Lesson 39: “Behold, My Joy Is Full” – Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – 3 Nephi 17:1-3

Reading 2 - Joseph Smith History 1:11-12

Reading 3 – Doctrine and Covenants 138:1, 11

Reading 3 – Elder J. Golden Kimball said, "Think of God. How many of us think of God thirty minutes out of twenty-four hours? There is not one out of five hundred that actually thinks of God and his Son Jesus Christ thirty minutes a day. I do; but the first thing I know, my mind wanders off on something else." (CR, Apr 1926)

Reading 4 – 3 Nephi 17:11-21

Reading 5 – 3 Nephi 18:1-11

Reading 6 – 3 Nephi 18:24-25

Reading 7 – 3 Nephi 19:10-14

Reading 8 – Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has written: “As Christ had not yet appeared to them for this second day (and because the Father and Son could not permanently be with them—or us—in a telestial world), the next best companionship came from that member of the Godhead who can be with mortals permanently—the Holy Ghost. In their ministry these newly called apostles could not always have the daily, physical presence of the Savior with them. Nevertheless, because they were to lead the Church of Jesus Christ in righteousness and be witnesses of his name throughout the Nephite world, they would surely need the prompting, the protection, the revelation, and the comfort of that One who is the spiritual extension and telestial representative of the Father and the Son.

“In our own time the Prophet Joseph Smith was asked wherein The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints differed from other religions of the day. He replied that the distinction lay in ‘the gift of the Holy Ghost’ and that all other considerations ‘were contained in that gift.’  In light of these experiences—ancient or modern, Old World or New—perhaps all disciples of Christ, all members of his true Church, should pray for the influence and guidance of the Holy Ghost as that heavenly gift ‘which they most desire.’” (Christ And The New Covenant, p. 278)

Reading 9 – Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote, "How vital it is that each of us come to have a personal witness that we are led by living prophets. President Lee observed that someone once said, 'That person is not truly converted until he sees the power of God resting upon the leaders of this church, and until it goes down into his heart like fire.' President Lee said this observation was 'absolutely true,' adding that 'until the members of this church have that conviction that they are being led in the right way, and they have a conviction that these men of God are men who are inspired and have been properly appointed by the hand of God, they are not truly converted.' (Neal A. Maxwell, Things As They Really Are, p.70 p.71)