Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"Regular reading of and talking about the Book of Mormon invite the power to resist temptation and to produce feelings of love within our families. And discussions about the doctrines and principles in the Book of Mormon provide opportunities for parents to observe their children, to listen to them, to learn from them, and to teach them.

Youth of all ages, even infants, can and do respond to the distinctive spirit of the Book of Mormon. Children may not understand all of the words and stories, but they certainly can feel the “familiar spirit” described by Isaiah (Isaiah 29:4; see also 2 Nephi 26:16)."  Elder David A. Bednar, "Watching with All Perseverance,"  April 2010

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"The convincing and converting powers of the Book of Mormon come from both a central focus upon the Lord Jesus Christ and the inspired plainness and clarity of its teachings.  ...The unique combination of these two factors—a focus on the Savior and the plainness of the teachings—powerfully invites the confirming witness of the third member of the Godhead, even the Holy Ghost. Consequently, the Book of Mormon speaks to the spirit and to the heart of the reader like no other volume of scripture." Elder David A. Bednar, Watching with All Perseverance,"  April 2010

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"Now, I did not sail with the brother of Jared in crossing an ocean, settling in a new world. I did not hear King Benjamin speak his angelically delivered sermon. I did not proselyte with Alma and Amulek nor witness the fiery death of innocent believers. I was not among the Nephite crowd who touched the wounds of the resurrected Lord, nor did I weep with Mormon and Moroni over the destruction of an entire civilization. But my testimony of this record and the peace it brings to the human heart is as binding and unequivocal as was theirs. Like them, '[I] give [my name] unto the world, to witness unto the world that which [I] have seen.' And like them, '[I] lie not, God bearing witness of it.'" Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Safety for the Soul," October 2009

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died—from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, 'No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.'" Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Safety for the Soul," October 2009

Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice

"Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times—including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to 'come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.'”  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Safety for the Soul,"  October 2009

Real Discovery

My mom (Lucinda Truman), who fostered my own testimony of The Book of Mormon, is posting today.

Balance

I stand on the edge

Teetering, tense

My concentration inward,

No outward reach.

While all along, running in parallel with the narrow rim

Is the iron rod for me to cling to if I will?

When I wrote those words nearly twenty five years ago I knew The Book of Mormon was true. I had read it in seminary, read from its pages for years after, and understood in some uncommitted corner of my mind that it was my solace and my salvation. But it wasn’t until my oldest sons were deacons that my real discovery of The Book of Mormon began.

Our family had just moved from the beautiful home we had built in Bountiful, Utah, a home we had planned to live in forever, to Overland Park, Kansas. Phil’s new job required the move. He was called into the Bishopric, and was happy; the children seemed to adjust well. I was not happy. I tried to be, I went through the motions, but I was not sincere.

One Sunday afternoon a young man strode down the hall after church, his hand outstretched, and introduced himself. He was Scott Jackson, newly graduated from BYU and in six weeks he was to marry the most beautiful girl in the world and bring her to Kansas to begin their new life. He was brimming with good cheer and excitement, and when he was called as Deacon Quorum advisor I mentally rolled my eyes and thought to myself “He’s the right age for the job! He’ll fit right in with the boys!”

Some weeks later I heard my son Mark on the telephone, “Have you read yet? Because, if you do we’ll get pizza!” As the calls continued with the promise of pizza I was curious. When I asked Mark about the calls he explained that if all the deacons read The Book of Mormon for a month, Scott was going to give them pizza. My motherly guilt surfaced. I knew we should be reading the scriptures as a family everyday. We sporadically tried. The present effort was a scripture a day over breakfast from a scripture calendar. But I knew we needed to do better.

Soon Scott brought his lovely bride Karen to our ward; she was called to work with me in the Young Women and was as talented and beautiful as he proclaimed her to be. This young couple was a wonderful example. And my boys were reading The Book of Mormon everyday, and enjoying pizza.

Quickly I understood that my children were going to have a deeper knowledge and understanding of the scriptures that I did. And I began to read. I did not yet read everyday, but I read, and over the course of the few years Scott and Karen were in our ward our family’s experiment with the word began in earnest.

Karen and Scott moved to California for employment and our family moved back west to Las Vegas soon after.

Phil was again called into the Bishopric and I was again working with the Young Women. I had recently read all the standard works and was encouraging the Young Women in our ward to read The Book of Mormon. Scott was traveling and dropped in to visit us. We were all delighted to see him and hear about his family. He had been such an influence in our family and I asked him how he persuaded the Young Men to read in The Book of Mormon everyday, was it the pizza? His answer was obvious and simple, “You have to do it too, that’s all.”

