Should Mormons Offer Physical Proof of the Book of Mormon?
Filed under: Book of Mormon, Book of Mormon, D & C, Pearl of Great Price, Frequently Asked Questions, History of the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ, The Restoration
When people attempt to argue Mormonism, they usually begin with some commentary on proof. They want proof—physical, tangible, and scientific—that it is true. When science or history discovers something that might help to “prove” an aspect of Mormonism, Mormons are generally interested, but these things don’t strengthen their testimonies. They are merely interesting.
While this might irritate some Christians, it must be remembered that much of the Bible can’t be proven, either. Science has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the possibility of God, whose existence cannot be scientifically proven. Nor has science proven the Creation. We can’t fit some historical stories into the known political leadership of the time. We don’t have the bones of Adam and Eve. We haven’t found the ark, or proven the entire world once flooded at once. There are creatures mentioned in the Bible we haven’t been able to prove just yet—no dragons or unicorns have emerged during archaeological expeditions.
Does this shake the faith of the average Christian? Of course not. Faith is not about proof. If it can be proven, it doesn’t require faith. The Bible is filled with admonitions to have faith, not to have proof.
Paul gave a powerful sermon on faith in Hebrews, chapter 11 (King James version of the Bible): “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. He reminds us of many Biblical heroes who lived their lives based on faith, not proof. Noah didn’t ask for proof of an impending flood before building the ark, Paul said, nor did Abraham ask for proof before moving to a new land or taking Isaac to be sacrificed. They trusted God and their own testimonies and acted without any proof at all that these things were necessary.
Faith is an essential element of religion. Mormons teach that faith is one of the primary reasons God sent us here to earth. Could we learn to believe in Him and trust Him when He isn’t right here, in our sight? We believed we could and agreed to come to earth to gain faith, to be tested, and to obtain families and bodies.
Most Christians accept a responsibility to develop faith in Jesus Christ, and to agree to accept Him as our Savior without any physical proof of His existence. We don’t know where He is buried. There are no official records recording His life. He never wrote a word that we have on hand, and no one painted His picture or sculpted His likeness. We don’t know what He looked like. We can only make assumptions based on historical knowledge of the time and place in which He lived, and we must trust the recorded words of others as to His existence and teachings. And yet, with all this lack of physical proof, billions of people have believed in Jesus Christ and modeled their lives on His teachings.
Mormons, like other Christians, know that testimony isn’t about physical proof. It is about learning to know and to trust God. Testimony is about faith, which is a higher law than proof. Faith is an eternal-life-giving law.
Christians, including Mormons, know that faith is a verb. A passive faith is not really faith. When we know that putting our hands into a fire will burn them, we don’t put our hands into the fire. We act on those things we truly know. Faith, then, must be an active faith. It isn’t enough to say we believe God has taught us not to kill, for instance. We must also act on that belief. A true Christian keeps the commandments of God as evidence of His faith. Just as Noah didn’t ask for proof, neither do Christians ask for proof before deciding to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
While it is possible to keep the commandments without faith, it is not possible to have true faith and refuse to keep the commandments. No one is perfect, but a person with faith is constantly striving to live as Jesus taught. James taught,“ 14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2)
These verses do not mean we can be saved by works done without faith, but simply for show. It means that a person who believes in and loves God will keep His commandments as a natural part of that love and faith.
Christians, including Mormons, keep the commandments even though they lack physical proof that rewards will come, either in this life or the next. For them, faith is enough to inspire a Christian lifestyle.
“Faith in Jesus Christ and a testimony of Him and His universal Atonement is not just a doctrine with great theological value. Such faith is a universal gift, glorious for all cultural regions of this earth, irrespective of race, color, language, nationality, or socioeconomic circumstance. The powers of reason may be used to try to understand this gift, but those who feel its effects most deeply are those who are willing to accept its blessings, which come from a pure and clean life of following the path of true repentance and living the commandments of God” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Precious Fruits of the First Vision,” Ensign, Feb 2009, 4–8).
