The LDS sacrament is known to other Christians as the Eucharist, Communion, or generally, the Lord’s Supper.  Two priesthood holders, usually young men, bless first the broken bread and then the water, which have been placed in trays. After the respective prayers, these trays are passed to the seated congregation.

When it comes to you, you can either take one and pass it, or just pass it.  Either way, no one will fuss.

In my personal opinion, there is no harm in taking the Sacrament without being a member. No one is going to look at you like you’ve blasphemed their faith by partaking. I, along with many other members, allow my children to take the Sacrament and they haven’t been baptized as members yet.

However, it is important to understand why we take the Sacrament: 1) It reminds us of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and His great sacrifice on our behalf.  2) It serves as a renewal of the covenants we made at our baptism.

Regarding the first, I feel that most visitors would have no problem viewing the  bread and water as symbolic of the body and blood of our Redeemer.  The second reason just doesn’t apply though. Without having been baptized, you can’t renew those covenants.

Essentially, it’s up to you. You’re certainly under no obligation to take the Sacrament. If you feel more comfortable passing the tray along, that’s perfectly acceptable. If you’d like to take it, you’re welcome to do so, though it will mean far more to you after baptism.  This weekly ordinance allows baptized and confirmed saints to maintain the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, the greatest gift we can have in life.

> Twilight?

No.  Try again.

> The Book of Mormon?

Yes, that’s the one.  How much do you know about it?

> It’s the Mormon version of the Bible.

Um, okay.  We need to talk.  This article is for you.

First, it’d be good to understand what the Bible is.  The Bible comes in two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.  I’ll use bullets to summarize as quickly as I can:

Old Testament

• Begin date: “In the beginning…”
• Moses writes about creation, Eden, the flood, the tower of Babel, Abraham, the establishment and exodus of Israel.
• Law of Moses instituted for Israel.
• Other prophets and historians write about Israelite conquests and generally the lineage history of the  house of Israel.
• Stories of the Lord’s intervention, prophets foretell Israel’s captivity in Babylon.
• Israel is taken captive by Babylon (around 600 BC), then eventually set free to rebuild; prophets foretell the coming of the Messiah.
• End date: About 400 BC.

New Testament

• Begin date: About 1 BC.
• Jesus is born and hailed as the Messiah, he grows up and starts teaching and performing miracles.
• Jesus is crucified for the world’s sins and is resurrected (33 AD); he establishes a Church on the shoulders of his Apostles.
• An important Jew (Saul) hates this upstart Church and tries to destroy it; he is later visited by Jesus and becomes Paul, an important missionary.
• Paul travels all over Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome teaching about Jesus; many NT books are letters to his followers.
• Some writings from other Apostles (Peter, James, John, etc.).
• Prophesies of the eventual return of the Messiah, Jesus.
• End date: About 70 AD.

Mormons believe the teachings, visions, and prophecies in the Bible (both testaments) to be the word of God breathed to the prophets who served as scribes and mouthpieces for the Almighty.

> You’re kidding me.  Mormons read the Bible?  The same one I read?

Yup.  We English-speaking Mormons prefer the King James Version.

> So, how is the Book of Mormon any different?

Well, let’s examine the Book of Mormon.  It actually has two major sections, too.  The first one is the main story:

Lehites

• Begin date: About 600 BC.
• Israel is about to be taken captive by the Babylonians (see Old Testament, above); the Lord tells a prophet named Lehi to get his family out before it happens.
• They travel away from Jerusalem, through the desert, to the sea and build a ship.
• The Lord brings them across oceans to the American continent (they probably land in Mexico or Guatemala).
• Lehi’s family breaks apart into Nephites and Lamanites.
• A lineage history of the Nephites, their kings and the wars with the Lamanites.
• Prophesies of their future and of the coming Messiah.
• Signs testify when the Messiah is born (a new star, 1 BC), and when he dies (earthquakes, tempests, volcanoes, 33 AD).
• The resurrected Jesus arrives and shows crucifixion nail prints in his hands and feet, teaches the gospel, performs miracles, and sets up a Church.
• Peace reigns for centuries.
• Wickedness returns.  The Nephite dynasty is destroyed.
• Mormon summarizes everything by inscribing this whole story on thin sheets of gold, bound in book form (about 400 AD).
• Mormon gives the gold plates to his son, Moroni, who adds the Jaredite history, journeys to a hill in New York, and buries them in a stone box.
• End date: About AD 421.

