This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers 2 Nephi 6–10, which includes Jacob’s teachings to the Nephites.
Following are a few quotes from past and present Church leaders about these chapters.
2 Nephi 6
“The question ‘Do we trust Him?’ may be better stated, ‘Do we have the faith to trust Him?’ ...
“Do we have sufficient faith to trust that He will visit us in our afflictions, that He will contend with those that contend with us (see 2 Nephi 6:17), and that He will consecrate our afflictions for our gain? ...
“Brothers and sisters, we can have the faith to trust Him! He wants what is best for us. He will answer our prayers. He will keep His promises. He has the power to keep those promises. He knows everything! And most important, He knows what is best.”
— Elder Stanley G. Ellis, October 2017 general conference, “Do We Trust Him? Hard Is Good”
“Love, then, is evidence of our own conversion and is manifest as concern for the salvation of others. Jacob said to the Nephites: ‘I am desirous for the welfare of your souls. Yea, mine anxiety is great for you’ (2 Nephi 6:3). ...
“This love, or charity, is our greatest asset.”
— Elder Jack H. Goaslind, Jr., October 1983 general conference, “Our Responsibility to Take the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth”
2 Nephi 8
“Inevitably, the actions of those who try to follow God’s plan of salvation can cause misunderstanding or even conflict with family members or friends who do not believe its principles. Such conflict is always so. Every generation that has sought to follow God’s plan has had challenges. Anciently, the prophet Isaiah gave strength to the Israelites, whom he called ‘ye that know righteousness, … in whose heart is my law.’ To them he said, ‘Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings’ (Isaiah 51:7; see also 2 Nephi 8:7). But whatever the cause of conflict with those who do not understand or believe God’s plan, those who do understand are always commanded to choose the Lord’s way instead of the world’s way.’
—Then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks, October 2017 general conference, “The Plan and the Proclamation”
“By the time I turned 12, I was a 5-foot 10-inch social disaster. Towering over my friends was the bane of my adolescence. I didn’t want to stand out — at least not that way — so I compensated by slouching. As a result, Mother was constantly urging me to ‘stand up straight.’ Well, I didn’t want to stand up straight then, but I do now. For we have all been admonished to ‘stand up’ (2 Nephi 8:17) and to stand as a witness so that we may ‘stand blameless before God at the last day’ (Doctrine and Covenants 4:2). I can find absolutely no scriptural injunction to slouch in Zion. Instead, we are repeatedly told to get on our feet, to ‘arise and stand up’ (3 Nephi 20:2).”
— Sister Sheri L. Dew, then the second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, October 2000 general conference, “Stand Tall and Stand Together”
“Let all of us be filled with quiet wonder, but also with quiet determination concerning the marvelous things we have been called to do in such stress-filled times, ‘for the Lord shall comfort Zion. … Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody’ (2 Nephi 8:3).”
— Elder Neal A. Maxwell, October 1980 general conference, “The Net Gathers of Every Kind”
2 Nephi 9
“The Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane and His agony on the cross redeem us from sin by satisfying the demands that justice has upon us. He extends mercy and pardons those who repent. The Atonement also satisfies the debt justice owes to us by healing and compensating us for any suffering we innocently endure. ‘For behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam’ (2 Nephi 9:21).”
— Elder D. Todd Christofferson, April 2013 general conference, “Redemption”
“The opposite of sacred is profane or secular — that which is temporal or worldly. The worldly constantly competes with the sacred for our attention and priorities. Knowledge of the secular is essential for our daily temporal living. The Lord instructs us to seek learning and wisdom, to study and learn out of the best books, and to become acquainted with languages, tongues and people. Therefore, the choice to place the sacred above the secular is one of relative priority, not exclusivity; ‘to be learned is good if [we] hearken unto the counsels of God’ (2 Nephi 9:29).”
— Elder Paul B. Pieper, April 2012 general conference, “To Hold Sacred”
“Again and again the Book of Mormon acts as a confirming, clarifying, unifying witness of the doctrines taught in the Bible so that there is only ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (Ephesians 4:5). For example, some people are confused as to whether baptism is essential for salvation even though the Savior declared to Nicodemus, ‘Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (John 3:5). The Book of Mormon, however, eliminates all doubt on that subject: ‘And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, … or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God’ (2 Nephi 9:23).”