Physical proof that Mormonism is true is no more essential to a Mormon than is physical proof of God, Jesus, or the Bible to any other Christian. Faith and testimony isn’t brought about by proof, but by a personal knowledge of God, and the willingness to turn to Him as the source of all truth. Science is constantly changing its mind about proof, but God never changes His mind. It comes down to this question: Who is our God—God, or science? Mormons, while respecting the role of science, choose God.
What Reading Enos Can Teach About Scripture Study
The Book of Enos, found in the Book of Mormon, is very brief—only 27 verses contained in one chapter. I was once challenged to read it every day for a full month. It seemed an odd challenge to me. How much could I learn from a mere 27 verses, so short it’s often covered in lessons with several other books? I went to work though, and after a few days, my mind and heart were suddenly opened. While the first few days, I saw nothing new, after a few days, I found myself noticing things that had escaped me before. Enos became real to me and I began to think about him as an actual person. He was real, but after a full month, I knew his reality in a new way. Questions arose in my mind about the things I read. I began to ponder the small mentions that had previously not seemed worth my thought. I began to apply his life to my own.
From this experience, I learned to read scriptures in a new way. I was accustomed to setting a daily reading schedule—so many chapters a day. On busy days, I raced through the reading in order to meet my deadline. Who had time, with an ambitious reading schedule and a checklist of chapters and verses to cross off, to stop and ponder, wonder, or read the same 27 verses thirty-one times in a row?
I now discovered the value of slowing down, of making my goal to be one of reading daily, but not of specifying how much I would read. Some days I read one verse and thought about it all day. Sometimes I flew through chapters, but other times I slowed down and read thoughtfully.
Lately, I’ve slowed down even further. As I’ve begun doing the Book of Mormon blog, I’ve had to go slowly and evaluate each verse for potential lessons. I’ve had to research. What have church leaders said about this story or topic? What message can I extract from it that might help another? How do I explain it to someone who has never read it before, who isn’t even a member of the church?
At the same time, I began reading the Book of Mormon in Brazilian Portuguese. I am barely beginning to learn Portuguese, so this is a very slow process for me. I have the Portuguese version open next to the English version. I also have a translation program or two open on my computer. Verse by verse, I work my way through the book. Because translation isn’t an exact art, I sometimes have to stop to think about the meaning as I try to guess what the verse is before checking it.
Between these two methods, I am reading the scriptures more slowly than I ever imagined, and thinking more. You can get the same effect by keeping a scripture journal. As you read the Book of Mormon, record your thoughts and questions. Follow the links in the articles to learn more about the topic. When you reach the end of the book, where you’re challenged to ask God if it’s true, your journal will help you to notice when you felt the spirit, and what impact the book might have had on you.
Slow down…the book will be here forever. Savor it slowly. Try reading Enos for a month and see what happens to you.
The True Church Must Teach Truth
I’ve seen many articles lately suggesting that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Mormon Church, needs to “get with the times.”
When people tell a church to cave to popular opinion, fads, or styles, they are really seeking to counsel God. They want God to change, and even to alter unalterable truths.
Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old. (Jacob 4:13)
As are so many other sins, this is a matter of pride, feeling we know better than God what is true and right. It is not the job of a Christian to be popular. It is his job to be right. When we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we have an obligation to speak the truth when speaking of spiritual truths. These days, so many of God’s truths are “unpopular” and those who try to hold to them are labeled bigots, out of touch, old-fashioned…any name that might intimidate people into giving in to prove they’re part of the popular crowd.