Jaredites

• Begin date: about 3,000 BC
• Jared and family are led by the Lord to leave the tower of Babel; they move out and build barges to float to the American continent (probably Mexico).
• Jared’s brother sees visions of the future and foretells the coming of a Messiah.
• Lineage history of Jared’s descendants; wars, kings, important events.
• Jaredites turn wicked and destroy themselves.
• Ether summarizes the account on metal plates, they are recovered by the Nephites, and added to the gold plates by Moroni.
• End date: about 600 BC.

> So, wait.  That’s not even the Bible stories or anything.  Instead of Moses and Paul you’ve got Nephi and Jared and Moroni.

Yes.  It’s vital to see the distinction between the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  They are about two completely separate groups of peoples on opposite sides of the globe.  That’s the main difference.  To put it simply:

Bible = Middle East

Book of Mormon = America

> But you mentioned Jesus.  Is that the same Jesus as in the Bible?  How does he show up in America?

Same Jesus, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth: the Son of God.  After he died and was resurrected, he appeared to the peoples of the Book of Mormon.

> I heard that the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible, and I’m not comfortable with that idea.

They are two very different accounts of separate peoples.  They’re like cake and ice cream.  Neither one is meant to replace the other.  In fact, they are enhanced when used together.  Give me both!

> Okay, but wouldn’t the Bible have mentioned something about the Book of Mormon?

It does!  The Lord told the Bible prophet Ezekiel that the stick of Judah (the Bible) and the stick of Joseph (the Book of Mormon) will be joined together “and they shall become one in thine hand” (Ezekiel 37:16-17).  Also, Jesus Christ taught the disciples that he had other sheep, “which are not of this fold” whom he intended to visit (John 10:16).

In the Book of Mormon, an angel explained to Nephi that “These last records [the Book of Mormon] . . . shall establish the truth of the first [the Bible] . . . and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved” (1 Nephi 13:40).

What they have in common is their devotion to the Savior of all men.  Jesus is the long-foretold Messiah.  We may be saved from our sins and crimes and from death itself through His holy name.  These books of scripture tell us how we can receive this precious gift.  I recommend you read both.  You may order a free copy of each from mormon.org (the official Church website).

> Alright.  I’m clicking on that link right now!

Mike and Cristine Mason have been married for over 5 years, they are the parents of a beautiful and active 2 year-old boy.  They were baptized March 22, 2009.  Mike is a salesman, Cristine works at a university as an administrative assistant.  The following excerpts are from an interview with them conducted May 16, 2010.

How did you find the LDS Church?

Mike: Back in 2003, I received a revelation that Jesus Christ was real and that I am a son of God.  That revelation just hit me and I was walking around for three days singing hallelujah.  And I thought, “Well, if I’m a son of God I’d better read what that means, because the only Son of God that I’m aware of is Jesus Christ.”  So I went to start studying the Bible, day and night I just read it and read it and read it.  Then I realized that I needed to be baptized, but the only thing I knew was that there were churches that baptize you.  So I’d go and try out different churches, and it would be good for awhile, but then we’d run against some theological differences–what the Bible says and what they were doing was two different things.  And my enthusiasm would wane, and I’d fall back into the world again and then start searching for a new church again.

The last church I went to before I found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helped me break out of a lot of the molds of the things that happened in the 4th Century.   During the 4th century, the Nicene Creed and the doctrines that came from the Creeds bind a lot of the Protestant churches up from receiving further revelation.  The United Pentecostal Church didn’t believe in the trinity, they believed in Jehovah as Jesus Christ.  So they helped me think outside the Protestant box, and when I came to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was already believing that Jehovah was Jesus Christ, though the Pentecostals still saw them as one God, all grouped together.  But again, the Bible hit their doctrine, and I knew that the Bible was my Gold Standard, so my enthusiasm waned.

