The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ (An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon)

It's funny you saw Book of Mormon.

He was saying he hasn't even read the Book of Mormon.

And to hear him talk about it, he was saying he hasn't even read the Book of Mormon.

It is very strange that he hasn't read the Book of Mormon.

All my homies had read it multiple times before going on their mission. And they read it like right before their mission to just like script up on it. Like learn.

And for him, it's almost like, are you going to like make your parents proud for whatever reason? Or are you going? That's it.

Have you guys ever seen the book of Mormon play?

No, but we need to because I've heard it's the funniest shit I've ever seen in my life.

But like when they talk about Joseph Smith and they're like, he did this, that and the other.

How have you ever seen the musical The Book of Mormon?

It's they they have all their research done just like this just like the site I the South Park Scientologist shit right.

Oh that scene in South Park where they did that whole like explanation of what.

Yeah they.

You know what he's talking about right now?

South Park like ran an episode thing where they were talking about Scientology and it was basically this entire rundown of the lore of Scientology because it was kind of kept under wraps for a while of like what Scientologists actually even fucking believed in.

And then it got leaked somehow I guess and honestly I think that South Park running this episode was the first time that like it was kind of publicly on a larger scale made aware of what they actually.

Large scale.

Yeah.

And it would be like this whole story and then there was like this caption like right below and very bold lettering and was like this is what Scientologists actually believe.

And it was just this insanity about like fucking alien ghosts like being trapped inside a volcano and then the ghosts like escaped and then they're in the bodies of like humans now on Earth.

They did a Mormon episode too.

I don't know if you've seen that.

Dum dum dum dum dum.

I think some of the viewers will definitely have seen it.

I think I have.

I've seen a lot of episodes of South Park.

They deep dive into the lore though and then they just absolutely fucking skewer it.

And Book of Mormons you know kind of the same thing.

Yeah.

The Book of Mormon is always relevant. The Book of Mormon is the story, if you think about it, of two peoples who can't live next to each other. That's the problem we have in a lot of parts of the world. The Book of Mormon begins and ends with the destruction of a people.

And it's going to tell us how to build and maintain faith. That's where we're going to kind of go today. This is probably the finest chapter of how to do that, and then we'll talk as we get into Amulek in particular, the single greatest theme of the Book of Mormon, what I call the immediacy of Jesus in one's life.

If you examine members of the church or believing people of other faiths, that's exactly what you find. Now, we have our problems. We can be self-righteous. We can be judgmental. We're trying to be as good as we can, but the soul is being enlarged.

The fruit isn't just precious. It's most precious. There's nothing more precious than it.

And it's not just sweet. We have an expression, how sweet it is. Okay, well, you want to know what the sweetest thing? It's the fruit of the tree of life. It's God's love. It's sweet above all that is sweet, and it is white above all that is white.

That returns our whole mindset back to the Book of Mormon.

I want to share with you a prophetic promise from President Benson that is so remarkable.

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 straight and narrow path.

When you begin to hunger and thirst after those promises, increased love and harmony in the home, greater respect between parent and child, increased spirituality and righteousness--these are not idle promises but exactly what the Prophet Joseph Smith meant when he said, The Book of Mormon will help us draw nearer to God.

My dear brothers and sisters, I promise that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better decisions every day.

I promise that as you ponder what you study, the windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own questions and direction for your own life.

I promise that as you daily immerse yourself in the Book of Mormon--now here comes another prophetic promise about, what, 30, 40 years later almost, but the same concept--he says, I promise that as you immerse yourself daily in the Book of Mormon, you can be immunized against the evils of the day.

I've always thought that was so interesting, that it would have both of those things in it.

I remember another thing President Benson said, got the whole church back into the Book of Mormon, as you said, when he said, the Book of Mormon brings people to Christ through two basic means, and one of them was it teaches the gospel, the doctrine of Christ in a plain way, faith, repentance, being born again, and it exposes the enemies of Christ.

It's not just a historical narrative of Korahor and his efforts among the Nephites, the Zoramites, and others.

If you're ever struggling, earmark this one. This is an amazing story of bravery and conversion and change. I want to meet them someday and shake their hand and say, thank you for stepping up and being such a good example of Christ. Wow.

This is one of the bravest things I have ever heard about any people ever. I am so moved by this testimony. They saw they were coming and they went out to meet them and they called upon the Lord. I cannot imagine. I can't imagine who are these people? What kind of change has to have happened that you're willing to do this?

If I had a nickname, I would want to be called one of the people of Ammon.

We see that in church history too. Who caused the most problems for Joseph Smith? Was it people who weren't a part of the church or people who at one time were part of the church?

They become so converted that they are heroes of these stories and they change entire generations so much so that none ever fell away.

And I think that is beautiful. This guy seems to have been born again in his heart before he's even baptized as a member. That verse inspires me. It's one of my top 10 in the whole Book of Mormon, Alma 2218.

Oh God, Aaron has told me that there is a God. And if there is a God, and if thou art God, will thou make thyself known unto me? And listen to this. I will give away all my sins to know thee.

I have students, hey, is there a good book I could read before my mission? And I'm like, Alma? Yeah, read Alma 17-22.

I've come to understand and believe that the single most important way in which we can help increase faith in the rising generation is to more fully place Jesus Christ at the center of our teachings and learning by helping our students come to know him to learn from him and to consciously strive to become like him every day.

And she concluded by saying verse 39 and he returned the flocks to the pasture of the king whose sheep they are.

