Influence of Women

This one took me a few days to find time to write, thanks to the wonderful joys of motherhood. I sometimes have to keep telling myself that I've had my "selfish day" (childhood, teenage years, college, etc) and now it is time to focus on my kids. I know I'll have time enough for myself again soon, even if it seems like it will never come. I just have to keep reminding myself...

Anyway. I read 1 Nephi chapters 7-8 a couple of nights ago. Here are some things I noted:

• The Lord commands Lehi's sons to go get wives, because it is not good for them to be alone.
• The Lord wants them to raise seed unto the Lord.
• They have to go all the way back to Jerusalem to get Ishmael's family.
• In verse 19; one of the daughters of Ishmael and her mother (and one son) plead with those who were angry with and trying to kill Nephi on their return journey.

Some questions that came to mind:

• Why does the Lord view marriage as so important that he wants to make sure each of Lehi's sons have a wife?
• Why did they have to return to Jerusalem instead of being commanded to bring them with them initially?
• Why did this one daughter have so much influence and did she marry Nephi? :)

Here are some of my thoughts as I read about this period of their journey. They had now been in the wilderness for a fair amount of time and must have adjusted to a degree. This may have helped Ishmael trust them enough to bring his family into the wilderness, maybe??? Maybe it gave Laman and Lemuel another opportunity to be obedient and Sariah a chance to exercise her faith again.

I was reminded of the Proclamation to the World on the Family as I contemplated the first question. Marriage is ordained of God for many reasons. Marriage is not easy, but consider a society that does not value marriage. First of all there is much impurity. There cannot exist the close, trusting relationship that is possible in marriage. I am reminded of a blog I was reading recently that discussed how important the influence of women is. If a woman is present in the home, there is more caring and teaching (generally speaking). She can raise young boys to respect women. She can raise young girls to know what a daughter of God is.

In this case, I think the women were vital in helping them complete the journey. It is quite possible that without them, Nephi would have been killed and there would be no journey. I wonder how much love the women expressed that increased the amount of peace throughout the camp and the journey. Even though Nephi bore a strong testimony to his brothers, they felt only the stab of truth and greater anger because of their pride. This daughter of Ishmael likely showed great love and had to be humble enough to risk her life as well in order to stand up to Laman and Lemuel. 

So for me this would mean that if I am living righteously, I can use my influence and demonstrate love in a way that will make our journey through life more bearable. I might be blessed to help someone change their heart, despite their lack of interest in listening to a testimony of truth.

As for chapter 8, we learn that in Lehi's dream Sariah listened to Lehi (her righteous husband and the prophet) and partook of the fruit. We learn that both male and female were in the great and spacious building. Some women chose to mock and point their fingers at those who were partaking of the fruit. I wonder if sometimes I mock those who are trying to live the standards of the gospel (those so called "goody-goodies"/"molly mormons") or if I am one of those who would be ashamed of trying to live the standards of the gospel? Do I worship God at all times, in all things and in all places? I wonder what made these women fall away from the path that leads to the fruit. Was it the exceedingly fine dress (wordly desires) or were they just ashamed or offended?

I guess the lesson to learn from this chapter is to try to be like Sariah and the other women who made it to the fruit...pressing forward, continually holding fast to the rod until I can fall down (humility or exhaustion??) and partake of the fruit. This doesn't sound easy or passive. Thanks for this opportunity to bounce my ideas of you guys. It has helped me hold a little tighter to the rod or at least really consider the words that are written for us.

I also had a couple thoughts about "Jenni's trees" and Laman/Lemuel, even though it doesn't relate to women. Outwardly Jenni said you couldn't see any difference in the 2 trees. They were similar in size. I wonder if outwardly Laman and Lemuel looked similar to Nephi. To those not in their family, they seem pretty obedient. They left Jerusalem. They returned with Nephi- twice. Their attitudes were much different and I guess this is were their roots/testimony of their journey were not strong enough to receive all of the blessings available to them. They did make it to the promised land, but not with all the joy and blessings they could have had, eventually leading to their spiritual fall.