At that time, I was working a lot of hours, making a lot of money, living the luxurious lifestyle.  But I was not spending any time with my family.  I could feel us spinning apart–my child was growing up without me.  One night I saw the end coming–I knew that if something did not change, it would all completely fall apart.  And there was a commercial on TV (and I HATED these commercials growing up–”Isn’t it about time”).  So I saw the website, www.mormon.org and I got on and started comparing the doctrines and things just started lining up–”oh my word!  They’re not kooks!”

As I was talking with the missionaries, I had question after question after question–they even brought the Mission President to our home to help answer my questions.  There had been nothing else that I had found that had been this living, this powerful, as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Just the fruit, what it has brought into our lives, the way it has changed my life.

Cristine: I’ve always felt that light inside me, driving me to seek religion.  I grew up as a Catholic, we went to church on Sundays–even though I didn’t have much community involvement.  But I’ve always had that fire for the Lord.  And after we got married, we began this search together.  And we were attending that Pentecostal church, and it was good, but not great.  And all of the sudden one day, [Mike] had done a search on my phone and I saw “www.mormon.org” on my phone and I thought–”what is this?? Oh my goodness, where are we going now?”  One day he happened to mention that some people were coming by that night to teach us a little bit about it.  One night he had been in their parking lot and he met with the Elders and they really got in to the meat and potatoes of it all.  At first I was a little hesitant, but I decided that I would just feel them out and see what they were saying and if it rang true, then I would listen to them.  So they came and I thought, “Well, this isn’t so bad.  It sounds like it could be true.”  So then that opened the door for me to listen and accept it.

And then I have realized, “Wow, this really is a fullness.  Why would it all just have to be in the Old World?  Why couldn’t Jesus have come to this continent?  People are always saying, “Don’t put God in a box” and then they limit what He can do or where He can be.  It helped me to believe, to have that testimony of the Book of Mormon as another testament of His life.  As we got into more discussions with the Elders, we had more and more little revelations of the truth of it, as well as starting to see the fruits of it in our own lives.

Have you met with opposition as you’ve joined the church?

Mike: I’ve had friends that I’d left from other churches that I knew I had to tell them that I had joined the church.  One gentleman, who I had been friends with for the longest time, he is a die-hard Pentecostal and I knew that my first test of being a member of the church was that I had to bear him my testimony.  And he rained fire on my head.  He wanted to argue, he wanted to fight–and I just stayed my course and kept repeating, “I know this is true because I thought about it, I’ve prayed about it” and the result of that conversation was that I realized that my hands were now welded to my plow.  I had taken that step of commitment.

When my mom found out what church we were going to, she said, “Are those the Mormons?  You know they don’t even believe in God.”  I’ve had to go against my grandmother, the matriarch of the family–very strong and hard-headed sometimes.  I’ve had opposition from my family.  However, my dad supports it–he’s seen the change in us.

Cristine: Most of the opposition we’ve had has come through his side of the family. I remember one weekend we were on vacation, and his grandmother found our primary book [Cristine teaches the children in the Church's Primary organization], and said, “that looks like a nice program, but they don’t teach from the Bible.”  And I said, “Yes they do.”  She warned me that I should be careful and really think about what I was doing, and I replied,  “You know I take this pretty seriously, and you can be sure that I have prayed and thought about it.”

How has it changed you?

Mike: The change has come about in three ways: The first was spiritually.  It helped me eliminate a lot of bad physical habits, all on the spiritual power of my testimony.  As soon as I knew the church was true, I quit my smoking and other habits that instant.  Never looked back.  The power of the testimony just happened instantly.  The second is mentally–I have a mental illness that was misdiagnosed for a long time, but after becoming a member of the Church, cleaning up my life and finding balance with everything, I’ve been able to be re-diagnosed with much better outcomes.  The third is physically (Mike has lost over 60 pounds in the last few months and he looks great).  But it’s also changed my marriage–the way I relate to people and the way I relate to my wife.

Cristine: And the Lord is who brought Mike and I together, and as we’ve studied together, it’s helped us seal our marriage.  Again, the fruits are evident in our lives, as well as our little boy’s life.  Sure, he’s a little hyper, but his prayer life is coming together.  He’s the first one at the dinner table who reaches out his hands and says, “let’s pray”.