Boyd K. Packer, a modern apostle of God, said, in response to those who feel the church must keep up with current fads of morality: “We do not set the standards, but we are commanded to teach them and maintain them. The standard remains abstinence before marriage and total fidelity in marriage. However out of step we may seem, however much the standards are belittled, however much others yield, we will not yield, we cannot yield.” (Boyd K. Packer, “‘The Standard of Truth Has Been Erected’,” Ensign, Nov 2003, 24)
Paul spoke of this concern in the Bible:
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: (Ephesians 6)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no desire to be men pleasers. Their entire focus is to do the will of God, regardless of how it affects their “popularity.” Popularity isn’t the goal of the Church. While it might win them more friends, there is no purpose to the church if it isn’t teaching God’s word, and God’s word only. A church that promises a prophet who learns the truth from God must never abuse that privilege by trying to reinvent truth or alter it to suit selfish purposes. A Church that promises to be the true church must teach truth.
So, we will probably always be behind the times, unless the times catch up to God.
The Blessings of Trials
Filed under: Frequently Asked Questions, Inspirations, Teachings
As the prophet Lehi, sent from Jerusalem with his family to a land of promise in the Americas, lay dying, he spoke to each of his sons, giving them his final words of advice. Jacob, the second youngest, had never known the life of privilege the older boys had enjoyed before their father led them away, leaving all their wealth behind. He was the first of two sons born in the wilderness. For Jacob, a life in the wilderness was a natural thing, not an unusual trial. The division that was occuring in the family, because his two oldest brothers tried to punish the family for giving up a life of privilege, was forcing people to choose sides. Jacob, young and faithful, sided with his parents and his older brothers, Nephi and Sam. Nephi would become the prophet after his father’s death, and Sam, his next oldest brother, humbly accepted Nephi’s divinely chosen place.
Lehi was pleased with how Sam was turning out. It hadn’t been an easy life for the boy, having lived his childhood with two older brothers bent on murdering the brother they loved, and even trying to kill or harm their parents. It was, in modern terms, a dysfunctional family, but only due to the selfish choices of the two oldest sons. In spite of all this, Jacob was growing up well.
“And now, Jacob, I speak unto you: Thou art my first-born in the days of my tribulation in the wilderness. And behold, in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren.
Nevertheless, Jacob, my first-born in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain. –2 Nephi 2:2.
Most of us go out of our way to avoid trials. The moment they begin, we plead for them to end. Some people complain and blame God, feeling He owes them a trial-free life. Lehi’s prophecy, however, shows us a different attitude toward trials. He promised Jacob that his trials would be consecrated. Consecration is yielding oneself up to God. In this case, Jacob’s trials would consecrated to help him—not in any worldly way, but in a spiritual way.
Although we can seldom see it during the trial, when we’re wrapped up in survival, later, the blessings of trials often become clearer to us. I remember once, years ago, when I was told through inspiration that although I’d have many trials, there was going to come a time in my new calling (unpaid church jobs) when I would use every one of those trials to help another. My calling was Compassionate Service Leader, which means I organized all the service that needed doing. In the course of my work, I really was called on to use all my past trials, including some I’d forgotten. Often the job consisted of sitting with and listening to or comforting someone facing a trial or a sadness. I was often able to say, “I’ve been there,” and to have some sense of what they were facing and what options were available to them.
Many of my trials have brought me closer to my Heavenly Father or strengthened me. They’ve made me more compassionate. When I take time, both during and after the trial, to analyze what I’ve learned and how God was there to help me through them, I grow in my ability to live a Christ-like life and to accomplish the goals my Heavenly Father has for me.
Jacob would go on to play an important role in the new homeland. The trials he faced as a child gave him courage, perseverance, and leadership skills. He had a terribly challenging childhood, one that some might have used as an excuse for going bad or giving up. Instead, Jacob accepted the promise made to him by his father and consecrated his trials for his own gain.
Remaining Steadfast
Filed under: Frequently Asked Questions, Teachings
In my previous entry, I spoke of baptism. Baptism is only one of the steps on the path back home to our Heavenly Father. Often the hardest work comes after that wonderful moment when you’ve risen from the water and everyone is smiling at you.
