Only Fools Rush In (to Building Boats)

Oh boy. You know…enough years had passed I thought we were good with Nephi again. But you know that ore he was gathering? Well, I guessed right and wrong. He was gathering ore to make tools—but not tools to build a house. He’s making tools to build…

…wait for it...

…A BOAT!

Yeah, he thinks he can build a boat! He’s never even been on a boat. I’m not sure if he ever saw a real sea prior to use arriving at Bountiful. Now, I can guess what you’re thinking. Maybe he’d like to do a bit of sailing around since we’re going to be living by the sea. Maybe he’s planning to do some fishing. Well you’re thinking wrong. Here’s the conversation:

Me: So a boat, huh? Sounds fun, planning on using it for fishing?

Nephi: Nope, it’s—

Laman: —It’s probably not the highest priority right now is what it is, bro.

Me: Laman’s got a point. I’ll bet Rebekah and the kids are anxious for you to get started on your house. Just a bit of marriage advice, I’d start with what your wife wants, then after she’s happy, get started on your new hobby.

Nephi: This isn’t a hobby; it’s what the Lord commanded me to do. Our families are not—

Me: —Try telling that to Rebekah, who will be living in a tent after her sisters are all living in homes we built.

Nephi: Guys. I’m not just building a boat. I’m building a ship, and this takes priority over building homes because we’re not staying here. We’re going to the land that God promised us.

Me: Woah woah woah...

Laman: …Wait, what?! What are you talking about?!

Me: Yeah, we’re already in the promised land. Look around! God led us here, there’s fruit, game, water, everything we need. If this isn’t the promised land, anywhere else would probably be a step down.

Laman: Aaaaand you don’t know how to build a ship. It’s one thing to build a little boat that you can use to sail around near shore. If it sinks, you can swim back. But you’re gonna put all our families on a ship you built and sail it out into the sea to some new promised land you’ve never seen when we already have one right here?! [Looking at some drawings Nephi made] Wait, are those your designs? You’ve clearly never seen a ship before because that looks nothing like what a ship looks like. You are sooo out of your depth.

Not the actual designs, but they were on this level of weird

Nephi: Guys, this isn’t the promised land. It’s not where God wants our families to be. He commanded me to build this ship after a manner that He showed me and take our families to the promised land. Now I’m going to need your help on this. So would you please hear me out on this? If you don’t believe me take it to God and ask Him yourself.

Me: That’s why we have a prophet, Nephi. And that prophet is Dad—not you. Look, I’ll be honest, when we started this whole thing, it wasn’t easy for me to accept God was talking to Dad, and I still have some dissonance around that idea. But the voice of the Lord all those years ago plus us arriving here in the promised land has led me to the conclusion he’s probably a prophet—

Laman: —jury’s still out for me on that one.

Me: Fair enough, Laman. But Nephi and I both believe Dad is probably a prophet—

Nephi: I’m certain he’s a prophet of God.

Me: Okay, then you should understand then that it’s his responsibility to receive revelation for the family. For God to reveal this boat thing to you would violate the established channels. King David taught that God’s covenants are ordered in all things. He’s not going to violate His order. If this isn’t the promised land, and if we need to move on, that revelation will come to the prophet, the patriarch of the family—

Laman: —not someone who just wants to be. You’re wasting your efforts, and if we help you, we’ll be wasting ours too. In fact, it’s worse than that. It’s murdering our own families. Taking a ship out into the middle of the sea for who knows how long requires a good ship built by someone who knows what they’re doing. As the head of my family, there’s no way I’m going to let my wife and children drown on your suicide ship. I love them too much for that.

Me: He’s harsh, but he’s right. It’s my job to protect my family. I would be abandoning that responsibility if I allowed them to set sail on a ship you built. Heck, not just you, but on a ship any of us built. My lack of trust isn’t in you specifically—none of us know how to do this.

Laman: This isn’t the way to try to take power over the family, Nephi. Wait until Dad passes on, and then you can try to wrestle the birthright from me. But if you insist on this route, we’ll all drown, and you’ll have no one to rule over.

Nephi: You guys don’t get me at all, do you? Would you please just ask God about this?

Me: We have a prophet that we can and will follow; we don’t need to ask God about this.

With that, Nephi just hung his head, turned around, and walked off up into the mountains again. I have kinda conflicted emotions over the whole thing. He’s my kid brother, so I hate to hurt him like that. But on the other hand, it’s nice to see him finally humbled to the point where he couldn't get all self-righteous in the argument. I’ll make sure and apologize to him soon, just so that he knows there’s no hard feelings.