116—Come Follow Me BoM 12—2 Nephi 31-33

AAAAAAHHHHH! (Group 1) You are serving a mission. You have worked hard to help Maria Guadalupe Ortega Saenz Pena de la Vega to get to baptism. She is a celestial soul. Everything seems to be going smoothly. The baptismal font is actually full and the water is warm for a change. There are printed programs. Maria and her next-door neighbor and life-long friend (the Bishop)—that will baptize her—are both there dressed in white. Life is good. The Ward Mission Leader got everything right this time…You open the program to find your name on the program as giving a 5 minute talk at the baptism. You point at it and stare down the bench at the ward mission leader. He shrugs and smiles, realizing he forgot to ask you. You have the seven minutes that it takes to sing a hymn and begin the program to prepare. You remember that 2 Nephi 31 has some great scriptures on baptism and the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. Prepare a talk using 2 Nephi 31 to teach baptism and life after baptism. Get busy!

AAAAAAHHHHH! (Group 2) It’s Saturday morning. You’ve just flown into San Francisco late the night before to visit your brother and to attend the baptism of your nephew. After the baptism, everybody returns to the chapel. You look at the program and realize you are giving a talk on the Holy Ghost! Your brother, who is notorious for forgetting things, forgot to ask you in advance. Now, you have the time it takes for your nephew to change out of the wet baptismal clothes and get dressed (7 minutes) to prepare. Use passages from 2 Nephi 32 to teach about the Holy Ghost. Get busy!

What is the doctrine of Christ? (2 Nephi 31:2-21; 3 Nephi 11:31-40)

-faith in Jesus Christ -repentance -baptism by immersion -the Gift of the Holy Ghost -endure to the end

Feast upon the Words of Christ As you seek spiritual knowledge, search for principles. Carefully separate them from the detail used to explain them. Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances. A true principle makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and compelling circumstances. (Richard G. Scott, Conference Report 10/93)

Feast Upon the Words of Christ “The greatest achievement mankind can make in this world is to familiarize themselves with divine truth, so thoroughly, so perfectly, that the example or conduct of no creature living in the world can ever turn them away from the knowledge that they have obtained…”(Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 34).

P90X example 2 Nephi 33—Nephi’s Parting Words

…Unto the hearts…(2 Nephi 33:1-2) “I suspect we emphasize and know much more about a teacher teaching by the Spirit than we do about a learner learning by faith. Clearly, the principles and processes of both teaching and learning are spiritually essential. However, as we look to the future and anticipate the ever more confused and turbulent world in which we will live, I believe it will be essential for all of us to increase our capacity to seek learning by faith… Nephi teaches us, “When a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth [the message] unto the hearts of the children of men” (2 Nephi 33:1). Please notice how the power of the Spirit carries the message unto but not necessarily into the heart. A teacher can explain, demonstrate, persuade, and testify, and do so with great spiritual power and effectiveness. Ultimately, however, the content of a message and the witness of the Holy Ghost penetrate into the heart only if a receiver allows them to enter. Learning by faith opens the pathway into the heart…2 Nephi 33:1 Ultimately, the responsibility to learn by faith and apply spiritual truth rests upon each of us individually. This is an increasingly serious and important responsibility in the world in which we do now and will yet live. What, how, and when we learn is supported by—but is not dependent upon—an instructor, a method of presentation, or a specific topic or lesson format” (David A. Bednar, “Seek Learning by Faith,” Ensign, Sep 2007, 60–68).

Read and pause to discuss each as a class… 3-4 Prophetic Burden 5 spirit of the devil 6-9 charity and hope 10-11/10-15 logic & testimony about Nephi’s writings