1 Nephi 5

Every time I read this chapter I say "Thank you Lord" and "Thank you Sariah." It is so good to know that Sariah feared and doubted, that she chastised her husband for putting them in the place they were. It's good to know that even the strongest can doubt and fear. She had good reason. Her four sons were gone longer than they should have been. The land they were traveling through was extremely desolate and dangerous. And to me, the lesson is, while she had doubts and fears concerning the path they were following, her doubts were eventually replaced with knowledge. That's the reward of having faith and persevering and moving forward in spite of the doubt and discouragement we sometimes feel.

When Lehi gets the Brass Plates, it's like some of us are when we get a new computer. He searched them from the beginning. To me, that means he didn't just read them, which would be good, but he tried to understand their true meaning. What he found were scriptures that were far more extensive than our Old Testament. The plates contained the five of books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But in addition, they contained a more extensive account of the creation of the world and of Adam and Eve and the fall. The plates also had the prophecies of the prophets, but more there too. Later on we will learn that they contained the prophecies of Abraham concerning Jesus Christ, prophecies of the Biblical Jacob concerning the Book of Mormon people, and prophecies of prophets of whom we know nothing about. Lehi obviously had no doubt that getting the Brass Plates was worth whatever it took to obtain them.