Third Nephi — Chapter 28
1 After Jesus said these things, he asked each of his disciples one by one: “What do you want me to do for you after I go to the Father?”
2 All but three of them said: “After we have lived to old age, we would like the work you have called us to do to end, so we can come to your kingdom quickly.”
3 And he said to them: “You will be blessed for wanting me to do this for you. After you are seventy-two years old, you will come into my kingdom and rest with me.”
4 After he said this to them, he said to the three: “What do you want me to do for you after I go to the Father?”
5 They were sorry in their hearts because they were afraid to ask him for what they wanted.
6 Then he said to them: “I know what you are thinking. You want the same thing my dear friend John, who served with me before the Jews killed me, wanted me to do for him.
7 “You will be even more blessed, because you will never die. You will live to see everything the Father does for people, until everything is done which must be done, as the Father has planned, until the time I come in glory with the powers of heaven.
8 “You will never feel the pain of death. When I come in my glory, you will be changed all at once from mortality to immortality, and then you will be blessed in my Father’s kingdom.
9 “You will not feel pain while you are alive, nor will you feel sad except about the sins of the world. I will do all this because of what you want me to do for you, because you want to bring souls to me for as long as the world stands.
10 “You will have great joy because of this, and you will sit down in my Father’s kingdom. Your joy will be full, just as the Father has made my joy full. You will be just like me. I am like the Father, and he and I are one.
11 “The Holy Ghost is a witness of the Father and me, and the Father gives the Holy Ghost to people because of me.”
12 When Jesus said these words, he touched all the disciples with his finger except for the three who were to stay alive, and then he left.
13 Then the heavens opened up, and the three were taken into heaven, where they saw and heard things which cannot be talked about.
14 They were told not to talk about the things they saw, and they did not have power to say anything about what they saw and heard.
15 They could not tell if they were in or out of their bodies when this happened, but it seemed that their bodies were changed from mortal to immortal, so they could see the things of God.
16 But they came back to teach and help on the earth. They did not teach about the things they had seen and heard in heaven, because they were commanded not to.
17 I do not know if they were mortal or immortal from the time they were changed.
18 But I know this because of the records: They went all over the land and taught all the people, bringing all who would believe them into the church. They baptized them, and whoever was baptized received the Holy Ghost.
19 Those who did not belong to the church threw them into prison. But the prisons were broken in two, because they could not hold them.
20 They were thrown down into the earth, but they used God’s power to save themselves. The wicked could not dig holes deep enough to hold them.
21 They were thrown into a furnace three times, but they were not hurt.
22 They were thrown into a den of wild animals two times, but all they did was play with the animals just like a child plays with a lamb, so they were not hurt.
23 They went to all the Nephites and preached Christ’s gospel to all the people in the land. The people believed and repented and joined Christ’s church, and that whole generation of people was blessed, just as Jesus said.
24 Now I, Mormon, will stop talking about these things for a while.
25 I was going to write the names of the three who would never die, but the Lord told me not to. I will not write them because they are hidden from the world.
26 But I have seen them, and they have taught and helped me.
27 They will be with the Gentiles, but the Gentiles will not know them.
28 They will be with the Jews, but the Jews will not know them.
29 But when the Lord knows the time is right, they will teach all the scattered tribes of Israel, and all nations and families and people. They will bring many souls to Jesus because of the power of God in them. This is what they wanted to do.
30 They are just like God’s angels. If they pray to the Father in Jesus’ name, they can show themselves to any person they think they should.
31 They will do many wonderful works before the great and coming day when all people will stand before Christ to be judged.
32 Yes, they will do a wonderful work among the Gentiles before that judgment day.
33 If you had all the scriptures which tell about all of Christ’s wonderful works, you would know that these things really will happen, as Christ said.
34 Woe to those who will not listen to Jesus, nor to those whom he has chosen and sent to them. Whoever will not believe what Jesus has said, or the words of those he has sent, will not welcome Jesus, so he will not welcome them at the last day.
35 It would have been better for them to have never been born. Do you think you can get rid of the justice of an angry God who suffered for people in order to save them?
36 When I spoke about those three whom the Lord had chosen, who were taken up into heaven, I said I did not know if they had been changed from mortality to immortality.
37 But after I wrote that, I asked the Lord, and he told me that their bodies had been changed, otherwise they would have had to die.
38 Their bodies were changed so they would not die, nor would they feel pain, nor would they be sad except about the sins of the world.
39 This change was not as big as the change which will happen at the last day, but they were changed so Satan could not have any power over them to tempt them. They were made holy so the earth could have no power over them to hold them.
40 This is how they will be until Christ’s judgment day. Then they will be changed more, so they can go into the Father’s kingdom and never leave it. They will live with God in heaven forever.
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