#5 MY PERSONAL BOOK OF MORMON JOURNEY AND TESTIMONY

Reading with my mother

            My first recollection of reading the Book of Mormon was when I was about 8 or 9 years old. As the youngest in a family of five children, my older brother and sisters left for school before I did. So for a few minutes, it was just Mom and me at home before I left for school. I’m not sure whose idea it was, probably hers, but we started reading the Book of Mormon together during those few minutes. As I recall, I think I would read to her as she was cleaning up from breakfast. I can still remember visions in my little boy’s head of Nephi with Laban’s sword and building a ship and of Lehi’s dream of the Tree of Life. But what I remember best is my vision of King Benjamin’s tower. I can still see him standing on it speaking to his people just as he looked in my mind over 60 years ago!

            One funny aspect of reading with my mom as a little boy is that I didn’t know what some of the words meant. I remember that there was one word that was foreign to my vocabulary. I must have asked her half a dozen times or more, “So, Mom, tell me again – what does the word harlot mean?” I’m sure she got tired of trying to answer that question!

My first time all the way through the Book

            Mom and I didn’t finish the Book of Mormon reading together, so I didn’t read the whole thing then. And we didn’t read it as a family. Even though we were an active church family, most families (at least, that I was aware of) didn’t typically read the scriptures together. The only time I recall reading the Book of Mormon with my parents on a regular basis was after returning from my first mission to England. I was the only child left at home. I asked my parents if we could read the Book of Mormon together, which we did, at least for a while.

            As 9^th graders at Clayton Junior High, we were challenged by our seminary teacher, Brother Brammer, to read the Book of Mormon that year for seminary. He promised a prize for the person who finished first. That was the first time I read the whole Book. I got the prize – a triple combination. I wonder what happened to that copy.

The words were coming off the page!

            The next time I recall reading the Book of Mormon was at age 18 when I was preparing for my mission. I decided to read it again during the year before I left on my mission while I was in my first year at the University of Utah. It was amazing! I remember thinking, “The words are coming off the page at me!” It was the first time I really felt the power of the Holy Ghost teaching and testifying to me as I read the Book of Mormon. It is clear that the Spirit was preparing me for my mission and helping me to know that the Book of Mormon is true so that I could testify of its truth with personal conviction when I got to England.

            As a parent and as a priesthood leader, I’ve seen the same thing happen many times for young people at about that age, both young men and young women. As they begin to seriously prepare for a mission and read the Book of Mormon, the Spirit labors with them and they gain a testimony of the Book, which is invaluable to them as a missionary. When interviewing prospective missionaries as stake president, I could tell those young people who had seriously read the Book of Mormon and gained a testimony in doing so from those who hadn’t yet paid the price. I just hoped it would happen for them once they arrived in the MTC or in their field of labor. (The president of a neighboring stake wouldn’t interview a young person for their mission until they had finished reading the Book of Mormon at least once. Maybe I should have been tougher, like he was.)

Nephi to Moroni in one day!

            I’m sure I read the Book of Mormon more than once as a missionary in England and, possibly, after returning home. But the next time I remember best was a unique day in my life when I read the Book of Mormon in one day. I had taken a speed-reading course while a university student and could read pretty fast. During the summer before I began medical school (1969), I was struggling to make a decision about a girl I was dating to know if she was “the one.” (I actually married someone else and I’m glad I did, but how that happened is another story!) I decided that I would fast and pray for two days continuously (not a good idea!) I also decided that, in order to bring the Spirit into my life, on the first day of fasting and prayer, I would read the Book of Mormon – the whole book! I drove to the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon east of Salt Lake City and hiked a familiar trail up the mountain past three lakes – Mary, Martha and Catherine. I would hike for a few minutes, read for an hour or so, pray for a while and then repeat the process. I read the whole Book of Mormon that day! I had always wanted to remember Nephi and how I felt about him while I was reading Moroni and feeling what he went through. It was like watching a movie of the Book of Mormon to see the panorama of 1000 years of Nephite history (as well as the Jaredites) go before my eyes in one day. It was amazing!

            By the way, I spent the next day in the temple and concluded my fast later in the day. I didn’t marry that girl, though a lovely person. She has had a good life. About six months later, I had my first date with Lori Duncan and knew before the evening was over that I wanted to spend eternity with her. The rest is history!

