3 Nephi 19

“They Were Filled with the Holy Ghost”

disciples praying around Christ

There was nothing the twelve Nephite disciples desired more than to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. This was the subject of their prayers to Heavenly Father after the Savior concluded the first day of His ministry among them. What do we need to do to have the Holy Ghost to be with us? How can we enjoy His companionship in our lives? The purpose of this lesson is to help you better understand how to receive the blessings of the Holy Ghost.

Helping learners be taught by the Holy Ghost. For learners to be taught by the Holy Ghost, there needs to be an appropriate learning environment. The seating arrangement in the classroom and your positive interactions with students can help contribute to an atmosphere that invites the presence of the Holy Ghost.

Student preparation: Consider inviting students to study “Disciples of Jesus Christ seek the gift of the Holy Ghost” in the study outline for 3 Nephi 17–19 in Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Book of Mormon 2024 and to come prepared to share what they learned and felt as they did so.

Possible Learning Activities

Righteous teenage desires

Rather than just asking the following question and having students answer, you could give each student a slip of paper to list their responses. You could then collect their responses and share a few with the class. Students could respond to this question in many ways.

• If you were to survey 100 teenagers from your area, what do you think would be among their most common righteous desires?

Ponder which of these desires you can relate to. As you study 3 Nephi 19, look for truths that can help you achieve your righteous desires.

After the Savior ministered to, taught, healed, and blessed the people, He “departed from them, and ascended into heaven” (3 Nephi 18:39) with the promise that He would return the following day. The people returned home, and “all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus,” and “an exceedingly great number … did labor exceedingly all that night, that they might be on the morrow in the place where Jesus should show himself unto the multitude” (3 Nephi 19:3). The next day, the twelve disciples whom Jesus had chosen gathered the people and taught them the “words which Jesus had spoken.” The disciples then knelt and “prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus” (3 Nephi 19:8).

Read 3 Nephi 19:9 to see what they most desired as they prayed.

Consider displaying the following questions. After students have a few minutes to record their answers in their study journals, you could organize students into small groups to discuss the answers they found.

• Why do you think they desired the Holy Ghost so much?

• What are some circumstances you may face in the future in which you would want to recognize and understand the promptings of the Holy Ghost?

Ponder if you truly desire the Holy Ghost in your life and how your life might be different if you desired His influence more regularly.

Seeking the Holy Ghost

Read 3 Nephi 19:10–23, and look for ways you could complete the following statement:

• We can be filled with the Holy Ghost as we …

Consider inviting students to write on the board ways they would complete the statement. Following are two possible ways to complete the statement.

• … sincerely desire and pray for His companionship.

• … participate in the ordinances of the gospel.

Activities A and B can help students understand what they can do to be filled with the Holy Ghost. These activities can be done as a class. Students could also complete one or both activities in small groups and report what they learn.

Ask students to share specific insights or scriptures they find. Invite students to share personal experiences about desiring and praying for the Holy Ghost or participating in ordinances.

In addition to activities A and B, you could also discuss how believing in Jesus Christ and the words of His servants helps fill us with the Holy Ghost.

Activity A: We can be filled with the Holy Ghost as we sincerely desire and pray for His companionship.

• How can our desires and prayers help us be filled with the Holy Ghost?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained how desire and prayer can help us have the Spirit with us.

Elder David A. Bednar

Do we … remember to pray earnestly and consistently for that which we should most desire, even the Holy Ghost? Or do we become distracted by the cares of the world and the routine of daily living and take for granted or even neglect this most valuable of all gifts? Receiving the Holy Ghost starts with our sincere and constant desire for His companionship in our lives. (David A. Bednar, “Receive the Holy Ghost,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 96)

You may want to watch “Having the Holy Ghost” (2:56), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

• When have your righteous desires and prayers helped you feel the influence of the Spirit?

Activity B: We can be filled with the Holy Ghost as we participate in the ordinances of the gospel.

Read 3 Nephi 18:7, 11; 27:20, looking for how ordinances can help us be filled with the Holy Ghost.

The Prophet Joseph Smith (1805–44) taught:

the Prophet Joseph Smith

Baptism is a holy ordinance preparatory to the reception of the Holy Ghost; it is the channel and key by which the Holy Ghost will be administered. The Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, cannot be received through the medium of any other principle than the principle of righteousness. (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 95–96.)

• What did you learn about the role of ordinances (such as baptism and the sacrament) in helping us be filled with the Holy Ghost?

• When have you been filled with the Holy Ghost as you have participated in the ordinances of the gospel?

Personal application

Consider sharing a personal experience about what you have done to seek the Holy Ghost.

Think about your own need for the Holy Ghost and why you desire His influence in your life. Identify something you feel inspired to do to keep the Holy Ghost with you. Strive to follow through on that impression.

Commentary and Background Information

How can the Holy Ghost be our constant companion?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Elder David A. Bednar

If we are striving to be and become good—not perfect right now, but gradually getting better—if we are honoring our covenants, seeking for the companionship of the Holy Ghost, worthily partaking of the sacrament and retaining a remission of our sins, and pressing forward, then indeed we can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. We are not “preparing to receive revelation”; we are “living in revelation.” (David A. Bednar, The Spirit of Revelation [2021], 7)

Doctrine and Covenants 121:45–46 also teaches how we can have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion.

3 Nephi 19:23. How can the Holy Ghost help us become one with the Father and the Son?

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Surely we will not be one with God and Christ until we make Their will and interest our greatest desire. Such submissiveness is not reached in a day, but through the Holy Spirit, the Lord will tutor us if we are willing until, in process of time, it may accurately be said that He is in us as the Father is in Him. At times I tremble to consider what may be required, but I know that it is only in this perfect union that a fulness of joy can be found. (D. Todd Christofferson, “That They May Be One in Us,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2002, 73)

Supplemental Learning Activities

3 Nephi 19:1–15. The Savior will be with us as we minister to and share His words with others

Students could be blessed by understanding and feeling that the Savior will be with us as we minister to others and share His words with them. The following activity can help accomplish this.

Invite students to share about a person they know who has been a Christlike example to them. Ask them to explain how this person has influenced them for the better. Invite them to study 3 Nephi 19:1–15, looking for what the disciples did to follow the Savior’s example and what the result was. Invite them to strive to minister to and share Christ’s words with others as He would.

3 Nephi 19:19–23, 27–30. The purifying influence of the Holy Ghost

If students would benefit from better understanding the purifying influence the Holy Ghost can have on them, consider doing the following:

Explain to the students that to purify something means to make pure or to free from undesirable elements (see Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, “purify”). Invite students to share things they might want to purify (such as dishes, houses, clothes, or bodies). What would they use to do it?

Invite students to search 3 Nephi 19:19–23, 27–30 to see what the Lord has provided to help us become purer. If needed, they could also refer to Mosiah 3:19; 4:1–3.

Invite them to discuss actions we can take to receive this blessing. Encourage them to act on any impressions they receive.

3 Nephi 19:23. Becoming one with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

The following can help students strengthen their relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Invite students to study 3 Nephi 19:23 and the statement by Elder Christofferson in the “Commentary and Background Information” section. Have students share what they learn. The Savior’s prayer for His disciples and others in John 17:11–23 may also help students understand this important doctrine.

After they study, invite students to discuss how understanding the oneness of the Godhead influences students’ feelings about the Holy Ghost. You could also discuss how our actions might be influenced by this understanding.