The article was called Ammon helped me reach my neighbors.

I would do anything for Russ Bullock. He was so good to me.

The first edition of the Book of Mormon had consisted of large unnumbered chapters, which made citing a particular passage difficult.

The 1830 Book of Mormon has different chapter breaks.

And what most researchers think is that the chapter breaks in the 1830 Book of Mormon reflect the breaks that would have been on the gold plates.

I don't know about you all, but sometimes I do need to check myself and to just make sure that I'm on the path. And chapter 5 is always a good place to go to just read some of those verses.

I mean, chapter 7 has done more for me, especially in the last little while, than any other chapters in the Book of Mormon at this moment in my life to recognize the role of the Savior and what he's done for me. So I look forward to just exploring this today.

I remember that I came to a point where I was asking myself, am I becoming better as a person, as an individual? Am I giving what I need to my brothers and sisters in the ward? I felt almost that I wasn't where I needed to be, and I needed to have a greater change of heart.

I went and did the exact exercise. It took me about eight months to do that because of the time constraints that I had. I remember spending time in Alma chapter 5. I remember spending time in Alma chapter 7 as well, and other, obviously, scriptures.

When I consider what we're about to talk, the change of heart, to me, it delves into getting to know the Savior a lot more so that we can pray and try to emulate his wonderful attributes.

I'm so grateful for how it's blessed my life and brought peace and comfort and strength and insight to me from the early days when I was an Aaronic priesthood holder till days later that I'm maybe a little more advanced in life and a grandpa, and that continued to nourish and strengthen and inspire me from the Book of Mormon.

I've really come to know the truth in 2 Nephi that by feasting on these words, you can really come to be guided in your personal life. You can be healed, you can become strengthened, you can give hope and an infinite number of things.

every time we open up the Book of Mormon, we open up ourselves to the influence of Jesus Christ.

In fact, every time we open up the Book of Mormon, we open up ourselves to the influence of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon is one of the most miraculous events and elements of the Restoration, and then Hardy calls it a self-revelation of God that apparently could not be adequately conveyed in less than 500 pages.

And then we pull out one of the cheap little paperback copies of the Book of Mormon. And we said, Nelly, we want to give you a copy of the Book of Mormon.

I prayed for my own soul, my soul hunger and then as he hears the Lord says they sins are forgiven, how is it done because of the faith in Christ? Then he says I begin to feel a desire for the welfare of my brother and and he prays for them and then he says I prayed with many long struggling for my brother and the laminites. So goes from himself to his brothers to the laminites even the enemies at some times and then he prays for the records

I remember there was a backstory going on which one of the leaders shared, there was a rift with the youth in this particular order stake. I can't remember which. It was a problem. We had a really good youth conference and this young sister got up probably 15 or 16 years old and I will never forget this Hank. She got up in the testimony meeting and she said, you guys we've been talking about Zion in seminary and it sounds to me like we're supposed to be friends

The most wonderful spirit came into that meeting. She got Terry and people in the audience put their heads down and then one after another these kids started coming up and they started saying if I've offended anybody I'm really sorry and that became the whole thing. If I've offended anybody I'm sorry and there was this very Zion type one heart one mind feeling that just entered that room. It was exactly what happened to Ennis. Suddenly, there were no enemies just my brother and we were all brothers and sisters and somehow they realized it isn't us versus you. This is the adversary versus all of us and we have got to be friends and they did it.

It's my brother and the laymanites and preserve the records in the latter days so people can read this

I love it. We hope you'll join us on our full podcast. It's called Follow Him. You can get it wherever you get your podcast and these small little books of the Book of Mormon. We're with Dr. Garrett Durkmont and he is quite a guy. He is brilliant and he is funny so come join us on our full podcast and then come back here next week.

You have to remember that I am a history nerd, which you already know if you're listening to the podcast at this point you're thinking, yeah, this has been the most painful thing I've ever experienced, but one of these fascinating aspects of the demonstration that this record is an actual record that actually exists.

That's why this is such a precious part of our understanding of the plates, because Mormon explains his process.

This explanation that he is giving here is to describe what records you're reading and talk about a spoiler alert.

I've already abridged all of this. I'm now just adding even more to this.

It's a great tragedy, obviously. And yet we still have what we need in the Book of Mormon for it to be another testament of Jesus.

how you feel about the book of Mormon it is a witness of Christ that I hope will sink deeply into and penetrate our souls in this coming year

The Book of Mormon is like a 2,500 year story that He will hear our prayers. He will restore the line. Maybe the whole thing that we're developing in this process is learning how to hold on to the hope of unfulfilled promises and develop that godly capacity in ourselves.

Why would they include this if it wasn't to give hope and healing? At least hope, if the healing isn't there right now, there's hope. Why did they include these stories here?

The principal purpose is not to punish the transgressor. In fact, that isn't what the church does. It isn't punishing, but to aid his repentance and save his soul.

President Eyring said, "The Book of Mormon is to prove us true."

Barb noted, "The book of Mormon is not a history; it was compiled by inspired prophets for the purpose of helping us come into Christ."

Hank added, "The book of Mormon is to bring us to Christ, not to be a textbook of past events."

Elder Perry remarked, "We read the record primarily to be brought to Christ, not to learn history for its own sake."

John observed, "The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to help us come into Christ, not to serve as a chronicle of the past."

I don't want to remember what we said by the time you get there. But this is a fantastic, fantastic chapter where Christ descends and teaches the Nephites. ... This is one of the most powerful parts of the book of Mormon.

