back to see King Laban, and he tells them "no" but takes their treasures and sends servants to have them killed. They flee, and again try to regroup. Nephi is attacked by his older brothers and an angel has to intervein to keep them from killing him. They pray hard on it, and are prompted by the spirit to go back and told that The Lord will deliver Laban into their hands. I assume that another day went by, and went into night as that is when Nephi goes back and comes upon a drunken Laban. So I would guess that about a week has passed since Sariah's sons left their wilderness camp to go on their mission.
Now that you have an idea what she's dealing with, you can imagine what's going through her head by now. She starts to panic and starts to doubt her husband. She starts to chew him out and complain to him that he's made her leave her home, family, friends and comforts to hump it 3 days into the wilderness, only to starve and die. And if that wasn't bad enough, he's sent their sons on a mission that could easily result in their deaths. She's imaging the worst. She's fallen into the position that we all find ourselves dealing with, where we get caught up in the worldly grind and forget that our Father has a plan and will watch after us when he sends us off to do the impossible.
But what I loved is that she took comfort in Lehi's promise that they were doing The Lords work and that they left Jerusalem to survive its destruction. Then after her sons return, she gains her own faith and testimony of Heavenly Father's will for them, and never doubts again. She's a strong woman, a good wife and mother, and a great example of how each of us needs to gain our own testimony in order to endure to the end and have the strength to follow Him in every little thing he asks us to do.
I loved this chapter! Feel free to read it at the LDS website.