The Ministry of Angels

The Fletchword has encouraged me to post these thoughts I had from 1st Nephi. Enjoy.

• We often expect to see amazing or unprecedented miracles in our lives when we are faced with difficulty. We look at the scriptures and we imagine up in our hearts that they are full of dragons and wizards, when they are often full of small and simple things. Nephi wanted his bands to be burst by the strength of the Lord; they were loosed. Many of us would want to have seen Laman and Lemuel and the rest of the rebels shaken or thrown to the earth; their hearts were softened by the one of the daughters of Ishmael and her mother. Elder Holland has said that in times of dire need, the Lord sends angels. Do we always recognize these divinely appointed messengers, whether they be mortal or immortal, seen or unseen? Do I give thanks to the Lord in all things or at least try to?
• I have often thought that after Lehi followed the white-robed messenger for some time that he became lost, but this is simply not the case. Rather Lehi merely states the condition of the area that he found himself. He was in a dark in dreary waste. He then goes on to mention that he prayed to the Lord that he would have mercy on him. However, he does not elaborate extensively and to submit that the angel (messenger) left Lehi or lead him astray would, I think, simply be reading too much of our personal opinion into the text.
• My personal opinion is that Lehi was following the angel when he realized that he is caught up in mortal frailties just like everyone else (a dark and dreary waste) and because of this, he had to plead with God for forgiveness, guidance, and direction. Is this any surprise? In my mind, it makes sense that as we follow heavenly messengers, we are unequivocally made aware of our current situation. This in no way implicates the messenger of failure or desertion; the case is, in fact, quite the contrary.