Eric Poulin

1 Nephi 17:17-19

“And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying: Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters.
And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the Lord.
And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceedingly sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful they were glad in their hearts, insomuch that they did rejoice over me, saying: We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work.”

Don't Heed the Scoffers

Lets paraphrase this as an entrepreneur.? Instead of “build a ship”, substitute “start a business”, and other appropriate things.? Here’s my (true) version:

“And when my brethren saw that I was about to start a business, they began to caution me, saying: Are you sure? Starting a business is a big task. Do you really think you should leave your good job to try starting a business that might fail?
And thus my brethren did crush my spirit, and were desirous that they might not support my idea, for they did not believe that I could start a successful business; neither would they believe that I had prayed about it and felt it was the right thing to do.
And now it came to pass that I, Eric, was exceedingly sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful they were glad in their hearts, insomuch that they did rejoice, assuming they were correct, saying: We knew that ye could not start a successful business, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work.” Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 17:14-15

“Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence.
And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock. ”

Do you have character?

I once heard a definition of character as “the determination to stick to and follow a decision after the excitement of making that decision has passed.” I love that. How many of us get excited about a decision, new goal or direction we want to take while we are making the choice, and then in the coming days, our determination wavers, we fall back into old habits or fail to establish the new ones we hoped for. Nephi isn’t making a change or course correction here, but he does show amazing determination to follow the Lord’s commandments. He began the arduous task of constructing a ship by making tools out of molten ore. All of this in hopes of obtaining a promised land which they had never seen; a land much better than where they currently where, which they named “Bountiful”.

Likening the scriptures to ourselves, if we are to obtain our “promised land” (be that wealth, a comfortable home, ability to spend more time with family, freedom to choose what to do with your time, means to serve more, etc…) we need to make righteous goals and stick to them. That determination will show the Lord our willingness to keep his commandments. Once the Lord knows that we will not waiver in our constancy in serving Him (through a pattern of dedicated service, faith and attitude), our tests will lessen and the windows of heaven open and His blessings will pour over us. Obtaining our “promised land” before then may be possible, but it will not be done with the joy that comes from blessings of the Lord.

I will make thy food become sweet, that ye cook it not;

1 Nephi 17:12-13

“For the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make much fire, as we journeyed in the wilderness; for he said: I will make thy food become sweet, that ye cook it not;
And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led. ”

The thought of eating raw meat turns my stomach. But if its that or starvation, I’m sure I’d go for it. Of course, if the Lord made it sweet, it might not be so bad, especially after 8 years of getting used to it. Whats truly interesting about this is that the Lord was giving them pretty specific instructions that we only find out about as an explanation about lighting a fire. There likely was a lot of other specific instruction received that we don’t know about. Read the rest of this entry »

...I, Nephi, did make a bellows...

1 Nephi 17:11

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make a bellows wherewith to blow the fire, of the skins of beasts; and after I had made a bellows, that I might have wherewith to blow the fire, I did smite two stones together that I might make fire.”

What’s involved in making a bellows? First Nephi had to hunt an animal of appropriate size, skin it, cure and dry the skin. Then he had to figure out a way to attach the skin to the hard, flat sides, probably made of wood. It needed a nozzle and handles. Remember this was to be used to generate heat enough to smelt iron, so it had to be pretty good quality. Also, any Scout or camper who has ever tried to light a fire by “smiting two stones together” will know this, in itself, is a huge challenge.

Clearly, this task was not accomplished in a matter of hours. It probably took several days to make a bellows that would work, and then a makeshift kiln had to be built, not just an open fire. We must assume that Nephi already had some of these skills, but it takes time to accomplish them, even though he was following the Lord’s command.

In our finances, we may have big or lofty goals; things we want to accomplish, or perhaps goals imposed upon us. Rather than just tackling the big goal of building a ship, Nephi broke the end goal into intermediate steps and accomplished each step in sequence. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 17:9-10

...whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten...

“And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?
And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools.”

