1 Nephi 16
I wonder how long they lived in the valley of Lemuel. They had traveled twice back to Jerusalem, Lehi had his dream, Nephi had his first major experience as a prophet, and they had all gotten married. It may be that they were there for a couple of years or it might have been a matter of weeks.
I suspect that Lehi, when he murmured was not wishing to return to Jerusalem – although he might have been wishing to return to the valley of Lemuel. I wonder if the writing on the Liahona told of the actual destruction of Jerusalem – that might have made them fear and tremble, especially if they were reminded that they were then acting like the people at Jerusalem had been. Another possibility is that the words taught that the Liahona would not work in an atmosphere of murmuring and doubt. And another is that they simply feared to discover that writing could be made to appear on the ball. I wonder if the recent lack of food had helped cause the death of Ishmael.