Book of Mormon Stories - Nephi and His Family Cross the Ocean

Time: 600 BC
Place: The wilderness, the ocean, and the American continents
Reference: 1 Nephi 17, 18
Characters:
Lehi: Father of the family and a prophet.  He enjoys fearlessly preaching repentance to the Jews, receiving death threats, reading books obtained in strange ways, dreaming crazy dreams, trekking through the wilderness, and dwelling in tents.
Sariah: Wife of Lehi and a worried mother.  She enjoys spending time with family, bearing children in the wilderness, matchmaking, and gardening.
Nephi: Legendary younger brother and heroic prophet.  He enjoys archery, playing with swords, building ships, hiking to high mountains, writing poetry, and confounding his brothers.
Sam: Faithful but sometimes forgotten middle child.  He enjoys long walks through the wilderness, campfire stories, sailing, and playing with God's compass.
Laman and Lemuel: The two peas in a pod rebellious older brothers.  They enjoy antagonizing their brothers, eating raw meat, making new friends, dancing with hot women, and uttering tribal cries.
Zoram: Promise-keeping servant of Laban. He enjoys playing hide-and-seek in the dark, hitch hiking, reading in the libraries of Laban, and skinning beasts.
Ishmael: Adventure-seeking Jerusalem father. He enjoys playing matchmaker, listening to stories, going on trips with his family, and building camp fires.
Sons of Ishmael: Strong, rude, party animals. They enjoy bullying, building alliances with others, practicing robe knotting, and arm wrestling. 
Hot daughter of Ishmael: Sweet, spiritual, beautiful woman. She enjoys shopping for clothes, saving people's lives, and being married to Nephi.
Writer: Nephi
Background information: Nephi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Babylonians. After traveling in the wilderness for 8 years, they arrived at the ocean. In this popular story, Nephi builds a ship, confounds his brothers again, and they sail across the ocean and arrive in the promised land despite Laman and Lemuel's attempts to stop their progress.
Previously on Book of Mormon Stories: After Nephi and his brothers brought back Ishmael and his family, Laman and Lemuel and some of the sons of Ishmael tried to rebel and turn back. Thanks to the power of God and Nephi's hot future wife, they were all able to return to Lehi in the wilderness and the day was saved. Lehi had a dream about the Tree of Life which he relayed to his family. Nephi was confused about the dream so went and prayed and an angel of the Lord appeared to him and explained it to him. Now we all know that we need to find this delicious fruit and I graciously let you know that it's right here in the gospel of Jesus Christ ready for you to enjoy. You're welcome. (Click here to read the full story.) 


Our story continues as Lehi and his family continue their journey through the wilderness. We learn that the children of Ishmael marred the children of Lehi which was one thing that Laman and Lemuel did't complain about. Unfortunately, Ishmael died along the way and was buried in the land of Nahom. (To learn about evidence for The Book of Mormon that comes from this, go to this post, point number 5.) 

As they took their journey into the wilderness, Nephi tells us that their women bore children.  They also lived off of raw meat but the Lord blessed them with strength "and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings." Yuck. I think if this was written from a woman's perspective instead of a man's it would've said: "And it came to pass that my husband is making me eat raw meat while I'm pregnant and breastfeeding in the middle of a wilderness and I'm supposed to be grateful and feel blessed by the Lord. And I esteemeth my husband as crazy and I gave him the silent treatment for 2 weeks."

Eventually they arrived in a land they called Bountiful, "because of its much fruit and also wild honey." Yummy. They pitched their tents there and were "exceedingly rejoiced" to be there at the seashore after their many difficulties. 

After many days, the voice of the Lord came to Nehpi and told him to get into into a mountain. He obeyed and went up there to converse with God because this is now a normal thing for him. The Lord said to him: "Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters." And Nephi, bless his heart, said: "Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?" He didn't even question the Lord but just right away was like, "k cool, tell me what to do." What a stud. 

The Lord then told Nephi how to construct the ship and he right away got to work. Unfortunately, Nephi has some really annoying older brothers. Laman and Lemuel found out what he was doing and started making fun of him, saying: "Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters. And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart;"

 

"And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the the Lord."

Nephi then testified to his brothers that he had been instructed of God and that they are being thick-headed: "Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time...but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words...O, then, why is it that ye can be so hard in your hearts? Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever."

Surprisingly, Laman and Lemuel weren't happy about being accused of doing iniquity and being cast off forever. They were "desirous to throw [Nephi] into the depths of the sea" but "as they came forth to lay their hands upon [him]" Nephi said to them: "In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed." That scared them.

For the next couple of days Laman and Lemuel avoided Nephi out of fear. ("Our brother is insane, for he thinketh he can electrocute us.") The Lord then said to Nephi: "Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them...and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God." Nephi gladly obeyed and shocked his brothers. Laman and Lemuel were adequately freaked out and humbled. They then acknowledged that God is with Nephi and from that point on they helped him build the ship. 
  
After the ship was finished, everyone loaded in and they set sail. After many days, Nephi's brothers, the sons of Ishmael, and their wives "began to make themselves merry, insomuch that they began to dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness." When he writes "dance" and "sing" here, he's not talking about this:   

He's talking about this:

In a boat. With a bunch of men who haven't showered. Sounds like a party. Whatever they were doing exactly, it wasn't OK and it wasn't in line with the Lord's commandments. 

Nephi started to get nervous and was like "the commandments! the commandments! we need to keep the cOmAnDmEnTs!" The party-goers weren't impressed. "Behold they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us." And then they proceeded to bind him with cords "and they did treat [him] with much harshness." Nice, right? 

After they bound him, their compass which the Lord had given them stopped working so they didn't know which direction to go. To make matters worse, a huge storm started. For three days they "were driven back upon the waters...and they began to be frightened lest they should be drowned in the sea." Laman and Lemuel threatened anyone who would help Nephi and not even the tears of Nephi's wife or children softened their hearts. 
 
Eventually, Laman and Lemuel realized that there was a higher power at work there and that they were going to die. They released Nephi and he grabbed the compass and started praying to God. "And after I had prayed the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm."

Nephi guided the ship and after many days they arrived in the promised land (the American continents). There they settled and planted seeds and hunted. And that is how Nephi and his family arrived in Jerusalem. Cool story, right?

Although Nephi went through a lot of hardship, he never complained to the Lord. He trusted in Him and was willing to obey Him even when it seemed crazy or hard. Nephi is a prime example of keeping the commandments and we can all learn from him.

Next time on Book of Mormon Stories we will learn how the problems between Nephi and his brothers escalated until they separated and grew into two huge civilizations that battled each other for 1000 years. Talk about sibling rivalry.

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love"(John 15:10). 

Amen.