16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the ^amysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did ^bvisit me, and did ^csoften my heart that I did ^dbelieve all the words which had been spoken by my ^efather; wherefore, I did not ^frebel against him like unto my brothers.(I love here how Nephi totally went and found out on his own. He didn't just take what his father was saying and believed it....he ASKED for himself and gained a testimony of it on his own.  I need to do the same.  I need to pray and ask after conference if what the said is true!  I know I will receive a YES answer, but I still need to ask for myself!!)

 17 And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.(Nephi then shares what he learned with Sam and through his testimony Sam gained a testimony! Again, I need to share my testimony MORE!)

 18 But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being ^agrieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.(I love how he grieves for his brothers here and he pleaded unto the Lord for their sakes.  He loves them and wants them to be happy like he is!)

 19 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy ^afaith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.

 20 And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall^aprosper, and shall be led to a ^bland of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.

 21 And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be ^acut off from the presence of the Lord.

 22 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ^aruler and a teacher over thy brethren.

 23 For behold, in that day that they shall ^arebel against me, I will^bcurse them even with a sore curse, and they shall have no power over thy seed except they shall ^crebel against me also.

 24 And if it so be that they rebel against me, they shall be a^ascourge unto thy seed, to ^bstir them up in the ways of remembrance.(The Lord is very cut and dry!  Black and white, He says it like it is!  He doesnt mess around. This is what will happen if you are obedient, this is what will happen if you are not!  Pretty to the point!)

1 Nephi 2: 1-15 

 1 For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said unto him: Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to ^atake away thy ^blife.(How comforting...Lehi, because you are doing everything I have asked you to do, your life is threatened!!  :)  I know that Joseph Smith had simliar things told to him from the Lord!  My life has never been threatened from following the Lord, and it might never ever be, but I know that if it were, if hte Lord told me this, I would feel ok!  I would know that I was doing what was right, and if I were to die, it would be while I was in the service of my God!!

 2 And it came to pass that the Lord ^acommanded my father, even in a ^bdream, that he should ^ctake his family and depart into the wilderness. (He mentions here that it was in a dream that Lehi received this commandment from the Lord!  I need to pay attention to my dreams...maybe somewhere in the craziness is something from the Lord???  

 3 And it came to pass that he was ^aobedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him.

 4 And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and ^adeparted into the wilderness.(I wonder if this was a sacrifice for Lehi?  I wonder if it was hard for him to leave everything behind? I wonder if he was sad at all?  I am thinking the answer here is NO!!  When your whole life is devoted to the Lord, you know and realize that material things mean nothing.  He was doing what the Lord had commanded him!  He knew he would be blessed and his family would be blessed!  He knew that these things meant nothing to him.  I wonder how I would feel if I had to leave everything behind?  If I had to go into the wilderness? I would hope that I would have the same reaction as Lehi!  Ok!  The Lord told me to...so, let's DO IT!  Not a sacrifice at all!!!! 

 5 And he came down by the borders near the shore of the ^aRed Sea; and he traveled in the wilderness in the borders which are nearer the Red Sea; and he did travel in the wilderness with his family, which consisted of my mother, Sariah, and my elder brothers, who were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam.

 6 And it came to pass that when he had traveled three days in the wilderness, he pitched his tent in a ^avalley by the side of a ^briver of water.

 7 And it came to pass that he built an ^aaltar of ^bstones, and made an ^coffering unto the Lord, and gave ^dthanks unto the Lord our God.(We need to thank the LORD more!!!!)

 8 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.

 9 And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the ^afountain 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!

 10 And he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, ^afirm and ^bsteadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!

 11 Now this he spake because of the ^astiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did ^bmurmur in many things against their ^cfather, because he was a ^dvisionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.(We can see here that it was DEFINITELY a sacrifice for Lamen and Lemuel!!!)

 12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their ^afather. And they did ^bmurmur because they ^cknew not the dealings of that God who had ^dcreated them.

 13 Neither did they ^abelieve that Jerusalem, that great city, could be ^bdestroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.

 14 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the^avalley of Lemuel, with ^bpower, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did ^cshake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them.

 15 And my father dwelt in a ^atent.(Where is my dwelling placE? Lehi used this tent to pray and ponder.  Where do I pray and ponder?  Is my house condusive to the Spirit?  Can I feel His prescence here?  Am I able to dwell here and feel the prescence of the Lord!  

I Have Made it to Day TWO!

