7. Father's Business

CHAPTER 7

FATHER’S BUSINESS

“Come, follow me,” said Nephi’s father.  “This worldly business won’t take long.  Afterwards, we’ll have time for more heavenly things.  I’ll be leaving soon for my next, and maybe, my final mission.  Your incident with the angels today is just another sign to me that I must go.  Have you ever been down to the record vault of inheritances?”

“No, I don’t think so.  What records?  Where are they?”

“Well, I’ll show you.  Most people don’t know about them or use them anymore.  That’s because most people either don’t have much in the way of riches to begin with, or even if a person does possess much gold and silver or other precious things, our current law determines who is a rightful heir.  However, on rare occasions where there are unusual circumstances, the law may not determine a rightful heir.  For those special cases, a person prepares a record to indicate his desires for inheritance.”

“Sounds like really dull and boring stuff to me,” remarked Nephi.  “What would records like that have to do with us?”

“Oh, Neffy, I think you’ll find some of the records to be very interesting.  They may have removed the stela and made other changes in here, but the records down in the vault of inheritances are still there.  There’s still some family history here you must see.” 

“In that case, I’ll follow you, father.”

Father Nephi put his arm around the shoulders of his son and led him to the entrance of a passageway with steep steps descending to a lower level of the palace.  He removed an unlit torch from a cranny in the wall and handed it to his son.

“Light this in the fire over there,” he instructed.  “We’ll need it for the vault underground.  All we need is for you to mark a new record with your personal seal, and we’re done.”

Nephi took the torch from his father and lit it in the fire.  He looked closely into the dark passageway and could not see the bottom.

“Wow!  Exploring down there in the darkness is not exactly what I thought we would be doing today.  I thought there was something up on the platform you needed me for, or maybe something on one of the higher levels where you once governed.  I never imagined we would be going down.  That’s all right, though.  I didn’t want to have to revisit the spot where mother fell anyway.”

“Yes, I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?”  Nephi’s father usually wasn’t much of a joker.  “Be sure and watch your step.  I don’t want you to fall!”

“Ha, ha!  That’s not even close to being funny.”

Nephi held the torch and followed his father carefully down the steps.  He could only see three or four steps ahead at a time.  His father obviously had been down here before and never hesitated in leading the way, even when the passageway he took was intersected by others in the maze.  The steps ended where a narrow tunnel took them to the entrance of a small cavern.

“What’s in there, father, the gold and riches and treasures of all the past kings of Zarahemla for our inheritance?  When I was a boy and sometimes had to wait for you before you finished your duties as chief judge, I explored some of the passageways in these pyramids and imagined finding a secret hidden treasure in a place like this.”

“No, unfortunately not their actual gold, just the records they left behind about who got it after they died.  Let me show you inside.”

The opening into the vault was not very high and they had to bend over slightly to enter.  Once inside, they could stand fully upright again.  Nephi was startled by the sound of wings beating through the air.  Flying creatures zoomed right past him, almost hitting him in the face.  Moving air caused the torch to flicker, and it almost blew out.

“I should have warned you about the bats,” Nephi’s father apologized.  “I forgot how they find their way down here during the day to sleep.  I think this vault is one of a series of connecting caves that existed before the pyramids were even built.  I’ve prepared a spot for your mark in some fresh clay over there.  First, I thought you would be interested in some of the older stuff down here.  For example, take a look at this.”

Nephi held the torch higher over his head and looked all around the cavern.  In every direction, there were marks and writings on the wall in hardened clay; names of people, the names and relations of their family members, the time in which they lived, and something about their life. The genealogy for hundreds of families, if desired, was written on the walls.

Nephi’s father pointed to a place where somebody’s writing had solidified into hard rock years ago.  In the flickering light of the torch, Nephi read:

 

I, MOSIAH

Son of Benjamin, Son of Mosiah

Five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem

Being sixty and three years old; In the thirty and third year of my reign

Never seeking for the riches that corrupt the soul,

Yet receiving much in blessings and gain

And having received the promises of the Lord

Know that my departed, beloved sons shall one day return

After being delivered from among the Lamanites.

At which time, I expect my body shall rest in the grave.

All of the properties and the monies that were mine

Are, upon his return, in equal portion entitled to

Each son, Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Himni

This is the final desire of a loving father for his unforgotten sons.

“Wow, father!  That is indeed an incredible record.  I never thought much about king Mosiah never seeing his sons again.  He obviously never forgot about them.”  Nephi’s voice trembled with excitement.  “What else is down here like that?  Perhaps these records aren’t so boring after all.”

“Oh, lots of stuff, really.  We could spend days down here studying these old records.  But we don’t have time for that now.  I notice the torch is flickering and might burn out.  Before it does, I want you to put your mark in writing next to mine on this wall.  In the future, if needed, you can use this record to prove to judges that my riches are yours and not theirs.”

