This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers 3 Nephi 8-11, which includes the resurrected Christ appearing to the Nephites.
Following are a few quotes from past and present Church leaders about these chapters in the Book of Mormon.
3 Nephi 8
“At the same time God helps us fulfill divine assignments, the adversary works to distract and dissuade us from a life of meaning.
“Sin is perhaps our greatest stumbling block, dulling our sensitivity to the Holy Ghost and restricting our access to spiritual power. To perform the work Heavenly Father has for us, we must strive to be clean (see 3 Nephi 8:1). Are we living in such a way that God can work through us?”
— Elder John C. Pingree Jr., General Authority Seventy, October 2017 general conference, “I Have a Work for Thee”
“I take great hope from the account of the Savior’s visit to the American continent. Remember that before the Savior’s appearance, there were tempests, earthquakes, fires and three days of profound darkness (see 3 Nephi 8). I have often thought about the children who experienced these events. And I can only imagine the fear and concern in the hearts of the parents.
“And then the Savior appeared and commanded the multitude ‘that their little children should be brought’ to Him (3 Nephi 17:11). How eager those parents must have been to bring their children to the Savior. And then they watched as the Savior wept over their children, blessed them one by one, prayed unto the Father for them and called down angels to minister unto them (see 3 Nephi 17:21, 24). This account reminds us that it is the Savior who is the great protector, the ultimate teacher, and the eternal source of love and healing.”
— Sister Margaret S. Lifferth, then the first counselor in the Primary general presidency, October 2006 general conference, “Behold Your Little Ones”
3 Nephi 9
“The risen Lord told the Nephites, ‘Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive’ (3 Nephi 9:14). From these and many other scriptural teachings, we know that our loving Savior opens His arms to receive all men and women on the loving conditions He has prescribed to enjoy the greatest blessings God has for His children.”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, April 2019 general conference, “Cleansed by Repentance”
“The essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ entails a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature made possible through the Savior’s Atonement. True conversion brings a change in one’s beliefs, heart and life to accept and conform to the will of God (see 3 Nephi 9:20) and includes a conscious commitment to become a disciple of Christ.”
— Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2012 general conference, “Converted Unto the Lord”
“Why must individuals repent before they are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost? The voice of Christ proclaimed to the Nephites an end to the law of sacrifice, and then He said: ‘And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost’ (3 Nephi 9:20). …
“First, repentance involves an attitude of humility. In order to prepare to be baptized and take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we must humble ourselves before Him — offer our sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and accept His will. Second, we learn that persons must witness before the Church, or a representative of the Church, that they have repented of their sins. Finally, we recognize that repentance, which is a cleansing process, precedes baptism, which is a cleansing ordinance, in order to prepare someone to receive the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. The gift of the Holy Ghost is available only to those who are cleansed by repentance of the sins of the world.”
— Elder L. Tom Perry, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2008 general conference, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ”
3 Nephi 11
“This Easter, our family is going to focus on the first 17 verses of 3 Nephi 11, with which you are familiar. You recall the great multitude round about the temple in the land Bountiful who heard the voice of God the Father and saw Jesus Christ descending out of heaven to extend the most beautiful Easter invitation:
“’Arise and come forth unto me, … that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am … the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
“’And … the multitude went forth … one by one … and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands … and did bear record, that it was he. …
“’And … they did cry out with one accord, saying:
“’Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.’
“Imagine: the Nephites at the temple actually touched the hands of the risen Lord. We hope to make these chapters in 3 Nephi as much a part of our Easter tradition as Luke 2 is of our Christmas tradition. In reality, the Book of Mormon shares the greatest Easter story ever told. Let it not be the greatest Easter story never told.”
— Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2023 general conference, “The Greatest Easter Story Ever Told”
“My father particularly loved the account of the Savior’s visit to the people of Nephi. This sacred account is of the resurrected and exalted Lord Jesus Christ. He had drunk of the bitter cup and suffered all things so that we would not suffer if we would repent. He had visited the spirit world and organized the preaching of the gospel there. He had risen from the dead, and He had been with and received commandments from the Father to share scriptures with the Nephites that would bless future generations. He was exalted and had all of His eternal power and capacity. We can learn from every detail of His teachings.
