Book of Mormon Month - Day 17: A Fire Burning within Me

On Day 17, read "A Fire Burning within Me" and the true story of a Eduardo, who had a miraculous encounter with the Book of Mormon...even though he couldn't read.

With a prayer in his heart, Eduardo sat down one hot summer day in a shady spot in the backyard of his home. “There,” he says, “I determined to make the attempt.”

María says she never would have imagined what happened next. As she worked in the kitchen, she listened off and on as Eduardo attempted to sound out letters and words. “Suddenly I heard him speaking rapidly,” she says. “I listened and realized that he was reading—fluently. Less than half an hour had passed, and he was reading!”

Eduardo was so immersed in his attempt that he hadn’t realized he was reading. But as he read, he recalls, “I felt a fire burning within me.” Frightened and surprised, Eduardo called to his wife, “Mami, what is happening to me?”

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Book of Mormon Month - Day 16: If You Really Want to Know, You Will Know

If You Really Want to Know, You Will Know

By Elder Walter F. González
Of the Presidency of the Seventy

I feel everlasting gratitude for the Book of Mormon. It changed my life forever, and I know it can change yours.
I was 18 years old when I became a member of the Church. The Book of Mormon played a key role in my conversion. At the time, I was searching for new ideas that could explain the world around me. I remember my college professors taking very materialistic approaches in their teaching. I started to lean toward agnostic ideas about the existence of God.

One day I noticed a sky-blue book that a couple of missionaries had left in our home about six years before. It was the Book of Mormon. Along with the book, they had left a pamphlet about the Prophet Joseph Smith and also some instructions about how to pray to God.

I started reading the Book of Mormon. I was only a few verses into the book, in 1 Nephi, when I felt something different. I began to debate between my feelings and my intellect. So I decided to ask God in prayer.
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Book of Mormon Month - Day 15: A Sacred Work

A Sacred Work

By David A. Feitz

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One evening my missionary companion and I knocked on the door of a young man who was an international student studying at one of London’s many universities. He invited us in, and we explained that we were missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He seemed eager to learn more about the Restoration of the gospel, so we testified of the Prophet Joseph Smith and told him about a sacred book from our Heavenly Father called the Book of Mormon. We emphasized that it was sacred because it testifies of Jesus Christ.

We explained that he could know for himself of its truthfulness and offered to give him a copy. As I handed the Book of Mormon to him, he got up from his chair and left the room without saying a word. I held the Book of Mormon in my hand momentarily, and my companion and I looked at each other in puzzled silence, wondering what to do. I put the book down on the table.

We could see our young friend in the kitchen washing his hands and drying them on a fresh towel. He came back into the room and picked up the Book of Mormon from the table and simply said, “My people always wash their hands before they touch something sacred.” Tears came to my eyes as I watched this young man open the Book of Mormon for the first time and turn its sacred pages with his clean hands.

Alma taught that the scriptures are sacred and are preserved to bring souls to salvation. He declared to his son Helaman, “God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations” (Alma 37:14).

I was sent on a mission to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, yet I was the one being taught by this young man with his clean hands. In many cultures—including my own—it isn’t necessary to wash our hands before reading the scriptures, but his simple gesture of respect was a reverent and powerful reminder of the sacredness of the Book of Mormon.

Source

Book of Mormon Month - Day 14: The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion

The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion

By President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994)

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"The gift I am thinking of is more important than any of the inventions that have come out of the industrial and technological revolutions. This is a gift of greater value to mankind than even the many wonderful advances we have seen in modern medicine. It is of greater worth to mankind than the development of flight or space travel. I speak of the gift of the Book of Mormon, given to mankind 156 years ago."

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Photograph of President Benson by
Busath Photography

Book of Mormon Month - Day 13: Teachings for Our Day

The Book of Mormon is full of teachings for our day. Moroni saw our time in prophetic vision and wrote directly to us about what would happen. On Day 13, look around you as you read and notice how many of those prophecies are actually coming true.

Teachings for Our Day

We learn from ancient prophets that the Book of Mormon contains many “plain and precious things” that were preserved to instruct us in our day (see 1 Nephi 13:40; 19:3). These truths provide clarity and increased understanding of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and help students of the Book of Mormon navigate through life’s challenges with hope and strength. In the following quotes, modern prophets and apostles testify of these important teachings.
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Book of Mormon Month - Day 12: If We Do Not Doubt

On Day 12, take a moment to read the exceptional account of a band of 2,000 young men which the Book of Mormon calls stripling warriors.

They're the original momma's boys!

