A River and Valley

When Lehi arrived with his family at the spot they first stopped in the wilderness, he “pitched his tent in a valley by the side of a river of water.” These two prominent parts of their natural surroundings—a valley and a river—he named after his two oldest sons. Nephi recorded, “And it came to pass that he called the name of the river, Laman, and it emptied into the Red Sea; and the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof. And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!” He took this river that their family would be looking at for a while, and he tried to connect it with his struggling son Laman. Laman would see in its running waters a reminder to come unto the Lord. Lehi did the same thing for Lemuel: “And he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!” (1 Nephi 2:6, 8-10) That verse doesn’t say that he named the valley after Lemuel, but he clearly did by the fact that Nephi subsequently referred to it as “the valley of Lemuel.” He took this unmovable valley that surrounded them and tried to make it a reminder to Lemuel to be steadfast in the faith. So, Lehi used these two parts of their natural surroundings—in a place where they would spend a considerable amount of time—and he sought to connect them in a spiritual way to his two oldest sons.  

We do not have a record of how Laman and Lemuel responded to this, but Nephi did record what happened as Lehi further talked with them at that place. He wrote, “And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them” (1 Nephi 2:14). They were not so hardened that they couldn’t feel the Spirit of the Lord—they did indeed humble themselves sometimes and feel the power of the words of their father. Their family ended up spending what was probably many months in this location, and I have to think that the fact that Lehi named the river and valley after Laman and Lemuel caused them to reflect upon his words to them. As Laman saw the river rushing by, as he went to it for water, as he bathed in it, as he listened to it in the dark of the night outside of his tent, perhaps the words of his father “sunk deep into [his] heart” as other words would for his nephew many years later (Enos 1:3). As Lemuel looked around him at the valley, as he traveled through it to find food, as he viewed this incredible creation of God, perhaps he let the words of his father come into his mind. Just because Laman and Lemuel ultimately rejected the path of righteousness, it doesn’t mean that Lehi’s efforts to bring them to the Lord were in vain. Perhaps Laman and Lemuel were reminded that their father truly did love them as they considered how he named these two things after them. At any rate, they must have been pleased that Lehi didn’t name them after Nephi or Sam—they must have felt at least a small vote of confidence from this action of their father.

What Lehi did here in connecting their surroundings with his two sons in a way to remind them of the Lord is a powerful example for us in our parenting. One of our most important roles is to help our children see the hand of the Lord so they can develop faith in Him. We need to give them experiences that will cause them to reflect upon the things of God and which will be likely to come into their minds when we are not around. Ultimately of course it is up to them to seek the Lord or not, but like Lehi we can invite them in simple ways to come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be steadfast in keeping the commandments.