Samuel and Nephi

[SilentOne]

I read the end of Helaman a few days ago and what stood out to me this time was

Quote

13:3 But behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into his heart.

16:1 And now, it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, which he spake upon the walls of the city. And as many as believed on his word went forth and sought for Nephi; and when they had come forth and found him they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord.

2 But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows.

3 Now when they saw that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized.

4 For behold, Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come—

1

Mortal reasoning might say, "Nephi's got that place covered. He's showing signs and working miracles, and I doubt anything I say will convince anybody he can't. I'll go somewhere else." But apparently, Samuel could reach people who Nephi didn't.

[Anddenex]

1 hour ago, SilentOne said:

I read the end of Helaman a few days ago and what stood out to me this time was

Mortal reasoning might say, "Nephi's got that place covered. He's showing signs and working miracles, and I doubt anything I say will convince anybody he can't. I'll go somewhere else." But apparently, Samuel could reach people who Nephi didn't.

This appears to be true with all of us. We can reach some, while we can't reach others. Then we have our wives who reach those we can't. This is a truth, and why the right person at the right time with the right words can change a life eternally.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, SilentOne said:

I read the end of Helaman a few days ago and what stood out to me this time was

Mortal reasoning might say, "Nephi's got that place covered. He's showing signs and working miracles, and I doubt anything I say will convince anybody he can't. I'll go somewhere else." But apparently, Samuel could reach people who Nephi didn't.

9 hours ago, Anddenex said:

This appears to be true with all of us. We can reach some, while we can't reach others. Then we have our wives who reach those we can't. This is a truth, and why the right person at the right time with the right words can change a life eternally.

Are you familiar with the story of how BYU was almost closed due to lack of funding?  It was not the prophet who received a revelation and spoke to the donors.  It was a student who had a vision of "Temples of Learning" that motivated the donors to open their checkbooks (or whatever they had back then).

[Anddenex]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Are you familiar with the story of how BYU was almost closed due to lack of funding?  It was not the prophet who received a revelation and spoke to the donors.  It was a student who had a vision of "Temples of Learning" that motivated the donors to open their checkbooks (or whatever they had back then).

Yes, that is an inspiring story

[scottyg]

When it comes to missionary work some of us are sowers, while others are reapers. Many missionaries spend their entire missions planting seeds that they never get to see sprout, only to have another missionary come along and baptize those individuals later on. Since Samuel was never heard from again in the land it is possible that he never knew of the impact he had in the lives of others. A similar story is that of Abinadi. He may have died not knowing the true outcome of his words. Yes Alma was a great man and did many great things, but his seed was sown by Abinadi. We never know how far the ripples of our actions go.

[SilentOne]

I wonder if the mere presence of Samuel as another witness was a major impact in anybody's decision to be baptized.

On 12/19/2018 at 7:46 AM, Carborendum said:

Are you familiar with the story of how BYU was almost closed due to lack of funding?  It was not the prophet who received a revelation and spoke to the donors.  It was a student who had a vision of "Temples of Learning" that motivated the donors to open their checkbooks (or whatever they had back then).

I don't remember that story.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, SilentOne said:

I wonder if the mere presence of Samuel as another witness was a major impact in anybody's decision to be baptized.

I don't remember that story.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland_god-expects-us/

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ryan-t-barrett_be-the-vision/

 

Edited December 21, 2018 by Guest

[askandanswer]

When I was on my mission it was a widely held belief among the missionaries that if you were working with a particularly difficult investigator and making little progress, then you needed to call in the sister missionaries and they could do things, and soften hearts, and reach people, in ways that the elders couldn't.