Studying 4th Nephi Effectively- The Red Headed Hostess
4th Nephi is such an inspiring book. It shows what can happen to an entire society when they live the doctrines that Christ taught them. I mean, I WANT to live there! What a wonderful place to be. What a great place to raise your children and become your very best selves! They achieved Zion, they qualified to be called a City of Holiness. This book is worth a serious study. Especially since prophets throughout time have been looking forward to a Zion that would be built in the latter-days – therefore, we must understand what that means and what it will take to achieve that.
I started by writing “Zion” right in the middle of my journal page
And then I turned to 4 Nephi
4th Nephi is named after Nephi, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ – or more specifically, the one 3rd Nephi is named after.
What a great family legacy!
What a great family legacy!
I just started reading through this chapter, looking for anything that taught me about the Zion they achieved. I was looking for things about Zion, not things specific to them in their day. For example in verse 2 I found 4 things that I pulled out:
1- The people were all converted unto the Lord
2- There were no contentions
3- There were no disputations
4- Every man dealt justly one with another
I separated each item, so I could be certain to focus on them independently.
Then I wrote them in my journal:
I made sure to write the references with them as well.
Then after I finished studying 4 Nephi (verses 1-23, after that, the story changes – it is very, very sad), I looked up other scriptures by looking up “Zion” in the index. Check out how many scriptures are back ther about Zion! There are tons!!! I’m guessing by that alone, that this is a topic we should probably be seeking to understand considering how much it is covered in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.
After I had looked up a list of scriptures, I did this:
I color coded 4 topics I wanted to identify and then went through each thing I wrote and colored it the right color
Now I can look at it and see how I am measuring up by looking at the orange ones, and then I can look at the blue ones and realize why I really want to live there.
And I can finally understand the 10th Article of Faith.
I suggest looking up “Zion” on lds.org and reading the articles they have there. As you read them, you can pull things out and add more latter-day revelation to your journal page.
Then, AFTER, you have sufficiently studied Zion, consider the following questions:
How would our society change if we had what 4th Nephi had?
How would my everyday actvities be effected?
How would High School (Middle School, and elementary) be different?
How would the work place change?
What career would I choose in Zion? Why?
What talents would I bring to Zion? How important would it be to me to improve those talents?
How would we treat our callings in Zion?
How would my home change? (consider all the things in your journal and measure your current home to those standards)
How would I change? (again consider what you studied and what the people in Zion were like, if you were one of them, what would be different? And where are you doing well?)
What specific areas do I need to work on in order to become more of a “Zion Citizen”?
What things should I pray for now “In the Strength of the Lord” to improve in my life?
Some scriptures you should definitely look up:
3 Nephi 22 chapter heading
Moses 7:18-19
1 Nephi 13:37
Doctrine and Covenants :
105:5
45:66-67
45:70
97:21
49:24-25
57:2-3
68:25-26
136:18
136:31
97:18-19
97:22-26
113:7-8
Article of Faith #10
“Zion” in your Bible Dictionary
Hymn #’s 38-49
Good luck.
I just discovered your blog today and WOW!!!! I wish I would have discovered it as soon as you started it. You are awesome! I am a seminary teacher. This is my third year of teaching. I love it! I am always trying to discover ways to be better. I think you have lots of helpful ideas! I love your page on Zion… I think it would be great to make a big poster version of this and then as we come upon scriptures on ZIon or quotes add to it throughout our year of study…. it’s not too late right??? You have inspired me!!!! Love your stuff! Thanks for letting your light shine and helping others!!!
You put me to shame as far as Bible Study goes!!! The time, effort and detail you put into digging DEEP into God’s Precious Word is awe-inspiring!!! I am definitely going to step-up my studies, due, in part, to your example to Bible study devotion. Take care and God Bless you abundantly!
I’m sure I’ve told you this before, but here it is again. You are amazing! My biggest struggle is knowing what to read and where to look while I’m studying. Please, please tell me that you didn’t do all of this in one sitting…I just might cry if you did.
Your feasting on the word inspires me, Shannon. I ran across your site preparing for a Gospel Doctrine lesson on Zion. May we all choose the path of Zion.
I so appreciate all of the talented people who make these blogs and share their wonderful ideas. I teach 16-18 year olds in Sunday School, and these sites have helped tremendously. I want to teach the pure gospel. At least for me, when I was growing up, I saw the same pictures and heard the same stories from year-to-year, and after so many times of being exposed to them, I noticed I would tune out. All of these great blogs have such wonderful ways of teaching the truths of the gospel, but with new ideas. My class seems very attuned to the lessons, and I am sure all these ideas are part of the reason. The blogs, and following the direction of the Holy Spirit (including scriptures)- these are what I teach the kids. My thanks to all of you.