And so I did, for the last twenty years I have read from The Book of Mormon everyday. I believe all of our children and grandchildren do the same. The promise President Ezra Taft Benson made is true: “It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called “the words of life” (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.”

My life is abundantly blessed because of The Book of Mormon, through trials and afflictions, through joys and celebrations the power of the word had guided me along the rim of life and given me power to try to reach out and share the blessing of faith in Jesus Christ manifest in its pages.

I declare with Ammon: “. . . but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.”

A Journey

As the 9-10 year old members of my Primary class journeyed (semi-reverently) around the halls of our church one Sunday, searching for clues that would help them piece together the coming-forth-of-the-Book-of-Mormon story, I couldn't help reflecting on my own, personal, Book of Mormon "journey."

This is a re-post of thoughts I have already shared on our personal blog, but I wanted them to be filed here as well.

I grew up in a family of faithful Latter-day Saints. Books of Mormon dotted our shelves.

I remember laying on my front porch one summer afternoon when I was about eight, opening the book to page one and determining to read until I reached the familiar words of Nephi's faithful declaration: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded." (page six). It felt like I laid there for hours!!

I remember looking at pages of our illustrated Book of Mormon during lazy summer afternoons in Lake Powell.

I remember how excited I was as an older child to realize, on my own, without the help of a chapter heading (we had a lot of old Books of Mormon in my house), that many of the prophesies in 1 Nephi 13 detail events in early American history. "HOW COOL!," I thought. And how SMART I felt!

I remember the pink, rainbow handled scripture case that carried my first personal copies of the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

I remember the Big Hunk candy bar I received from our Primary presidency when I finished the book.

I remember that the pages and promises of the Book of Mormon were familiar to me as a child, it's characters and concepts, friendly.

And then, when I was thirteen, I saw five minutes of a movie that displayed Joseph Smith and Brigham Young in a totally unfamiliar (and I now realize, completely unhistorical) light. Just five minutes, and my heart and mind were reeling with feelings of doubt and discomfort, feelings that were completely foreign and completely terrifying to my young self.

What if that movie was right? What if my parents were wrong? What if the church....What if the Book of Mormon...What if the Prophet...

What if...
What if...
What if...

I did what any reasonable teenager would do: I silently secluded myself in my bedroom.

For a long time.

I laid down, but the softness of my lacy, light-blue bedspread didn't halt the train of turmoil that was crashing around inside of me. I couldn't keep the tears of doubt and disappointment from squeezing out of my closed eyes. I felt so much unsureness. For the first time in my life.

And so I finally did what I had, all my life, been taught to do in case of problems or questions:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that givith to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5

"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Luke 11:9

I prayed.

I remember that my prayer was terribly un-eloquent and choppy. I didn't know what to say. This was no blessing on the food, folks. I mumbled phrases like, "Heavenly Father, I feel awful." and "I don't know what's really true." and "I don't want to feel this way." and "I just want to believe in what's right."

I finished my prayer. And nothing happened. I still had tear-stained cheeks. I still had a furrowed brow. I still had questions and doubts and uncomfortable uncertainties surging inside of me.

A few hours later I put my distraught self to bed. As I reached for the lamp on the night stand next to me, I saw a bookmark I had been given at a church fireside some weeks previous. I picked it up, turned it over, and read words that still blaze in my mind's eye, words that were like an uttered answer to my cry for help, words that still induce the sting of tears, words from the Book of Mormon:

"Behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." Alma 32:27

And so began the great experiment of my life. I started immediately. Instead of carrying a reading book to school in my backpack, I took a copy of the Book of Mormon. I read the whole thing through, seriously and thoughtfully. At the end of the experiment came a subtle, un-glorious but undeniable conviction of the book's divinity. Evidence. Fruit. Tangible, although difficult to explain. "O then, is not this real?"

The official experiment ended, but the journey had only just begun.

I continued, and still continue, to find so much of my life in the pages of the Book of Mormon:

An adoration for and increased closeness to the Savior,
A cherished, clarified understanding of the doctrine of Christ,
A testimony of and greater appreciation for Joseph Smith's prophetic mission,
A sweet love for and deepened understanding of the Holy Bible.
And a treasured, though still fledgling relationship with personal revelation.

The light of The Book of Mormon has shown through every era of my life.

During my enthusiastic high school days in Brother Morgan's Seminary class, the Book of Mormon was excitement. I looked forward to every class and my testimony grew every time my teacher asked with sincerity "what could be better than studying the gospel of Jesus Christ?!"