And then we pull out one of the cheap little paperback copies of the Book of Mormon.

I've loved the things I've read that sift through evidence for the Book of Mormon. I've been instructed, and sometimes it illuminates the text in really remarkable ways. But man, a serious close reading of the text and what it reveals about God, God's nature, the life of faith. I'll take that any day over all the evidence in the world.

I enjoy those discussions, but what my experience has been with the Macamormand has honestly been light years beyond an evidence-based discussion.

I think what the Lord describes, verse 26, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people. It's not a scientific work. It's a marvelous work.

It's discernible. It's light. Sometimes something happens that gets close to evidence because you can tell. Well, something is happening to me. I'm enlightened. It's a discernible thing.

Read the Pearl of Great Price. It'll blow you away. What's in there is that the words are out of this world. It's so good.

The Book of Mormon is pure, simple, and powerful to change lives. It has a depth to it that we have still not plumbed. There is more there that we can and will and must find in our quest for the Lord and to understand the gift that we've truly been given.

The Book of Mormon has had a purifying and life-changing impact for me and has encouraged me to come to Christ.

I love the story of Ennis, especially the order in which he prays for things.

He loses all interest in hunting. He says, I prayed for my own soul, my soul hunger and then as he hears the Lord says they sins are forgiven, how is it done because of the faith in Christ? Then he says I begin to feel a desire for the welfare of my brother and and he prays for them and then he says I prayed with many long struggling for my brother and the laminites.

So goes from himself to his brothers to the laminites even the enemies at some times and then he prays for the records and I just think that progression teaches us something.

She got up in the testimony meeting and she said, you guys we've been talking about Zion in seminary and it sounds to me like we're supposed to be friends and the most wonderful spirit came into that meeting.

She got Terry and people in the audience put their heads down and then one after another these kids started coming up and they started saying if I've offended anybody I'm really sorry and that became the whole thing. If I've offended anybody I'm sorry and there was this very Zion type one heart one mind feeling that just entered that room.

When you're reading the book of Mormon for the first time, yeah you go from oh let's learn more about this King Benjamin person and the very next words on the next page are, and now I Mormon began to deliver up the record which I've no idea who Mormon is.

Now we get a little bit of this from the book Mormon in the book of Mormon. I don't know a very clean way of saying the book of Mormon in the book of Mormon that sounds like we're opening a Pandora's box or looking at a lot of two way mirror.

He explains his process. That's why this is such a precious part of our understanding of the plates because Mormon explains his process.

Mormon is a great omniscient third person author there where he will interject himself and provide commentary.

I love the books of Mosiah and Alma, I'm like what did Mormon say? He could only assume that he's interjecting the same way that he is in Alma where he provides commentary.

Dr. Bowen shares his testimony of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon

the Book of Mormon it seems it never loses its connection

President Nelson's talk about the book of Mormon, what would your life be like without it? He talks about the book of Mormon affirms the wisdom of Eve and the episode called the fall.

The Book of Mormon is very emphatic frequently that the covenant with Abraham is not fulfilled when Jesus comes, that it's still the program.

The Book of Mormon hits back against supersessionism, not just here, but lots of other places.

The Book of Mormon is what teaches us to read Isaiah and Genesis and 2 Kings and all these other books with a new lens on where we suddenly see, wow, this is really important.

The Book of Mormon trains us to look at the Abrahamic covenant and go, this is central. This is significant.

It's like the Book of Mormon is going to be our instructor to how to really read the Bible and see it the way the angel sees it.

I'm excited because on the title page of the Book of Mormon that Moroni wrote to introduce the whole thing, Moroni explains that there's two purposes for the Book of Mormon.

Here's a book I've read many times, and yet every time I go through, I see something new, especially when I have someone who's also read it many times.

After our first few episodes in the Book of Mormon, Hank, I thought, I think I know this book, and now I'm like, oh, okay, I've got a lot to learn.

And that's how I describe it. I enjoy those discussions, but what my experience has been with the Macamormand has honestly been light years beyond an evidence-based discussion.

But man, a serious close reading of the text and what it reveals about God, God's nature, the life of faith. I'll take that any day over all the evidence in the world.

I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people. It's not a scientific work. It's a marvelous work.

And that's the power of the words over the power of the book, the plates.

And that's maybe worth reflecting on just a little bit. Obviously, Isaiah is still here, but notice that he's not front and center. This is the first time in Nephi's record where he's quoted substantially from Isaiah and not told you that's what he's doing.

I've come to love it more.

It is a book that is full of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God.

I want to testify that the Book of Mormon speaks of Jesus Christ.

I know that in my life I have come closer to Jesus Christ because of a serious study of the Book of Mormon.

There's a man named Vincenzo De Francesca, which is, I think, something I had at Olive Garden once.

He reads it all day. He gets to Moroni's Promise and kneels down, and he gets a witness that the book is true, and it changes his life.

There's an article in the Ensign, the January 88 Ensign called, I Will Not Burn the Book, if you want to read about it.

He's skimming it for something. And he sees the word Mormon. And you're like, that's from the book. That's in my book, my strange book that I found on the street.

He doesn't even know where it came from, but the book by itself, the words of the book, the message of the book has a spiritual power to it.

The Book of Mormon is not just a history of ancient civilizations. It seeks to convince all that Jesus is the Christ, and God himself directed how it was written, preserved, and made available to us.