For that single moment, you are perfect. But when the service is over, you leave the chapel and go out into the real world, where challenges and trials await. Your trials don’t end because you’ve chosen to commit your life to serving God. Satan certainly has no plans to leave you alone after you’ve made such an eternally significant decision. No, he’s going to work hard to convince you to change your mind.
The Book of Mormon gives us guidelines as to our responsibilities after baptism:
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:20)
These are wonderful, inspirational words, but they aren’t platitudes. They are an outline for the rest of our lives, and they involve hard work and diligence. Enduring to the end is harder than it seems. It involves becoming a true disciple of Christ, a term meaning Pupil, and continuing the process all your life. Great bursts of faith are exciting and make for inspiring legends. We all love to read about those who were martyred. Within the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we praise Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum for their willingness to die for God. There were, in fact, many martyrs in our religion during the early years of the church. However, James E. Faust, an “>apostle of God, made this critical point:
For most of us, however, what is required is not to die for the Church but to live for it. For many, living a Christlike life every day may be even more difficult than laying down one’s life. I learned during a time of war that many men were capable of great acts of selflessness, heroism, and nobility without regard to life. But when the war was over and they came home, they could not bear up under the ordinary daily burdens of living and became enslaved by tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and debauchery, which in the end caused them to forfeit their lives.” (James E. Faust, “Discipleship,” Ensign, Nov 2006, 20–23)
What does it mean to live for your faith? It means that in the small, every day choices, we take into consideration the will of our Father. His choices, not ours, are the foundation for our everyday lives, all the large and small choices we make all day long.
It’s often said that Satan can’t capture us in one spectacular moment. He leads us away in small steps, increasing our comfort level with sin. Once Satan can get us comfortable with the little sins, he can convince us that slightly larger ones are okay as well. Soon, our baptismal covenants are forgotten and we’ve fallen far from where we belong. So it’s in the small moments of life that we have to be particularly vigilant, to be certain it isn’t the little, seemingly harmless, sins that are setting us on the wrong path. “It’s just a little lie.” “It’s only a cup of coffee.”
Remaining steadfast and enduring to the end may become the hardest challenges you face, even harder than making the choice to convert will be. The rewards, however, are beyond measure, and worth the vigilance and dedication to faith and truth.
To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the lives the “Mormons” live, visit Mormon.org.
Opposition in All Things
Filed under: Frequently Asked Questions, God in the Book of Mormon, Teachings
Sometimes people wonder why God allows bad things to happen. This is sometimes even used as an excuse for not believing in God. Some people will suggest that if there is a God and He loves us, He will make everything pleasant and happy all the time.
An important aspect of mortality is agency. This subject will be addressed in more detail in my next post, but for now, it’s important to remember that we didn’t come here on an extended vacation. Our life is more like school. Our job in mortality is to gain experiences and develop faith in God, and the ability to live the gospel even when we aren’t in God’s presence. We’re to be tested and to learn and grow.
Parents know it’s irresponsible to over-protect a child. If we shield our children from every sadness, every trial, every mistake, he will never grow into a well-balanced, confident, self-sufficient person. He will be a terrible adult unless allowed to make mistakes and face hardship during his learning years. Often people who face the hardest challenges become the strongest people.
Heavenly Father is not an irresponsible parent. He is perfect and therefore His parenting is perfect. He knows that if He protects us from everything, we will never learn or grow. We aren’t puppets. We don’t want our earthly parents controlling every aspect of our lives, and we wouldn’t want God to act like a puppeteer entertaining Himself. We want Him to be parental. These are our learning years and life has no purpose if we’re not given agency.
And so, because we have agency, we can choose to do what God wants us to do, or we can choose to disobey. We accept the consequences of our choices, since we can choose our actions, but not the consequences.
In addition, we can’t choose who our decisions affect. Seldom do we make our choices in isolation. They nearly always affect others. This means that sometimes people suffer due to the choices of others. The only way to prevent this from happening would be to take away agency and become puppets. That was how Satan wanted it, but it wasn’t God’s way.
