He Hath Written Many Things

 1 Nephi 1:16 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.

Apparently Lehi was very good at writing in his journal, as was Nephi himself.  Although Nephi doesn't give us a full account of his father's writings, he tells us that he wrote many things including his dreams, visions, and prophesies.

I haven't had visions or prophesies or meaningful dreams, but I still have a responsibility to keep records of my life for my family and myself.  Our leaders have counseled us to keep journals.  Wilford Woodruff spoke of the importance of journal-keeping:

… Instead of neglecting this branch of our work let every man who can, keep a journal and record events as they pass before our eyes day by day. This will make a valuable legacy to our children and a great benefit to future generations by giving them a true history of the rise and progress of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth in this last dispensation, instead of leaving it to our enemies to write a false history of the true Church of Christ. ¹⁴

We are not apt to think of the importance of events as they transpire with us, but we feel the importance of them afterwards. We are living in one of the most important generations that man ever lived on earth, and we should write an account of those important transactions which are taking place before our eyes in fulfillment of the prophecies and the revelations of God. There is a great flood of revelations fulfilling in our day, and as they are transpiring before our eyes we want a record made of them. 15

Great and marvelous are thy works

Lehi was overwhelmed by the things which he saw and read and experienced.  His soul rejoiced and his whole heart was filled, and he praised God.
 
1 Nephi 1:14 . . . 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.

Too often we fail to express gratitude to the Lord, and even when we do thank Him, we seldom praise His name.  Our hymns of praise are one of the few ways we praise the Lord, and most of the time during those hymns, our minds are distracted into other things.  We have been commanded to "praise the Lord".

Filled with the Spirit of the Lord

Lehi was given a vision in which the Savior and His apostles appeared to him.  The Savior gave Lehi a book. and told to read.  We don't know what was contained in this book, but we're told:

1 Nephi 1:12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the ^aSpirit of the Lord.

We may not have the same book Lehi was given, but we have the scriptures and other sacred works that we've been also commanded to read.  As we do so diligently, we will be blessed as Lehi was, and we can be "filled with the Spirit of the Lord".

Carried Away in a Vision

I'd like to understand what it means to be "carried away in a vision".  Here's a quote from Hugh Nibley:  The manner in which the prophet is caught up is of particular concern and interest to the ancients. What are “the wings of the Spirit”? Lehi was “carried away in a vision, even that … he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with … angels,” to match which Enoch says, “my spirit was translated, and it ascended to heaven; and I saw the holy sons of God … 10. and with them the Head of Days … 11. and my spirit was transfigured.” (1 En. 71:1.) 

Other examples include Nephi telling of being carried away 2 Ne. 4:25 and Moses being caught up into an exceedingly high mountain Moses 1:1.

It's not clear to me whether these prophets were carried physically or spiritually.  There may be instances of both.  Enoch clearly says that his spirit was translated, whereas it looks like Moses may have been moved physically.  Either way, the Lord needed them in an environment where he could instruct and teach without the distractions of the physical world.

Overcome With the Spirit

 I'm trying to understand and analyze and comprehend verse 8.  Let's start with "overcome with the Spirit".
 

1. What does it look like to be "overcome with the Spirit"?  What does it feel like?  

Some other examples of people being overcome with the Spirit include Ammon, as he was a missionary to the Lamanites.  (Alma 19)  He saw King Lamoni being overcome when he learned of the Plan of Salvation.  Later, when Lamoni stood to bear testimony of his conversion, "his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit."
Ammon himself sunk to the ground, "being overpowered with joy; and thus they all three had sunk to the earth."


Another example happened when Christ appeared to the righteous Nephites.  In 3 Nephi 17:18 it says: And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.



The experience of being overcome with the Spirit seems to be a result of great joy in the Lord.  Mormon explains it a bit when he recounts the meeting of Alma with the sons of Mosiah.

Alma 27:17  Now the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth.
18  Now was not this exceeding joy?  Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.


So we're talking about exceeding joy, and it is a result of being penitent and humble and of seeking happiness through the Gospel.  I'm sure that Lehi was grieving for his people, the Jews, but as he understood the great Plan that the Lord has in store for the righteous, he praised the Lord, as we will see later.

1 Nephi 1:8

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.

As I read this, I have lots of questions and few answers.  Here are the questions:

1. What does it look like to be "overcome with the Spirit"?  What does it feel like?  Was he incapacitated?
2. How was he carried away?  Was that a physical thing, or was his spirit carried away from his body?  Or was it as if he was seeing a movie that no one else could see, as Joseph Smith was described in some of his visions?
3. What happens when the heavens are opened?  Where are the heavens?  Are they surrounding us, or high above us?
4. Why does it say "he THOUGHT he saw God"?  What part of that is not certain?  Was it the identity of the personage he saw?
5. Is that an accurate depiction of what God does, sitting on a throne and surrounded by angels, or was that for the benefit of Lehi and to teach him some things that he needed to learn?

In succeeding posts, I will attempt to answer some of those questions.

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After the "Book of Mormon in 100 Days" Challenge

Our ward Relief Society had a challenge to finish the Book of Mormon in 100 days.  We had booklets with daily assignments and thought questions.  I pushed myself and got done early.  I had just finished reading the book before starting the challenge.   Now I want to do something different, rather than just reading cover to cover.  


I've decided to read and study just the visions and sermons and ponderings in the B of M.  I'll read the headings for each chapter and skip ahead to find any of those things.  It may evolve over time, but that's OK. 

The other thing I want to do is to study online at lds.org.  There are study helps there and ways to bookmark and highlight and add notes and thoughts.  But I'll probably highlight and add notes, but come here to add extended comments.  I'd really like this to be more than a surface reading of the B of M.  I want to really analyze and ponder and study.  Online makes it easy to click on the links and cross references.  So that's my new goal.