They would talk about how it came forward, how it was the work of an angel, and then they would hand you the book as absolute proof that God is bringing back and restoring all things in one.

You want to know that heavens are open? Here's the Book of Mormon. You want to know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet? Here's the Book of Mormon.

The prophet's name is Joseph Smith, and the evidence of this is found in a book, the Book of Mormon.

The text of the Book of Mormon actually starts on the title page. This is written by Moroni and is intended to be the introduction to the Book of Mormon.

And it's using an American story to basically illustrate the fact that there isn't a nation on earth that doesn't have a Christ story that takes place in it.

If you look at the Book of Mormon as a sequel to the Bible, it's like the empire strikes back. It broadens the story, deepens the story, and then it sets up all these crazy possibilities about what's going to happen down the road.

We might not have the plates, but the next best thing is to have 13 people who, by the way, never ever denied their testimony in spite of what must have been massive pressure to do so.

I did see the angel as it is recorded in my testimony of the Book of Mormon. The book is true, and he underlines, is true.

We know of a surety that this work is true. An angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes. We beheld and saw the plates. We bear record that these things are true. We bear testimony of these things. Honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

This is one of the main topics that we find throughout the Book of Mormon.

In Mosiah chapter 27 verses 25 and 26, And the Lord said unto me, Marvel not that all mankind...

the Book of Mormon speaks about the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world, so yes it was, and by the word of their testimony.

through the Book of Mormon. Great witness of that everlasting gospel found in the Book of Mormon.

I have read a lot of books in my life. I have experienced a myriad of learning opportunities in different settings. But there's never been a set of words that have helped me feel more truly connected with the Savior Jesus Christ and with God the Father and to feel the comforting, directing, guiding influence of the Holy Ghost more than within the 531 pages of the Book of Mormon.

I almost wish that we could rename the book and reverse the title to call it Another Testament of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon. I have found Him on every page. I have found myself on every page.

The book is that deep and that broad that we'll never get to the bottom of it. There will never be a day when I say, okay, moving on. We've exhausted that book because I am amazed every single time I can flop it open to a random page and stick my finger down and I find new writings from time to time very similar to Liahona and it points the direction I should go in the wilderness today. It's relevant for us today.

My testimony and my invitation to all of us is don't just read the book. Immerse in a serious study of the book to find your connection with the Savior. He's on every page.

The Book of Mormon is full of hope.

The Book of Mormon is going to solve that problem by bringing back these plain and precious things, which is the covenant consciousness.

The Book of Mormon trains us to look at the Abrahamic covenant and go, this is central. This is significant.

The Book of Mormon is what teaches us to read Isaiah and Genesis and 2 Kings and all these other books with a new lens on where we suddenly see, wow, this is really important.

I guess I can't imagine any aspect of the relationship I have with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that's been meaningful in my life that hasn't been just shaped by years of reading in the Book of Mormon over and over again.

In the 1837 edition, the second edition, Joseph Smith went through and changed the wording slightly.

And I think the reason Joseph did that is because he was trying to avoid confusion for us as modern readers, because the way ancient Israelites talked about God uses different vocabulary than the way modern Christians talk about God.

And I suspect Joseph was concerned that we would misunderstand the roles of the God in here if we're using Nephi's ancient Israelite vocabulary.

So he exercises prophetic prerogative to adjust the text to make sure there's no misunderstanding on our part.

Going back to what we talked about earlier with the serious study of the Book of Mormon, one technique that I really like to do is to search for how often words or phrases are repeated.

I've come to love it more. I love the Book of Mormon even as a young boy.

In other words, the Book of Mormon does not get old. It is a book that is full of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God.

I want to testify that the Book of Mormon speaks of Jesus Christ. He is the central figure in the Book of Mormon.

There's a man named Vincenzo De Francesca, which is, I think, something I had at Olive Garden once.

He sees the name Isaiah, but he also sees names like Alma and Mosiah and Mormon, and he's like, who are these people? I have no idea.

I read the Declaration of the Witnesses.

He's quoting it in church to his congregation.

Angelo, where is that scripture found? And he's like, it's in the Old Testament somewhere.

when you're in the service of your fellow beings, you're only in the service of your God.

He says, I will not burn the book.

He sees the word Mormon. And you're like, that's from the book.

I've seen that name before.

And they send him a book of Mormon in Italian, because his was in English.

on April 1956, I entered the temple at Bern and received my endowment at last to be in the presence of my Heavenly Father. I felt that God's promise had been fully fulfilled. The day had come indeed, when the book would be no more unknown to me, and I would be able to enjoy the effects of my faith.

John, something that comes to my mind, I've heard you talk about this before, is in the Book of Mormon. There's this moment where Nephi is seeing the birth of the Savior and the angel asks this question of Nephi, knowest thou the condescension of God?

In my mind, I hear that angel saying something like this. Nephi, do you have any idea who that is? Do you have any idea where he is coming from and where he is going to? Knowest thou the condescension of God?

Yeah. Nephi gives a great answer. The more we study the Scriptures, the more we think, yeah, we talk about being laid in a manger.

It was a trough for animal food. The things that he allowed people to do to him on earth.

So the more we ponder that, the more we think, yeah, that was a really good question that angel asked. Knowest thou the condescension of God? And Nephi's answer, I know he loves us. I don't know the meaning of all things, but I know he loves his children, which is a really good thing to know.

This is one of the main topics that we find throughout the Book of Mormon. To me, his birth is a divine pattern for us to follow.