Lehi, the first Book of Mormon prophet, explained it this way to his son Jacob:
11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.
13 And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away. 2 Nephi 2
Throughout the story of Lehi and his family, we see how the agency of the two oldest brothers brought sorrow to a valient family. They had agency and chose to use it poorly. Those who chose well were blessed for their choices, but still suffered from the bad choices of the two oldest brothers.
It’s often easy to accept that we have to suffer for our own poor choices; it’s less easy to accept that we sometimes also suffer for the poor choices of others. We see the parallels in many aspects of our life, however. The only way we can guarantee the free practice of our religion, for instance, is to guarantee it for everyone else. The only way we can have agency is to allow others to have it, too.
It’s critical to remember that God is always in charge. He doesn’t always step in to stop bad things, since agency must be allowed, but He is very good at “Plan B.” When your agency is altered due to the poor choices of others, God can work with that if you’ll work with Him. Every trial can become a blessing when you pray to find out how God wants you to use the trial.
As pleasant as a trial-free life might seem, we don’t really want one. We would give up far too much for the privilege, and any plan championed by Satan is not one we want to follow.
Here, then, is a great truth. In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. In this way the divine image can be mirrored from the soul. It is part of the purging toll exacted of some to become acquainted with God. In the agonies of life, we seem to listen better to the faint, godly whisperings of the Divine Shepherd.” (James E. Faust, “Refined in Our Trials,” Ensign, Feb 2006, 2–7)
Who is Satan?
Filed under: Frequently Asked Questions, Teachings
Who is Satan? There are many debates on that subject in the world. Some don’t believe he is real. Others believe in him, but can’t figure out where he came from. The Bible tells us God created all living. Did God, then, create Satan? If he didn’t, then why does the Bible say He created all living? The answers to these questions are answered by the scriptures of the Restoration.
17 And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.
18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.
The story of how Satan, then known as Lucifer, became the devil, is one of the saddest in the history of the world. It brought extreme sadness to God and to all of us.
Before coming to earth, we all lived with our Father in Heaven. We were spirits, without bodies, but ourselves—we had spirits, personalities, and character. Who we are today is in part based on who we chose to be there. It was the starting point for our growth.
One day God called all of us together to tell us of a wonderful plan. He would have a world created just for us, where we could go to gain bodies and families, and to be tested and to grow and learn. We could earn the right to stay with him for eternity. However, God knew that the laws of Heaven, in which justice must be served, would prevent us from coming home without help, because we could not be perfect on earth. Lucifer offered to be the person who helped, but only on his terms. His terms involved forcing us to be perfect. He wanted to remove the agency we currently enjoyed and control our every movement, even our every thought, in order to insure we’d get through life being perfect. In exchange, he wanted all the honor and glory for himself.
Jesus understood God’s plan, and offered his own services. We would come to earth and take our chances, doing the best we could in order to try to return to God. Then Jesus would come here, take on a mortal body, and die for us. This would satisfy justice, since someone who was perfect would pay the ultimate price for our sins. We would do what we can, and He would make up the difference. In exchange He wanted the glory to go to God, not to Him.
We chose to follow Jesus, understanding the dangers and pointlessness of Satan’s proposal. Satan was furious. One third of those who were presented with this plan of salvation chose to follow Satan. They were cast out of Heaven. They were not allowed to come to earth, receive a body, or have the opportunity to benefit from Jesus’ sacrifice. They lost the chance to stay with their Heavenly Father.
25 And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,
26 And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.
27 And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning! Doctrine and Covenants 76
Satan’s choice broke everyone’s hearts, for good reason. Satan’s eternity is miserable and without hope. As a result, he also wants us to be equally miserable. He does everything in his power to try to make us unhappy and to keep us from taking advantage of the Savior’s amazing gift.
Because our time in mortality is a test of our ability to live the gospel, God allows Satan to tempt us, within limitations. He focuses his greatest attention on anything that is especially important to our ability to reach eternity, such as the family. He wants us to fail.
