I've been thinking a lot about Laman and Lemuel this time while reading the Book of Mormon. I know we want to be like Nephi (or Sam or Zoram) but I feel we also need to understand a little bit more about Laman and Lemuel to make sure we aren't like them.
So first, we always think of Laman and Lemuel as wicked. But why? They left Jerusalem. They went back for the plates. They went back for wives. They left their original "campsite" to go further into the wildnerness. They left on a boat they claimed they thought would sink. They were obedient to a degree. My mission president used to say that our attitude matters with obedience. We can't just be obedient on the outside. It needs to come from within. He would say, take it to heart. To me this is because to be completely obedient, all the time, we need to have it come from within. That is why only we can convert ourselves. We can't truly convert anyone else. We can help others feel the Spirit. We can teach truth. But we can't actually make anyone convert- that comes from them- from within. From within the heart.
So, some things I noticed this time was when they are in the wilderness they always talk about how they should go back to Jerusalem. But when they are in Jerusalem they don't ever say, "Hey, you can go get the plates from Laban- we're just going to go home and enjoy our riches again." No, they say, this is too hard- let's go back to the wilderness. This strikes me as a little funny/ironic. But it also leads me to think that they had moments of knowing certain things were right- like it was right to leave Jerusalem. So why didn't it stick?
Then in Lehi's dream, Lehi gets to the tree and eats of the fruit. It brings him so much joy that he looks for his family to share it with them. He beckons to his wife and his sons. Nephi and Sam and his wife come and partake of the fruit. Laman and Lemuel however don't ever come to the tree in the dream. There were people who came to the tree, partook of the fruit and then became ashamed and wandered off. This was not Laman and Lemuel. They never believed enough to even come to the tree. Now, before I get back to Laman and Lemuel, we don't want to be in the group of people that come to the tree, are ashamed and leave again, so even if we partake of the fruit for ourselves, still don't leave.