Many other times

            I’ve read the Book of Mormon many more times since then. For the last 20 – 30 years, I’ve tried to be reading the Book of Mormon all the time at least a little every day or nearly every day, regardless of what else I might be studying. I’ve tried to also read the Millet and McConkie Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon in each of the years when the Gospel Doctrine material is the Book of Mormon. I’ve read the Book of Mormon with young men in the Priests Quorum and with ward members and with stake members as we would focus on the Book of Mormon. I read it between August and December in 2005 when Pres. Hinckley invited the members of the Church to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. And I read it with the women of the Church in 2018 when Pres. Nelson invited the sisters to read the Book between October and the end of the year. I’ve read it when at least two different stake presidents invited us to read the Book in preparation for the next stake conference. And I read it several times more recently as a missionary in England. I began reading the Book of Mormon when we got home from England in mid-September and finished it yesterday. I’ll start reading it again today. I love the Book of Mormon! I hope to continue reading it for the rest of my life.

Reading as a family

            Perhaps the most important time I’ve spent reading the Book of Mormon has been as we have read it as a family. When our older children were old enough to read, we began reading the Book of Mormon with them in what we called “study class.” After a while, study class evolved into reading on school day mornings (not on weekends, holidays or in the summer). We would sit around the kitchen table before breakfast and read the Book of Mormon for 15-20 minutes together. There was no goal for how many verses to read. Sometimes, we’d read a verse or two and then talk. Other times, we’d cover more verses. After reading, we’d kneel together in the family room for Family Prayer and then I’d be off to work and the kids to school.

We weren’t perfect, but we were consistent. It typically took us two years to read through the whole Book and then we would start over. The kids had to be 8 years old to come to morning study class and participate. So each of them read the Book of Mormon about 5 times with our family before they left home at 18 for university or mission. They also read the Book of Mormon on their own for seminary, Young Men or Young Women, etc.

            Lori and I have said that, of all the things we did for our kids as they were growing up which were at all “optional”, we feel that reading the Book of Mormon together is the very best! We weren’t always great about Family Home Evening lessons on Monday nights. We tried to always do something together as a family, but we probably went water skiing on more Monday evenings (at least, while I used to have Monday afternoons off at the hospital) than we had formal FHE lessons. We should have done better! But studying the Book of Mormon together helped to make up the difference.

            It is our children’s desire to recapture some of the things we discussed as a family in morning study class that is an important motivation for me to create this Book of Mormon blog this year. I hope I can remember and recreate some of the truths we discovered together.

Book of Mormon reading groups on our mission

            Lori and I returned 3½ months ago from serving for 18 months in the England Manchester Mission. Our assignment was “Member and Leader Support” (MLS). We were assigned to serve in the quaint English city of Chester in northwest England. But most of our ward and stake was in nearby Wales. We had the privilege of leading Book of Mormon reading groups in three wards (Chester, Rhyl, and Wrexham) in the Chester Stake. We met weekly in the Chester Ward and on alternating weeks in the other two wards to read the Book of Mormon together. We found that our reading groups created a safe place for new and returning members as well as more mature, seasoned members and for friends learning about our church to come together and read the Book of Mormon together, discuss the gospel, ask questions and feel the Spirit. It was wonderful! Many miracles grew out of those reading groups. You can do the same thing in your family or in your apartment or neighborhood or ward. Give it a try.

Some good examples

            I’ve seen many good examples of people reading the Book of Mormon and making it an important part of their lives. Here are just a few:

            I remember looking through the bedroom door of our teenage daughter Martha one night about 10:30 pm. At the time she was in high school and very busy. She was sitting on the floor of her bedroom, doing the splits, flossing her teeth – and reading the Book of Mormon! Talk about multi-tasking!

            While on a family vacation in Sun Valley, we were talking in Priesthood Meeting about the importance of scripture study. The teacher asked for people to share their experiences in doing so. One of our sons-in-law, with whom I had never discussed the matter, raised his hand and said that when he was a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood, his bishop asked each member of their quorum to read the Book of Mormon every day. He went on to say that he took the bishop up on his invitation and started reading the Book of Mormon every day and had continued to do so. Amazing! I had no idea!

            Our daughter Carrie served a mission in Ukraine and learned to speak Russian. After coming home, she dated and married a young man from her mission, our son-in-law Luke. Now they read the Book of Mormon together at night before bed – in Russian! – to preserve their ability with the language. I wonder where they will go if they serve a mission together as a senior couple?

