1 Nephi 16–17

Acting in Faith in Difficult Situations

Building the ship

Think about the challenges Lehi and his family faced after leaving Jerusalem and while dwelling in the wilderness. The way Nephi reacted to his challenges gives us an example of how to respond to our own tests in life. This lesson can help you learn how to liken the scriptures to yourself and face challenges with faith.

Helping students develop study skills. To help students be successful in their scripture study, guide them in a variety of scripture study skills and methods. Choose skills and methods focused on helping students invite the Spirit into their study, better understand the scriptures, and apply gospel principles to their lives.

Student preparation: Invite students to read 1 Nephi 19:23 and think about what it means to liken the scriptures to ourselves.

Possible Learning Activities

Finding meaning in the scriptures

The following is intended to help students think about the value of likening the scriptures to their lives. This may be a good time to follow up on how their personal scripture study is going. In place of the scenario, you could begin by asking, “What are some concerns teenagers often have with reading the scriptures?”

Imagine someone shares with you that they don’t think reading the scriptures is worth their time. They feel that the scriptures aren’t very useful for the challenges and issues of our day.

• How might you respond to their concern?

Reflect on your own scripture study and the value and use of the scriptures in your life. Consider things that have made it difficult to make the scriptures meaningful and anything that has helped you overcome these obstacles.

To help his brothers learn from and use the scriptures in their day, the prophet Nephi taught a valuable lesson that can also help us in our scripture study.

Read 1 Nephi 19:23, looking for what Nephi taught.

• How would you describe in your own words the truth Nephi is teaching?

Likening the scriptures to ourselves

One truth you may have identified from this verse is that as we liken the scriptures to ourselves, we will learn and profit from them.

• What do you know about likening the scriptures?

• What experiences have you had with likening the scriptures?

• According to verse 23, what was Nephi’s purpose in reading and likening the words of Isaiah?

• How might likening the scriptures help you come to know and believe in Jesus Christ more fully?

To liken the scriptures means to relate what is recorded in them to our own lives.

The following process can help you in your efforts to liken the scriptures to your life. Record these steps in your study journal.

Display the following steps so students can refer to them throughout the lesson.

1. Find important details.

2. Make comparisons to your life.

3. Discover valuable lessons.

4. Determine personal application.

In this lesson, you will have opportunities to practice likening the scriptures to your life as you study some events that took place with Lehi’s family in the wilderness.

Nephi breaks his bow

The following is intended to guide students in likening the scriptures and to prepare them to do this on their own later in the lesson.

Step 1: Find important details

Practice this step by studying 1 Nephi 16:17–25, 30–32 and looking for important details. These details could include people, places, objects, actions, or events. You may also want to watch “The Lord Guides Lehi’s Journey,” available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 5:33 to 16:18 as part of your study.

• What important details did you find?

Details you may have noticed include Nephi breaking his bow; the murmuring of Lehi, Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael; Nephi making a new bow; and Nephi returning to his father for direction about obtaining food.

Nephi breaks his bow

Step 2: Make comparisons to your life

Think of aspects of your life that relate to the details you identified in the previous step. The following question can help you do this:

• What situations in my life are like the situations in these verses?

You might have compared Nephi breaking his bow to unexpected difficulties in your life. You might also have compared the words and actions of Nephi and his family members to people’s reactions when faced with difficult situations.

Step 3: Discover valuable lessons

Think about what you learn from the scriptures that could apply to you. You might also think about what you learn about the Savior.

• What are some lessons you learn from the account of Nephi breaking and repairing his bow that could apply to your life?

• What does this account teach you about Jesus Christ?

One truth you may have identified from this account is if we put forth our own effort and seek the Lord’s direction, then He will help us through our difficulties.

Step 4: Determine personal application

• Determine personal application by reflecting on your own life.

• What are some ways you can apply this truth to your life?

Among many ways to apply this truth, you might consider how you can follow Nephi’s example when you experience unexpected challenges or feel stuck in life. Rather than murmur or do nothing, you can take initiative and move forward with faith and confidence that Jesus Christ will help you.

• How did following this study pattern help you find meaning in this scripture account?

Nephi is commanded to build a ship

The following is intended to help students use the skill of likening the scriptures on their own. Encourage students to practice individually first. Then students could gather in pairs or small groups to share what they found.

Refer students to the four steps displayed earlier in the lesson so they can use them while working on their own.

After journeying in the wilderness for eight years, Lehi and his family came to a land on the seashore, which they named Bountiful because of the abundance of fruit and honey there (see 1 Nephi 17:4–6).

Read 1 Nephi 17:5–20, 48–55; 1 Nephi 18:1–4, and use the four steps from earlier to help you liken this account to your life. You can also watch the video “The Lord Commands Nephi to Build a Ship” from time code 0:00 to 12:07, available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Allow the Spirit to guide your thoughts and study. Pause frequently to think about how what you are learning could be likened to specific situations in your life. Record impressions you receive.

Invite students to share their findings from each of the four steps. You might also share how likening the scriptures to your life has impacted your scripture study.

Commentary and Background Information

Why would building a ship have been difficult for Nephi?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Elder David A. Bednar

Nephi was not a sailor. He had been reared in Jerusalem, an inland city, rather than along the borders of the Mediterranean Sea. It seems unlikely that he knew much about or had experience with the tools and skills necessary to build a ship. He may not have ever previously seen an oceangoing vessel. In essence, then, Nephi was commanded and instructed to build something he had never built before. (David A. Bednar, “Learning to Love Learning,” Ensign, Feb. 2010, 28)

1 Nephi 17:45. What does it mean to be “past feeling”?

President James E. Faust (1920–2007) of the First Presidency taught:

President James E. Faust

Occasionally … we find dead spots where the signal coming to a cell phone fails. This can happen when the cell phone user is in a tunnel or a canyon or when there is other interference.

So it is with divine communication. … Perhaps something in our lives prevents us from hearing the message because we are “past feeling” [1 Nephi 17:45]. We often put ourselves in spiritual dead spots—places and situations that block out divine messages. Some of these dead spots include anger, pornography, transgression, selfishness, and other situations that offend the Spirit. (James E. Faust, “Did You Get the Right Message?,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 67)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Additional lessons from the broken bow

Consider helping students identify additional lessons from the broken-bow experience. One way to do this might be to highlight that in addition to Laman and Lemuel murmuring, Father Lehi murmured also. Invite students to recognize what Nephi did not do in this situation (he did not go to his father, counsel him, shame him, or call him to repentance, for that was not Nephi’s responsibility) and what he did do (he requested that Lehi ask the Lord where He would have them go to hunt for food). What can we learn from this perspective? How might this apply to our relationship with the Lord’s ordained servants in our day?

Likening to the children of Israel

While correcting his brothers, Nephi likened the experience of Moses and the children of Israel to his family’s situation. Consider inviting students to read Nephi’s words in 1 Nephi 17:21–47, looking for the similarities between those two experiences. What similarities can students identify between these accounts and their own lives? Why might remembering both of these experiences be especially useful in our day?

Being strengthened by the Lord

Students might benefit from a discussion of 1 Nephi 17:3. Consider inviting a volunteer to read this verse and asking students to identify a truth taught in it. Students might identify something similar to the following: if we keep the commandments, then the Lord will strengthen us and provide a means for us to accomplish what He has commanded.

Invite the students to think of or find evidence of this principle in the account of Lehi and his family. Invite them to think of evidence of this truth in their own lives.