Additionally, we have received so much support and encouragement with the Church, especially when things were really at their worst.  We ask ourselves, “Could we have gotten that help anywhere else?”

And I had a friend at work, who is LDS, and I would go to her and ask her about the Church.  I remember when Mike was having difficulties with his illness, I would go to her and say, “I just want to go somewhere where people will accept him for who he is.  It is not a very easy thing to accept a person for their differences, but I am just hoping that this place will have the structure in the men’s group that they would accept him, and not shun him.”  And thus far it has gone really well.

Mike: I would echo what Peter said to Christ when Christ asked him if he was going to leave Him too, and Peter answered, “where would we go?  You have the truth.” And that is what I would say today.  In our year and some months in the church, I haven’t been the perfect Latter-day Saint, but it comes back to–where else am I going to go?  This is where the truth is.  And as far as waning excitement that has happened in the past with previous churches, I’ve already been through the peaks and valleys with this church, and the Spirit just draws me back in.  We’re here to stay.

First and foremost, God has a standard.  He has a way of living that He wants for us.  He has revealed, and continues to reveal, that way of living to prophets throughout the ages.  Through Moses, He instructed the children of Israel to obey a strict set of laws.  Jesus Christ instructed the Jews a different (and better) way of living that relied more on developing a good heart that dictates good actions.  I don’t doubt that that same Being inspired Buddha, Mohammad or Confucius to teach their respective peoples a better way of living.

Here’s the important part:  God does this so that His own children might be happy.  That’s right; God gives rules for you to be happy.  If He can persuade His children to lift their way of living to a higher level, even on just a single point, it brings Him joy because they are living up to a standard that is naturally better.  It isn’t so much that God will punish those who break commandments; the commandments are there to prevent actions that cause damage.  If I do action “A” then “B” will be a result.  If “B” is good, then God wishes us to do “A,” otherwise He must forbid it.

There are several problems people see with this standard.  First, they don’t see beneficial results from supposedly good actions, nor do they see bad results from bad actions.  Then they wonder why the standards are there in the first place.  Patience.  That’s why we believe in personal revelation.  We can ask our Heavenly Father if such a thing is for us.  After receiving an answer, we trust in that answer and believe that someday, somehow, that trust will be for our good.

Second, many people find themselves not living in harmony with their beliefs.  That is, everybody eventually finds themselves where their actions don’t line up with what they know they should be doing.  They then have a choice.  They could change their actions, or change their beliefs.  Either will relieve the situation and not doing either will always result in misery.  You would be the most wretched person if you constantly wish to be unchaste while acting in celibacy.  Or you could be miserable believing that you ought not to drink alcohol while sitting at the bar getting drunk.  The key is to alter the action that is keeping us from God instead giving up His standard.

Third, when we make a poor decision, we naturally are loathe to accept the consequences for that action.  We would like to get the benefit of something we didn’t do and avoid the penalty for something we did do.  It is true that Christ’s atonement allows us to repent and avoid the dire consequences of our actions, most especially being separated from God, but it is definitely easier to prevent making a mess of our lives than to work through the repentance process.  The time spent destroying spirituality could be spent building it up instead.  God’s standard helps us reap blessings with the time we have and not to spend it in trials and pain.

So in light of all this, it is imperative that each of us keep to the standard of God and stick to it.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is there for us in our moments of weakness and to pick us up at our worst moments, if we are just willing to accept help.  It will be uncomfortable, there is no doubt there, but growth means growing pains.  The path of least resistance is quite comfortable, but doesn’t lead to the desired end.  We desire a better end, a more excellent way and one that brings a life of real joy and satisfaction.  That is why we do the things we do and try our best to live according to God’s standard.

In recent years I have been amazed at how consumerism continues to expand indefinitely.  From iPhones to the food we eat, life is a never ending torrent of advertisements telling us that “it is okay, you deserve it.”  As if to say that we are “entitled” to let go once in a while without consequences.  Unfortunately, this has translated into us feeling that we should be able to “let go” whenever, wherever, and for how ever long we please.

