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.

Abish

Ammon went to see the king and then told the wife her husband would rise the next day. He asked her if she believed him. Despite the fact that she’d not been a member of the church, she did believe, gaining an instant testimony. Ammon praised her great faith. The spirit was so strong, the queen and Ammon also lost consciousness. This was Abish’s great moment in history. She knew what was happening. She knew the Holy Ghost was present and that miracles were about to happen. Having so much faith, she wanted others to witness the miracle, so they would also be converted, so she ran to spread the word.

Things didn’t go quite as she planned, however. The people who gathered began to shout horrible things about Ammon, calling him a Nephite monster. Abish’s heart was broken and she cried. She went to the queen and took her hand. As she hoped, the queen awakened. The queen immediately began to call on the Savior to have mercy on her people, who were wicked. Then she took her husband’s hand and he awakened, and began to teach the gospel to the people. Then the real miracles began. Some people stopped shouting and listened. Some were converted and those who weren’t left the palace. Ammon eventually rose and also began teaching the gospel. Those who had stayed to hear the preaching asked to be baptized.

Many, many people were converted that day because a servant girl had maintained her testimony under difficult circumstances and had had enough faith to gather a crowd for the miracles she knew were to come. Abish, although not considered one of the major heroes of the Book of Mormon, is an amazing example of what can happen when only one person has faith and spiritual courage.

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.

And I, Jacob, saw that I must soon go down to my grave; wherefore, I said unto my son Enos: Take these plates. And I told him the things which my brother Nephi had commanded me, and he promised obedience unto the commands. And I make an end of my writing upon these plates, which writing has been small; and to the reader I bid farewell, hoping that many of my brethren may read my words. Brethren, adieu.(Jacob 7:27)

Readers who pounce on the unexpected discovery of a French word that didn’t exist at the time the Book of Mormon took place often neglect to remember an important detail of the Book of Mormon. It was not written in English. It is a translated document.

I learned American sign language in my younger days and am learning Brazilian Portuguese now. I quickly learned there aren’t exact word-for-word translations for most words. Often, as I struggle to read the Book of Mormon in Portuguese, I’ll look up a word and find the translation dictionary’s choice makes no sense. Using the Internet, I’ll seek out other translations and often each dictionary will translate the word differently. Eventually, I’ll find a word that suits the meaning of the sentence I’m translating.

When I was learning sign language, I briefly had an opportunity to study with an LDS teacher who had me sign portions of the Book of Mormon. One day we encountered a verse that said a city rose up. The teacher pointed out that we couldn’t translate the verse until we knew exactly the way it rose up, since sign language is precise about things like that, even though English isn’t. While we would use the words “rose up” to signify a variety of things that could have happened to the city, in sign language, the meaning mattered in this case. Did it pop up out of the ground or was it built? Did God place it ready made? Each meaning would be translated differently.

Translation is all about meaning. A translator studies the material, evaluating the context, and trying to understand the meaning. Then they search for a word in English (if that’s the language they’re translating into) that means the same thing. Often there is no exact meaning, and the translator must select a word or phrase that comes close. This is why translated literature is often available in very different translations.

“It is interesting to note that there is a Hebrew word Lehitra’ot, which has essentially the same meaning in Hebrew as the word adieu has in French. Both of these words are much more than a simple farewell; they include the idea of a blessing. Would it be unreasonable to remind these critics that none of the words contained in the English translation of the book of Jacob were used by Jacob himself? These words all come from the English language, which did not come into existence until long after Jacob’s time!” (Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, p. 163).”

Joseph’s Smith’s mother used the word adieu in some of her writings, and so it was a word Joseph knew and understood. When he encountered a word that meant goodbye, but not exactly goodbye, he searched his personal vocabulary for a word that was more precise than goodbye.
To learn more about Joseph Smith, visit the Joseph Smith website.

To learn more about translation and the original languages of the Book of Mormon, read Russell M. Nelson, “A Treasured Testament,” Ensign, Jul 1993, 61

By the time Nephi had died and his younger brother Jacob had taken on leadership of the church, the Nephites were losing their way. Many of them were ignoring the teachings of their childhood and were filled with pride, which led to a variety of other sins.

