We are a visiting Church. Home teachers, visiting teachers, priesthood and Relief Society leaders, missionaries, leaders in high positions—all are about the Lord’s errand, continually visiting homes and circles of Saints throughout the world to strengthen the Church and enlarge the kingdom of God. Add to that the countless family gatherings (especially family home evenings) that occur repeatedly, and one gains a deeper sense of the dynamic scope of visiting that is central to a Zion society.
In all of this, the model and exemplar is Jesus Christ. His visit to the American continent as the resurrected Redeemer forever set the agenda for charitable and purposeful visiting. Consider the pattern He followed:
• The Savior bore testimony. “Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name” (3 Nephi 9:15).
• The Savior taught the fundamentals of the gospel. The Savior stressed that His mission is to teach the basic principles of the gospel to His people (faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end) so that the Father will lift them up and redeem them (see 3 Nephi 11:31–41; 27:13–21). “Therefore, whoso remembereth these sayings of mine and doeth them, him will I raise up at the last day” (3 Nephi 15:1).
• The Savior brought enduring gifts to the people. Peace, light, love, and life—all of these were given in rich measure.
• The Savior brought a life-changing influence. “Old things are done away, and all things have become new. Therefore, I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (3 Nephi 12:47–48).
• The Savior taught us who we are. “And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God” (3 Nephi 9:17); “that ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven” (3 Nephi 12:45). “And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel: and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed. The Father, having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant” (3 Nephi 20:25–26).
• The Savior taught us how to gain a fullness of truth. “Ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again” (3 Nephi 17:3).
• The Savior taught us how to participate in the ultimate fulfilling of the Father’s covenant with the house of Israel. “And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone … that through the fullness of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed … may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer. And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and then will I fulfil the covenant which the Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel” (3 Nephi 16:4–5).
• The Savior taught us how to endure to the end. By following appointed priesthood leaders: “Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants” (3 Nephi 12:1); by carrying out the ordinance of the sacrament (see 3 Nephi 18:1–14); by watching and praying: “ye must watch and pray always” (3 Nephi 18:15; see also 3 Nephi 18:18); “pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed” (3 Nephi 18:21); by gathering together in meetings for strength and instruction: “Ye shall meet together oft” (3 Nephi 18:22); by strengthening the missionary effort: “Hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do” (3 Nephi 18:24); by studying the scriptures (see 3 Nephi 23:1, 5; 23:8–14); and by paying tithing (see 3 Nephi 24:10).
After studying the record of the Savior’s visit in America so many times, it is impossible for me to look upon any visit—whether by individuals coming to my own home or by myself going to the homes of others—without envisioning the backdrop of standards laid out so compellingly in 3 Nephi. The divine checklist is ever present in my mind: Is testimony borne? Are the fundamentals of the gospel given central emphasis? Are gifts of an enduring and spiritual nature dispensed? Is there a pervading sense of helping one another to be better people, more like the Savior? Is there an emphasis on our great potential as sons and daughters of God? Is there an impetus given to pondering and praying? Is there a strengthening of the commitment to honoring our covenants? Is there practical reinforcement of the principles of enduring to the end?
No visit could be as perfect as the visit of the Savior to His Saints, but we can strive to follow His pattern and improve day by day. The record of His visit in America as reported in 3 Nephi is the heart and soul of the Book of Mormon and one of the most profound statements of spiritual truth available to mankind. The way in which the Savior conducted His visit established for all time a pattern of divine intervention in the affairs of men that we, too, can emulate in our missions as parents, teachers, and leaders in Zion. By striving to use the Savior’s model of visiting, we, too, can have a positive and uplifting influence on those whom we are called to serve. (Richard J. Allen)