Those who buy in to this subtle deceit are led to waste so much of their time,  money, and other resources that they become trapped by consequences that are now out of their control. These consequences come, among other things, in the form of broken homes and marriages, poor health, debt, and perhaps the most fearsome, they become enslaved to the ever-powerful chains of sin.  In my mind, it stems from the person not being able to forego the easy pleasures of today, for the hard-earned happiness of tomorrow.  I see so many people whose whole goal in life seems to be focused on one thing and one thing only–pleasure and the more the merrier.  They are so consumed with the newest fashions in clothing, or having that new car, or the latest technology in televisions or game stations, or what they are going to do Friday night, that when they wake up late Saturday morning, they have nothing but fading memories that only leaves them hungering for more.  It is like eating Kix; you can eat 10 bowls at eight AM and by nine you are hungry again.

This has led me time and time again to contemplate on the difference between pleasure and happiness.   What types of activities and pursuits do I have?  Do they bring only pleasure, or will they bring lasting happiness.  More often than not, happiness demands sacrifice and large amounts of it.  Nevertheless, happiness is always sweeter and more desirable than pleasure.  For me, happiness is akin to vine-ripe strawberries.  One must water and weed, fertilize and wait, but there is nothing quite like that sweet taste at the end of June after two months of hard work.  Here is a quote by James E. Talmage (a leader of our church at the turn of the 20th century)  comparing pleasure and happiness.  I hope that you will take the chance to reflect on what you spend your time pursuing and, if needed, change.  You will never be sad  you did when you eat the sweet fruit, fresh off the vine and hopefully you will never want to go back to that nasty, store-bought stuff.

“The present is an age of pleasure-seeking, and men are losing their sanity in the mad rush for sensations that do but excite and disappoint. In this day of counterfeits, adulterations, and base imitations, the devil is busier than he has ever been in the course of human history, in the manufacture of pleasures, both old and new; and these he offers for sale in most attractive fashion, falsely labeled, Happiness.

“. . . Happiness includes all that is really desirable and of true worth in pleasure, and much besides. Happiness is genuine gold, pleasure but gilded brass, which corrodes in the hand, and is soon converted into poisonous verdigris. Happiness is as the genuine diamond, which, rough or polished, shines with its own inimitable luster; pleasure is as the paste imitation that glows only when artificially embellished. Happiness is as the ruby, red as the heart’s blood, hard and enduring; pleasure, as stained glass, soft, brittle, and of but transitory beauty.

“Happiness is true food, wholesome, nutritious and sweet; it builds up the body and generates energy for action, physical, mental and spiritual; pleasure is but a deceiving stimulant which, like spiritous drink, makes one think he is strong when in reality enfeebled; makes him fancy he is well when in fact stricken with deadly malady.

“Happiness leaves no bad after-taste, it is followed by no depressing reaction; it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and suffering; and, if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and destruction

“True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish.  (James E. Talmage, Improvement Era, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 172-73.  Quoted in: Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983], 230.)

Swimming is something we do mainly for recreation, like sailing, golfing, four-wheeling, and going to the movies.  The Lord has asked us to spend one day of our week in worship.  Recreation often distracts from this goal.  We prefer to find activities that focus our thoughts on the Savior and bring us together as families.

Is there something inherently evil about swimming?  No, but we can lose our spiritual balance when we overfill our time with fun-seeking.

The Lord instructed Joseph Smith, “That thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High” (D&C 59:9–10). Notice that there is a blessing associated with Sabbath observance, and you can choose to claim it or not.  Freedom from the ‘spots’ or moral pollutions of the world is more important to me than swimming.

The blessings of closer communion with God easily outweigh the pleasure I might get playing Marco! Polo! in the community swimming pool (called the ‘Municipool’ where I live), especially when I can enjoy a swim on six other days of the week.

The blessings are not reserved only for Mormons, either.  Give it a try and see how you feel.  See David’s excellent article on Sabbath Day worship to learn how.

You’ll often hear phrases like, “I know that God lives,” and “I know Jesus died for my sins,” and “I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.”  Sometimes visitors come away from these meetings non-plussed by our uber-confident ‘knowledge’ of things.  It got me thinking.