If you read First Nephi or this, it's through the Book of Mormon. Great witness of that everlasting gospel found in the Book of Mormon.

I met sister missionaries the next year as a 13-year-old. They gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon.

Not only is Nephi giving us a reading of the Book of Revelation and his beautiful vision of his father's dream, but there's a passage that says John's ordained to give this revelation.

Now consider what's the first story in the book of Mormon. Prophet named Lehi finds himself transported into the throne room of God. And almost an exact representation of Revelation chapter four, where John finds himself transported into the throne room of God.

First Nephi chapter eight, Lehi has a vision of the tree of life, which again harkens back to Revelation chapter two and Revelation 21, Revelation 22, where you have this image of the tree of life in a very prominent position in the new kingdom of God.

Then at first Nephi 11 through 14, Lehi's son Nephi has a vision that we're told has connections with the book of Revelation.

Nephi is even told the name of the person who's going to write the book of Revelation. It's one of the disciples of the Lamb, right? It's a man named John.

The second most often cited New Testament text in the book of Mormon is the book of Revelation.

But the last phrase on the title page of the Book of Mormon is that you may be found spotless at the judgment seat of Christ.

And in the second to last verse of the Book of Mormon, that ye become holy without spot.

I know that our friend John Welch has taken apart 3 Nephi and really made temple connections with the whole experience of Jesus with the righteous in the new world.

We call that 4th Nephi, where there could not be a happier people among all the people that had been created by the hand of God. There was no contention.

I've had students, what is that? The day of provocation.

So that became a term where they referred to the kind of rebellion against Moses, getting that right. And it's used throughout other scriptures, even in the Book of Mormon.

It is by grace that we are saved after all that we can do.

No flesh can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits of the holy Messiah.

Man could not merit anything of himself.

God will take away the guilt from our hearts through the merits of his son.

We rely alone upon the merits of Christ.

I didn't want to miss that verse that there, who is it John in the Book of Mormon? I will give up all of my kingdom...King Lamoni's father, give away all my sins to know thee. It's a beautiful verse.

The missionaries delivered their message and handed a book for the mother to read, the Book of Mormon.

President Nelson seems to be wanting to peel back our eyes to say the glorious aspect, like the most important work is the gathering of Israel. Nothing's more important than that work.

And the guy comes back and says, Hey, thanks so much. And president Nelson says, what? That's not the right response. Sorry.

The Book of Mormon over and over has made the case that this is an act that can only be performed by a God, and yet it's traumatic.

I never noticed power of resurrection before, but it's used that way a few times in the book of Mormon.

And it came my turn, and it happened to be one of the sacrament prayers.

I like what you said Hank, I put that in my scriptures. If you love somebody, you show up at their wedding.

Elder Bednar said the central recurring theme of the Book of Mormon is the invitation to come unto Christ.

Think of the prophets of the Book of Mormon living in a dispensation, ending with painful communication between Mormon and Moroni.

He says, my theory is that those great men and women, the leaders of those ages past were able to keep going, to keep testifying, to keep trying to do their best. Not because they knew that they would succeed, but because they knew that you would.

The book of Mormon is speaking to the remnants of Israel, but it's also trying to convince Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ.

For example, the person in the book of Mormon who's thinking the hardest about how do Gentiles gain salvation is Moroni.

Moroni knows that the book of Mormon is going to go to the Gentiles first in the last days.

It's your faith in Jesus Christ that ultimately is the determining factor here.

In that sense, this is similar to the book of Mormon will reiterate the same principle.

I think one of President Benson's strong things about the Book of Mormon was its declaration that Jesus is the son of God.

For every Paul, for every Enos, for every King Lamoni, there are hundreds and thousands of others for whom the process of repentance is much more subtle, much more imperceptible.

It would be like supposing that every time we pray, we need to have an Enos experience.

I had a young lady when I was teaching, early in my teaching at BYU, a young lady, beautiful young lady in my class, Book of Mormon.

Yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon. How beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer.

We learn that from the way Jesus taught in the Book of Mormon, and to me, that's deeply satisfying seeing the way that the scriptures intertwine.

And of course, Nephi is really going to talk a lot about the reasons why Jesus needed to be baptized.

I noticed not to switch over to the Book of Mormon real quick, but it's a kind of a fascinating factoid that the King James Bible, nowhere appears the word plan. In the Book of Mormon though, I always ask my students, what's your favorite name for the plan of salvation? And they all say plan of happiness. But the one that's most frequently used in the Book of Mormon is plan of redemption.

Our chapters today are in the Book of Mormon and the greatest commentary on Isaiah is in the Book of Mormon.

the Book of Mormon is going to give us so much clarity that there's going to be this focus and direct truth that's going to bring us to Jesus Christ like no other thing.

There's just no better commentary than the Book of Mormon.

And so when a Benedict quotes Isaiah 53 and we'll talk about this and then afterwards gives us additional insight, it's like, oh, how wonderful is this to have a Benedict comment on that?

He really likes chapter 29. He draws on it a lot. And so he'll help us with this interpretation but we think of the gold plates that are literally buried in the ground and they come out of the ground and we have the voice of people who have died that speak to us and give us truth.

And it makes sense, right? Partially because the golden plates and Nephi helps us give it this interpretation.

I think it's just more commentary on Isaiah.

And I think that's absolutely a correct fulfillment of it.

