2 Nephi 10

(Below is a list of questions and quotes that help me think about each verse as I read it. The numbers represent the verses in the chapter.)

In response to the Saviors sacrifice for us we should seek a close relationship with the Lord in which we are obedient and in harmony with His will.

1-2. Can unbelieving children be restored? According to Jacob, why would many perish? Why would many be restored? What can you do to help those that might be struggling with living gospel principles?

"The Prophet Joseph Smith declared - and he never taught a more comforting doctrine - that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing hem back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving fathers heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold onto them with your faith. Hope on trust on, till you see the salvation of God." -Orson F Whitney, quoted by Boyd K Packer, GC, April 1992

3-6. Why did the Jews reject their own God?

5. What are priestcraft? (see 2 Nephi 26:29) Why is pride always present with wickedness? How much pride do you hold in your heart? How can you purge pride from your thoughts, feelings and attitudes?

6. What consequences will the Jews suffer for their iniquity? How important is it to you to follow The Lord's prophets who love and seek only your eternal happiness?

10-14. What sort of land has the Lord designated America to be? How can you help to maintain the Lord's purpose for this land of liberty and freedom in which you live?

"Here is a divine pledge of the perpetuity of our glorious republic, conditioned upon our obedience unto God, conditioned upon our effort, our determination, and our labors to cleanse the land of the accursed thing, which is sin; and you know the form in which sin lurks and is often disguised." – Charles A Callis, GC, April 1944

11-12. How important is liberty and freedom to you? What is the danger of being ruled by a king? What does it mean to you when you hear the board promise that he will fortify this land against all other nations?

"Take note of that promise. That is why we cannot accept communism." – Thorpe B Isaacson, GC, October 1964

"This land would be consecrated unto those who the Lord would guide here. It would be a land of liberty.… Jacob said there should be no kings upon this land, that the God of heaven would be their king that this land would be fortified against all other nations, and that he who would fight against Zion should perish... I feel firmly that even during the hour of great prosperity, a nation may sow the seeds of its own destruction. This may happen even during a period of great income, relatively full employment, and high business activity. History reveals that rarely is a great civilization conquered from without until it has weakened or destroyed itself within." - Ezra Taft Benson, GC, April 1952

13. What happens to he who fights against Zion? How close do you feel you are becoming as Zion person, one who is pure in heart? Do you ever struggle against Zion in your own heart?

"These promises, glorious though they be, desirable as they are, can come only... If they will but serve the God of this land who is Jesus Christ. There is only one way. That infallible cure is simply righteousness, obedience, Godliness, honor, and integrity. There is no other cure." - Spencer W Kimball, Gc, October 1961

14. Who should be your king? Is The Lord a light to you in your life?

"Spiritual light overcomes the darkness of ignorance and disbelief. When transgression severely clouds a life, the focused spiritual truths of repentance cut the blackness as a laser penetrates the darkest ink." -Richard G Scott, GC, October 1993

16. How loyal are you to The Lord?

"Pray to your Heavenly Father in the name of The Lord Jesus Christ, and always, under all circumstances, by the very nature of your lives show your loyalty and your love." - Gordon B Hinckley, GC, April 2003

"If we do not sustain and uphold and support the kingdom of God in all things, we are thereby aiding a cause other than the Lord's. Only the valiant are saved. Members of the church who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus, not valiant in the cause of Christ,not valiant in defence of his prophets and in preaching his word are not heirs of the celestial kingdom." - Bruce R McConkie, GC, October 1984

19. How does it make you feel to know that you live in a land consecrated by the Lord?

"No nation has been more greatly blessed then has the United States. We live in a land which has been called choice above all other lands by divine pronouncement. The Lord has watched over it with a jealous care and has commanded it's people to serve Him last his wrath candle against them and His blessings be withdrawn. Our government came into existence through divine guidance. The inspiration of the Lord rested upon the patriots who established it, and inspire them through the dark days of their struggle for independence and through the critical. Which followed that struggle when they framed our glorious Constitution which guarantees to all the self-evident truth proclaimed in the declaration of independence, that all men are created equal... It is the right of every soul to have equal and unrestricted justice before the law, equal rights to worship according to the dictates of conscience and to labor according to the individual inclinations, independently of coercion or compulsion." – Joseph Fielding Smith, GC, April 1943

20. How should you respond to the merciful gift of the atonement? Consider what you have studied about the Savior, why do you want to always remember him?

20-25. What did Jacob teach that we should do in response to the Saviors sacrifice for us? Why do you feel that laying a side of repenting of something you are doing wrong would show your gratitude and love for the Savior? What have you learned about Savior hope to feel hope whether then hang your head down and discouragement? How important is it for one to cultivate the ability to feel hope? What is the source of discouragement? How can maintaining faith in Christ through adversity and challenge help you to feel hope?

23. How highly do you value your agency? What are you free to choose?

"The Lord has given you the gift of agency and instructed you sufficiently to no good from evil. You are free to choose and are permitted to act, but you are not free to choose the consequences. With absolute certainty, choices of good and right me to happiness and peace, well choices of sin and evil eventually lead to unhappiness, sorrow, and misery." – Joseph B Wirthlin, GC, October 1989

"It will take unshakable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to choose the way to eternal life. It is by using that fate we can know the will of God. It is by acting on that faith we build the strength to do the will of God. And it is by exercising that faith in Jesus Christ that we can resist temptation and gain forgiveness through the Atonement." – Henry B Eyring, GC, October 2005

24. What does the word reconcile mean? How important is the will of God to you? How strongly does it influence your attitudes and actions? What can you do to reconcile yourself to the will of God? How important is it to receive the grace of God?

Reconcile yourselves to the will of God: "It means that we should reestablish a close relationship with The Lord in which we are obedient and in harmony with His will." - Book of Mormon Study Guide for Home-Study Seminary Students, p. 60

"Unless one has done all in his own power, he cannot expect the grace of God to be manifest. What a glorious principle to understand: the Lord's assistance to us – whether we have strong faith or weak faith; whether a man, a woman, or a child – is not based just on what we know, how strongly are, or who we are, but more upon our giving all that we can give and doing all that we can do in our present circumstance. Once one has given all he can, then the Lord, through his grace may assist him." – Gene R Cook, GC, April 1993