Nephi’s Great Faith in God
Nephi’s response to the Lord’s command to build a ship is another remarkable insight into his faith. Several of the great prophets felt overwhelmed by tasks the Lord assigned to them. Moses felt inadequate in confronting Pharaoh and asked for someone to speak for him (see Exodus 4:10–17). Enoch felt he was slow of speech and asked the Lord why he wanted him (see Moses 6:31). Nephi easily could have wondered how he could ever know how to build an oceangoing ship capable of carrying approximately two dozen people. But his immediate response was simply: “Whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten . . . ?” (1 Nephi 17:9). Obviously Nephi’s confidence did not come from any previous shipbuilding experience, for Laman and Lemuel’s reaction shows how ridiculous the idea was to them (see vv. 17–19). Rather, Nephi’s confidence stemmed from his faith in God, and he was shown how to build the ship.
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