Instructor: One lovely prayer. Thank you. And how good it is to see you. You look terrific.
Let’s start with Jesus. Let’s start with Christ. I have a song here that I hope you’ll enjoy. This is a combined choir of BYU students, and as you listen to it, will you listen to the contrasts in the lyrics? And also, will you look at these beautiful, beautiful young people?
Choir (lyrics approximate; recognition is poor):
As he suffered, he had faith. Once upon the cross he bowed, bowed the lonely hand. Now the Lord of grace I am. Once upon the cross he bowed. Now his cherubim arise, now his cherubim arise. Was rejected by his own, nothing he shall be known. Nothing he shall be known. As I seek and let alone, thou exaltest to a throne. Once of thee see me, reward, cause in I will then go. I see how you…
Instructor: Now, dear King, he shall be known.
Well, I ask you to look for the difference of the contrasts in that song. Our lesson today is 1 Nephi 19 through 22, which is a study in contrasts, but also similarities. So I hope you see that as we go through.
It’s about Jesus Christ as Savior, Redeemer, and Gatherer. It’s about our learning and profiting from likening the scriptures to ourselves. It’s about former and present-day scatterings. It’s about present-day gatherings. And it’s about our commission to gather God’s children.
You know that old saw you hear: tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them. Well, that’s kind of the way these chapters work. In 1 Nephi chapter 19, Nephi tells us what he’s going to tell us. In 1 Nephi chapters 20 and 21, he uses Isaiah 48 and 49 to tell us. And then in 22, he tells us what he told us. In other words, he makes an explanation of Isaiah’s words to Laman and Lemuel.
Let’s talk about Nephi’s purpose. He says, “I have written these things unto my people, that I might persuade them to remember the Lord their Redeemer,” and you will hear this purpose spoken over and over as we go through this lesson. Again, that I have written these things that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer.
One of the aspects of this lesson, because of what I told you about the structure—tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them—I’ll be moving through all of those scriptures to make that point. In other words, they’re not clumped together. The first section of chapter 19 we’re going to talk through, but throughout the lesson I pull in verses from the other chapters as well, so don’t let that confuse you. I hope you’re not flipping through pages trying to follow the scriptures that we’ve referred to.
Here’s an example. I just quoted this from chapter 19, verse 23. Here’s verse 24: “Hear ye the words of the prophet, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope.”
I’m interested in this. How do Nephi’s writings or influence affect your hope, your comfort, your joy? Also, do these writings influence your choices, your concerns, and maybe even your repenting?
Well, Nephi cites Zenock and Zenos’s prophecies of Christ’s coming sufferings and crucifixion, and we’re going to deal with that now.
So in verse 7 of 19, he says, “For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their feet.” And I have an example of this from my life.
There’s a TV show called Clarkson’s Farm. It’s a British documentary, and it’s just a hoot. We love it. It’s a lot of fun. And we watched several episodes of it, and we love all the characters. They’re all great. There’s a fair amount of profanity in it—not a lot, but some. You know how farmers are. But occasionally, rarely, they take the Lord’s name in vain as a way of swearing.
And the first couple of times we went, well, let’s move on. Not that it’s okay, but we like this show a lot. And about the third episode, we kind of had it with that. And the problem was, we’d been watching this show with a daughter who’s not in the Church, and she was loving it too. And we were joking about it. We joked about the characters together and everything. And so the challenge came: how do we tell her we’re not going to watch this anymore? But we did. I said, there is other profanity—that’s what farmers say—but this is a bridge too far.
And we were worried about her reaction because the relationship with her is rather tenuous, and so we grasp at every opportunity. But she was okay with it. She even said, “I’ll try not to do that while I’m around you.” Oh, please don’t. Anyway, it worked out okay. But in fact, it was a method of trampling under their feet our Savior Jesus Christ.
“And behold, Christ cometh according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem. And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught. Wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it. They smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it.” Why? Because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering toward you and me.
I came across this writing, so it’s in poetic form. [Name unclear—sounds like “Albersdor”; described as German.] This is a German poem, which doesn’t translate all that well in terms of the rhyme scheme and so on, but it’s still worth reading. Listen to this:
“Christ, you have been made man so as to make us gods, and you have been chained so as to release us from our chains. God, tortured with floggings and thorns under an unjust judge, you teach us to bear our sorrows with calm and resignation.” Isn’t that lovely?
“And all these things must surely come, saith the prophet Zenos. And the rocks of the earth must rend; and because of the groanings of the earth, the God of nature suffers.”
So we’ve kind of dealt with that part of chapter 19. And so let’s move to the scatterings now.
We’re talking about—by the way, scatterings include a whole human history of scatterings—but specifically we’re going to talk about Israel and Lehi’s family scatterings and present-day scatterings.
