Nephi and the Plates

Recently my husband and I were reading Elder Bednar's talk in the recent Ensign. And something he said really struck me. "This pattern of revelation tends to be more common than rare and is evident in the experiences of Nephi as he tried several different approaches before successfully obtaining the plates of brass from Laban (see 1 Nephi 3–4). Ultimately, he was led by the Spirit to Jerusalem, “not knowing beforehand the things which [he] should do” (1 Nephi 4:6). And he did not learn how to build a ship of curious workmanship all at one time; rather, Nephi was shown by the Lord “from time to time after what manner [he] should work the timbers of the ship” (1 Nephi 18:1)." All of a sudden it hit me. If the Lord had told Nephi to go into the city and kill Laban the first time, there is no way that he would have done it. He HAD to have the prior experience to realize that it was really the only way. Ultimately this makes me feel better...so often I am doing something because it feels right, and it blows up in my face, and I wonder, did I understand wrong, what is going on, but sometimes we have to have experiences and trials to get us onto the right path. Especially raising my children, I feel like this is such a relief. Sometimes I do make mistakes, but if I can learn from them and eventually end up doing the right thing, then I am being successful!!:)