I, Nephi...

The most famous of all Book of Mormon passages must be, "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents...". I love my parents and appreciate what they taught me, but what I wanted to share from this verse in 1st Nephi 1:1 is the importance of the word "therefore". Following this word, Nephi shares that he was taught "in all the learning of my father:"

What one does with a "therefore" or "wherefore" is to look at what follows and then look back to what preceded this connecting word to see the connection. In this case, Nephi was taught by his father, which then gives new meaning to Nephi's statement about being born of goodly parents. Nephi's parents are goodly because they taught him in all things.

So, as a parent, much of what one might term success in ones children hinges upon the effort to teach our children in all aspects of learning (secular and religious). I hope this all makes sense, but it has been fun to look for these in my scripture study this year.

Another example includes--1 Nephi 1:5. Why is Lehi praying? Because the prophets were telling those in Jerusalem to repent or be destroyed and Lehi was responding to their message. One other can be found in 1 Nephi 2:16--Find the word "wherefore" and after the word it says that Nephi "did cry unto the Lord". Why is he doing this? Look to what is before the "wherefore" and it says that Nephi "desires to know of the mysteries of God".

Have a great day!

Your striving to be a "goodly parent" DAD