1 And now I, Moroni, proceed to give the record of Jared and his brother.
2 For it came to pass after the Lord had prepared the stones which the brother of Jared had carried up into the mount, the brother of Jared came down out of the mount, and he did put forth the stones into the vessels which were prepared, one in each end thereof; and behold, they did give light unto the vessels.
3 And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.
4 And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them—and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God.
5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.
6 And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind.
7 And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters.
8 And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind.
9 And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord.
10 And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water.
11 And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.
12 And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them. (Ether 6)
What do you think it would have been like to travel in those barges? I’m sure that, without the belief that the Lord was leading them along, most people would probably consider those travel conditions pretty miserable.
And yet, the Lord was with them all along the way.
Even before the Jaredites loaded up into the barges, the Lord provided stones that gave them light. He designed the barges to be “tight like unto a dish” and “like unto the ark of Noah” so that they could descend into deep waters without being harmed. They encountered fierce winds and waves, but “the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land.” No beast in the waters could harm them. What would it have taken for them to come to know that? Most likely, they had encounters that stood as a witness to the Lord’s protection. And all the while, “they did sing praises unto the Lord” and “they did not cease the praise the Lord.” The brother of Jared, in particular, “did thank and praise the Lord all the day long.”
The journey took almost a year.
When the Jaredites disembarked, “they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them.”
Do you think that their gratitude, humility, and joy would have been nearly as profound if they had traversed the seas in something more like a modern-day cruise ship? Doubt it.
Do you think that anyone on the outside looking in could have understood why the Jaredites praised the Lord all along the way, if they didn’t also have an intimate awareness of the Lord’s hand in their travels? I doubt that, too. Even with irrefutable evidence of the Lord’s hand in their own lives, most people are extremely ungrateful.
Tears of joy have a depth of meaning behind them that is borne of suffering and sacrifice. Suffering and sacrificing for the best of eternal outcomes produces tears of joy that none but God, or those like Him, can truly understand.