1 Nephi 3:7 I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.
Twelve year old Chelsea, at her first “Evening of Excellence”, looked at the subway art that the other young women had made about her, with all the qualities that were used to described her, and she leaned over to me and said, “I want to be known as a She-Nephi.” Over the last four years I have watched her grow up, and I have observed what I would definitely call a She-Nephi. You may ask, “what is a She-Nephi?” I believe it is one who is willing to stand tall even against the greatest opposition. A She-Nephi is unfazed by the decisions that others make even those who are close to her, even those who she looks up to. She is able to make her own choses based on what she knows the Lord wants. A She-Nephi is calm during contentious moments, she can talk through arguments and help everyone reach a compromise. A She-Nephi prays to receive her own answers to prayers, especially those which seem out of her control and altering to her life. A She-Nephi puts her family first even when it’s difficult. A She-Nephi studies the scriptures and applies them to her life. A She-Nephi sets the bar high, and refuses to lower it for any excuse.
When Chelsea was in 8th grade there was quite a bit of negative comments made about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Chelsea took on every attack with kindness. She understood that they came from misguided information. She answered the questions the best she could, and then she set the kids at ease. She told them that she would be their example of what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believed. She told them that when they heard information about the church, they should first think to themselves is that represented who Chelsea was? Is that what Chelsea believes? She told them that was how they would know if the information was correct or not.
1 Timothy 4:12 …be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
As she entered high school she was in the “popular” group, but as her friends started to make choices that she didn’t agree with, she stepped down. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for who she wanted to be and what she wanted to represent, even if she had to stand alone. Luckily for her, she didn’t have to stand alone, other girls with the same standards followed her lead and they formed a group of strong true friends.
“Have the moral courage to stand firm in obeying God’s will, even if you have to stand alone.” -Ulisses Soares
Towards her sophomore year, we prayerfully decided to move, this would mean she would have to leave everything she knew and start over. I mentioned this to her, and she was devastated. “No, No, No! My life is perfect here. Everything is perfect! There is no way you can move me now!” I told her that dad and I had been prayerful and that we had received the answer that we should move. She was still upset, and wanted us to go back to the Lord again. I challenged her to do the Wendy Watson Nelson prayer challenge and to ask the Lord for herself, open the scriptures and read until she got an answer, then to record the answer she received. We would both do this for thirty days and then we would compare notes. She agreed. After three days of me asking the Lord and receiving the same answer, I decided to to end my prayer challenge about the move, probably because I am a mother and understand how it feels to give the same answer over and over again. I went to Chelsea and explained that I had received the same answer for three consecutive days, so I was going to move on to a new question, and when she got her answer we could compare notes. She kind of rolled her eyes and said, “I have an answer.” We compared notes and she had the same exact answer as I did. Different wording, but the same answer. It was absolutely miraculous. From that day on, Chelsea never looked back. She embraced every day in her old town, and when we moved she jumped right in. She knew that the Lord wanted her there, she didn’t understand why, but she knew that is where she was suppose to be. It was beautiful to watch her bless the lives of others, lead gently, and love excessively.
1 Nephi 15:11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.
If you have ever wondered what a she-Nephi looks like…it’s Chelsea!
“What we need here is less Wi-Fi and more Nephi!” -Terence M. Vinson
Written by Sherri Jorgensen
Recent Comments