At this time, when their faith was weakened, a man named Sherem came to the city. We don’t know where he came from, whether he was a Lamanite, or whether he was one of the many people already on the American continent, today known often as Native Americans. He spoke and understood their language fluently, however, which gave him greater access to the people, and made it easier to win them over.

Sherem turned on the charm, using flattery to win people over to his message—that there was no Christ. Christ had not yet been born, but the prophets of the Book of Mormon taught of His coming regularly. Anyone who knew the Nephite language most certainly had heard these teachings.

He was particularly anxious to meet Jacob. I’m sure he felt it would be quite an accomplishment to win the prophet over to his teachings. When he finally had an opportunity to talk with Jacob, Sherem went right to the heart of his false doctrine:

6 And it came to pass that he came unto me, and on this wise did he speak unto me, saying: Brother Jacob, I have sought much opportunity that I might speak unto you; for I have heard and also know that thou goest about much, preaching that which ye call the gospel, or the doctrine of Christ.

7 And ye have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God, and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way; and convert the law of Moses into the worship of a being which ye say shall come many hundred years hence. And now behold, I, Sherem, declare unto you that this is blasphemy; for no man knoweth of such things; for he cannot tell of things to come. And after this manner did Sherem contend against me.” (Jacob 7)

Notice that right away, Sherem is contradicting himself. He suggests Jacob can’t know Christ will be born because no man can know the future. However, he, Sherem, apparently considers himself an exception to the rule that you can’t see the future, since he claims to “know” Christ isn’t going to be born.

Jacob is neither amused nor shaken. He sets out to calmly undo Sherem’s slick arguments. He directly asks Sherem if he denied Christ. Sherem openly admitted to denying Christ.

Sherem says if there were a Christ, he would believe in Him, but since there isn’t, he doesn’t. Jacob then asks Sherem if he believes the scriptures and Sherem says he does. Jacob responds that if he truly believes the scriptures, he misunderstands them, because the prophets have clearly stated that Christ will come.

Then Jacob does what every good missionary must do. He shares his testimony of Christ, saying that this testimony came to him through the witness of the Holy Ghost. Sherem now goes for what he fully expects to be the big finish: he demands a sign.

Jacob refuses to promise him a sign.

14 And I said unto him: What am I that I should tempt God to show unto thee a sign in the thing which thou knowest to be true? Yet thou wilt deny it, because thou art of the devil. Nevertheless, not my will be done; but if God shall smite thee, let that be a sign unto thee that he has power, both in heaven and in earth; and also, that Christ shall come. And thy will, O Lord, be done, and not mine.

15 And it came to pass that when I, Jacob, had spoken these words, the power of the Lord came upon him, insomuch that he fell to the earth. And it came to pass that he was nourished for the space of many days.

Certainly Sherem was hoping Jacob would try to move a mountain or something harmless—to Sherem—unsuccessfully, in order to “prove” his point. Instead, Jacob, while refusing to promise anything, selected a sign that would penalize the sinner, should God choose to act on it.

Sherem understood that he was dying and asked to have the people brought to him. He made a death bed effort to undue what he had done, fearing, he said, that he had committed the unpardonable sin of lying to God and denying Jesus. He asked forgiveness and admitted to the people he had indeed lied and had been deceived by Satan. Shortly after making this confession and sharing his true testimony, he died.

The people were astounded and were shocked back into spirituality. The spirit was able to touch their hearts and they returned to the gospel and repented as well. The tide of wickedness beginning to take over the city came to a rapid end.

There are two possible interpretations for this. One is that the Lord of the Vineyard is the Savior, and the servant is his prophets. The other, less commonly offered, is that the Lord of the Vineyard is God, and the servant is Jesus Christ, due to the Savior’s role as the Intercessory. The servant, you may recall, was always the one pleading for just a little more time. This role could suit either interpretation.

However, you view it, the Lord of the Vineyard is a member of the Godhead (the Godhead consists of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost) and the story is one of love. We see, as we study the story carefully, how very much the Lord loves his vineyard, and particularly the tree at the center of the story. He has enjoyed it for many years, loving it and caring for it. When He sees He is about to lose His tree, He devotes great time and effort to save it.

