After the marriages of the sons and daughters who had come out of Jerusalem (v. 7), Lehi had kept all the commandments given him by the Lord (v. 8). They had remained in the valley of Lemuel until these commandments were kept (v. 6). In Lehi’s dream of the tree of life, he “beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy” (1 Nephi 8:10). Everyone wants to be happy, but each seeks it in his or her own way. True and eternal happiness comes only in the Lord’s way, by keeping his commandments. The Prophet Joseph taught: “Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God” (TPJS, 255–56). Keeping all the commandments is a lifetime endeavor. After the Passover meal, just prior to his crucifixion, Jesus taught his apostles:
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. [John 14:15–17]