Lessons for Our Day from the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ - 2024
Lesson No. Eight

Nephi’s Temple Experience Can Be Our Temple Experience

“The mountain of the Lord’s house” refers to the temple – “Whenever the Lord has had a people on the earth who will obey His word, they have been commanded to build temples in which the ordinances of the gospel and other spiritual manifestations that pertain to exaltation and eternal life may be administered. In cases of extreme poverty or emergency, these ordinance may sometimes be done on a mountaintop. This may be the case with Mount Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration” (Bible Dictionary, Temples, emphasis added). Isaiah refers to the temple as “the mountain of the Lord’s house” (Isaiah 2:2; 2 Nephi 12:2). Nephi mentions two temple experiences he had been given on high mountains, the mountain of the Lord’s house:

Nephi had a temple experience on “the mountain of the Lord’s house” near the valley of Lemuel – “For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot” (1 Nephi 11:1). Nephi then was given a vision, the magnitude of which, only a few other prophets have ever seen:

1. Because of his worthy desire to know the meaning of the tree his father had seen in vision, and his great faith, and his willingness to ponder and make himself receptive to the Spirit of the Lord he was given a vision, recorded in 1 Nephi 11-14, of the most important events, from God’s perspective, in the last 2,000 plus years of this worlds history. The first part of this vision was conducted by the Holy Ghost Himself. This is of tremendous significance because it is the only scriptural occasion where the Holy Ghost makes a personal appearance to a man (1 Nephi 11:11).

2. The remainder of the vision was conducted by an angel (1 Nephi 11:14). Nephi now sees the most important events in all history, the birth, life, ministry, atoning sacrifice, resurrection of the Son of God, and the ministry of the original Twelve Apostles (1 Nephi 11:15-36). The vision also includes Jesus’ resurrected ministry among the Nephites, the destruction of the Nephites, and the dwindling in unbelief of the Lamanites (1 Nephi 12). Nephi then saw the founding, colonization, and establishment of the United States (1 Nephi 13:1-19); the great apostacy (1 Nephi 11:20-29); the Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Nephi 13:30 – 14:7); the latter-day contest between good and evil (1 Nephi 14:8-11); the covenant people of the Lord gathering to temples world wide (1 Nephi14:14); wars and rumors of war poured out on the nations of the earth (1 Nephi 14:15-17).

Nephi had a temple experience on “the mountain of the Lord’s house” in the land Bountiful – After eight years in the wilderness, Nephi was told to go to the mountain (the temple) where the Lord commanded him to build a ship (1 Nephi 17:7-16). Nephi went to the mountain (temple) oft, and the Lord showed him great things including how he should build the ship, “and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine” (1 Nephi 18:1-4). Years later Nephi referred to his mountain temple experiences (2 Nephi 4:25).

Nephi built a temple and had temple experiences in the land of Nephi – Many years after arriving in the promises land, the Nephites separated from the Lamanites, and they settled and prospered in the land of Nephi (2 Nephi 5:1-15). “And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine” (2 Nephi 5:16). (Nephi applied the same phrase “and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine” to both the construction of the ship (1 Nephi 18:4 and to the construction of the temple (2 Nephi 5:16). The Lord is the Master Architect and Builder, Nephi was His worthy apprentice)

Lesson for today – To live after the manner of happiness is to live within our temple covenants. Like Nephi, we can receive revelatory experiences in the temple which are suited specifically to fulfilling our stewardship. Nephi’s stewardship included leading his extended family to the land of promise. Our most important stewardship is to lead our family “beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise” (Alma 37:45).

Nephi wrote: “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness” (2 Nephi 5:27, emphasis added). Like the Nephites we are able to worship in the House of the Lord, and we are blessed as we keep our temple covenants. It is my experience that to “live after the manner of happiness” is to live within our temple covenants.

I testify that, like Nephi, we can go into the temple oft, and we can pray oft unto the Lord; and the Lord will answer our prayers and show us great things. In this way we will be able to fulfill our stewardships, and we will live after the manner of happiness as we faithfully live within our temple covenants. (See 1 Nephi 18:3; 2 Nephi 5:27).

Released on February 25th, 2024.