Newtek's own site has a few introductory tutorials which would be a good starting point:
http://www.newtek.com/products/light...als/index.html
They're on the left entitled "Introduction to Layout" "Introduction to Modeller" etc... Start with these - Modeller first - just to get an idea of the overall program and then go for some of the easier tutorials like "Modelling a bowl" or "Modelling a fork" to get an idea of the basic toolset and how to work with them.
Don't get too discouraged by the number of buttons you've got to work with. I've been using Lightwave for years and I still don't know what half the buttons do but it doesn't worry me since I know the modelling tools that get me where I want to go. You don't have to learn every aspect of Lightwave before you can make great models.