Go and Do

To my son, 

One of the verses that we have tried to memorize as a family is this one from Nephi: “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7). This is one of the most famous verses in the Book of Mormon and we repeat it often, and rightfully so. But perhaps sometimes we do so too flippantly, and it is important to consider it in context and think about what Nephi was actually required to “go and do.” He and his brothers undertook the difficult journey (thought to be about two weeks) through the wilderness and back to Jerusalem where they would try to obtain the plates. Even though the Lord commanded them to go get the plates from Laban, the Lord didn’t tell them how to do it. And it proved much more challenging, I think, than they were expecting. After Laman’s first attempt to retrieve the plates failed, Laman and Lemuel were ready to give up. But Nephi showed that his “go and do” attitude was real; he wouldn’t give up even if it was hard, saying to his brothers: “As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us” (1 Nephi 3:15). In other words, he was saying that he wouldn’t leave Jerusalem until he had the plates of brass as commanded, even though he didn’t know how to get them. Laban had just tried to kill Laman, a seemingly very good excuse to turn around and go back to the wilderness. But Nephi persevered, and he came up with an idea and they tried to purchase the plates with a lot of gold and silver from his father. Unfortunately, though, this was a total failure and not only did they not have the plates but Laman and Lemuel turned against him and started to beat him. This was surely a low point for him, but again he did not give up—he was going to “go and do” no matter what.

Gratefully, Nephi’s life was saved by an angel, but Laman and Lemuel still did not believe that they could obtain the plates. Nephi declared to them with faith, “Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands? Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses” (1 Nephi 4:1-2). Again, he showed that he really meant what he had said to his father—he was going to go and do what the Lord had commanded him no matter the risks or obstacles. And, as you know, he finally did obtain the plates with the help of the Lord and great faith on his part, and he fulfilled the task that had been given him. He returned safely to the tent of his father and summarized what had happened with these words: “And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us” (1 Nephi 5:20). Those were not idle words—it had taken great effort for him and his father to keep the commandments, but they had done it. Nephi showed us with his example how to persevere in obedience, and I hope you will look for other examples of this as you continue to read in the Book of Mormon. It is interesting to me that his final words on the plates were these: “For thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen” (2 Nephi 33:15). I hope that you and I can strive to be that obedient to the Lord. We too can have as our mantra that we must obey the Lord, not because we are forced to but because our love for Him is such that we are ready and willing to do whatever He asks of us. 

Love,

Dad