— Elder Tad R. Callister, October 2011 general conference, “The Book of Mormon — a Book from God”
“Over the last several years, I have witnessed the suffering of many people, including many of our Saints. We pray continually for them, petitioning the Lord’s intervention that their faith may not weaken and that they may move forward with patience. To these we repeat the comforting words of the prophet Jacob from the Book of Mormon:
“‘O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.
“‘And whoso knocketh, to him will he open’ (2 Nephi 9:41–42).”
— Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, April 2011 general conference, “Called to Be Saints”
“In view of our existence as spirit children before we came to earth and immortality in the life hereafter, this earth life is indeed but a very short moment.
“It is, however, a day of probation, but it is also a day of opportunities when we choose to follow the invitation to not waste the days of our probation (see 2 Nephi 9:27). The thoughts that we dwell on inside our minds, the feelings we foster inside our hearts, and the actions we choose to take will all have a determining impact on our lives, both here and in the hereafter.”
— Elder Per G. Malm, October 2010 general conference, “Rest unto Your Souls”
“With all the love I have in me and with the Savior’s love through me, I invite you to come unto Him and hear His words: ‘Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted’ (2 Nephi 9:51).
“I testify that the appetite to possess worldly things can only be overcome by turning to the Lord. The hunger of addiction can only be replaced by our love for Him. He stands ready to help each one of us.”
— Elder Robert D. Hales, April 2009 general conference, “Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually”
“Speaking of the Atonement, Jacob, the brother of Nephi, taught: ‘Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement — save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more’ (2 Nephi 9:7).
“The Atonement of Jesus Christ is available to each of us. His Atonement is infinite. It applies to everyone, even you. It can clean, reclaim and sanctify even you. That is what infinite means — total, complete, all, forever.”
— Elder Shayne M. Bowen, October 2006 general conference, “The Atonement Can Clean, Reclaim, and Sanctify Our Lives”
2 Nephi 10
“After over 200 years, many still seek the truths needed to become free of some of the traditions and the lies that the adversary spreads throughout the world. ... The Savior promised that He will be the light unto all who hear His words (see 2 Nephi 10:14).”
— Elder Thierry K. Mutombo, April 2021 general conference, “Ye Shall Be Free”
“The pleasing word of God invites us to use the power of the Atonement of Christ to apply it to ourselves and become reconciled with His will — and not with the will of the devil and the flesh — so we, through His grace, can be saved (see 2 Nephi 10:24–25).”
— Elder Francisco J. Viñas, October 2015 general conference, “The Pleasing Word of God”
“We cannot be thus settled in doing what Jesus has commanded unless we are first settled about Him. If Jesus were only a man, albeit a very good man, His counsel is merely that of a meridian moralist. It is quite another thing, however, for the Creator of multiple worlds, whose central concern is our individual happiness, to command, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Our task, therefore, is to ‘reconcile [ourselves] to the will of God, and not to the will of … the flesh’ (2 Nephi 10:24).”
— Elder Neal A. Maxwell, April 1987 general conference, “‘Overcome … Even As I Also Overcame’”
“There is, in fact, no such thing as neutrality where the gospel is concerned. ...
“It was Jacob who said: ‘They who are not for me are against me, saith our God’ (2 Nephi 10:16).
“If we do not sustain and uphold and support the kingdom of God in all things, we are thereby aiding a cause other than the Lord’s.”
— Elder Bruce R. McConkie, October 1984 general conference, “The Caravan Moves On”
“There are so many who grieve and are weighted down because they have not behaved in a way their own conscience can approve. To them the Lord still speaks through his prophets ancient and modern. Recall the words of Jacob to his brethren: ‘And now my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off’ (2 Nephi 10:20).”
— Elder Marion D. Hanks, April 1973 general conference, “What Manner of Men? ‘As I Am’”
“One of the basic principles upon which [Heavenly Father’s] plan was based was free agency. We had our free agency in heaven and made the right choices. As mortal beings now, we also have our free agency. We may choose whom we will follow, either Satan or the Savior. ‘Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves — to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life’ (2 Nephi 10:23).”
— Bishop Victor L. Brown, April 1971 general conference, “The Meaning of Morality”