I am definitely starting my studies off with something that I know and that I am familiar with.  I really do love Nephi and the lessons we learn from him and his family.  Today I am continuing to study in 1 Nephi 1.

i Nephi 1:2-20

2 Yea, I make a record in the ^alanguage of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

 3 And I know that the record which I make is ^atrue; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge.

 4 For it came to pass in the commencement of the ^afirst year of the reign of ^bZedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at ^cJerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many ^dprophets, prophesying unto the people that they must ^erepent, or the great city ^fJerusalem must be destroyed.

 5 Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his ^aheart, in behalf of his people. (After reading this verse I feel like I need to pray more fervently for those I am here to serve.  The sisters I Visit Teach, my family, my friends.  They need more than just a casual prayer from me.  If I pray with all of my heart like Lehi, I too will receive guidance for what I can do to help them and to serve them better!)

 6 And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a^apillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did ^bquake and tremble exceedingly.(What did he see?  What made him QUAKE and tremble exceedingly. I wonder if he saw the destruction of Jerusalem if and when the people did not repent.  I am pretty sure that would make me quake and tremble!  I always wonder as well what the Prophet sees.  We need to listen to his guidance.  He sees much further down the road than we can even imagine.  He knows what is coming.)

 7 And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being ^aovercome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen.(This part always makes me think about what I do after General Conference or even after church for that matter?  Do I ponder on what I have just heard?  Am I overcome with the spirit?  Lehi just had this amazing experience and because he PONDERED on it more, he received SO MUCH MORE!!! So, I wonder if when we come home from church or after General Conference if we take a minute or two and PONDER of what we heard at church, what would we receive?!)

 8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a ^avision, even that he saw the ^bheavens open, and he thought he^csaw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.

 9 And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his ^aluster was above that of the sun at noon-day.

 10 And he also saw ^atwelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament.

 11 And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and ^astood before my father, and gave unto him a ^bbook, and bade him that he should read.

 12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the^aSpirit of the Lord.

 13 And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine ^aabominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning ^bJerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be ^ccarried away captive into Babylon.

 14 And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy^apower, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who ^bcome unto thee that they shall perish!(I love Lehi's testimony here!  He knows Heavenly Father and Jesus are real and he knows of their power and goodness.  He is thankful and rejoiced in his Father. I too need to rejoice in my Father for all that I know!!!)

 15 And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him.

16 And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hath written, for he hath written many things which he saw in ^avisions and in ^bdreams; and he also hath written many things which he ^cprophesied and spake unto his children, of which I shall not make a full account.

 17 But I shall make an account of my proceedings in my days. Behold, I make an ^aabridgment of the record of my ^bfather, upon^cplates which I have made with mine own hands; wherefore, after I have abridged the record of my ^dfather then will I make an account of mine own life.

 18 Therefore, I would that ye should know, that after the Lord had shown so many marvelous things unto my father, Lehi, yea, concerning the ^adestruction of Jerusalem, behold he went forth among the people, and began to ^bprophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard.(Yep, I need to share what I know to those around me!)

 19 And it came to pass that the ^aJews did ^bmock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their^cwickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a ^dMessiah, and also the redemption of the world.

 20 And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had ^acast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also ^bsought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender ^cmercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of ^ddeliverance.(I could go on for DAYS about the Tender Mercies my Savior has shown to me!  And they are so tender.  They are a testimony to me that my Heavenly Father listens and He knows that I am here and that I need help daily.  It is a good thing for us to continue to look for thr tender mercies the Lord has done for us.  I think we would be surprised to how many there really are!!!)

Having Been Born of Goodly Parents

1st Nephi 1:1

I think most Mormons could say they have 1 Nephi 1:1 memorized, or at least the first line!  It is joked about, that we go to read the whole Book of Mormon and then we get caught up in the Alma chapters and then we don't read anymore and then we just forget where we are and then we just start over.  How many times have you STARTED OVER reading the Book of Mormon!  As far as my personal reading...a TON!  As far as my reading with Andrew...we are on our 6th or 7th time reading it all the way through!  It is so much easier when you have someone to remind you everyday to read.  We have not missed a day our entire 5 1/2 years of marriage and don't plan on missing one EVER!

 So, here is my attempt at doing it by myself!  Reading the Book Of Mormon in its entirety!  I am sad to say, out of the 34 years of being a member of this church, I can only recall reading the Book of Mormon by myself ONE time!  How pathetic and that one time was the time that President Hinckley challenged the entire church to read it in one year.  I finished it December 31st.  And I will say that on December 31st I read a TON of it.  I definitely procrastinated that challenge!

