As Many As Were Converted

This week’s Come, Follow Me lesson invites us to consider what things strengthen conversion and what things weaken it. We read, “Becoming converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ requires patience and effort. 3 Nephi 1–7 describes people who were converted to the Lord and others who were not. What made the difference between these groups?” Using the verses suggested, here is what I see as things that weaken our conversion to Jesus Christ. Some Nephites were simply unbelieving of the sign of Samuel and “began to rejoice” when it didn’t show up, using this to persecute their brethren (3 Nephi 1:6). Surely mistreating others like they did is a fast way to weaken our testimony of the Savior. Later we read that the righteous Lamanites had sorrow because “they had many children who did grow up and began to wax strong in years, that they became for themselves, and were led away by some who were Zoramites, by their lyings and their flattering words, to join those Gadianton robbers” (3 Nephi 1:29). That phrase “became for themselves” suggests that they were self-centered and sought only for their own gain. Surely selfishness and greed—and unrighteousness in general—lead to a diminished testimony of the Savior and His gospel. Soon after that “the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen” (3 Nephi 2:1). Instead of remembering—something we are urged to do in the gospel—they forgot the marvelous signs they had seen. If we don’t find a way to remember the spiritual experiences we have had, we may forget them and start to disbelieve. Several years later, after their marvelous deliverance from the Gadianton robbers, the Nephites once again forgot what the Lord had done for them: “Some were lifted up in pride… some did return railing for railing…. Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world” (3 Nephi 6:13, 15). Pride and the quest for power, authority, riches, and the vain things of the world led them to lose their testimony of the Savior and to forgot the great things He had done for them. Those are the same temptations we are faced with today and we must seek to protect ourselves from the enticing of the adversary who similarly tempts us to leave behind our spiritual foundation and go after the ephemeral pleasures of the world.

                Here are some of the lessons about what things will strengthen our conversion to Jesus Christ we find in these same passages. When threatened by the unbelievers, those who were righteous “behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain.” As we are steadfast in watching for the Lord’s hand in our lives and the fulfillment of the words of prophets, we will see the Lord’s words are true: “I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets” (3 Nephi 1:8, 13). About a decade later when the Nephites were threatened with complete destruction, they had to turn to the Lord for help. Their righteous leader Lachoneus said to them, “As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers” (3 Nephi 3:15). Repentance and fervent prayer surely are key to strengthening our faith in the Lord. That same year the Nephites all banded together into one land, highlighting the importance of unity amongst the Saints. As we cultivate unity in our families and wards, our faith is strengthened and we find protection. When the Gadianton robbers came upon them, the Nephites unitedly “did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies…. they did fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them.” Facing our challenges in the strength of the Lord will increase our conversion to the Lord as we see the help He gives us to overcome our trials. After they were indeed delivered from the Gadianton robbers through His strength, “They did rejoice and cry again with one voice, saying: May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection. And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one, in singing, and praising their God for the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling into the hands of their enemies” (3 Nephi 3:8, 10, 30-31). Surely recognizing God’s hand in our lives and expressing sincere gratitude for the strength and protection He gives us is key to fortifying our testimony of the Savior and His gospel. Even after this most of them did again turn to their wickedness, but some remained faithful and true: “As many as were converted did truly signify unto the people that they had been visited by the power and Spirit of God, which was in Jesus Christ, in whom they believed. And as many as had devils cast out from them, and were healed of their sicknesses and their infirmities, did truly manifest unto the people that they had been wrought upon by the Spirit of God, and had been healed; and they did show forth signs also and did do some miracles among the people” (3 Nephi 7:21-22). That highlights perhaps the most important part of conversion: the Holy Ghost. To be truly converted to the Savior, we must hear His voice through the power of the Holy Ghost. These righteous Nephites were visited by the Holy Ghost and they were convinced of the truth. True conversion can only take place when the Spirit testifies of truth and we listen. These chapters, 3 Nephi 1-7, indeed teach us many lessons about how to stay faithful and what things will weaken our conversion, and they invite us to steadfastly look to the Lord and avoid the spiritual pitfalls of so many of these Nephites.