3 Nephi 12:2

And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am. Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins.

As marvelous as it would be to see the resurrected Christ face to face, we are just as blessed (even more so) if we can humble ourselves and believe without seeing. We are not second-class citizens of the kingdom because we have not seen Christ in open vision or heard his audible voice in our ears. Faith is not measured by what we have seen but by what we do.

First Nephi 19:23

And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.

More than any other prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah invites and inspires faith in Jesus Christ. Though he lived many hundred years before the coming of Christ, Isaiah saw his day clearly -- more clearly, in fact, than most of the people who lived and walked with Jesus. He saw Jesus' birth, life, sacrifice, death, and resurrection. This prophet proclaimed Jesus as Wonderful, Councilor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. We would do well to follow the admonition of Nephi to study the writings of Isaiah and let their message seep deep into our hearts, and realize that what he wrote is intended for us today.

First Nephi 17:30

And notwithstanding they being led, the Lord their God, their Redeemer, going before them, leading them by day and giving light unto them by night, and doing all things for them which were expedient for man to receive, they hardened their hearts and blinded their minds, and reviled against Moses and against the true and living God.

The stubbornness of Laman and Lemuel is not so far fetched. The children of Israel saw greater signs than did Nephi's brothers, and they rebelled as well. It is not the signs we see but the faith in our hearts that determines conversion.

First Nephi 11:3

And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw.

My question is: why did Nephi want a replay of his father's vision? He said he believed his father. He didn't need a testimony. What he wanted was more knowledge. He knew that his father could not put all he had learned from his vision into words. Nephi wanted to know it all, and he knew the only way he could learn it all was to see it all.

When we want to know more than what the mere words of the scriptures can teach us, we can ask to see what the prophets saw.

First Nephi 8:1

And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind.

The introduction to this chapter is not a trivial detail. Nephi tells that that the family has been gathering seeds just before he reports on his father’s dream about about a tree and fruit and about gathering his family (his seed). The Lord has many ways to prepare us for messages he wants us to receive. Even the trivial and mundane things we do each day can have significance if we are listening and willing to receive instruction.

First Nephi 5:2

For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness.

Sariah uses the word "visionary" to mean one who hallucinates. In other words, a crazy person. She had strong enough faith to follow her husband into the wilderness and to leave her nice home behind. But when it looked like his visions had failed and had led to the death of her sons, she stopped believing. We may think our faith is strong when things seem to be working out, but when things start to go wrong, we may doubt. Sometimes God gives us answers and then tests our faith when the answers seem to take us in an unexpected direction. Do we have enough faith to follow the direction we received, or do we want to take over, use our own compass, and pull the Lord's hands off the steering wheel?