This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers 2 Nephi 6–10, which incorporates Jacob’s teachings to the Nephites.
Following are a number of quotes from past and present Church leaders about these chapters.
2 Nephi 6
“The query ‘Do we trust Him?’ could also be higher stated, ‘Do we’ve got the faith to trust Him?’ …
“Do we’ve got sufficient faith to trust that He will visit us in our afflictions, that He will contend with those who contend with us (see 2 Nephi 6:17), and that He will consecrate our afflictions for our gain? …
“Brothers and sisters, we are able to have the religion to trust Him! He wants what’s best for us. He will answer our prayers. He will keep His guarantees. He has the ability to maintain those guarantees. He knows every little thing! And most significant, He knows what’s 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’m desirous for the welfare of your souls. Yea, mine anxiety is great for you’ (2 Nephi 6:3). …
“This love, or charity, is our best 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 that attempt to follow God’s plan of salvation could cause misunderstanding and even conflict with members of the family or friends who don’t imagine its principles. Such conflict is at all times 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 regardless of the reason for conflict with those that don’t understand or imagine God’s plan, those that do understand are at all times commanded to decide on the Lord’s way as a substitute 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 used to be a 5-foot 10-inch social disaster. Towering over my friends was the bane of my adolescence. I didn’t wish to stand out — a minimum of not that way — so I compensated by slouching. As a result, Mother was continuously urging me to ‘get up straight.’ Well, I didn’t wish to get up straight then, but I do now. For we’ve got all been admonished to ‘get up’ (2 Nephi 8:17) and to face as a witness in order that we may ‘stand blameless before God on the last day’ (Doctrine and Covenants 4:2). I can find absolutely no scriptural injunction to slouch in Zion. Instead, we’re repeatedly told to get on our feet, to ‘arise and get up’ (3 Nephi 20:2).”
— Sister Sheri L. Dew, then the second counselor within the Relief Society general presidency, October 2000 general conference, “Stand Tall and Stand Together”
“Let all of us be crammed with quiet wonder, but additionally with quiet determination in regards to the marvelous things we’ve got 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 that 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 each living creature, each men, women, and kids, 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 continuously competes with the sacred for our attention and priorities. Knowledge of the secular is important for our every day temporal living. The Lord instructs us to hunt learning and wisdom, to check and learn out of the most effective books, and to grow to be acquainted with languages, tongues and folks. Therefore, the selection to position the sacred above the secular is considered one of relative priority, not exclusivity; ‘to be learned is nice 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 within the Bible in order that there is simply ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (Ephesians 4:5). For example, some persons are confused as as to whether baptism is important for salvation regardless that the Savior declared to Nicodemus, ‘Except a person be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the dominion of God’ (John 3:5). The Book of Mormon, nonetheless, eliminates all doubt on that subject: ‘And he commandeth all men that they need to repent, and be baptized in his name, … or they can’t be saved in the dominion 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 even have witnessed the suffering of many individuals, including a lot of our Saints. We pray continually for them, petitioning the Lord’s intervention that their faith may not weaken and that they might 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 best way for man is narrow, however 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 may be none other way reserve it be by the gate; for he can’t 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 got here to earth and immortality within the life hereafter, this earth life is indeed but a really short moment.
“It is, nonetheless, a day of probation, but it’s also a day of opportunities when we elect to follow the invitation to not waste the times of our probation (see 2 Nephi 9:27). The thoughts that we dwell on inside our minds, the emotions we foster inside our hearts, and the actions we elect to take will all have a determining impact on our lives, each here and within the hereafter.”
— Elder Per G. Malm, October 2010 general conference, “Rest unto Your Souls”
“With all of the love I even have in me and with the Savior’s love through me, I invite you to come back unto Him and listen to His words: ‘Wherefore, don’t spend money for that which is of no value, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I even have spoken; and are available unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither will be corrupted’ (2 Nephi 9:51).
“I testify that the appetite to own worldly things can only be overcome by turning to the Lord. The hunger of addiction can only get replaced by our love for Him. He stands able to help each considered 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 — reserve it needs to be an infinite atonement this corruption couldn’t placed on incorruption. Wherefore, the primary judgment which got here upon man must needs have remained to an infinite duration. And in that case, this flesh will need to have laid right down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more’ (2 Nephi 9:7).
“The Atonement of Jesus Christ is out there to every 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, without end.”
— 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 grow to be freed from a number of the traditions and the lies that the adversary spreads throughout the world. … The Savior promised that He will likely be the sunshine 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 make use of the ability of the Atonement of Christ to use it to ourselves and grow to be reconciled with His will — and never with the need of the devil and the flesh — so we, through His grace, will be saved (see 2 Nephi 10:24–25).”
— Elder Francisco J. Viñas, October 2015 general conference, “The Pleasing Word of God”
“We can’t be thus settled in doing what Jesus has commanded unless we’re first settled about Him. If Jesus were only a person, albeit a superb man, His counsel is merely that of a meridian moralist. It is sort of one other thing, nonetheless, for the Creator of multiple worlds, whose central concern is our individual happiness, to command, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Our task, subsequently, is to ‘reconcile [ourselves] to the need of God, and never to the need of … the flesh’ (2 Nephi 10:24).”
— Elder Neal A. Maxwell, April 1987 general conference, “‘Overcome … Even As I Also Overcame’”
“There is, actually, no such thing as neutrality where the gospel is worried. …
“It was Jacob who said: ‘They who are usually not for me are against me, saith our God’ (2 Nephi 10:16).
“If we don’t sustain and uphold and support the dominion of God in all things, we’re thereby aiding a cause apart from 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’ve not behaved in a way their very 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 this stuff, allow us to remember him, and lay aside our sins, and never hang down our heads, for we are usually not forged off’ (2 Nephi 10:20).”
— Elder Marion D. Hanks, April 1973 general conference, “What Manner of Men? ‘As I Am’”
“One of the fundamental principles upon which [Heavenly Father’s] plan was based was free agency. We had our free agency in heaven and made the proper selections. As mortal beings now, we even have our free agency. We may select whom we’ll follow, either Satan or the Savior. ‘Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and do not forget that ye are free to act for yourselves — to decide on the best way of everlasting death or the best way of everlasting life’ (2 Nephi 10:23).”
— Bishop Victor L. Brown, April 1971 general conference, “The Meaning of Morality”
