“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26). Nephi 4 is a great chapter on revelation. When Nephi is led by the Spirit to find and then slay Laban, we can see the Spirit helping Nephi in three different ways. First, he says that he is “constrained" by the spirit. This is what we call a prompting or an impression. Either we are impelled to act or constrained to not act. This can be very powerful but as we see, it is also the most difficult to accept, especially if we are at all willful or inexperienced with dealing with the Spirit. Twice the Spirit actually speaks to Nephi and even gives him justifying reasons. Is one better than the other? I don't know. It seems if we are truly humble, all we would need is a feeling. We all would like our revelation clearly dictated and as heavily defended and justified to us as any thesis. But this actually limits our agency. I believe God is much more pleased to merely nudge us in the right direction and see what we can do with the time and talents that we have been given. The third kind of revelation is that the holy ghost will bring all things to our remembrance. Half a dozen times Nephi “remembers" or “knows" something that gives him the strength and the courage to obey. This is a great example of the Lord's tender mercies. God may call on us to do hard things but he will not leave us comfortless. The Comforter can speak to us, bring scriptures and other thoughts to our remembrance, and reinforce the things we know to be true. I know that the Holy Ghost can teach us all things and help us through even the most challenging of circumstances.
