Once Upon a Time... part II

So Jared and his brother began to gather all that they had and spread the word, to their family and friends who had not been cursed, to gather all they had and head for the North valley. When all had arrived the Lord came to them in a cloud and helped them begin their journey to the promise land. God wanted this little population to be successful. He traveled with them in a cloud. He taught them and asked that they begin now to keep the promise that Jared had made so that they would be ready when they arrived in the promised land.
Now these were good people but not unusual people. They began to try to keep the promise. Sometimes they succeeded other times they fell short. Many found that, like the brother of Jared, if they prayed and were grateful they could do many great things. They built barges and traveled far following where ever God directed. They began to be capable and knowledgeable. They were good at most everything they did but they forgot how they came to be that way. They forgot to pray and be grateful, even the brother of Jared. So God left them to get what they could on their own and waited for them to remember their promise. After four years God grew tired of waiting. He went to the brother of Jared and reminded him of all that had come before and all that could yet be if they could keep the promise made by Jared. God said that if the brother of Jared could forget then all the people could forget and then he, God, would not be able to give them what they had truly desired because they had forgotten to do their part.
Now The brother of Jared felt his heart break as the Lord reminded him of the many mercies and gifts given to him throughout his life and to his family and friends. In that very moment he began to apologize to God with his broken heart and bind back the pieces by remembering his promise and strengthening it with gratitude.
God could see the change in the brother of Jared and knew that he would not forget again. So he told the brother of Jared to go to work and he did. He started right away on the new barges the Lord said they would need to continue their journey. Seeing the brother of Jared working as God directed reminded Jared and all the people of their promise and they began to work also. They did such good work and followed direction so well that when the barges were finished they kept out water perfectly. When the door was closed not a single drop of water could get inside. They were small and light so they moved easily on the water. They were amazing but the brother of Jared noticed two things as he inspected their new sailing vessels. When the doors were closed no fresh air could get in and it was pitch black inside. He had followed directions exactly so when he found these problems with the barges he started to pray, as was his renewed habit. God answered his prayer by giving him more instruction about how to make holes in the barges that could be opened and shut as fresh air was needed. The brother of Jared and the people went right to work on these new instructions and finished quickly. They were anxious to begin their journey but they still didn't have a solution to the second problem of light inside the barges. Again the brother of Jared asked God for a solution hoping that they would not have to cross the ocean in darkness. This time God's answer was different than all the answers that came before. He asked the brother of Jared how he would like the problem to be solved and the brother of Jared didn't know. The Lord had already explained that windows wouldn't work when he gave instructions about how to get fresh air and fires in the barges would be to dangerous. Jared didn't have a good answer either so he told his brother to take some time and think about it. Jared's brother took his advice and went up into the mountains to think. He went over and over the problem like a riddle looking for the one correct answer. He was afraid to go back to the Lord and ask for help with the wrong one. As he thought about light and how to get it he had an idea. God had always given light to his soul when he asked for it and he was able to keep that light in his soul if he made a place for it. He just needed something to keep the light of God in while they traveled. He was still concerned about finding the right thing though. He didn't think just any old thing would due but he could think of many things that would work. Which one was the right one? He didn't know but he picked the idea he liked best. That was clear stones. He knew how to make them from molten rock. He worked carefully and did his best hoping all the while that he had chosen correctly. He made two small perfectly round stones for each of the barges. Then he took them in his hand to the very top of the mountain to pray again. Looking down at his pile of small clear stones he started to worry. He worried so much that he began his prayer with an apology for not knowing exactly what the Lord wanted already. Then went on to explain what he thought could be done and asked the Lord to help by touching each of the stones and filling them with his perfect light. When the brother of Jared laid down his stones to be touched God reassured him that his best answer was the right answer and if his best answer had been apples he would still have picked the right thing. There was no one right answer. What mattered most was that he believed that the Lord could make his efforts into one of those answers filled with perfect truth, like he had recieved so many times in the past.
The Lord began to touch the stones one by one. The brother of Jared watched as the stones began to be lighted. Then he saw the finger of God as he touched the next one in the pile. He was so afraid he fell down right there and hid his eyes. The Lord saw this and told the Brother of Jared to get up and asked him why he had fallen. The brother of Jared explained that he had seen the finger of God. The Lord said that the brother of Jared's belief had allowed him to see what no one had seen before. The Brother of Jared then saw not just the finger of God but his whole body and learned many great things before he returned to the valley and his brother.
The people rejoiced at seeing the brother of Jared and were even happier when they saw he had with him the solution to their last problem. They could go! They packed the barges immediately. The brother of Jared placed two stones in each vessel. One at each end to light the dark when the doors were closed. As Jared and the rest of the people boarded their vessels and closed the doors they began to understand, maybe for the first time, about God's light. That if they kept their promise to be faithful giving their prayers and gratitude and obedience to God they would never have to travel in darkness of soul and he would light all their faithful solutions as they traveled through the world.
The promised land was everything the Lord had told them it would be. Jared and his brother found peace. They prospered and had many children. They kept their promise to God and taught their children how to keep it and enjoy the light of the Lord, both in their hearts and in the world. Every generation there after enjoyed the same inheritance as long as they kept the promise.