1 Nephi 9-10 - It's all personal

What I find interesting here is how Nephi introduces his desire to see the things his father saw. After Lehi told them about the vision of the tree, he recounted coming events. It’s obvious he saw more than just the tree.

In particular, it’s how Lehi mentions the Savior that’s instructive. He speaks of the coming of a prophet and Messiah. My impression is this was new doctrine for him. As an observant Jew, he knew the Messiah would come, but he didn’t fully understand His role or His reason for coming. This vision opened his mind to that.

It’s an example of Heavenly Father approaching us at our level and raising us from there. It’s also why the doctrines taught by the Church today are the basics: faith, repentance, baptism and the Holy Ghost. Even the epitome of public worship in the church, the temple ceremonies, are rote and repetitive: everyone sees and hears the same things.

The beauty of the Gospel and doctrines is despite all this sameness, when it comes to living it, it’s all intensely personal. That’s the great lesson of the visions here. Lehi saw and experienced something amazing. Nephi wanted to learn for himself. Heavenly Father shows them the same information, but their experiences were different… they learned different things.

It’s the same for us. Through the teaching power of the Holy Ghost, study of the Book of Mormon will be a unique experience for each of us. We get what we’re willing to receive and can comprehend at that time. Even as I go through it again, I’m seeing different things. While there is a lot of repetition, there are many new insights too. When I go to the temple, and I go every week, I learn something new each time. Such is the power of the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

This personal experience, this personal relationship with God, is what He wants for us all. This is the Book of Mormon’s subtext.