#4 RESOURCES FOR STUDYING THE BOOK OF MORMON

            The Lord and His Church have provided many resources to assist us in reading and studying the Book of Mormon. I’d like to discuss some of them in this blog post. I hope that doing so will be helpful to you and your family as you read and study the Book of Mormon this year. This won’t be an exhaustive list but will include suggestions for those resources that are most conveniently available and some that have been especially useful to me.

            But before doing that, I need to say again and emphatically – Read the Book! The power is in the Book! Don’t be diverted or bogged down (or, for that matter, “blogged down”) by reading about the Book of Mormon. Read the Book! If that’s all you do this year and don’t read anything else, just read the Book! It’s tempting to read other books, commentaries, articles, or blogs, and listen to talks or podcasts and watch videos and think we are reading and studying the Book of Mormon, but we’re not. When we do those things without reading the Book, we’re like a violinist stringing, tuning and unstringing their violin but never playing a tune! So, most important and above all – read the Book of Mormon this year!

Come, Follow Me

            For most of us, our main resource for enhancing our study of the Book of Mormon this year will be the manual Come, Follow Me – For Individuals and Families: Book of Mormon 2020. This is a wonderful resource and is very thoughtfully prepared! The manual is available in print, though copies seem to be limited. We received one copy for our family when we met with our Bishop for tithing settlement a few weeks ago. You can get additional copies from Church Distribution. In the USA, go to www.store.churchofjesuschrist.org and you can order it for $2.60. You can also pick up copies at a Distribution Center store. It should also be available in the UK.

            For those with internet access and a computer or device on which to view it, the Come, Follow Me manual is available online. It is most conveniently accessed in the Gospel Library app (see below) but can be accessed at www.churchofjesuschrist.org under the “Serve and Teach” tab. Some might prefer a paper copy of the manual in which to make notes and write answers to questions in the lessons. But you can highlight and make notes and answer questions in the online version of the manual in the Gospel Library app. Some advantages of doing so are that your notes are archived on the Church’s server, so you will have them indefinitely in the future, and that you always have the manual with you, as long as you have a device such as a phone or tablet with you. (And we hardly go anywhere these days without our phone and/or tablet!)

Conversion is our Goal!

            The Introduction to the Come, Follow Me manual begins, “Conversion is our Goal”. It goes on to say,

“The aim of all gospel learning and teaching is to deepen our conversion and help us become more like Jesus Christ.” That is the goal of the Come, Follow Me program and should be the goal of all gospel learning. And it is an underlying goal of this blog. Each of us is responsible for our own conversion. We can help others strengthen their conversion and we ought to do so, especially our children and grandchildren and those for whom we have responsibility as teachers and leaders. But ultimately no one can do it for them and no one can do it for us. I believe the Lord will meet each of us at the level of our conversion to the Gospel and help us move to the next level if we are humble enough to trust in Him and to be taught. The home is now the center for gospel teaching. The organizational church is to support the home. So the best place to read and study the Book of Mormon and to use Come, Follow Me as a resource in doing so is in your home (whatever setting that is) individually and/or with your family (whatever group of believers or truth-seekers that is.)

Helpful Ideas

            The introductory materials in the Come, Follow Me manual include some excellent “Ideas to Improve Your Personal Scripture Study.” Here is a list of the ideas they suggest. Go to the manual for more details.

·      Look for Truths about Jesus Christ

·      Look for Inspiring Words and Phrases

·      Look for Gospel Truths

·      Listen to the Spirit

·      Liken the Scriptures to Your Life

·      Ask Questions as You Study

·      Use Scripture Study Helps

·      Consider the Context of the Scriptures

·      Record Your Thoughts and Feelings

·      Study the Words of Latter-day Prophets and Apostles

·      Share Insights

·      Live by What You Learn

The Come, Follow Me manual also makes some excellent suggestions of “Ideas to Improve Your Family Scripture Study.” Here is the bulleted list:

·      Use Music

·      Share Meaningful Scriptures

·      Use Your Own Words

·      Apply the Scriptures to Your Life

·      Ask a Question

·      Display a Scripture

·      Make a Scripture List

·      Memorize Scriptures

·      Share Object Lessons

·      Pick a Topic

·      Draw a Picture

·      Act Out a Story

Again, there are more details on each of these ideas in the manual.

