As we continue our study through 3 Nephi, we immerse ourselves in the light of Jesus Christ. We get to learn about our Savior in new and glorified ways. Two professors at Brigham Young University, John W. Welch and Camille Fronk Olsen, sit down and discuss some of their thoughts on this most sacred part of the Book of Mormon.

In this first video, John W. Welch explores some of the emotional impact the coming of Jesus Christ would have had on the Nephites, and on us today. 3 Nephi contains one of the most dramatic dichotomies of light in all of literature. The Nephites were first plunged into total darkness and despair for three days before being bathed in the glorious light of Jesus Christ.

As the Nephites learned in the presence of the Savior of the world, they must have also felt Christ’s love for all mankind as He smiled upon them.

In a second video, John W. Welch and Camille Fronk Olson discuss the episode of Jesus Christ blessing the little children. In many ways, seeing the children in 3 Nephi is like seeing an extension of ourselves. When contemplating the vastness and majesty of the Savior, we are all little children in His eyes, and we should strive to emulate those qualities of little children that draw us closer to Him: innocence, purity, sweetness, teachability.

If readers pay close attention, they may notice that Jesus Christ has the children gather around Him, and then He has the parents encircle the children. Jesus blesses the parents, Jesus blesses the children, and in the presence of God, angels, and witnesses pronounces “Behold, you little ones.” John W. Welch suggests that perhaps Jesus Christ connected these children to their parents in a new and binding way.