I Went Up into the Mountain

Nephi's People Near the Mountains

There’s just something singular about being in the mountains, isn’t there? I can go to beautiful places in my favorite cities and towns, see historical monuments, or go to a scenic park, but nothing compares to the solitude, peace, and perspective I gain when I get up to a higher elevation, away from the mundane cares and noise of city and suburban life.

I have great memories of mountain adventures I experienced in my youth… Campouts, fishing adventures, backpacking, trips to Grandpa and Grandma’s (who lived in the Sierra Nevada mountains just outside Nevada City). While the survival skills, fishing techniques, cardiovascular gains, and physical strength we attain in the mountains are great, they do not compare to the spiritual growth we can experience there.

Nephi had an epic vision, of which he wrote an extensive record. As he begins this account, he tells us that he was “caught away in the Spirit of the Lord… into an exceedingly high mountain.” In my view, you can’t overestimate the significance of this starting point for such a majestic vision. It was important to Nephi that he include this mountain scene.

Mountains are prominent throughout the scriptures. We have just a small portion of Jesus’ life and ministry recorded, yet mountains play a pronounced role in what is known about His life. He apparently took comfort there, and seemingly felt he could best commune with the Father from a mountain setting. Luke mentions that Christ was “wont” to go to the Mount of Olives—he went there often. After the Last Supper, Jesus sung hymns with his disciples on the Mount of Olives immediately before descending—literally and figuratively—to the Garden of Gethsemane, and all He faced there.

We read of Jesus going up to a mountain to pray on multiple occasions. He often taught his followers on mountains. He and Peter, James and John were transfigured on a mountain. Prior to calling his twelve apostles, Jesus went up into a mountain to pray. When he ordained the twelve, it was on a mountain. Satan certainly made an error in his trying to tempt Jesus, taking Him to a high mountain. This seemed to be a setting Jesus longed for, and one where He apparently felt closest to His Father.

Fun with the kids

Nephi, too, spent time in the mountains. At a turning point in the Book of Mormon, Nephi is told by the voice of the Lord to get up into the mountain. There, he was commanded and instructed to build the ship that would carry them to the promised land. Nephi tells us he “did go unto the mountain oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things” (1 Ne. 18:3).

Me, fishing at age 9

I’ve had spiritual experiences in the mountains too, and the Lord has shown me great things there. One such experience stays with me, almost thirty years later. As a young man, I attended an early morning Easter Sunday meeting, on the side of a hill, watching the sun rise, and listening to testimonies being shared about the Savior—the Risen Son. I don’t recall the specific words spoken, but I remember the Spirit telling me Jesus Christ is real, and that He lived, suffered, and was resurrected for us—that His Atonement is real. This was with a group of people I didn’t know well at all—a new Church group in a new town. As I sat there with mostly total strangers, I’d never felt less alone—I felt God’s infinite love.

The Book of Mormon, and in particular Nephi, has taught me to seek the Lord, to pray often, and to draw near to Him. And an effective, enlightening way to do this is to ‘get up into the mountain.’ I wonder what great things the Lord is waiting to show to me and to you?