Here’s a screen that we’re not going to read all of. You can relax. The reason I put it up here is to show you how complicated the scattering process is, and the gathering as well. This is a very complex, history-long process, so we’re not going to talk a lot about it. But I came across this gal named Kristen Walker-Smith. She’s a mother of teenagers, and she makes videos in an attempt to help her children understand what the scriptures are about. And so she’s made a video about the scattering. Now, I regret to tell you that the screen’s rather small on this. I made it as large as I could, but frankly, I used this because she’s so cute. I think you’ll get a kick out of it.
Kristen Walker-Smith (video): Class is in session, and today we’re finding out what exactly is the scattering of Israel. Prophets have been telling us that the gathering of Israel is the most important thing going on in the world right now. So what exactly is the scattering?
The scattering happened in three parts. First, the united Israelites divided into northern and southern kingdoms. Second, the northern kingdom, which had ten tribes in it, was taken by the Assyrians. We don’t know what happened to those tribes. Third, the southern tribe of Judah, with the remaining two tribes, was later taken into captivity by the Babylonians. About 70 years later, they were given permission to return to the Promised Land, but only some of them returned. The rest stayed scattered.
So the scattering is the idea that God’s chosen people were no longer together in the Promised Land physically, and their lack of proximity to prophets, priesthood, and sacred promises with God—or covenants—meant that they became scattered spiritually too. That’s exactly what the gathering of Israel is reversing today. We are trying to bring people back to God’s prophets, his priesthood, and promises made with him. Make sure to save and share this with your team, because they’re probably wondering what the scattering actually is.
Instructor: Isn’t that great?
“And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucified the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders and the power and glory of the God of Israel. And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.”
Notice—I’m going to go back. You know, notice that this is chapter 19. This next one is chapter 22. I told you I was going to be skipping between the chapters, okay? Because the themes are the same.
“And it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all nations. And behold, there are many who are already lost from the knowledge of those who are at Jerusalem.” A very complicated pattern. “And they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea; and whither they are none of us knoweth.” That’s what she said, right? Nobody knows, “save that we know that they have been led away.”
By the way, there’s a great deal of scholarly information that you can access about the gathering, if you choose. It’s fascinating. There’s just too much to cover here.
But Laman—Nephi tries to explain to his brothers. Remember, they ask him in chapter 22, “What meaneth these things?” And he says, “Hear ye the words of the prophet, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off.” Yes. The Lehites were broken off. They were a scattered branch that was broken off, and Nephi was trying to get them to recognize that aspect.
Well, have you experienced any scattering in your family? I have.
In this last conference, Elder Rasband gave a talk. I’ve taken some clips from it. Once again, you’ll remember that the way this happens is these clips start abruptly and end abruptly, so I hope you’ll be comfortable with that. But these comments of Elder Rasband I thought were particularly applicable here.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband: My dear brothers and sisters, my message is for everyone whose heart aches for loved ones who’ve turned away from the Lord, stepped away from obedience to God’s laws, breached their covenants, and left behind a string of broken hearts, becoming, as the Bible says, tossed to and fro.
As the Apostle Paul described, you may feel burdened excessively, beyond your strength, weighed down as if being pressed out of measure. If I asked for a show of hands of how many feel that way, hands would shoot up in this hall and around the world. Most of us have faced such anguish in our families or our circle of friends. I know Sister Rasband and I have.
Instructor: So, kind of a universal issue, isn’t it? The scattering of loved ones.
Have any of your family members experienced trials in the wilderness? Mine have. This past week, my niece died of an alcohol overdose. She went into seizures and passed away, leaving two young children. Her father, my husband’s brother, told us she’s actually been a functioning alcoholic since she was fifteen years old. She’d been in rehab off and on. Nothing worked. She simply drank herself to death. Now, imagine the isles in the wilderness for her, for her children.
Nevertheless, Nephi and Isaiah prophesy gatherings.
“When they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers. Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in, saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth.”
You know President Nelson’s famous line: the gathering of Israel is the most important thing taking place on the earth today.
Well, as of September 2026, more than ninety thousand full-time missionaries are serving worldwide. The count includes young proselyting missionaries, young service missionaries, and senior missionaries. And for our own stake, presently eighty-six missionaries are serving from the Olympus Stake. This includes Church service missionaries. Fifty-eight of those are proselyting missionaries. Eight missionaries are presently in the MTC. In addition, of the nine presently assigned to depart for the mission field, eight are sister missionaries. Yes.
Here’s an interesting picture. I gotta look and see how clear it is for you. Oh, it’s pretty good. This is a picture taken by Clinton Christensen, who works for the Church History Department. He recently returned from a visit to Papua New Guinea, and this is a picture from that trip. You’ll see in the picture a group of men standing knee-deep in mud in white shirts and ties, and their pant legs rolled up. You see in the foreground a man in the water baptizing, his arm to the square. You can’t see the person he’s baptizing, but you can, sort of. You can see the hand of the person who he’s holding. You can also see five men to your left at the water’s edge. Two are holding spears. Three are holding axes. They are there to attack crocodiles who may be in the water.
“And then, O house of Israel, behold, these shall come from far”—Papua New Guinea, who knew?—“and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim.” The gathering of Israel is the gathering of faithful Saints wherever they are.
Do you remember this?
