The Power of the Book of Mormon

My daughter met a young man while she was at college who had stopped attending the LDS Church when he was a youth. He even joined a different church. When a friend of his returned from his mission, this young man set out to prove why the LDS Church was false. He wanted to make sure his points were valid so he decided to study the Book of Mormon in an effort to find the holes in the gospel. A funny thing happened. As this young man studied the Book of Mormon, instead of finding holes, he found his own testimony. Though he is older than the other young men, he is now serving his mission and hoping to share with others what he learned himself in an unconventional way.

My own grandfather, a baptized member of the Church, spent a great deal of time reading and studying anti-Mormon literature. Based on these different books and articles, he drew false conclusions about the Church and was quite bitter towards it. I begged him to read the Book of Mormon, but he refused. Why? I suspect it’s because he didn’t want to know the truth.

The reason we are asked to share the Book of Mormon with others is because of the great power contained within its covers. Joseph Smith said, "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

The Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel and testifies throughout its pages of the Savior and His mission. People can’t help but feel the truth and power of the Book of Mormon when they read it with a sincere heart.

The promise in Moroni 10: 3-5 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 . . . 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.”

The key to this scripture is that people must read the Book of Mormon with a sincere heart, with real intent, and believe that they will receive an answer. When missionaries find investigators who are truly searching for the truth, they will find it in the Book of Mormon.

As we’re involved in missionary work with our family, friends, and neighbors we must remember to invite them to read the Book of Mormon so they can feel for themselves the truthfulness and power contained in it.

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