The important thing to remember is that we don’t have to let Satan have control over us. When we work to live the gospel properly, Satan’s abilities are severely restricted.
“However, we need not become paralyzed with fear of Satan’s power. He can have no power over us unless we permit it. He is really a coward, and if we stand firm, he will retreat. The Apostle James counseled: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” He cannot know our thoughts unless we speak them. And Nephi states that the devil “hath no power over the hearts” of righteous people. We have heard comedians and others justify or explain their misdeeds by saying, “The devil made me do it.” I do not really think the devil can make us do anything. Certainly he can tempt and he can deceive, but he has no authority over us that we do not give him.” (James E. Faust, “The Forces That Will Save Us,” Ensign, Jan 2007, 4–9)
What is Joy?
We are here on earth because God chose for us to be here and because we agreed to come here on His terms. We’re here because Adam and Eve made the unselfish choice to leave the garden of Eden and start a family. We’re even here because Noah was willing to build an ark.
But now that we’re here…what does God hope for us? He hopes we will find Him, love Him, and keep His commandments so we can return home again. However, although life is a school, it was never meant to be a dreary, boring, “sit at your desk and listen to the teacher droning” sort of school.
It was meant to be wonderful, overall.
25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. (2 Nephi 2)
This is one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon. It reminds me to make my life a happy one. I notice, however that it says “might have joy.” This means we have to make a choice to do those things which can bring joy to our lives—we’re not guaranteed joy, only told we can have it if we choose. It’s what God wants for us, but we have agency and can decide if we want it for ourselves.
What is joy and how do we get it?
Many people confuse pleasure with joy. Pleasure might come from a trip to Disneyland or an hour spent playing video games. Some people associate pleasure with sin. These moments of pleasure, however, are fleeting. Joy isn’t caused by material things or outward events. It is something found deep inside, and comes from living well. Living well doesn’t mean being rich. It means living according to the plan God made for us.
It’s often said in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) that you can’t do wrong and feel right. In order to be joyful, you must be keeping the commandments. Beyond that, you must be keeping them for the right reason—because you feel and overwhelming love for Heavenly Father and Jesus, and want to make them happy. When we live out of love for God and the Savior, we have joy that can’t be undone by worldly trials. It’s a peaceful, inner joy that glows quietly even in moments of intense sadness, keeping us going until things are better again.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, counselor to the prophet tells a story that illustrates how the Restored Gospel can bring joy in the most frightening of times:
“I remember a time when things didn’t look good for our family when I was a child. It was in the winter of 1944, one of the coldest during World War II. The war front was approaching our town, and my mother had to take us four children, leave all our possessions behind, and join the millions of fleeing refugees in a desperate search for a place to survive. Our father was still in the military, but he and Mother had agreed that if they were ever separated during the war, they would try to reunite at the hometown of my grandparents. They felt this place offered the greatest hope for shelter and safety.
With bombing raids during the night and air attacks during the day, it took us many days to reach my grandparents. My memories of those days are of darkness and coldness.
My father returned to us unharmed, but our future looked extremely bleak. We were living in the rubble of postwar Germany with a devastating feeling of hopelessness and darkness about our future.
In the middle of this despair, my family learned about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the healing message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. This message made all the difference; it lifted us above our daily misery. Life was still thorny and the circumstances still horrible, but the gospel brought light, hope, and joy into our lives. The plain and simple truths of the gospel warmed our hearts and enlightened our minds. They helped us look at ourselves and the world around us with different eyes and from an elevated viewpoint.” Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Have We Not Reason to Rejoice?,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 18–21
There are many aspects of the message of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that bring joy to people who are suffering from hardships, poor self-esteem, or sadness. Let’s look at just a few of them.
1. We are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us with all His heart.
Certainly this message, if completely internalized, can bring complete joy. If someone so wonderful can love us, how can we not be filled with joy?