Whenever someone says they know something, they are saying they have high confidence that their belief coincides with objective truth.  We do this all the time.  You say, “I just know the dentist is going to lecture me on flossing” because 1) he’s done it before and 2) you still haven’t been flossing.  Your previous experience and the evidence of your behavior lead you to this prediction.  There are many ways we gather knowledge; I’ll list a few here for illustration:

• Personal experience (five physical senses,  sense of balance, pain, hunger, etc.)
• Emotion and intuition (love, fear, instinct, etc.)
• Experiences of others (advice, anecdotes, biographies, etc.)
• Logical and mathematical proofs (a priori)
• Found evidence (archeology, historical documents, paleontology, forensics, etc.)
• Robust scientific experimentation that controls for all variables (physics, chemistry, etc.)
• Scientific experimentation/observation that controls for variables where possible (sociology, political science, economics, etc.)

We all tend to have some level of confidence in these methods, some more than others, depending on many factors, but each of these can lead a person to say “I know…” if the learning method is compelling enough.  Even so, many would argue that none of the methods I listed above are capable of producing reliable knowledge of things as transcendent as God.  Archeological digs might lend credence to a religious belief, but surely not firm knowledge.  These critics have a point, so I would add one more item to the list:

• Revelation from God

God speaks to His children in various ways.  He gave Joseph prophetic dreams that came true; He spoke to Moses from a burning bush (and also face-to-face).  He sent an angel to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus.  Joseph Smith saw and listened to the Father and the Son in a grove of trees.

To Joseph of Egypt, Moses, Mary, Smith and many others, those experiences were indisputable.  They had every right to declare, “I know” instead of “I believe,” and they did.

For most of us, though, the glorious visions and visitations of heavenly beings haven’t yet happened.  For us, God has promised another form of revelation: a personal witness of spiritual truths through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is available to bear witness of the Father and the Son.  ”By the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).  This witness may be less dramatic or conspicuous than an angelic visitor, but its convincing power may be even more sure than a vision (see Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:151; 1 Nephi 17:45-46).  Because of His subtlety, it may take many prompts for you to hear the Holy Ghost and again many more before you trust them enough to say “I know.”  But it can happen.  This is how I know God lives and that Jesus is the Christ.

You can know, too.  Like other modes of learning, it won’t necessarily come in an afternoon of mild curiosity, but it will with dedicated seeking, knocking, and asking over the course of weeks and months and years.  Begin now and you will taste the deliciousness that is the knowledge of God.

Yesterday, I was thinking about being able to listen to a modern-day prophet, so I e-mailed a few of my friends about it.  I asked them a couple of questions, and below I’ll share some of their responses.

Do you believe there is currently a prophet of God on the earth?

Yes

Yes, I do.

Yes.  I believe it’s an act of God’s love.

Is it important for there to be a prophet today?  If so, why?

Yes, because the world is ever changing and while principles may remain the same, applications are varied.

Yes.  We need God’s direction today more than ever before.  People that want to do the right thing don’t know what the right thing even is, or even if there IS a right thing, because of all of the false ideas (that are often combined with some half-truths) that are so widely propagated. As a result, too many good people wander around and get lost in life because they have no direction. A prophet of God can teach us what is right and what is wrong, and help us avoid dark paths and find the true way to happiness.

Yes.  I picture him as the liaison between God and us in a more literal sense, than just by prayer and personal revelation alone. He directs the world as a whole because they are all under his care

What does it mean to you to be able to listen to a modern day prophet?

It means so much more to me the older I get.  They give council and advice that applies to my modern day problems.  The older I get the more problems I get.  I love listening to the modern day prophet to see what the Lord wants me to do today.

I probably do not appreciate it enough.  Sometimes hindsight shows me that I should have listened better.

Any other thoughts or comments?

I know that God lives, and that He loves us. He is our Father. We can return to live with Him again after this life. This is possible because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, which enables us to repent and become better people when we make mistakes. I know that Jesus lives today.

I know that there is a modern day prophet and that he is called of the one true God.

The Prophet directs us to follow Jesus Christ, who is our Savior.  If you are interested in hearing what the Prophet of God has to say, take a look at the following website.

www.generalconference.lds.org

The Book of Mormon is about a people who left Jerusalem and lost their connection to the prophets of the Bible that lived there.  In order to teach this separate people, God called prophets among them.  Through their history, each wrote down their own experiences, prophecies and sermons.  All the writings were condensed and compiled  into a single volume a thousand years later by a prophet named Mormon.  That volume, written on gold plates, was buried anciently and retrieved by Joseph Smith by commandment of God.  He translated the work though the power of God into English and worked to distribute the book to as many of God’s children as would receive it.