During my days of college life and constant change, the Book of Mormon was familiarity.

During my days of newly-wedded bliss, it was a bond. It was discussion and togetherness.

A few years ago, at the side of my husband's hospital bed, when I had sucked my own optimism dry and fear was a constant, threatening companion, it was everything. A conduit of comfort, a life preserver that I clung to.

And now, daily, as a mother of small children, the Book of Mormon is motivation. A clarian call to teach my little ones about the life and mission of the Messiah.

It is, truly, Another Testiment of Jesus Christ. It is a purveyer of the Savior's doctrine and peace.

If you've never read it, please do!

Fruit

Wes and I had an interesting discussion after last week's post. We were talking about the reasons why it is often difficult to share our Latter-day Saint belief in apostasy and restoration with people of other faiths -why it's hard to say without equivocation or excuse:

"Following the death of Christ's authorized apostles, the doctrines of salvation became cloudy and convoluted. Over time, controversy and confusion grew, and although many pure hearted people maintained faith in Christ, the authority to act in His name was lost from the earth."

I mean, let's be honest with ourselves: to the general Christian world, that must be a hard statement to swallow! I really had to hesitate for half a second when I thought about filling our little corner of the world wide web with such a seemingly presumptuous declaration. Because, while we may not be the smartest cookies in the jar (like when I spelled "explanatory" wrong in the title of our very first post?! Right. Thanks, Jed! =), we certainly have no desire to offend (zero desire), or to be presumptuous, or unthinking.

Hence, Wes and I have been deliberating a little about why we believe what we believe. About why we feel so confidant making such a controversial statement.

The reason has to do with fruit.

When the Savior was on the earth, he prophesied that many in our day would be deceived by false prophets - "wolves" in "sheep's clothing". And He also gave the key whereby we can distinguish true prophets from their well disguised counterparts. He said:

Ye shall know them by their fruits...
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit...
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:15-20

The fruit of the restoration of Christ's church is the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is tangible evidence that can be examined. It is real fruit that can be held, studied, tasted, considered.

The Book of Mormon contains this promise (this magnificent, beautiful promise):

Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall receive these things (the Book of Mormon), if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. Moroni 10:3-5

Wes and I have both read and asked.
He has included some of his related thoughts in the post below, I'll share a few of my feelings next week (and we will periodically invite others to share their Book of Mormon experiences).
But the point is: we know the fruit (and therefore the tree) is good.

And we hope you'll examine it for yourself.

Another Testament

I imagine that I grew up with the Book of Mormon the way many Christians grow up with the Holy Bible: the book has been a constant and cherished part of my life.

I remember Dad praising my six-year-old reading ability when I took my turn to read from the Book of Mormon during family home evening. Later, I remember Mom coming into my room every night to read the Book of Mormon with me, when, as the youngest in our family, I was the only one stuck with an eight o’clock bedtime. I have to admit, I tried hard to prolong those reading sessions - not for the love of scripture, or even for the love of my mom, but because I wanted to stay awake! It’s interesting, though, how much my love for Mom and for the scriptures has grown because of those memories.

And then, who wasn’t going to continue daily reading when all their siblings were doing it? I really had an ideal upbringing when it comes to developing a love for the Book of Mormon. In fact, many people would assume that my testimony is a result of my upbringing.

However, it’s not tradition or familiarity alone that motivate me to declare the truth of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is more than a piece (even a large piece) of my family history. It has been a source of comfort, direction, assurance and strength to me personally. Truly, it has become the foundation of my understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is, to me, sure evidence of Christ’s mortal ministry and contains the promise of his second coming.

When Lori and I were just newly engaged, we used to go outside our apartments early in the morning to run and read scripture together (oh, how easy it was to do such things before children!). It was a fun time, the early summertime air was the perfect temperature, very few people were around (which is pretty rare if you think about your on-campus days), and we could just talk about our hopes and anticipations for the future. One morning, while we were talking about dreams and all that we planned on for the future, Lori shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon - one that is representative of why I love the book:

For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people. Alma 7:7.

The seven plus years since that early morning have caused me to think about Alma’s words often. Indeed "many things [have] come": the loss of loved ones, the birth of new ones, sickness, fun, happiness, hardship. And I know many more things – both good and challenging things – will come in the future.

Amid it all, the Book of Mormon helps to keep me focused. It anchors me on that “one thing which is of more importance than they all,” the reality of the Savior's life, His atonement, and His future coming into the world.