2. We have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved us so much He died for us.
That is a powerful love. Through this most perfect of all gifts, we were given the chance not just to live forever, but to live forever with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, in the presence of the two we love more than any other.
3. We are expected to do all we can, but we can be forgiven for our sins, because of the Savior’s gift to us.
4. We can, if we make the right choices, live with our families forever. Who can be happy living forever without being a part of the family they love? Who would want to live forever without their families? Most of us find it a struggle to live a few mortal years without them.
5. We can find peace in knowing where we came from, why we’re here, and what will happen to us after this life.
6. We have a religion that demands our commitment all day, every day—not that we’re in church that often. It means we are Mormons all the time, and live accordingly. This constant focus on who we are helps us stay close to God.
7. We can enrich our lives by serving others.
There are many more aspects of the gospel that bring us joy. Every small piece of information brings us closer to a state of true joy when we focus on the center of the Gospel.
Want to know more about joy? LDSBlogs.com has a blogger who writes on nothing else. Visit Happiness to find out more.
Choose Eternal Life
God planned our lives on earth to be filled with choices. While there are always going to be some things beyond our control, the things of eternal significance are always ours to choose or to reject. The world might have some control over our bodies, our actions, and our lifestyles, but no one can control our thoughts but us. We can choose what goes into our hearts and we can choose what to believe.
Lehi, the first Book of Mormon prophet, gave his final words to his sons just before his death. After his final personalized sermon he said:
28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;(2 Nephi 2)
God believes very strongly in choice. We could choose to come here or to follow Satan. Once here, we have a great many choices, including whether or not to seek the true church and what to do with it if we find it. The Book of Mormon gives us the answer as to how to find out if the book is true, and the same method can be used to find out if the church is true. The answer is found in the Bible as well:
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.(James 1)
The Book of Mormon offers a promise to go with the advice given in the Bible:
3 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.
4 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.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. Moroni 10
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints trust God to be able to give us an answer we can understand and recognize as coming from God. We know He can do anything.
Once we have our answer, we have an important choice to make. Clearly, if God tells you this is the truth, He also wants you to join the church and come to Him, doing all He’s asked you to do. How much is salvation worth to you? Is it worth enough to ask God what is true and what He wants you to do? Is it worth enough to make you do it, however great the sacrifice?
Eternal life means more than just living forever. It means living forever with God and Jesus, in Their presence. How much is that worth to you? How much are you willing to sacrifice for such a gift? How much are you willing to change to receive it? Your answers to those questions are a measure of your love for God and the Savior. When you love Them enough, change and sacrifice are not a burden.
Achieving eternal life might seem a bit frightening—committing to a religion you might have always vowed not to join, making changes you don’t want to make, even causing a few to turn their backs on you. But God, who wants you to make this choice, will never turn away. His love, His promises, are worth more than anything you might sacrifice by asking God if the path to eternal life begins with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Think of it. You can have eternal life. You can be with God. You know He loves you. How much does He love you? Enough to let you have what He has:
“Eternal life is not a name that has reference only to the unending duration of a future life; immortality is to live forever in the resurrected state, and by the grace of God all men will gain this unending continuance of life. But only those who obey the fulness of the gospel law will inherit eternal life. … It is ‘the greatest of all the gifts of God … , for it is the kind, status, type, and quality of life that God himself enjoys. Thus those who gain eternal life receive exaltation; they are sons of God, joint-heirs with Christ, members of the Church of the Firstborn; they overcome all things, have all power, and receive the fulness of the Father” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 237).
You have nothing to lose…but an eternity to gain. Read Moroni 10:5, and start talking to God about what He wants from you in the future.
What Scriptures Did Nephi Have?
There was a time when we could hear God the Father’s teachings at His knee. We lived in His presence and had regular opportunities to receive training, counsel, and comfort directly from Him. Then we agreed, at His request, to come here to earth to live for a time. Now we no longer had direct access to His personal presence, but He didn’t abandon us. He arranged many ways for us to stay in touch and to receive His counsel. We can pray directly to Him. We can hear His words through His modern day prophets. And, we can access His words from the past through the scriptures.
