Chapter 8 opens with earthquakes, fires, great storms, three days of total darkness, and the destruction of many cities that heralded Christ’s crucifixion and the completion of the atonement. Those who survive bemoan their fate
The darkness is lifted as Jesus speaks with a voice that can be heard among all the people of the land and introduces Himself to the people as the Light of the world!
He promises all those who come to Him with a sacrificial offering of a broken heart and a contrite spirit will He baptize with fire and the Holy Ghost. Christ likens Himself to a hen gathering her chicks, and teaches us that if we repent, He will gather, protect, and heal us.
We reach the crowning moment of the entire Book of Mormon in chapter 11, as God theFather speaks from heaven to introduce His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, of whom the prophets had testified for centuries, and Christ shows Himself to the people of Nephi in the land Bountiful!
The Savior speaks to the multitudes and invites them to see and feel the scars on his hands, feet, and sides, one by one. The people fall down at His feet to worship Him.
Jesus calls Nephi and others to Him, and bestows upon them the authority to baptize in His name, and instructs them in the proper method of baptism.
Chapter 11 closes as the Savior commands those whom He gave authority to baptize to go forth and preach His gospel to the ends of the earth.