Conference clip: Welcome to conference. Why did the temple workers cross the road to help the people on the other side?
Instructor: So you know where this is going, don’t you?
We had a gathering not so long ago in our neighborhood, in our ward. This dear sister in the white skirt is a member of our ward and has been a member of the community all her life. And the gathering takes place over years. Years. Neighbors have loved her, cared for her, encouraged her, and gathered her. And you see on your left Bishop Mahas and Bishop O’Brien at her endowment ceremony in the Draper Temple. And then on your right, the picture of the gatherers. A profound time.
So what gathering is happening in your family?
I’ll tell you just quickly a little gathering in our family that’s going to happen day after tomorrow. We have several grandchildren who are not in the Church, and we’re taking four of them to New York—not New York City. My husband was born and raised in Schenectady, and so we’re going to upstate New York. You know what’s in upstate New York. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, even if we don’t make the Church’s historic sites, it will be a time of togetherness, of love, of happiness and excitement, and of their knowing that we love them no matter what.
Now, I’d like us to take a few minutes. Will you talk about what gathering is happening in your family? Okay.
[Class discussion, roughly 27:23–34:00; not captured in the speech track.]
Okay, what terrific, terrific love there is here. I just heard three wonderful stories—what gathering is happening in your family. Boy, I have to tell you, we’re working on this one full time.
Here’s another clip by Elder Rasband. I hope you find this useful.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband: Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ pulls much more than his weight. His Atonement is witness of his all-encompassing love for each one of us. Brutal as it was for him, his Atonement was crucial for our eternal journey. Remember, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
He has already paid for the sins and errant choices of all of God’s children, including those for whom you and I grieve. He knows them. He knows their hearts. He loves them. He gave his very life to bring them home—all the way home.
Remember the prodigal son who chose to leave his safe moorings for riotous living? He lost his fortune and his self-respect, and he returned home in a wretched state. When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran to him. He was lost and now was found. What brought him back? It was love. He knew where to find it.
Love, brothers and sisters, is the answer to connecting with all of our loved ones. Our Father extends his protective arms to us and to those still distant from him and his Son. He asked us to do the same. Jesus Christ beckons, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Instructor: So, as with everything, every problem, Christ is the answer.
Well, we’re going to spend a little bit of time with the Isaiah chapters. S. Kent Brown wrote a book entitled From Jerusalem to Zarahemla: Literary and Historical Studies of the Book of Mormon, and in it he asks the question, what is Isaiah doing in the Book of Mormon? And Nephi explains that. Once again: “I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning,” and to persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer.
So, why did he include them? “And the Lord”—this is back in chapter 19—“surely did show unto the prophets of old,” including Isaiah, “all things concerning them,” the Jews in Jerusalem, “and also he did show unto them many concerning us,” the Nephites in America, and us as well.
Nephi openly declared that he intended to deepen people’s faith in the Holy One of Israel while linking his family’s experience to prophecies concerning the scattering and gathering of Israel. I’m going to skip this next slide.
In Isaiah, Nephi found calming solace, as well as evidence of prophetic fulfillment. We’re going to spend a little bit of time talking about these chapters of Isaiah. You can see what I’ve written here: Isaiah’s poetic symbolic imagery is best read with the Spirit. Now, just like most people, I struggle with Isaiah, but with these two chapters, I’ve spent enough time in them over the last four weeks to come to love them. But I have to tell you, it’s with the Spirit that that happens. However, the language itself is wonderful. So let’s look at a bit of it.
This is Isaiah speaking: “Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah”—or out of the waters of baptism—“who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness. Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, who is the Lord of Hosts; yea, the Lord of Hosts is his name.”
“For I foretold former things long ago; my mouth announced them, and I made them known. Then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you are.” This is the NIV. “I knew how stubborn you were. Your neck muscles were iron, and your forehead was bronze.”
I love this picture. Look at this. “I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass.” Don’t you love that picture? You’ve seen those people, haven’t you? Maybe once or twice you’ve been that guy.
Nevertheless—for my name’s sake—we’re going to deal with the black side first. “I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. Nevertheless”—that great word, nevertheless—“for my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.”
Have you experienced refining fire, and did it refine you indeed?
Nevertheless, he says—now we offer the blessings of repentant Israel. And I’m going to go through this slide, and then I’m going to skip a couple, because we’re running out of time.
“Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people.” I’m just going to read the last lines. “They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.”
This one I love. “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established. Break forth into singing, O mountains, for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.”
And then Zion says, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” But he will show he hath not. “For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
“Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.” Look at that little kid licking ice cream. That’s cute. “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their faces towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” That’s you and me.
Nephi explains it. “It meaneth,” he says, “that the time cometh that after the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles. And after our seed is scattered, the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed. And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth. And he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture.”
He gathereth his children. Don’t you love that? That’s us. That’s our children. That’s the people in Papua New Guinea.
Well, let’s end with Jesus. I’m going to show you a musical video. This is a group of young people singing a song of praise. And then I’ll grab my testimony at the end.
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