3 Nephi 11:1-17
Reading Assignment for Friday, March 23: 3 Ne. 11:1-17
Learning Activities:
1) Introduction
Sometime following the great destruction and three days of darkness, about 2,500 men, women, and children gathered around the temple in the land of Bountiful (see 3 Nephi 17:25). They heard a voice, which they at first did not understand. As they tried to listen, they understood that it was the voice of Heavenly Father introducing His Son, Jesus Christ. The Savior of the world appeared. Jesus Christ invited the people to one by one personally witness that He had been slain for the sins of the world by feeling the wound in his side and the prints of the nails in His hands and feet.
2) Read this quote, then read 3 Nephi 11:1-7 and ponder how you feel and hear the Spirit in your life:
President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained how the voice of the Lord, through the Holy Ghost, operates on our mind and heart:
“Perhaps the single greatest thing I learned from reading the Book of Mormon is that the voice of the Spirit comes as a feeling rather than a sound. You will learn, as I have learned, to ‘listen’ for that voice that is felt rather than heard. …
“The gift of the Holy Ghost … will guide and protect you and even correct your actions. It is a spiritual voice that comes into the mind as a thought or a feeling put into your heart” (“Counsel to Youth,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 17–18).
3) Think about a time when you have felt the voice of the Lord or impressions of the Spirit come into your mind or heart. Write in your scripture study journal about your experience and what it felt like.
4) President Boyd K. Packer gave the following counsel about what we need to do to listen to and understand the voice of the Lord through the Holy Ghost. Underline words or phrases that help you know what to do, or what to avoid, to better hear the Lord’s voice through the Holy Ghost.
“The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting. It never shakes us with a heavy hand. The Spirit whispers. It caresses so gently, indeed, that if we are preoccupied, we can’t feel it at all.
“Occasionally, the Spirit will press just firmly enough or often enough for us to pay attention; but from my experience, most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, if we do not listen with those feelings, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening, in our manner and our expression” (“How Does the Spirit Speak to Us?” New Era, Feb. 2010, 3).
“The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting. It never shakes us with a heavy hand. The Spirit whispers. It caresses so gently, indeed, that if we are preoccupied, we can’t feel it at all.
“Occasionally, the Spirit will press just firmly enough or often enough for us to pay attention; but from my experience, most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, if we do not listen with those feelings, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening, in our manner and our expression” (“How Does the Spirit Speak to Us?” New Era, Feb. 2010, 3).
5) Picturing in Your Mind What Is Taking Place
When studying the scriptures, it is often helpful to try to visualize what is taking place or to imagine how it might have felt to be there with those experiencing certain events. This study skill can make events and people in the scriptures more real to you and give you opportunities to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. Use this skill as you read 3 Ne. 11:8-17
Want More?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke about the importance of the Savior’s appearance to the Nephites:
“That appearance and that declaration constituted the focal point, the supreme moment, in the entire history of the Book of Mormon. It was the manifestation and the decree that had informed and inspired every Nephite prophet for the previous six hundred years, to say nothing of their Israelite and Jaredite forefathers for thousands of years before that.
“Everyone had talked of him, sung of him, dreamed of him, and prayed for his appearance—but here he actually was. The day of days! The God who turns every dark night into morning light had arrived” (Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon [1997], 250–51).