“In 3 Nephi 11, we read how the Savior descended out of heaven to teach the Nephites that He was Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified would come into the world. He declared that He was the Light of the World and that He glorified the Father in taking on the sins of the world. He invited the people to come forth to put their hands into His side and to feel the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet. He wanted them to know that He was the God of Israel, who was slain for the sins of the world. The people joyfully responded, going forth one by one until they had all seen and felt that it was truly He of whom it was written by the prophets that should come.”
— Elder Peter F. Meurs, General Authority Seventy, April 2023 general conference, “He Could Heal Me!”
“We live in a fallen world, with distractions coaxing our eyes and hearts downward instead of heavenward. Much like the Nephites in 3 Nephi 11, we need Jesus Christ. Can you imagine yourself there, among people who had experienced so much chaos and destruction? What would it be like to hear the Lord’s personal invitation:
“’Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am … the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
“’And … the multitude went forth … one by one … and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know … and had witnessed for themselves’ (3 Nephi 11:14-16). …
“When Christ physically visited the Nephites at their temple, His invitation was not to stand at a distance and look upon Him, but to touch Him, to feel for themselves the reality of the Savior of humankind. How can we draw close enough to gain a personal witness of Jesus Christ? … While we may not enjoy the same physical proximity as those who walked with Christ during His earthly ministry, through the Holy Ghost we can experience His power every day. As much as we need.”
— Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, then the Young Women general president, April 2023 general conference, “Never Give Up an Opportunity To Testify of Christ”
“One of the most incredible events in human history is the Savior’s ministering visit to the ancient inhabitants of America. Visualize in your mind what it would be like to have been there. As I have pondered His loving and tender care of that band of Saints gathered at the temple, I have reflected on individual children whom I love more than life itself. I have tried to conceive of how I would feel to behold our little ones, to personally witness the Savior inviting each child to come unto Him, to witness the Savior’s outstretched arms, to stand by as each child, one by one, gently feels the prints in His hands and in His feet, and then to see each of them stand and bear record that He lives (see 3 Nephi 11:14-17). To have our children turn and say, ‘Mom, Dad, it’s Him.’
“I don’t know if anything in this world could bring more happiness and joy than to know that our children know the Savior.”
— Elder K. Brett Nattress, General Authority Seventy, October 2016 general conference, “No Greater Joy Than To Know That They Know”
“The gospel has many teachings about keeping the commandments while living among people with different beliefs and practices. The teachings about contention are central. When the resurrected Christ found the Nephites disputing over the manner of baptism, He gave clear directions on how this ordinance should be performed. Then He taught this great principle:
“’There shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.
“’For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
“’Behold, this is … my doctrine, that such things should be done away’ (3 Nephi 11:28-30).
“The Savior did not limit His warning against contention to those who were not keeping the commandment about baptism. He forbade contention by anyone. Even those who keep the commandments must not stir up the hearts of men to contend with anger. The ‘father of contention’ is the devil; the Savior is the Prince of Peace.”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2014 general conference, “Loving Others and Living With Differences”
“The risen Lord next explained the importance of coming unto Him. The multitude gathered together at the temple was invited literally to come forth unto the Savior ‘one by one’ (3 Nephi 11:15) to feel the prints of the nails in the Master’s hands and feet and to thrust their hands into His side. Each individual who had this experience ‘did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he’ (verse 15), even Jesus Christ, who had come.
“The Savior also taught the people to come unto Him through sacred covenants. … He emphasized the eternal importance of the ordinances of baptism (see 3 Nephi 11:19-39) and of receiving the Holy Ghost (see 3 Nephi 11:35-36; 12:6; 18:36-38). In a similar manner, you and I are admonished to turn toward and learn from Christ and to come unto Him through the covenants and ordinances of His restored gospel. As we do so, we will eventually and ultimately come to know Him ‘in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will’ (Doctrine and Covenants 88:68), as did the people in the land of Bountiful.”
— Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2007 general conference, “Clean Hands and a Pure Heart”
“Just as [Jesus Christ] invited the Nephites to ‘arise and come forth unto me’ (3 Nephi 11:15), so He invites each of us to come, one by one, to Him, that we too may know that He is ‘the God of … the whole earth, and [has] been slain for the sins of the world’ (3 Nephi 11:14). We learn how it feels to be encircled in His love when we accept that invitation.”
— Sister Kathleen H. Hughes, then the first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, October 2006 general conference, “Remembering the Lord’s Love”