If we view the servant as the prophets, we can look back through the history of the world, whenever prophets were on the earth, and see how they often pleaded for their people and labored, under God’s guidance, to save the people. They struggled to humble their people so the top wouldn’t steal strength from the roots. If we view him as Jesus, we see Him working, also under God’s direction, to build the kingdom.

When the master transplants branches of the parent tree in far-flung corners of the vineyard, which represents the world, he doesn’t simply forget them. He gives them the same attention and love the parent tree receives. He sends his servant to nurture those young branches. In this same vein, God has not forgotten the scattered tribes of Israel. The world declares some are lost, but God always knows where they are, and we know He has had communication with at least some of them in times since their scattering. God doesn’t misplace the children He loves.

Just as the Lord of the Vineyard gathered the far-flung branches he had transplanted and made a final, mighty effort to save the vineyard, God will bring about a restoration of Israel with the help of His prophets. Yes, He has restored prophets to the earth to prepare His children for the last days. It will take the work of all those who are dedicated enough to participate however difficult it will be—and that includes all of us, who are invited to hear the words of the prophet and to assist God in His glorious work at closing down our time on earth.

There are actually a number of olive trees in the story. The representations are taken from the Institute of Religion Manual for the Book of Mormon.

The tame tree represents Israel, the chosen people. The wild trees represent those who are not of Israel in the early story, and later the branches that are wild represent apostate Israel. The branches are various groups of people.

Olive trees can grow wild, but pruning and care gives the most reliable results. We see in the allegory how hard the Lord worked to care for his trees. We saw in one part of the allegory that the top of the tree was dying. This is due to the tree outgrowing its roots (Research and Perspectives: Recent Studies on the Book of Mormon,” Ensign, Jul 1989, 62) According to the article I’ve linked to here, the servant had to remove branches before grafting new ones to prevent this particular problem.

The Book of Mormon student manual explains that the olive tree is a very appropriate symbol for a story that represents God’s love for His children. The trees require extensive care and nurturing, as we’ve seen in the story. If left alone, the trees fruit will be inedible. A wild tree can be made tame, but this requires a great deal of effort, cutting back the trunk and grafting branches of a tame tree onto it. Even then, it’s not fully developed for fifteen years. Olive trees are the product of patience and direct, hands-on nurturing and assistance. The manual explains: “Throughout its history Israel has demonstrated the remarkable aptness characterized by the symbol of the olive tree. When they gave themselves to their God for pruning and grafting the Israelites prospered and bore much fruit, but when they turned from Christ, the Master of the vineyard, and sought to become their own source of life and sustenance they became wild and unfruitful.”

As we study the story, we see that Israel was a wonderful tree that served God well for many years. Being a favored nation, the Lord of the vineyard (God) is reluctant to let it simply die, and does everything in His power to save the tree, or Israel. Again and again, Israel struggles and seems to be in great trouble, but we see it is still here, having survived centuries of trials and war. The olive tree in the allegory produced many new trees from its transplanted branches, and is like Israel in that way. It keeps coming back to life, surviving all threats to its survival.

We know from prophecy that Israel will be gathered together and restored someday. The planting of the tree branches taken from the parent tree in various corners can be interpreted as the scattering of Israel, and the grafting of those scattered trees’ branches back on to the original tree can represent the gathering of Israel in the last days. Isaiah prophesied that Israel would learn from its mistakes, fulfill its part in the covenants made with God, and make the gathering possible. It is already happening in this day.

This allegory was considered by Joseph Fielding Smith, an early church prophet, one of the greatest parables of the Book of Mormon, one that could only have come through prophecy, and not through the imagination of any mortal man, much less one with as little education as the young Joseph Smith had received when he translated the Book of Mormon. Many consider it powerful evidence, if evidence were required, that the Book of Mormon is true.
You can read the allegory yourself in the Book of Jacob, in chapter five.

Following is the basic story contained in the parable. In my next articles, I’ll help guide you through an understanding of this parable.

This is the story of a master who is upset because his prize olive tree is growing old and decaying. He doesn’t want to lose it, but hopes to preserve it so he can preserve the fruit for the future. He and his servant work constantly to do what is needed to save it—pruning it, working the ground around it, and nourishing it.

