Why did the Nephites pray to Jesus instead of the Father?

Thomas R. Valletta

“On that Pentecostal occasion when the Nephites received the gift of the Holy Ghost, they offered approved prayers directly to Jesus and not to the Father. But there was a special reason why this was done in this instance. … Jesus was present before them as the symbol of the Father [see 3 Nephi 19:22]. Seeing him, it was as though they saw the Father; praying to him, it was as though they prayed to the Father. It was a special and unique situation that as far as we know has taken place only once on earth during all the long ages of the Lord’s hand-dealings with his children” (McConkie, Promised Messiah, 560–61).

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