I Will Go and Do

Colophon: A certification that an account was written by the author, that it is true because the author has witnessed it. The Book of Mormon has several of these colophons written by several authors validating their work. Below I write my colophon to this blog.

I, Annalee, having been recently called to teach early morning seminary for the youth of my ward, do write this account of the things we did discuss and learn in our quest to understand the scriptures. Despite my lack of training, little preparation time, and aversion to early mornings, nevertheless, I know that the Lord will qualify me for the work, for I know He gives no callings unto his children save He shall prepare a way for them to accomplish His work.

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As I am re-reading 1st Nephi, I am struck by the sheer number of times Nephi shares his amazing testimony found in scripture mastery scripture 1 Ne 3:7:

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: 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.

We read similar words spoken by Sariah in 1 Ne 5:8 when her sons return from Jerusalem unharmed with the brass plates. We read them again in 1 Ne 7:12 when Nephi bears testimony to the revolting Laman and Lemuel after getting Ishmael's family. Each time we are reminded of this precious gospel truth: that God will not ask us to do anything which is impossible for us to do and He does not expect us to do it all on our own. If we are faithful and are trying to live His commandments, He will help us every step of the way.

In seminary class, I shared a rather silly, minor example of this truth that I experienced last week. While still adjusting to learning how to go to bed on time and getting up hours early than I was accustomed, I found myself struggling to stay awake in my 3 hour accounting class. During the short break, several of my classmates went to the cafe for something to perk themselves up. I glanced at the cafe, realizing that there really wasn't anything there that was going to help me and briefly the thought crossed my mind that I wish I drank coffee because that would probably help me stay awake. The thought surprised me as I had never wished to drink coffee before, nor was there anything really stopping me from going and buying a cup. No one there knew my religion. However, I just refilled my water bottle and went back to class.

In class, sitting next to me was a girl who had a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. I thought again that I wished my water had a bit more caffeine in it when she suddenly took the lid off her drink. A strong smell came to me, which was decidedly more unpleasant than usual and not appetizing in the least. I realized that perhaps this was God's way of helping me keep his commandment to not drink coffee or tea. I found myself in gratitude for these minor, yet precious experiences that help keep me on the straight and narrow and I am pretty sure that my water really did help me stay awake through the rest of that class period.

I have witnessed many examples of God's love for His children and His willingness to help them keep His commandments. Like Nephi, I hope to be able to continue to go and do and remember to share this testimony throughout my life.


P.S.: I like this music video of the Living Scriptures portrayal of Nephi's willingess to go and do:
P.P.S: Please ignore the caveman outfit Nephi is wearing. It is unfortunate...