Gospel Library App

            The Gospel Library app can be a great asset to your study of the Book of Mormon. I’ve been “paper-based” in scripture study all my life since I was old enough to read until about the last three years. I have now converted completely to electronic versions of the scriptures. (Not bad for a 73-year-old!) I love my well-worn copies of the scriptures with their underlining and notes, but I don’t miss them. I find it much easier and more efficient to read and study the scriptures, General Conference talks, the Ensign and Come, Follow Me in their online versions. It doesn’t work for me on my smartphone. The screen is too small. I need more screen “real estate” than a phone provides. I find that a tablet with a Bluetooth connected keyboard is ideal for me. I can even read it on my stationary bike in the basement when I pedal and study in the morning (after playing pickleball!). You can also access the Gospel Library on a computer at www.library.churchofjesuschrist.org but it doesn’t work as well as in the app. Remember that apps run on devices (tablets and phones). Websites run on computers (laptops and desktops). But to each his or her own preference.

            The Gospel Library app, when connected to the internet by Wi-Fi or cellular connection, gives you access to the scriptures and a wide variety of resources to help you study them. The app has features that allow you to highlight and underline in different colors. I have worked out a color scheme and assigned themes to each of the colors in the app’s palette (For example, red for anything related to a member of the Godhead or the Atonement of Jesus Christ, etc.) It makes my scriptures “come alive” for me as I highlight in different colors. The Gospel Library app also allows me easily got to footnote references, to make notes related to highlights, to create links between scriptures, to have multiple pages open at once and to bookmark multiple places where I am studying or teaching. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, you can also create a study plan in the app to keep you on schedule to read the Book of Mormon this coming year.

By syncing with the Church’s server using my LDS account username and password, my highlights, notes, bookmarks, etc. are stored in the Church’s “cloud” and are always available to me on whatever device I might be using wherever I am. It’s amazing! If you haven’t discovered the Gospel Library app and what it will do for your gospel study, I strongly suggest you give it a try.

Ensign

            The Ensign is also a great source for additional information and inspiration in your study of the Book of Mormon this year. Each month’s issue has a section which is a supplement to Come, Follow Me with good suggestions, especially for families. The January 2020 issue (which became available online about a week ago) has a number of excellent articles to supplement your study of the Book of Mormon. In anticipation of this blog post, I read most of them in my morning study last week. There are some excellent articles with titles like

·      “Have the Greatest Year with the Greatest Book”

·      “What Church Leaders are Saying about the Book of Mormon”

·      “The Translation of the Book of Mormon: A Marvel and a Wonder”

·      “The Power of Deliverance: Why Nephi Killed Laban”

·      “Sariah”

·      “Knowing is Nice but Not Enough”

In addition, there is a new section of “Weekly Book of Mormon Insights”. And the monthly section of “Support Articles and Activities” has good material for each week of January.

            The Ensign is a valuable resource to you and your family as you read and study the Book of Mormon this year. Don’t be without it!

Book of Mormon Stories

        Available in print and online in the Gospel Library app or at www.library.churchofjesuschrist.org is Book of Mormon Stories, a children’s illustrated book of the stories in the Book of Mormon. My wife, Lori, used to read to our children when they were young from this book so that when they joined the older children in family Book of Mormon study class at age 8 years old, they were already familiar with Book of Mormon names, places and stories. It was very helpful!

            While recently serving as missionaries in England and Wales, Lori, and I found this a very useful resource to use in helping those new to the Book of Mormon understand the storyline and get a feeling for some of the prophets and places. For some of you, as well as for children and youth, this may be the best place to start your study of the Book of Mormon.

Commentaries and Books

            There are several excellent commentaries on the Book of Mormon. A quick perusal of www.DeseretBook.com reveals at least half a dozen or more commentaries on the Book of Mormon and I know of more that aren’t listed. I’m sure they are all thoughtfully prepared and have value. The commentary I like best and have tried to read every 4 years as we study the Book of Mormon in Sunday School is the 4-volume Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon by Robert L. Millet and Joseph Fielding McConkie. Brent L. Topp also contributed to the 4^th volume. You can buy them in hardback or paperback or can get them in e-book format. If you have a Deseret Bookshelf account, you can download the e-books without additional charge. I find the e-book version very convenient because I can read them at the same time as I’m reading the Book of Mormon in the Gospel Library app. I can toggle back and forth on my tablet and copy and paste from the commentary into notes in the Gospel Library. It’s remarkable and easy to do!