Prophets have always been a critical part of God’s plan for us—a direct link between God and man, someone to take charge and make sure His gospel is taken into the world properly. It is through these prophets that we’ve learned who God is and what He wants of us. The scriptures are our access to those words.
Nephi, the first writer of the Book of Mormon said, “For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.
16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.” ( Nephi 4)
The scriptures Nephi had were from the Old Testament. The Book of Mormon Student Manual says this about the scriptures Nephi obtained from a kinsman prior to leaving for their new homeland:
“When the Lord led Lehi and his colony out from Jerusalem, they were required to take with them the Brass Plates of which Laban had been the custodian. These plates—which Nephi acquired through his faith, works, and zeal (1 Ne. 3; 4)—were a volume of sacred scripture. They contained a record of God’s dealings with men from the beginning down to that day. They were ‘the record of the Jews’ (1 Ne. 3:3), a record of many of the prophecies from the beginning down to and including part of those spoken by Jeremiah. On them was the law of Moses, the five books of Moses, and the genealogy of the Nephite forbears. (1 Ne. 3:3, 20; 4:15–16; 5:11–14.)
“There was more on them than there is in the Old Testament as we now have it. (1 Ne. 13:23.) The prophecies of Zenock, Neum, Zenos, Joseph the son of Jacob, and probably many other prophets were preserved by them, and many of these writings foretold matters pertaining to the Nephites. (1 Ne. 19:10, 21; 2 Ne. 4:2, 15; 3 Ne. 10:17.)” (commentary for 1 Nephi 5:10–22.)
The Bible would continue to be written by Jewish prophets after Lehi (Nephi’s father) led his family out of Jerusalem and to a new land. At the same time, he and his descendants would add to the body of scripture then available by recording what would become known as the Book of Mormon. They would record their own dealings with the Lord, and these records would be kept for a future time—our time. The people of the Book of Mormon didn’t have these additional scriptures. The prophets simply kept them and handed them down to the next prophet.
While the Bible records were not kept as a unit, but gathered at a later time, the Book of Mormon records, under God’s instructions, were kept as a group, added to, and handed down. There was no need for someone to evaluate all the ancient records that were available and to decide what was scripture, and what was just writing. In time, when it became necessary to end and hide the records, they would be edited and shortened by the last prophets of the Book of Mormon, so that was left was only that which was most important.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints love the Bible. They also love the scriptures of the restoration—The Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. We long to hear every word God has spoken to us, and so we treasure these additional words made available in the last days.
“Those who join this Church do not give up their faith in the Bible—they strengthen it. The Book of Mormon does not dilute nor diminish nor de-emphasize the Bible. On the contrary, it expands, extends, and exalts it. The Book of Mormon testifies of the Bible, and both testify of Christ.
The first testament of Christ is the Bible’s Old Testament, which predicted and prophesied of the coming of the Savior, His transcendent life, and His liberating Atonement.
The second Bible testament of Christ is the New Testament, which records His birth, His life, His ministry, His gospel, His Church, His Atonement, and His Resurrection, as well as the testimonies of His Apostles.
The third testament of Christ is the Book of Mormon, which also foretells Christ’s coming, confirms the Bible’s account of His saving Atonement, and then reveals the resurrected Lord’s visit to the earth’s other hemisphere. The subtitle of the Book of Mormon, the clarifying purpose statement printed on the cover of every copy, is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.”
Each of these three testaments is a part of the great, indivisible whole of the Lord’s revealed word to His children. They contain the words of Christ, which we have been admonished to feast upon as a means of qualifying for eternal life (see 2 Nephi 31:20). Those who think that one part is more important or more true than the other parts are missing some of the beauty and completeness of the canon of ancient scripture.” (M. Russell Ballard, “The Miracle of the Holy Bible,” Ensign, May 2007, 80–82)