Homecoming Report

Well, here are the notes from my talk given in Sacrament Meeting on Jan. 26th, 2014. This is my last post on this blog. I still miss the mission, but I know I'm home for a reason, and I am trying my best to adjust.

The Book of Mormon in Conversion

I pray that the Holy Ghost will be with us all as I speak today, and that He will testify to you that what I say is true.

Let's start in the introduction to the Book.

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. We hear that phrase in often the church: “The fullness of the Gospel,” or “the restoration of the Gospel” but do we understand what that means?

In the Missionary Training Center, I began to comprehend in part what the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is. I began to gain a knowledge of it. However, while in the field, I came to really understand and internalize the Gospel of Jesus Christ through living it.

The Gospel is Faith in Christ, Repentance, Baptism by full immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Once we have entered this path that leads each of us back to our Heavenly Father, we must press forward and endure to the end of our lives. This is the Doctrine of Christ, or the Gospel of Christ. If we pursue this path until death, we shall receive Eternal Life, the greatest of all the gifts of God. I invite you all to read and think about 2^nd Nephi chapter 31 to gain a better understanding of the Doctrine of Christ.

It was these precious truths of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost that were lost or distorted after the original Apostles died. And so, when the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God given to Joseph Smith, these truths were restored to the Earth. Now men could understand and follow the path that leads back to Heavenly Father. You see why the Book is so important! We needed those truths to understand why we're alive and on the Earth, and where we're going after this life. We needed to know how to return to God through Jesus Christ, and the Book of Mormon reveals that path to us.

In the introduction, the Book reads

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost.

My invitation to y'all is the same. Will you read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it's true?

*Pause

I know it is true. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that is testifies of Jesus Christ as our Savior. I know because the Holy Ghost has testified to me that it is from God.

I want to relate to you my experience coming to know that the Book of Mormon is really from God, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I around 15, I was in seminary and Sunday School and I kept hearing that I needed to gain my own testimony of the church and of Joseph Smith. I knew I could not rely on the testimonies of others; I had to know for myself if I wanted to really continue in this church. Finally, one evening, I set aside the time and decided to really study and read the account of Joseph Smith when he saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I prayed as I read and studied, really wanting to know for myself if he did. After I had read the words of verse 17, I said a prayer aloud and asked if it really was true. My response I received came a little unexpectedly as a thought to my mind that said “Of course it is!” I sat back and reflected on that answer. I realized that I did know it was true already. I felt the Holy Ghost in the room and my heart felt like rejoicing at the answer I'd received. It was true! Joseph saw God and Jess Christ!

I have since felt the confirmations from the Holy Ghost that this is indeed the Lord's church, that the Book of Mormon is scripture from God, and, most of all, that Jesus Christ is my Redeemer and Savior. All these things had fallen into place when I first got my answer about Joseph Smith. If he really was a prophet, as the Spirit had confirmed to me, then he really translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God in him. The fullness of the gospel really was restored to the earth, along with priesthood authority to administer the gospel. And this is the Church of Jesus Christ, the only true and living church on earth, with revelation to guide us in these last days before the second coming of Jesus Christ.

So that is my story of coming to know the veracity of Joseph as a prophet of God, as well as the veracity of the Book of Mormon. They cannot be separated; the Holy Ghost will witness of one as He does the other. He will witness of Christ as he does of this great work of salvation.

In the field, I saw the effect that studying the Book of Mormon had on people, myself included. I saw it help a woman, who had not been to church for some years, to come back to church as we read with her in her home each week. It helped her face the challenges of unemployment and financial hardships. It strengthened her faith as she watched her 6-year-old nephew undergo cancer treatments and become weaker. The Book of Mormon was the tool the Lord had us as missionaries use to help her pay her tithing and get back to the temple. I got to be there when she went back to the temple for an endowment session, and I will always remember that event.

I restate my personal invitation to you all: Will you read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon? The Holy Ghost will testify to you that it is from God, just as He has to me. If you have questions, do what Joseph Smith did and ask of God.

The following story is from Elder Russell M. Nelson from the October 2010 general conference.

“Many years ago two colleagues of mine—a nurse and her doctor husband—asked me why I lived the way I did. I answered, “Because I know the Book of Mormon is true.” I let them borrow my copy of the book, inviting them to read it. A week later they returned my book with a polite “thanks a lot.”

I responded, “What do you mean, thanks a lot? That’s a totally inappropriate response for one who has read this book. You didn’t read it, did you! Please take it back and read it; then I would like my book back.”

Admitting that they had only turned its pages, they accepted my invitation. When they returned, they said tearfully, “We have read the Book of Mormon. We know it is true! We want to know more.” They learned more, and it was my privilege to baptize both of them.”

I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Lord, and that he translated it through the gift and power of God. I know the Book testifies of Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of the world. I know Jesus Christ lives today, with a resurrected body of flesh and bone. I know He will come again, and that this is His church and His kingdom preparing for His coming.