I think current prophets are also another part of that flood. I think those are probably the greatest parts of that flood is the Book of Mormon and the prophets that we have today,

And then he kind of quotes a bunch of the commandments. And then he says, keep the law of Moses because you were asked to, but salvation comes in Christ.

And then he quotes Isaiah 53, which in the book of Mormon is known as Mosiah 14 and tells them Jesus is salvation. Jesus saves.

And to understand my father's prophecies, Nephi has his vision. And in Nephi's vision, he actually sees a virgin holding a child in her arms.

She was contemporary of Jeremiah and some of these other prophets as well.

There are some really good connections with the Book of Mormon here.

It kind of seems like a lot of the stories we're reading in the Book of Mormon in here is scatter, gather, scatter, gather, scatter, gather.

I think that it's fun to hear Nephi remind his people who they are. Because I think when they lost their real estate, they kind of lost part of their identity.

And he had to tell them, hey, we got a new area code, but we are house of Israel. And the promises still apply to us and the obligations still apply to us.

We often talk about Pahoran's response to Moroni, but we should maybe bring up Hannah's response to Eli as often as we bring up that Book of Mormon story.

We hear it in the Book of Mormon as well.

It shows up in the Book of Mormon a lot.

to use a Book of Mormon word, to make us distracted and to forget.

In the Book of Mormon, we have Jacob who from his Nephite perspective, he looked at this material as being very messianic.

In the Book of Mormon, you get at this idea that the rituals of the ancient temple were Messiah-focused.

In Jacob's writings, he talks about how we felt that these things pointed our minds to the future Messiah who would come and save us.

When Lehi talks about a Messiah in 1 Nephi 1 and 2, most people in Jerusalem had no idea what he's even talking about.

So that gives the impression that most of those people going to Solomon's temple were not thinking messianically, but Lehi was, and Nephi was, and Jacob was.

Well, we look at these passages, and according to some biblical scholars, this is one of the most dense and confused passages of Scripture simply because they see so many sources that have talked about it. And what that really suggests is among the narratives so far of the Bible, this may be the most important one.

The Book of Mormon is a great model for this because you're looking at a book where we know who the editors are. It's Mormon and Moroni. They are pretty clear as to what texts they're using.

I always like 3 Nephi 5 because Mormon tells you exactly why he's using what text he's using. But he tells you something like the fact of the 20th year passed and the 21st and the 22nd, the 23rd, and even the 25th. So he has said nothing about those five years at all, right? And then he says, now, I recognize that if someone else were writing this, there were some great and marvelous things that happened, but I'm not putting that in my record. And here's why I'm not and what I haven't touched.

And that's what you're seeing in the Bible. Yeah, you're seeing maybe what was some originally written by Moses, but then later editors are adding, taking away.

The Book of Mormon, we know who the editor is, right? It's Mormon. He tells us outright.

She read the Book of Mormon with me around the time of my baptism. She read through it with me twice.

When you have the Book of Mormon, when you have the Old Testament, and you have the Bible. Not even I could have messed this up.

And as I've learned in my own life, the best commentary for the Old Testament and the Bible itself is the Book of Mormon.

I've rarely met a person who is complaining about the Book of Mormon or the Bible that knows more about it in terms of his ancient origins than I do.

When you approach a problem with knowledge and also with faith, rather than using knowledge to try and escape faith, you will get to the right place.

It either is what it says it is, or it's a complete fake.

Those events were told by people who really lived 600 BC or thereafter.

So I bear witness to the Book of Mormon. It is true and it is authentic. It is what it claims to be.

Just a week before the Book of Mormon was printed in March of 1830.

I don't know how you understand the scriptures without understanding the Abrahamic covenant. It's all over the place and it's covenant Israel.

I think for me personally, I have seen, as I've learned more and more about this, the value of the Book of Mormon is just increasing in my eyes.

I've started reading Alma 12 the other day and I'm like, wow, we know so much about this story because of the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon sheds, it like opens up the window here to what is really happening.

I think the Old Testament has enriched my testimony, but the Book of Mormon is the foundation of it.

And it's actually my favorite book. If I could have done 13 years of college on the Book of Mormon, would have done that.

The Book of Mormon and the spiritual experiences I've had feeling God's love and understanding his plan for me while reading the Book of Mormon has really been foundational to my entire life.

One of the reasons I got into the Old Testament was to understand the Book of Mormon better because the Book of Mormon is so full of Old Testament things.

I just love the Book of Mormon and I know from the Holy Ghost that it is true.

The head note to Official Declaration 2 actually refers to the Book of Mormon. It says, the Book of Mormon teaches that all are alike unto God, including black and white, bond and free, male and female. That's the popular scripture, 2 Nephi 26 verse 33.

The Book of Mormon is another--I mentioned two reasons the church is uniquely positioned to bring to pass unity and harmony among God's children of all backgrounds. The Book of Mormon is a third. It's a key, key reason.

It's the only book of scripture where God explicitly tells people of one color and culture to reach across color barriers to another people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I always tell my classes that this was true for this people in this time. Whatever gave us the idea we could apply this to the whole world. The Book of Mormon doesn't tell us to do that.

