In the Beginning

There's a verse in the Book of Mormon that I have read more times than I care to count. It's the first one -- the one I find myself reading every time I feel motivated enough to start a new study of the Book of Mormon.

It says, "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents..."

And yes, I wrote that without having to look it up. I think we all know that part by heart.

But it just so happened that one time when I was reading this verse, I stopped there. And I wondered -- what is a goodly parent? It's the kind of parent I would like to be, whatever it is. Of course, this happened at a time when I had already been pondering deeply about what I should be doing as a parent -- what things I should be teaching my children so that they can reach their divine potential.

I thought about what a good father Lehi was, and then my mind flashed forward to other good parents in the Book of Mormon -- Jacob, Alma, Helaman, Mormon, etc.. And then an idea was born. In all of my starting-the-Book-of-Mormon momentum, I made a decision -- that I would study the lives of these people, looking for what it was that made them such good parents. What did THEY teach their children? What did THEY do as parents that can help me in my own plight?

I didn't get very far, but I showed it to my mom. Like any good mom, she told me it was brilliant, and then she read from it in her Stake Conference talk and passed out copies to her friends. My dad was similarly encouraging and told me that I should send it in to the Ensign (like any good dad, right?). But considering that it isn't finished, and considering that it is long, boring, and somewhat repetitive, I decided I'd just blog about it instead. Because that's what blogs are all about.