Joseph Fielding McConkie said about this and the surrounding verses, “It is a law of heaven that its powers are extended in behalf of man only in those instances and on those matters where the powers and mind of man are insufficient. God will bless the harvest, but man must clear the land, plow the ground, plant the seed, and tend the crop. God will not do for us that which we can do for ourselves. Nephi could molten ore, but only when God has helped him find it; he could build a ship to cross the ocean, but only when God has provided the blueprint. Such is the relationship between men and God.”

With some insight into Nephi’s history, I believe he probably made some attempts to find ore before asking the Lord for help. Finally, after exhausting his own efforts, he went to the Lord. Interestingly, he didn’t ask the Lord for the tools, only the raw materials so he could make what he needed himself.

Perhaps a modern likeness of this scripture would be some of the following: Read the rest of this entry »

...the Lord Spake unto me saying: Thou shalt construct a ship.

1 Nephi 17:8

Lets get all metaphoric for a moment. The many waters (ocean) separate Nephi and family from the promised land. They can represent a trouble or challenge in our life separating us from our metaphorical “promised land”. The Lord wants to help us overcome this trouble and in fact, he comes right out and shows us how to do it. It saves not only us, but our family too.

If only life were that easy! If only God would show us how to overcome our financial troubles! Oh, wait a minute… He did 🙂 Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 17:5-7

...we called {the land} Bountfiful, because of its much fruit

“And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.

And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.

And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: Arise, and get thee into the mountain. And it came to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain, and cried unto the Lord.”

More than 8 years of struggling in the wilderness, starving at times, barely subsiding on the land, and more particularly, having little to no fruit because they were traveling through a desert. No wonder they are thrilled to arrive at the sea. Precious water! Trees that bear fruit!

To put it into perspective, they probably still had it better back in Jerusalem, but by this time any hopes of returning had long past. This land was truly a Bounteous land for them, providing some level of comfort from their long journey. However, this was not the promised land. They had to move on, perhaps through more or worse trials. It would have been very tempting for them to just stay put, especially given the fact that they had run out of land to walk on. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 17:4

Lehis Journey in the Wilderness

“And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.”

I find it hard to keep in perspective that Lehi and family were traveling in the wilderness desert of Arabia for 8 years. It always seems that they went quickly from Jerusalem to the American continent; but it took more than 8 years, because once arriving in Bountiful, they stayed there for a while, at least long enough to construct a ship, which probably took nearly a year.

We need to keep in mind that they were not just walking with a backpack and a canteen. They had animals, provisions, tents… Their women bore children, people died and were buried. It was a really long journey: in distance, time and emotional drain. I’m sure this time served as a purification period for them. Similar to the people of Moses wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before entering their promised land, they first needed to be purified and prepared. During this time we can only assume that they continued keeping the commandments and, despite that, they did not obtain their promised land any time soon. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 17:2-3

Financial life cycle

“And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.

And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.”

I’ve noticed a pattern in life. While we are older children (when we are able to notice things around us and remember), we often benefit from the many long years of work and toil that our parents have gone through. Parents have accumulated some measure of wealth with their efforts and we as children enjoy that wealth. We live in relative comfort. Things weren’t always this way, but we didn’t notice when we were really young children. When we are old enough we move out on our own and start our own family. Now, we have left the comforts of our parents years of effort and start with relative basics, slowly accumulating possessions and some measure of comfort. But it takes time. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 16:18-32

Nephi and his broken bow

“And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow…we did return without food to our families… they did suffer much for the want of food.
And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?…And it came to pass that he did inquire of the Lord…I did slay wild beasts, insomuch that I did obtain food for our families…how great was their joy!”

I love this story. It makes me think of a group of fathers losing their jobs and coming home to tell their families that they don’t have the means to provide food for them. Some of them sit down and complain to their families, placing blame on others and cursing God for their misfortunes. “We deserve food!”, they may claim. “Haven’t we done what we were told?”

Then Nephi, in another great example of pure faith, does not complain – rather he speaks to the group, humbles them and goes and makes a new bow and goes to ask his father (the Prophet), “Where should I go to get food for us?”. Read the rest of this entry »