Nephi’s father led him to a spot near the back of the vault where something was recently written in soft clay.  Nephi began to read:

I, NEPHI

Son of Helaman, Son of Helaman, Son of Alma

High Priest; Chief Judge

Six hundred years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem

Being sent by the Lord on a mission to faraway lands

And without a knowledge of when or if I may return,

I desire my personal properties, my riches, my rings,

…

“Hey!  You’re not rich, are you?”  Nephi stopped reading and looked somewhat bewildered at his father.  “If so, where are these properties and these rings of yours?  I’ve never seen them.”

“True.  True, Neffy.  I’ve never shown them to you or publicly paraded them around.  Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.  I’ve always tried to live that way.  We can all be ruined by the sin of pride if we don’t watch out.”

“I understand that.  But you don’t even have a ring.”

“Oh, yes I do!  I have several, actually.  You would have learned about one the day your mother fell.  The ring presentation was interrupted.  As it is, I received it privately a while later.  I’ve never worn it because I miss your mother.  Ammaron, my loyal counselor, keeps that ring and my other properties with him.  I still have a few friends here that I can trust.  Ammaron has been instructed to give you the ring and my other properties when the time comes.”

“We’re wealthy!?” questioned the astonished Nephi.

“Well --- yes, maybe people with only a worldly view would consider us wealthy.  The Lord has blessed me with the means to accomplish my many missions.  Our riches can bless others in need.  It is far better to become wealthy in heavenly things.”

The torch flickered again and momentarily died before another weak flame emerged, emitting less light than before.

“Neffy, the light is about to go out.  Hurry!  Please just press your mark to leave your personal witness in the wall next to mine.  That’s all we need to do for now.  After I’m gone, when the time comes, you shall inherit what I leave behind.” 

“Wait!  Wait, wait.  Not so fast, father.  Why do we have to do this now?  Can’t it wait!?  It’s still going to be many more years before you die.  You’re not going anywhere for quite a while.”

“No!  It can’t wait any longer!  This really should have been done before as it is.  Your mother’s death should have taught us that!  Besides, this has to get done eventually.  Who knows when God may call me back home to Him?  We have to be ready for the inevitable.”

Nephi waited for his son to reply.  But his son said nothing.

“What is it?  What’s wrong?”  Nephi looked lovingly at his son.  Tears were in his son’s eyes.  He stifled a sob.

“Oh, great.  The inevitable!  Why is it that just the split-second I was able to stop thinking about mother’s murder and the difference her death has made around here, you have to bring it up again!?  Huh?  Don’t you know this is why I didn’t want to come to the judgment-seat today in the first place?  I’ve stayed away ten years!”

Embarrassed by his sudden outburst, Nephi began to cry in front of his father.  The tears he had managed to wash away at the fountain above returned in full flow.  He felt like he was twelve years old all over again.

“And, well, I guess it is not really only remembering mother’s death that is getting me so upset.  Now it’s the thought of losing you too!  Just like king Mosiah’s sons never saw their father alive again!  I don’t want that!”

  “Listen, Neffy.  Listen to me!  I don’t like coming here and having to talk about this either.  I adored your mother.  I miss her so very much.  But she’s gone.  At least when I die, I have the reunion with her to look forward to.”

“I look forward to seeing her again, too.”  Nephi was slowly regaining his composure.

Nephi’s father continued, “You know, when I first realized your mother was really dead---I wanted to bring her back to life.  I wanted to use my priesthood authority and bring her back to me.  That was selfish.  That would have been an inappropriate use of God’s power.  Once I prayed for a famine to come so people would repent.  And God brought a famine.  Later I prayed for the famine to stop, and it stopped.  But it was God’s will for those things to occur.  Maybe there will come another time when it will be God’s will for you to raise someone from the dead.

“For mother, it was not God’s will that she stay with us.  The time wasn’t right.  But there will be a time in the future.  A glorious day will come when she also will be resurrected.  But Christ first, for He is the firstfruits of them that sleep.

“I take such hope and comfort in the remarkable words of Samuel when he said, ‘And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.’  Those words mean a lot to me, Neffy.”

“Me, too.  I have those words committed to memory.”  Nephi sniffed a little.  “Those words of the prophet Samuel are very meaningful to me.  I felt at the time, and I still feel, that mother will be among those saints.  Samuel said this would happen at the time of Christ’s death.”

“No doubt about it, son.  Your mother was a saint.”

“Father, are you worried that the five year period of time predicted by Samuel is already past?  Many people are laughing and saying it is already too late.”

“Not at all!  The sign will be unmistakable.  A day, followed by a night without darkness, and then another day.  The sign of His birth is coming soon, just as Samuel said.  In fact, I want to talk to you some more about this very thing later.

“But for now, let’s hurry and finish the business we have to do here.  All you need to do is write on the wall with your personal mark in the clay here.  Ready?”

Nephi’s father pointed to a space on the wall below where his writing stopped.

“Well, I suppose I’m ready.”   Nephi handed the torch to his father and reached automatically into his bag.  He removed his own unique seal.  He pressed it firmly and solidly into the clay.  After hardening to rock, the marked impression would match only the seal of the person who made it.

“Thank you, son.  I am now more at ease about going.”

The torch flickered and dimmed dramatically once again.  A tiny flame erupted but went out immediately.  Blackness enveloped the vault.