What Is Your Brass Plates?

​At the beginning of The Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi and his family are commanded to leave Jerusalem. This is 600 years before the birth of Christ, and because of their wickedness, the people of Jerusalem will be destroyed and carried away captive. Soon after Lehi’s family leaves Jerusalem, the Lord commands Lehi to have his sons return to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates. Laman and Lemuel, Lehi’s older sons, complain about having to go back. I remember the complaining during a family vacation when after driving 30 minutes, we realized we needed to go back for the fishing licenses. Nephi doesn’t complain. He tells Lehi, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7). Back in Jerusalem, Nephi and his brothers fail two times to obtain the plates. They are even chased by the guards of Laban, the leader who has the brass plates. Nephi then goes by himself not knowing how he will accomplish the task. He finds Laban, drunk, and is commanded by the Lord to kill Laban. He resists but then complies and dresses in Laban’s clothes and tricks Laban’s servant into giving him the brass plates. Once Nephi and his brothers return to their father with the plates, they learn the reason for the Lord’s commandment. The brass plates contain a history of Lehi’s ancestors, the five books of Moses, and a record of the prophecies of the holy prophets. These scriptures allow Lehi’s family and his descendants to maintain their language and to study the word of God.

I’ve known this story since I was a child. It is obvious that Nephi was obedient and Laman and Lemuel were complainers. I know that I should be like Nephi. But as we’ve watched the new Book of Mormon Videos produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I’ve found myself relating to Laman and Lemuel. I would have wondered why the Lord hadn’t told us to get the plates before we left. Why the Lord didn’t tell us how to get the plates. If we were supposed to get the plates, why did Laban threaten to slay Laman when he asked for the records. Our idea to pay for the plates with the riches we left in Jerusalem was a great idea. Then why did Laban try to kill us when we tried to bargain with him?

We won’t be asked to return to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates from Laban, but we will be asked to do other things. To endure a trial caused by others’ choices. To seek help for ourselves. To seek help for a child or other loved one. To minister to assigned or unassigned individuals. To change careers. To move. To not move. To accept a calling. To adapt to new programs within the church. To attend the temple regularly. To hold onto our faith when we can’t feel the Spirit.

We will have some of the same questions as Laman and Lemuel. How do I know this is what the Lord wants me to do? Why do I have to do it that way? If I’m doing what the Lord wants me to do, why did I fail the first time, the second time, the third or more? If I knew why the Lord wanted me to do this and how it would work out, I’d be happy to do it.
The difference between Nephi and Laman and Lemuel was their hearts. Nephi’s heart was soft and Laman and Lemuel’s were hard. Nephi had a soft heart not because he was more capable on his own, not because he was better than his brothers, and not because he didn’t have to endure hard things. Nephi had a softened heart because he asked for a softened heart. Nephi said, “…having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart…” (1 Nephi 2:16). Nephi didn’t cry unto the Lord only once. He did it often, continually.     

Nephi knew that in order to accomplish what was commanded, he needed the enabling grace of the Savior, and he needed to cry out for that power. Our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, explained the depth of that plea for grace, “When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior know you truly want to reach up to Him—when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life—you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do. When you spiritually stretch beyond anything you have ever done, then His power will flow into you” (“Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives,” Ensign, May 2017).
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As we encounter commandments and challenges, we can complain or we can call upon the Lord. When we call upon the Lord often and continually, we are acknowledging that we cannot accomplish the task on our own. Then the Lord can soften our heart, strengthen us, and guide us to accomplish what we’ve been commanded.