If We Do Not Doubt

In the Book of Mormon we read about exemplary young men who were exceedingly valiant, courageous, and strong. “Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him” (Alma 53:21). These faithful young men paid tribute to their mothers—their examples and teachers.

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Book of Mormon Month - Day 11: Columbus Prophesied in the Book of Mormon

On Day 11, we look back on the Day 10 celebration of Columbus Day in the United States of America.

Did you know that the voyage and work of Christopher Columbus was shown to the prophet Nephi in the Book of Mormon approximately 2,000 years before Columbus made his voyage?

10 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren.
11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren.
12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.

Today, Columbus is revered by some, yet reviled by others. Is criticism of the man warranted? I guess that depends on one's point of view, cultural history, and/or ethnic background. You can read more about how we might see a wider perspective of the interpretation of those events and their significance in our day.

Related articles

• Think You Know The Real Christopher Columbus? (npr.org)
• Columbus Day - Facts - Not some blogger's opinion. (realthinktank.com)
• Christopher Columbus: Five things you thought you knew about the explorer (csmonitor.com)
• Columbus Day 2011 (andrewconard.com)
• Columbus Day... reconsidered... (cenantua.wordpress.com)
• Christopher Columbus Day Thoughts! (iamdomo.com)
• To Celebrate Or Not To Celebrate Columbus Day, That Is The Question (laist.com)
• Columbus Day (davidscommonplacebook.wordpress.com)
• Columbus Day: 5 Things You Didn't Know (abcnews.go.com)

Book of Mormon Month - Day 10: The Book of Mormon: Strengthening Our Faith in Jesus Christ

Day 10 and we're 1/3 of the way through our 30 day reading challenge. Again, don't worry if you're not matching the 17.1 pages per day to actually finish. Stop and smell the flowers in this great book of scripture. Today's topic is using the Book of Mormon to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon: Strengthening Our Faith in Jesus Christ

Compiled from the teachings of prophets through several centuries, the Book of Mormon was written for a future time when a restoration of priesthood keys, along with a great gathering of the house of Israel, would prepare the world for the Savior’s return to the earth (see 2 Nephi 25; 27; 3 Nephi 21). Nephi described the sacred text as “the voice of one crying from the dust” (2 Nephi 33:13). Moroni declared: “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me” (Mormon 8:35). Read more or Listen

Book of Mormon Month - Days 8 and 9: How to Study the Book of Mormon

Day 8 came a bit late.
The sidebars were absent, you see.
Day 9 is now here,
we combine them in cheer
so you and I, caught up can be. :)

Day 8 - How to Study the Book of Mormon 

Twenty-five years ago, President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) detailed “three great reasons why Latter-day Saints should make the study of the Book of Mormon a lifetime pursuit.”¹ The reasons were these:

• First, the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion—the keystone of our witness of Jesus Christ, of our doctrine, and of our testimony.
• Second, the Book of Mormon was written for our day.
• Third, the Book of Mormon helps us draw nearer to God.

These reasons for studying the Book of Mormon also suggest some ways we might go about studying this unique scripture. Read More or Listen

Day 9 - Lehi’s Dream: Holding Fast to the Rod

The central feature in Lehi’s dream is the tree of life—a representation of “the love of God” (see 1 Nephi 11:21–22). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Thus, the birth, life, and atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ are the greatest manifestations of God’s love for His children. As Nephi testified, this love is “most desirable above all things” and, as the angel in his vision declared, “most joyous to the soul” (1 Nephi 11:22–23; see also 1 Nephi 8:12, 15). Chapter 11 of 1 Nephi presents a detailed description of the tree of life as a symbol for the life, ministry, and sacrifice of the Savior—“the condescension of God” (1 Nephi 11:16).

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Book of Mormon Month - Day 7: The Book of Mormon: A Witness with the Bible #bookofmormon

On Day 7, we will not rest from reading the scriptures. Nor will we wrest them to take only what we want to hear from them. We'll read by the light of God's knowledge.

The Book of Mormon: A Witness with the Bible

In harmony with the biblical law that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1), both the Book of Mormon and the Bible testify of Jesus Christ and teach the principles of His gospel. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that “scriptural witnesses authenticate each other. This concept was explained long ago when a prophet wrote that the Book of Mormon was ‘written for the intent that ye may believe [the Bible]; and if ye believe [the Bible] ye will believe [the Book of Mormon] also’ [Mormon 7:9]. Each book refers to the other. Each book stands as evidence that God lives and speaks to His children by revelation to His prophets.”¹
Here is a list of fundamental doctrines taught in the Bible for which the Book of Mormon adds an additional witness. Read More or Listen