3 Nephi 2

So there is no Helaman 17 or 18...hehe. So here is 3 Nephi 2:
Summary:
Wickedness and abominations increase among the people—The Nephites and Lamanites unite to defend themselves against the Gadianton robbers—Converted Lamanites become white and are called Nephites. Between A.D. 5 and 15
1 And it came to pass that thus passed away the *ninety and fifth year also, and 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—
2 Imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing.
These 2 verses stood out to me the most in this chapter. The signs and wonders that these people had witnessed were prophecied for years. Then they had the privilege of witnessing them and receieve the ultimate confimation of their testimonies to this point in time. Despite that, they lost faith in the coming of Christ. They returned to their wicked ways. I think we are all vulnerable to this in our lives. I know that I have been blessed with some incredible experiences and manifestations from the Spirit. I am not perfect in my faith, but those experiences serve as reminders to me that deep down, I do know this church is true. I do know that the Lord will answer prayers and fasting. I do know that the Lord loves me. I know these things becasue He has blessed me with so much. Sometimes my faith and testimony are not what they should be, but those past experiences are so important in helping get me back on the right course. In conjunction with those experiences are the daily manifestations and answers I receive when I need some sort of answer or help. Heavenly Father has never not answered a prayer. He has blessed me with a gift of being sensitive to the Spirit, and I have learned over the years to give heed to those feelings He blesses me with. It makes me sad that so many people lost their way after such an amazing manifestation from Heaven. And they knew because of those manifestations that Christ would appear to them soon. Nine years does not seem so long when these signs had been prophesied about for hundreds of years. But I know we are all vulnerable to this. I hope we can learn from this and not fall victim to the same 'wickedness' and 'blindness' they did. Heavenly Father blesses us iwth the answers that He does so we can learn and increase our faith and testimony.


~CHELSEA~