How did you say that? Be on the lookout for those who stir up conflict among people of another culture or race to gain power. That's so good. That is a message of the book. I mean, that is if you want to look at it. It's a recurring theme.

having read the Book of Mormon for myself, Nelt and not very eloquently but very sincerely just in my own mind asked the Lord with real intent and faith in Christ in a sincere heart if the book of Mormon was true and received a impression in my mind that said you already know it's true along with a feeling in my heart that was a deep and abiding desire to affirm that thought

and then if you'll pay a serious attention to the Book of Mormon you will like Joseph say dang that came from God there's no chance that he is the originator I don't want people to misunderstand I'm not saying he's dumb he's anything but but he is not the mind that gave us the Book of Mormon or sections 76 or even section 137

Hyrum's final message to us is a quote from the Book of Mormon so he takes the scriptures to express his emotions as he faces these last moments of his life and he ponders the ways lived and what may happen to him in Carthage.

I am the light of the world in the book of John.

I am the light which he shall hold up, that which he have seen me do.

So out of that very office here's your book Mormon, Dr. and Covenants and MSM now.

And I have given you the Book of Mormon of all the things to not take lightly.

Let's not take the sacred writings of these prophets and the ancient America's lightly. They gave their life for it. They lived their life for it.

For a number of years, until recently, the Book of Mormon hasn't been this phenomenal place. It hasn't had the phenomenal place. The center place as it now does in church, especially among missionary work.

I remember him in one of them saying that as he participated in the Mexico City Temple dedication, he said, I received the distinct impression that the Lord is not pleased with our neglect of the Book of Mormon and of this we must repent.

President Nelson actually talks about how he remembered President Benson calling him into his office... And he said, President Benson expressed deep concern that the members of the church did not fully appreciate the value of the Book of Mormon.

Samuel Smith, in 1830, goes on a mission. He takes the Book of Mormon with him back into the Eastern United States. And he meets Brigham Young's sister, Rota, who is married to John Peat Green.

Publish that Word of God, whether it be the Book of Commandments, the doctrine of the covenants, the Book of Mormon, children's literature. And the hymns, even the hymns, right?

To be able to temple in Jackson County, Missouri and to do that you've got a purchase land. Okay what else has been commanded to publish my word to bring forth the book more meant to bring forth the doctor and covenants this is 1832 and they're trying to get the book of commandments off the ground here in 1831 by 1832 it's sitting down there with the publishing group in Jackson County, Missouri.

So much that he did until he had no more to give but he's included in this organization so that he can have some means to live from day to day and to contribute on the printing of things.

you might just as well fight against the Rocky Mountains as the book of Mormon.

I just love it he says Jacob in verse three I know that thou art redeemed because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer.

she professed to be a prophetist of the Lord and professed to be have many revelations and knew the Book of Mormon was true and that she should become a teacher in the Church of Christ which is the tricky part because she's teaching the Book of Mormon and she's trying to bring people to Christ so it seems but then he can...

I will never go to church again until I know this is true

It reminded me of in the book Mormon when Jesus was with him and then he said, I'm coming back tomorrow. It says there were people who are up all that night to gather others to be in the place where Jesus said he would appear on the tomorrow.

Both are a game-changing belief. A belief in the resurrection changes your life. The next one is a belief in the Book of Mormon and the restoration changes everything.

For me, I think it really goes back and is deeply rooted to the Book of Mormon.

And so I decided to take that invitation up and to seriously study the Book of Mormon and my life did change. I felt the power from God flow into my life.

Because if the Book of Mormon is true, then you know Joseph Smith's a prophet because why would you have a false prophet translated a true book that just doesn't make sense?

This feels very influenced by the book of Mormon and second Nephi 2 I don't know if it is because I don't know how well they know the book of Mormon by September of 1830

But this idea of agency is there's no better place for it to be laid out than second Nephi 2 Right the how the fall connects to agency and Adam's choice and results in our choice

I told me you said this I think on our first episode if I remember you said the book of Mormon will take you to Jesus and the doctrine of the governance is going to take you to the next level it's going to take you to the temple and to God the Father is that you teach your students.

Yeah my big tag line is that the book of Mormon is the book of salvation it teaches us the gospel of Jesus Christ more purely and clearly than any book I know of and I say that with love and respect to the new testament. But the doctrine of covenant is the book of exaltation the book of Mormon brings us to Jesus and the doctrine of covenant brings us to the Father the book of Mormon will bring us into the Church of Jesus Christ of Lottery Saints and the doctrine of covenant will take us to the temple.

Samuel is just a prolific missionary he walks all over the eastern United States, preaching the book of Mormon, sharing the gospel and becomes.

Believe it's he who's instrumental in introducing the book of Mormon to Brigham Young's family and instrumental in the conversion at Brigham and then he versus a Kimball and some of these important early converts to the church.

So it's interesting that you know these this small little flock of the churches just minding their own business doing you know doing what they think they need to do. And somehow other people come in and disrupt it and yet it's Joseph Smith who's the just. You're the disorderly person.

Joseph night senior is a lot of our guests have said the nights are pretty much the second family in the church.

Oliver has been scribing now for the last what he came on April 7th is when they started so this is now into June. He's been writing the book of Mormon and the Lord says the spirit has told you in many instances that the things which you have written are true.

How about go to the text of the book of Mormon you've been writing you know it's true now go rely on it so you're absolutely right Hank from this Oliver is going to write his his documents going to be called the articles of the church of Christ and over let's see.

I want to say over 60% of that document is direct quotations from the book of Mormon heavily from 3rd Nephi and Marona where there's kind of instructions where Jesus teaches about how to baptize.

