Acts 10:1-17; 11:1-18 reads:

Acts 10

 1 There was a certain man in Cæsarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

 2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much ^aalms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

 3 He saw in a ^avision ^bevidently about the ninth hour of the day an^cangel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

 4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:

 6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

 7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;

 8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

 9 ¶On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the ^ahousetop to pray about the sixth hour:

 10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a ^atrance,

 11 And saw ^aheaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet ^bknit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:

 12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.

 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or ^aunclean.

 15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath ^acleansed, that call not thou ^bcommon.

 16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

 17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate,

Acts 11

 1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judæa heard that the ^aGentiles had also received the ^bword of God.

 2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the ^acircumcision ^bcontended with him,

 3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

 4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

 5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a ^atrance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

 6 Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

 7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.

 8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.

 9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath^acleansed, that call not thou ^bcommon.

 10 And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.

 11 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Cæsarea unto me.

 12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:

 13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;

 14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.

 16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

 17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like ^agift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the ^aGentiles granted^brepentance unto life.

Questions about the reading:

Who appeared to Cornelius, and what was his message?

An angel of the Lord telling him to go to Joppa and seek the one Simon with the surname Peter.

What was Peter’s reaction to the Lord’s command during his vision upon the housetop?

He did not want to eat because that which he was being told to eat had been considered unclean and was not to be eaten. So he would not eat.

Why did Peter react the way he did?

He had been taught that the beast that were being shown to him were unclean and that to eat them was considered unholy in the sight of the Lord.

Read Joseph Smith-History 1:30, 40, 46 and discuss why you think the Lord repeated the vision three times for Peter.

I believe that Peter was shown three times because he needed to understand the importance of the message that was being taught to him. If he was told it three times it would prevent him from misunderstanding the message.