This commentary focusses on the doctrines in the Book of Mormon. I find it very well written and incisive. The authors won’t try to tell you where the city of Zarahemla was located but will help you understand the many doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon.

There are also many good books written about the Book of Mormon. I’ll mention just two. The first is a new book by Tad R. Callister (author of The Infinite Atonement and other books) titled A Case for the Book of Mormon. Brother Callister addresses many of the objections and criticisms of the Book of Mormon by its critics. It is available in print, e-book or audio book read by the author. I highly recommend it!

            The father and son team of Lynn A. and David L. Rosenvall has produced a book that reformats the Book of Mormon in a most interesting and readable way. In their book, A New Approach to Studying the Book of Mormon (The Olive Leaf Foundation, 2017), they divide the Book of Mormon text into 214 events or episodes organized in a paragraph form, rather than numbered verses, with emphasis on narrators, speakers, locations, dates and quoted passages. Some of our teenage grandchildren have been reading the Book of Mormon using this format and found it much more readable for them than the traditional numbered verses format. Anything that can help a teenager discover the Book of Mormon is of value!

Online resources

            There is an abundance of online resources in addition to those mentioned above relating to the Book of Mormon. There is also an abundance of online material opposed to the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith 3 times on the night of September 21, 1823, one of the first things he told Joseph was that his name “should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.” (JS-H 1:33) That prophecy, amazing as it was to make about a 17-year-old upstate New York farm boy with little formal education, has been literally fulfilled. No one who knows of Joseph Smith and his work is neutral about him, just as no one who knows about the Book of Mormon is neutral about it. So be careful what you read on the internet about the Book of Mormon. It is an unfiltered source of information, much of which is true and helpful but some of which is not true and is calculated to undermine faith and testimony.

            I was recently referred to an internet site that is an excellent source of information about the Book of Mormon. The site is Book of Mormon Central and can be found at www.bookofmormoncentral.org. Their mission statement is “We build enduring faith in Jesus Christ by making the Book of Mormon accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world.” They have excellent people involved. This appears to be a truly valuable resource to explore for a more in-depth study of the Book of Mormon this coming year. I haven’t spent a lot of time on this site but expect that I will do so as the year goes forward.

Podcasts

            There are two podcasts I’d like to suggest to you as resources for your personal and family study of the Book of Mormon.

            For personal study, I’d like to suggest you visit Sisters in Scriptures, which is a scripture class sponsored by the Salt Lake Olympus Stake. They have a weekly class with excellent teachers. If you go to their site and look at prior years, you’ll see that they spent about two years studying the Book of Mormon (Fall 2017 – Spring 2019). My wife and I have listened to most, if not all, of those lessons. They are very good! Some are frankly amazing! These are especially good for women but I got a lot out of them, as well.

            Another podcast that may be helpful for you is Don’t Miss This, a weekly YouTube video by David Butler and Emily Freeman about the weekly Come Follow Me lesson. They are very good and fun, especially for a younger audience. I know a lot of people follow them regularly and get a lot out of their lessons.

Videos

            You are probably aware that the Church has begun to release the new Book of Mormon videos, produced in a similar format to the excellent Bible videos which were filmed in the area of Goshen, Utah. Looking on the Gospel Library app, it appears that they have released videos up through the Book of Enos. I’ve seen some of these and they are excellent. I also notice that there are now links to portions of these videos embedded in the scriptures in the Gospel Library app so you can access edited sections of these videos as you or your family read the Book of Mormon. Amazing!

Don’t get bogged down!

            It’s like trying to drink from a fire hydrant! There is more available than one person could assimilate in a year if that’s all we had to do. And we each have a life to lead with other important and necessary things to do in addition to reading and studying the Book of Mormon. As I’ve tried to emphasize, the most important thing is to read the Book! In addition to that, choose from among the resources available depending on your time, interests, the needs and situation of your family and your depth of gospel knowledge and experience. There is more than enough for you and your family to have a wonderfully rich year in your study of the Book of Mormon. Enjoy!