Initially, this seems to help. Some young new branches begin to appear. However, the top of the tree began to decay, upsetting the master. He sends his servant to pluck some branches from a wild olive tree. They then pluck off the dead branches, burning them, and graft branches from the wild tree onto the tame tree. They again work the ground and nurture the tree, hoping to preserve the roots. Natural young branches of the tame tree were hidden in various parts of the vineyard in hopes they would grow well.

When they return to evaluate the results, the tree has again begun to bear fruit, and the fruit is good. The master instructs the servant to preserve the fruit for his own purposes.

The servant, however, is puzzled. He asks why the master planted a tree in the poorest spot in the vineyard. The master agrees the spot was poor, but points out it has given good fruit for many years. He demonstrates that he had planted a branch in a spot that was even worse, and it too had given good fruit. In fact, the branches planted in bad spots generally grew well, but the ones they planted in good spots often produced bitter fruit and had to have the bad portions removed.

26 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good fruit, and cast them into the fire.

27 But behold, the servant said unto him: Let us prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it a little longer, that perhaps it may bring forth good fruit unto thee, that thou canst lay it up against the season.

28 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard and the servant of the Lord of the vineyard did nourish all the fruit of the vineyard. (Jacob 5)

After a long season of careful care, they again went to inspect the initial tree they wanted to save. It was filled with fruit of all kinds, but none of it was good. The master was frustrated. He had worked so hard to save the tree, but the wild branches had overtaken the roots and were destroying the tree.

They then went to check on the other natural branches they had planted. These too had been destroyed, so that even the parts that had borne good fruit were now corrupted. The master grieved:

47 But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?

48 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Is it not the loftiness of thy vineyard—have not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good? And because the branches have overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots, taking strength unto themselves. Behold, I say, is not this the cause that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted?

Again the master decides the trees must be destroyed, and again, it is the servant who pleads for them to be saved and given a bit longer. The master agrees, hating the thought of losing his trees.

This time, the master decides to take branches from the new trees, which, you recall, came from the original tree. These he will graft onto the original tree, removing branches that are the most bitter. With the most bitter branches gone, and new branches grafted from trees created from that same tree, he hoped the roots would grow strong again.

This was the last chance. A small number of servants were called to assist in the preparations for this important last time. The effort was successful and the master rejoiced, calling his servants to him.

75 And it came to pass that when the Lord of the vineyard saw that his fruit was good, and that his vineyard was no more corrupt, he called up his servants, and said unto them: Behold, for this last time have we nourished my vineyard; and thou beholdest that I have done according to my will; and I have preserved the natural fruit, that it is good, even like as it was in the beginning. And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard.

Instead, the Savior would offer a gospel that was filled with plain and simple truths. The complexities of the Law of Moses would be removed. The intellectualism some craved would not be a part of the gospel. Those who wanted a gospel too hard to understand would be disappointed, because the truth is not complex. However, we can see from Jacob’s warning that God would give them what they wanted, if they insisted on it, but to their own detriment.

“14 But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble. (Jacob 4)

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jacob/4

While God glories in our intelligence, which He gave us, we must not allow intellectualism or a desire for the complex and fancy to overshadow our need for the very basic, very beautiful in their simplicity, gospel truths. Sometimes people who wish to attack the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will focus on small fringe ideas, ideas which were never canonized, but only speculated on by early leaders and others, as intelligent people sometimes do. They entirely miss the heart of the gospel, which begins when a young boy kneels in the woods and God appears, introducing young Joseph Smith to His Son, Jesus Christ. This simple moment in unpretentious, God-made surroundings, teaches the heart of the restored gospel. God lives. Jesus is His literal Son.

From this other simple truths were taught over time. God loves us with all His heart. Jesus redeemed us out of love. God sends prophets to teach us even today because He loves us. He has given us the Holy Ghost, if we choose it, to allow us to communicate directly with God anytime we choose, and this too, because He loves us.

The plain and simple truths of the gospel are the ones centered in love, and they are the heart of the gospel that is truly taught by the restored gospel. Don’t look beyond the mark, as the early Jewish people sometimes did, and miss what is right in front of you: The truth, in all its simplistic glory.

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.