1 Nephi 17:8 - 17:12

1 Nephi 17:8 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.

The solution is to build a ship to take the group across the ocean to the promise land. I guess it is time to move on. Get peoples mind off the pleasant surrounds and remember the real purpose of their situation.

The design for this ship will be given to Nephi by revelation. It will not be built like ships that he may have known or seen built back home along the coast. This is going to be a ocean going ship and would require a deep hull. Ships of the area were generally shallow draft and would be tossed around to much on the open ocean. Anyway whatever his knowledge or experience, he would be building a ship whose design was completely unknown to him.

1 Nephi 17:9 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?

The ever faithful Nephi does not flinch at the command but asked where to get ore to make the tools that will be needed to construct the ship. There was no Home Depot to go to and buy saws and drills.

1 Nephi 17:10 And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools.

The Lord shows him where the ore is to be found. In a documentary I saw on this journey taken by the family, geologists showed in the area of Bountiful where iron ore was laying on the ground and would require no tools to gather enough to make the tools required.

Two of the geologists in the film said that this was the only place in the entire world where they knew of iron ore laying exposed to the surface. This to me is testimony that all was prepared for this trip millions of years in the pass. Geological forces had to be in play to make sure this ore was on the surface and not underground where getting it would be all but impossible for Nephi. This should give us confidence that the Lord has indeed prepared all things for our use and benefit and had done so millions of years in the past. I am really impressed with seemingly minor note in the text.

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.

Nephi now constructs a bellows to supply the air to a furnace in which to process the ore to make the tools. He had to hit a couple of stones together to create the needed sparks to start the fire.

1 Nephi 17:12 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;

Nephi notes that they did not have fires very often on the journey through the desert. Probably to escape attention by robbers and other a sorted nasty people. The Lord made up for it by making the food taste sweet in spite of it not being cooked. Just shows again that the Lord may put us into a difficult situation, but if we endure it will be to our good.