Elder Robert D. Hales taught: “Lehi did not lose the blessing of feasting at the tree of life because Laman and Lemuel refused to partake of its fruit. Sometimes as parents we feel we have failed when our children make mistakes or stray. Parents are never failures when they do their best to love, teach, pray, and care for their children. Their faith, prayers, and efforts will be consecrated to the good of their children” (“With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent,” 88).
What are the differences between the two sets of plates?
Nephi describes two different sets of plates he was commanded to make (9:2–4). “Although Nephi had already begun a record of the secular history of his people, the Lord inspired him to make a second record containing the religious history of his people. The following list outlines the differences and similarities between the two accounts:
“1. [1 Nephi 9 is] an account taken directly from the small plates.
“2. When Nephi used the term these he was referring to the small plates.
“3. When Nephi used the term those or other he was referring to the large plates.
“4. The large plates were first made about 590 B.C.
“5. The small plates were made 20 years later, about 570 B.C.
“6. Nephi’s explanation of why the Lord commanded him to make a second record (the small plates) is in 1 Nephi 9:5.
“7. The large plates cover a period from 570 B.C.–A.D. 385 and cover the account of kings, wars, and history.
“8. The small plates cover a period from 570–130 B.C.nd give an account of the Nephite ministry” (Book of Mormon Student Manual [2009], 23–24).