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Susan enjoyed meeting new people so when a
friend from her ward asked her if she would be interested ongoing on a blind
date with a guy named Brian, she agreed to meet him, along with some other
friends, at a restaurant for dinner.
As the group conversation turned to books
and literature, they discussed the latest mystery novel, they all agreed that
it was a suspenseful story that was well written.
Brian was a newcomer to the group and Susan
really wanted to learn as much about him as possible, so when he mentioned a
new title, Susan really listened up. "
Anyone ever heard of the book titled The
Trails of Mr. X?"
Everyone in the group said they had read the
book, including Susan, and every in the group said they had really enjoyed it,
except Susan. She said that she didn't think it was app very good story and not
written well. Brian looked disappointed and was really glad when the subject of
conversation changed.
Brian and Susan had fun getting to know each
other that night, so much so that they started spending time together without
the rest of their friends around.
They spent their time together having
picnics at the park, mini-golfing, going to the movies and occasionally dinner
at a restaurant.
It wasn’t long after that first group date
that Susan asked Brian about his work and hobbies and Brian revealed that he
had written and published a book.
A book titled “The Trails of Mr. X”.
The color ran out of her face as Susan
remembered the first time that book was discussed as a group and she felt very
bad about saying she didn’t think it was good.
Susan decided right then and there to
re-read the book.
More time went by and the couple continued
dating.
One night when Susan and Brian were at
dinner, Susan announced that she had finished re-reading “The Trails of Mr. X”.
Brain asked what she thought, and Susan said
that it almost seemed like a different book from the first time she read it,
she really liked the story and the creative way that it was written.
She appreciated that it was thought
provoking and prompted her to think about things in her own life.
What changed Susan’s opinion about the book?
What might have happened between the first
time she read Brian’s book and the second time?
Susan now loved the author.
We’ve just heard my lovely wife talk about
the prophet Joseph Smith. Now I’m going to talk about his legacy, The Book of
Mormon.
As we know Joseph didn't write the Book of
Mormon but translated it through the power and gift of God, bringing it to us
so we can benefit from its teachings in these the latter days.
I just
spent two weeks sleeping on my at my sister’s couch at her house in Maryland. I
have a brother-in-law there that’s extremely smart. Not only is he one of the
world’s foremost experts in DNA but he’s also a real scholar when it comes to
the scriptures. He’s spoken at BYU education week sessions and even did some
research that supported a small change in the introduction to the new edition
of the Book of Mormon. When I asked him what he would identify as being the
most important things about The Book of Mormon, he first directed me to a
general conference talk by Elder Tadd Callister which made three really
important points.
First is that the Book of Mormon is a second
witness of Christ. In his talk, Elder Callister asks,
“Have
you ever wondered why there are so many Christian churches in the world today when they obtain their doctrines from
essentially the same Bible?
It is
because they interpret the Bible differently. If they interpreted it the same,
they would be the same church. This is not a condition the Lord desires, for
the Apostle Paul declared that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).
To help bring this oneness about, the Lord established a divine law of
witnesses. Paul taught, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every
word be established” (2 Corinthians
13:1).
There’s a visual picture that illustrates
the importance of having two or more witnesses, I’ll try to describe it.
Imagine a single dot on a piece of paper,
how many straight lines can you draw through it? Quite a few, all in different
directions, creating a picture of something like, a starburst.
Those many different lines could be likened
to interpretations of bible teachings or different churches. But now imagine
two dots on the paper, how many lines can you draw that go through both?
Only one.
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.
The Second point about the importance of the
Book of Mormon is that the it testifies of true doctrine. The doctrine taught
in The Book or Mormon was revealed through His prophets, translated by the Gift
and Power of God, and maintained a spiritual "chain of custody" down
through the ages even until now. At no time was the doctrine subject to
interpretation and edit by one or more men as the bible was.
Alma
32:27 says But 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 a 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.
Experiments yield results, sometimes
positive, sometimes not so positive but they always end up in some kind of
result or as Christ called them “fruits”
Christ
made the statement in Mathew “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt.
7:15–20.) In this specific example He was
discussing the actions of men, but the principle also applies to teachings or
doctrine. If there is a piece of doctrine in the Book of Mormon that you're not
sure of, or have questions about it, give
it a try, experiment on those words and see what blessings come.
The third point I want to highlight is that
The Book of Mormon proves very clearly that revelation has not ceased. There
are many good Christians in the world that firmly believe that revelation and
miracles ended shortly after the crucifixion of Christ.
Not only does the Book of Mormon show us
evidence that God worked through His prophets in those times, but it teaches us
about faith and personal revelation.
It is through that faith and personal
revelation that we can also clearly see how The Lord continues to speak through
His current prophet and apostles.
I believe we can all see examples of
revelation from the prophet and general authorities, down through local leaders
at all levels, to parents, spouses and in our own personal lives.
The Book of Mormon is not only a book of
doctrine but it’s historical. When I asked my dear wife why that was important,
she said some things that made me think of a quote.
I’m sure someone else said it but I remember
it coming from Lt Warf on an episode of Star Trek.
He said “We learn more about ourselves by
learning about our fathers”
We can learn from examples from the past and
there are some real characters in The Book of Mormon that we can definitely
learn from, some of their behaviors we want to exemplify in our out lives and
other behaviors we want to stay away from. But learning about them prompts us
to reflect on how we live and act, as well as the blessings that are in store.
Before
the more familiar part of he promise at the end of The Book of Mormon, Moroni
says, "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, 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.
I
know this is out of order but give you an idea of my prospective and really let
you know my testimony of the church and of the importance of Book of Mormon, I
need to tell you a little more about myself. After my mission to California many years ago, I started a career in
Broadcasting. I took a few classes, got an FCC license and over the next 20
years went from radio announcing to directing and doing other behind the scenes
stuff for TV, and then on to working at a state of the art satellite facility
broadcasting to millions of people all over. In my broadcasting positions, I
was always looking for better ways to do things. So when I got a chance about 10
years ago, I changed career paths and now focus on looking at organizations,
how they do things and how to make them better. In my case right now I work for
the Coast Guard and that focus is working with Coast Guard units and offices.
We have moved to this area looking forward to using some of my training skills
in a new position with the Coast Guard but for right now my job title is
Organizational Performance Consultant.
Because
I look at organizations and how they are run, I have a unique perspective on
the church. The organization of the church is like no other. The Book of Mormon
is one of the things that really stands out. The author or originator of The
Book of Mormon is really the Lord Jesus Christ. As we saw with Susan, Brian and
the story I told at the beginning of my talk, our appreciation of the Book of
Mormon is highly influenced by our relationship with Him. As our love for Him
grows, so will our love for the Book of Mormon.
