1 Nephi 12-15Nephi’s Vision

‘Recall how Nephi desired to know about the things his father, Lehi, had seen in the vision of the tree of life. Interestingly, the Spirit of the Lord begins the tutorial with Nephi by asking the following question: “Behold, what desirest thou?” (1 Nephi 11:2). Clearly the Spirit knew what Nephi desired. So why ask the question? The Holy Ghost was helping Nephi to act in the learning process and not simply be acted upon. Notice in 1 Nephi 11–14 how the Spirit both asked questions and encouraged Nephi to “look” as active elements in the learning process.

You and I are to act and be doers of the word and not simply hearers who are only acted upon. Are you and I agents who act and seek learning by faith, or are we waiting to be taught and acted upon?

A learner exercising agency by acting in accordance with correct principles opens his or her heart to the Holy Ghost and invites His teaching, testifying power, and confirming witness. Learning by faith requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just passive reception. It is in the sincerity and consistency of our faith-inspired action that we indicate to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, our willingness to learn and receive instruction from the Holy Ghost. Thus, learning by faith..invites the true teacher, the Spirit of the Lord.” (Elder David A Bednar, Learning By Faith, Ensign, Sept 2007)

Black White

Gray

Why do so many Latter Day Saints love the gray area?

The Grey Area: 1 Nephi 12:16-18

How do people respond to the Justice of God?

“It is imperative to note that this mist of darkness descends on all the travelers—the faithful and the determined ones as well as the weaker and ungrounded ones.

“The principal point of the story is that the successful travelers resist all distractions, including the lure of forbidden paths and jeering taunts from the vain and proud who have taken those paths. The record says that they “did press their way forward, continually [and, I might add, tenaciously] holding fast” to a rod of iron that ran unfailingly along the course of the true path. However dark the night or the day, the rod marks the way of that solitary, redeeming trail.” (Jeffery R. Holland, Safety for the Soul, Oct. 2009)

Where do you see the Great and Spacious Building? The Midst of Darkness?

1 Nephi 12:1-3 1 Nephi 12:4-7

Where do you see the Great and Spacious Building? The Midst of Darkness?

1 Nephi 12:19-22

1 Nephi 13Find a verse that nobody else in the class will read besides you. Show me...• The other churches that branched from the original

church that Jesus founded

The Great and Abominable Church1 Nephi 13:4-9

“Actually, no single known historical church, denomination, or set of believers meets all the requirements for the great and abominable church: it must have formed among the Gentiles; it must have edited and controlled the distribution of the scriptures; it must have slain the Saints of God, including the Apostles and prophets; it must be in league with civil governments and use their police power to enforce its religious views; it must have dominion over all the earth; it must pursue great wealth and sexual immorality; and it must last until close to the end of the world. No single denomination or system of beliefs fits the entire description. Rather, the role of Babylon has been played by many different agencies, ideologies, and churches in many different times. . . . (Stephen E. Robinson, “Warring against the Saints of God,” Ensign, Jan. 1988, 38–39).

1 Nephi 13Find a verse that nobody else in the class will read besides you. Show me...• The other churches that branched from the original

church that Jesus founded• Columbus

– (13:12-13)

1 Nephi 13"He(God) bestowed the arts of seamanship upon

me in abundance, and has given me what was necessary from astronomy, geometry, and arithmetic; and has given me adequate inventiveness in my soul ... encouraging me to go forward, and without ceasing they inflame me with a sense of great urgency." (Columbus to Doña Juana de la Torre, Raccolta di documenti e studi pubblicati della R. Commissione Colombiana, pt. I, vol. ii; I Scriti di Cristoforo Colombo, ed. Cesare de Lollis (Rome: 1894), p. 82.)

“The Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies, and he opened my will to desire to accomplish the project. Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also the Holy Spirit who encouraged me with a radiance of marvelous illumination from his sacred Scriptures.” (Libro de las profecias, p. 105. Raccolta, pt. I, vol. ii, p. 79.)

1 Nephi 13Find a verse that nobody else in the class will read besides you. Show me...• The other churches that branched from the original

church that Jesus founded• Columbus

– (13:12-13) • The Revolutionary War

– (13:16-19)• Bible

– (13:20-30)• Book of Mormon

– (13:33-38)• “Other Scriptures” - D&C and Pearl of Great Price

– (13:39-42)

1 Nephi 14

Find a verse that nobody else in the class will read besides you. Show me...• April 6, 1820

– (14:12)• Opposition to the church

– (14:13)• John the Revelator and the

book of Revelation – (14:18-27)

1 Nephi 14President Boyd K. Packer: “We [members of the Church] are a tiny fraction when compared to the billions of people on earth. But we are who we are, and we know what we know, and we are to go forth and preach the gospel.“The Book of Mormon makes it clear that we never will dominate by numbers. But we have the power of the priesthood [see 1 Nephi 14:14]. …“We can and in due time certainly will influence all of humanity. It will be known who we are and why we are. It might seem hopeless; it is monumentally difficult; but it is not only possible but certain that we will win the battle against Satan” (“The Power of the Priesthood,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2010, 7).

Why does God divide the wicked from the righteous? 1 Nephi 15:26-30,34-35

1 Nephi 15

Elder Robert D. Hales: “So essential are these truths that Heavenly Father gave both Lehi and Nephi visions vividly representing the word of God as a rod of iron. Both father and son learned that holding to this strong, unbending, utterly reliable guide is the only way to stay on that strait and narrow path that leads to our Savior” (“Holy Scriptures: The Power of God unto Our Salvation,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2006, 25).

1 Nephi 12-15Nephi’s Vision