This is going to become actually I don't want to go too far into the future but this is going to become the prelude this section 20 actually. Oliver's document then becomes the next stepping stone tell we get our founding text in section 20 so so the Lord's guidance here really bears fruit.

it's the book of Mormon where we got the original blueprint for our church now it's true that we had new testament angels John the Baptist and Peter James and John from the New Testament type that restore priested keys but it's the book of Mormon.

Joseph and Oliver tend to use the phrase Yurham and Thumman to describe the instruments that they use and both of them also tend to say the Nephite interpreters when they describe it

that's Joseph and Oliver holy interpreters they tend to describe them as the Yurham and Thumman and the Whitmer's tend to describe the use of a searstone

that is a divine translation process and a lot of people like David Whitmer's description because it's describing a very tight translation process that what you're seeing in the Book of Mormon is exactly what the Lord wanted Joseph and Oliver to write down

infinite appears in second e-fine nine and now a 34 if that's the exact word the Lord wants Joseph Smith to use in the English language that means infinite is exactly what it's supposed to mean there and that's very very important for us that the wording in the Book of Mormon at least an English is a big deal and we ought to pay close attention to it and what it means

the overarching message of the whippers of Emma Smith of everybody involved in this process was it was a miracle there's no way as they saw the Joseph Smith could have faked to this that Emma who is the first scribe of the Book of Mormon who records a lot of the lost manuscript just saw to something that was impossible for him to pull off and that is the consistent messes they're trying to come across

Hiram unfolded the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and then Hiram hands him a copy of the Book of Mormon as part of the prayer at least.

Joe, this is going to trust Hiram with the transporting of the pages to the printer so Hiram and Oliver are the ones who stay in Palmyra while the Book of Mormon is being printed and Hiram is the one who carries the transcribed pages from Oliver to the printer and overseas this work.

The Book of Mormon is true if it's true. It doesn't even have to have the plates.

These are people who are smart, who know the Bible, who understand the concept of restorationism and they see Joseph Smith. Not because of he's just charismatic, but because of the outcome, revelatory outcome, the outcome of the Book of Mormon.

And so I've done that. I've read the book of Mormon. And I've seen the change that it causes in people's lives and my own life.

Like Joseph was called to return the plates, return the plates because they wanted people to know the truthfulness of it because of the text.

That's the power, that is the essence of the power of the Book of Mormon.

I love how the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon, when they realized that secret combinations were among them, what did they do? This is Helaman chapter six, verse thirtyseven. The Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton, and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from the Lamanites.

He says, actually, this is my work. This is my glory. And I am able to do my work in the Book of Mormon. Instead of saying, Heavenly Father, you need to help my children, we can say, Heavenly Father, will you help me help your children?

I love my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon, Jacob chapter five, where the servant comes over to the Lord and he says, 'Hey, you put this tree in the worst spot.'

The Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible is the setting for the Book of Mormon.

When you are reading the Book of Mormon, you are 100% contextually situated in an Old Testament text.

The Book of Mormon is many things, but it's not subtle. It's very clear ... Nephi lets you know who's on the right side ... Mormon doesn't want us left with nothing to work with. He wants to give us an initial meaning.

In the Book of Mormon again, there are heroes and there are villains, but it's very hard to find any shades of gray in Book of Mormon characters.

somebody who was listening, as they do, all of a sudden handed a Book of Mormon to us.

Are you reading the Book of Mormon? Are you reading the scriptures?

And of course, the Book of Mormon says, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

I am quite surprised at some of the things that she tells me about the gospel, about our Book of Mormon readings.

He said, look, I got this. This is my job. I just need you to be willing, right? ... 2 Nephi 27. I just need you to be willing, right?

I don't know if there's an order form in Mosiah 27 for people to fill out for how they would like to be... I love that he left that to the Lord, not to specifically come back to church, but come to a knowledge of the truth.

When we as parents exercise faith and trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, we do get answers to our prayers... In Mosiah 27, 14, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people and also the prayers of his servant Alma, who is the father.

We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

the lesson about in her church? How the Book of Mormon is a false witness of Christ.

Eight, the Bible and Book of Mormon are true.

she goes on to say ... she is talking about the Book of Mormon ...

One of my favorite moments in the Book of Mormon is in Mosiah8.

That is very Book of Mormon-esque, getting this about six months after the Book of Mormon was published, about seven or eight months.

the first time I actually read the book of Mormon cover to cover, I was in eighth grade, but I don't count it. I actually had a Sunday school teacher that was like, if you haven't read the book of Mormon yet, you need to. So I went and I plowed through it. It was done. It felt nothing. Anytime we do anything to check a box. It doesn't work. It's got to be real.

I had a wonderful bishop and a wonderful religion professor, Greg Williams at Rick's college at the time. Took a Book of Mormon class. Got into this book. I had to have it. When everything's good, sometimes we don't have that. We need it.

If you put in the word redeemed in the Book of Mormon, you'll be surprised how many times the next part from the fall.

We love that the Book of Mormon uses the plan of redemption by far.

I think the Book of Mormon is clear that the lord doesn't scatter Israel to punish them he wants to save them he's going to save them by the way Hank this is your point this is the book of Hosea he's going to scatter them with the intent of bringing them back.

He recognized the voice of God. He recognized the voice of the Good Shepherd in the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon is evidence we can hold in our hand of covenant belonging.

She has been with us before in the Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon phrase comes to mind.

I think the phrase is also in the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price.

The Book of Mormon also shows this idiom in several passages, for example 1Nephi8 and 3Nephi11 where the characters cast their eyes to perceive heavenly things.