 I am not saying I am going to read the Book of Mormon in one year, I am not even saying I am going to use MY scripture study time every day for the Book of Mormon.  There will be days, that I use this time for a Conference talk or for a specific topic study....but I will say, I am going to read the Book of Mormon from 1st Nephi to Moroni sharing my thoughts along the way!

(My thoughts in RED)

1 I, Nephi, having been ^aborn of ^bgoodly ^cparents, (I, Margie, have DEFINITELY been born of GOODLY parents!!  Have you met them?  Do you know them?  They are PRETTY amazing!  My mom i is a POWER House!  She does everything in her power to make sure ALL of us kids are happy and healthy!  I know my mom as doing nothing SMALL!  She always goes ALL out!  She has a love for learning.  She instilled that in me at a very young age.  She would always have us do things throughout the summer to keep us learning.  She taught me budgeting (I didn't really follow it, but I knew of the importance of it!)  She taught me the importance of JOURNAL writing.  She had a FAMILY journal out in the living room that we could add to whenever we wanted.  She always comes up with the best ideas and solutions to problems...and I know that my idea is a good idea if my mom thinks my idea is a good idea!! She has a love of the Gospel and has shared that testimony with me through her everyday actions! I LOVE HER!  My Dad is AMAZING!  He is why I have such a GREAT sense of HUMOR!  He is caring and loving and strong.  He loves his family more than anything in the world.  He is the best Dja-Dja any grandkid could ask for!  Some of my favorite memories of my dad are bedtimes, when he was suppose to be putting us to bed, and he would be reading us books and getting rid of all of the monsters in our room...which got us pretty riled up!  He worked VERY hard and continues to work VERY hard to support our family.  He always knows what to say when I need something said to me.  He was always there to give me a PRIESTHOOD blessing whenever I needed one.  He has given me a love of sports.  And has given me the name UMINSKI!  I am a UMINSKI and am so proud of that fact.  He has taught me the importance of finding a husband who cares and loves me more than anything, because that is how he feels about my mom!  I am his Margi-kins and I LOVE HIM! ...therefore I was^dtaught somewhat in all the learning of my father; My parents were baptized while my dad was serving in the Air Force and was stationed in South Korea!  I am forever thankful for the man who spoke up and introduced my parents to the Gospel!  They have given me the opportunity to be born into the church. And they have taught me throughout my life of the Gospel and the importance of our Heavenly Father and Savior.  They are the reason I have a testimony today!  and having seen many ^eafflictions in the course of my days, Because I have read the Book of Mormon, I know of the afflictions that Nephi speaks of here.  And yes, he has seen MANY!  My afflictions are of course NO WHERE close to Nephi's...but I have seen many!  And I know I will see many more.  Some big, some small!  But I love what Nephi says next... nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; Even though he has had afflictions...and we all do...he says he has been HIGHLY FAVORED of the LORD in ALL of his days.  Not just the days of affliction or the days of happiness, but in ALL of his days he knows the Lord has been there for him.  As do I!  I am not perfect.  I have messed up.  I don't pray as much as I should, I don't read my scriptures like I should, but I KNOW that my Heavenly Father and Savior KNOW who I am and are always there for me!  They are there to bless me and I have seen so many blessings in my life that I KNOW come from them!  yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, I know that I do not know of the mysteries of God like Nephi does.  He has seen many angels and many visions...but I do have a great knowledge of the goodness of God.  He has blessed me in my life and I am ever thankful for it.  I hope by reading the Book of Mormon more diligently that I will KNOW more of His goodness and MORE of HIS mysteries!  therefore I make a ^frecord of my proceedings in my days. For all these reasons that Nephi just mentioned he is making a record of his proceedings.  Why do I make a record of my proceedings?  Why do you make a record of your proceedings?  I think for the same reasons Nephi does.  Because I have an amazing family, and because I have learned so much in my life, and because of the trials that I have been through and because I know that the Lord Loves me and looks after me and because I have a knowledge of His blessings in my life...I need to record these things so that my kids and other know of my testimony and know of why I am the way I am!  So, yes I am going to be better and yes I will try harder to do just as Nephi has done.  Thank his Heavenly Father through recording what he knows!  Thank you Nephi for your example!  Here's to a better Margie!