Hello, one, shaken Saints. I'm Deard Halverson.. Welcome back and I'm almost back myself.

Not quite 100% recovered from the sickness that you endured with me last week, but almost there.

I know I've at least turned the corner and I'm grateful for that.

So thank you for putting up with my voice last week and I hope

that by next week I'll be 100% again. Now this week is a bittersweet experience because

it's our last week with the Prophet Nephi.

We have been with him since the very beginning of our study.

I, Nephi, having been born of Goodly Parents, remember that a few months ago?

And by the end of today we'll get Nephi's final Amen.

And I am sad to see him go.

I'm grateful there will be later Nephese to remind us of the original one but to have

his strength his courage his commitment his deep deep desire to obey the word of

God I'm the primary chorister in our the best calling in the church. And we've been singing

Nephi's courage for a month now. And to see these little kids just belting

out, I will go, I will do the things the Lord commands has been exhilarating

now that we're a little older than primary age we can dig into the text itself

and realize that Nephi by by his own admission, was far from perfect.

He's a flawed hero, but a hero nonetheless.

When he said, oh wretched man that I am in his Psalm, I don't think that was hyperbole or mere self-deprecation.

That he wrestled with things, he got angry and wished that he didn't.

You wonder what he felt about his own role in the

dissolution of his family that I wasn't able to keep that my family together the

...