21 And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children.
22 Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journeyed in the wilderness towards the land of promise.

When I read these verses, I imagined Lehi and his Sons having to carry a heavy set of brass plates through the barren dessert. These plates were probably not easy to carry, and they likely slowed them down greatly. But nevertheless, they knew that it was “wisdom in the lord” that they should have the plated in order to educate their children in the ways of the lord.

I was reminded of my mission when I read these verses. Most of my companions only carried their Russian copies of the Book of Mormon in order to keep their baggage weight down. But I felt that there were enough occasions when I wanted urgently to find a particular verse of scripture. Because of that, I carried around my English quad as well as Russian scriptures. It made my bad heavy and sometimes slowed us down as we walked around the frigid Siberian winter. But I knew that having those scriptures with me was of great worth to me in helping me to teach those I encountered.

I am so grateful for the scriptures and that we are able to carry them in our pocket. We don’t have to carry heavy plates around to preserve the word of God.