It is through the Book of Mormon that we can more clearly see that Jesus Christ has been known to all of His followers, no matter where or when.  The power of the Book of Mormon comes from its witness that Jesus is the savior and redeemer of the world.  That witness is given by every one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon.  One of those prophets, named Nephi, expressed his reason for writing of Christ.

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins (2 Nephi 25:26).

Nephi’s brother, Jacob, expressed similar feelings.  ”For this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us” (Jacob 4:4).

With such a purpose of this book, it is important to understand clear what it is.  I’ve seen that some people refer to our scriptures as the Mormon Bible.  This term is confusing because it implies that the Book of Mormon replaces the Holy Bible, which it doesn’t.  We believe in and study the Holy Bible (in English, we usually read the King James version) along with the Book of Mormon.  The two are inseparably combined and go hand in hand.  With both of these resources available, a greater clarity of the scriptures can be understood by those willing to study it out.

For example, in the gospel of Matthew we read that Christ went to John the baptist to be baptized.  John realized that if there was anyone ever who never needed baptism for remission of sins, it was Jesus.  Yet Jesus was supposed to be baptized, saying, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).  What exactly does it mean “to fulfill all righteousness”?  A prophet from the Book of Mormon explains it for us: “And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?  Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments” (2 Nephi 31:6-7).  This is just a single example of many such topics.  We learn about Christ’s sacrifice and suffering, the priesthood, faith, the purpose of the law and many others in this book.

The Book of Mormon also teaches us that a testimony of Jesus Christ will protect us.  It demonstrates very vividly the promise that the Lord has made to His people as He said, “If ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land, but inasmuch as ye do not these things, ye shall be swept off the face of the land.” (See 2 Nephi 1:9-11)  This seems to be the overarching theme that is shown by periods of prosperity followed by periods of war and famine, ending ultimately in the complete destruction of a people that had fully rejected Christ in their lives.

In short, every single prophet taught the people about Christ, His mission on earth, His atonement and our eternal indebtedness to Him.  They were taught to humble themselves before Him, to learn of Him, to pray to Him, to do His will, and above all, to be as He is.  We too can learn the lessons the people of the Book of Mormon were taught, with the added benefit of perspective.  Consequences of embracing or leaving behind the gospel of Christ are put in plain view in scripture.

Any way you look at it, the Book of Mormon is phenomenal.  In just over 500 pages, a history of a people, spanning about a thousand years, is presented.  It is complete with personal stories of its authors, societal issues of an ancient people and above all, prophecy after prophecy and principle after principle relating to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  If you have not yet read it, please do so at your first possible chance.

“Hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, . . . and they teach all men that they should do good.  And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day.” 2 Nephi 33:10-11

See also: Safety for the Soul by Jeffrey R. Holland

That quote made me think: what are the great questions of the soul? I thought of several and I want to show you how the Book of Mormon answers them. Many of the questions I thought of are below, along with a specific passage in the Book of Mormon to help answer that question. There are many more questions and many more passages, but this is just a small glimpse into the book I love so much. I hope this helps some of you orient yourselves to the Book of Mormon, which has helped me answer my own soul’s greatest question.

Is there a god? (2 Nephi 2:14; Alma 30:43-44)

If so, how can I know? (Alma 22:16-18)

What is God like? (2 Nephi 26:23-24, 33, 27:23)

Does life have a purpose? (Alma 42)

Can I know that purpose? (Mormon 9:21, 27-28)

Is there life after death? (Alma 11:45, Alma 40)

I know that although this site is targeted to people who want to know more about what Mormons believe, it is frequently visited by members of our church. I encourage all of you who have read this far to leave a comment in this section. Tell about a great question of your soul, or simply ask it here. If you have found your answer in the Book of Mormon, put the scriptures that helped you. If you know of any scriptures to help anybody out, put them there. We can all gain something from this experience if you share your thoughts in the comments right now, and we need your contribution.