Good perspective from a mother teaching her daughter to love the Book of Mormon

            Now as a mother, Martha (the multi-tasking teenager referred to above) is teaching her children to read the Book of Mormon. She spoke about this recently in a talk she gave in stake conference where she lives in Springville, Utah. She spoke about trying to motivate her daughter by love rather than by guilt. Here is part of what she said in her talk:

This year our family has enjoyed spending our daily scripture study on the Come Follow Me materials. One tricky aspect of this has been figuring out how to help our children do daily Book of Mormon study on

their own, as previously our family has always studied Book of Mormon together. I had mentioned it several times throughout the year to my ten-year-old, Emily, but I think it always came through as a “should” to her. She would tell me that she didn’t understand it and didn’t find it fun to read. A couple weeks ago as she and I were discussing this again, she asked in an exasperated voice, “Is it bad to not read the Book of Mormon every day?” Now if I wanted to tackle that question from a “you should” perspective, that question would have an easy answer. But I wanted to approach it from a perspective of love. I tried to be thoughtful as I sensed her feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of reading every day and feeling guilty for not having done so thus far this year. After thinking for a moment, I told Emily that I didn’t actually think it was bad and that I didn’t think Heavenly Father would keep her out of heaven for not doing so. I then told her that, like most things in the gospel, Heavenly Father gives us opportunities for blessings. It’s our choice whether to pursue those blessings. I shared my testimony of feeling closer to the Lord in my life as a result of daily Book of Mormon study. I tried to motivate her based on a desire for closeness to the Lord and loving herself enough to take the time to attain these blessings for herself. Not too long after this conversation, Emily decided that every morning before school she would get up early, wake up her seven-year-old sister Olivia, and together they would read the Book of Mormon. To my amazement, they have done this consistently for these first weeks of school, reading a

chapter each day. I have been taught the power of motivating with love.

A missionary companion’s experience with the Book of Mormon

            I hope he’ll forgive me, but I’d like to tell you the conversion story of one of my missionary companions, Elder J. Dell Holbrook, from when we were missionaries in the British South Mission over 50 years ago. I’ll tell his story as well as I can remember it. J. Dell, if you read this, I hope I got it right!

            J. Dell Holbrook was a teenager growing up in Bountiful, Utah, in the middle 1960s. He was a big kid, standing about 6’4” tall, and had a tendency to drive too fast and get into trouble. Fortunately, his father was a local sheriff, so, when the police picked him up (as often happened), they would just call his dad and tell him to come get his kid. He went to church sometimes, but not very regularly. He was not living the standards of the gospel as he should. He told me that he always had a bottle of something or other to drink in the glove box of his Jeep. But one place he drew the line is that he was morally clean.

            When he was about 18 years old, his bishop, a longtime friend and a man he loved, invited him into his office and said, “J. Dell, the Lord wants you to go on a mission.” J. Dell laughed and said, “Bishop, you know I can’t do that. I don’t have a testimony and I’m not worthy to go.” The bishop replied, “I know, but you can get a testimony and you can become worthy.”

            They talked for a while and then the bishop asked J. Dell if he would do him a favor. Out of respect for his good friend, the bishop, J. Dell agreed to do him a favor. The bishop asked him to read the Book of Mormon every day and to pray about it and to come back and see him when he had an answer. J. Dell reluctantly agreed to the bishop’s request. The bishop gave J. Dell a blessing before he left the office and promised him that the Lord would be with him in the process.

            J. Dell was faithful to his commitment to the bishop, but he didn’t change his lifestyle. He read the Book of Mormon every day out of commitment to his bishop, even if it wasn’t convenient. At that point in telling this story to other missionaries, Elder Holbrook would turn to me and ask, “Elder Boyer, do you know what it is like to read the Book of Mormon when you are drunk?” And I would reply, “No, Elder Holbrook, I don’t. What is it like?” Elder Holbrook would then reply, “It’s hell! Don’t ever try it!”

            This went on for several weeks. J. Dell told me that he was miserable. Finally, he decided that he needed to find out about the Book of Mormon once and for all and get out of his misery. So he decided that he would fast, pray and read the Book of Mormon until he got an answer – one way or another.

            He fasted one whole day and continued to be miserable. In the afternoon of the second day, still fasting, weakened by hunger and finally humble, in the privacy of his bedroom, J. Dell knelt at his bed and pled with his Father in Heaven to let him know if the Book of Mormon is true and promising Him that he would do whatever He wanted him to do, if He would only tell him.

            Elder Holbrook said that what happened next was like someone turned on a shower of warm water that drenched him in warmth and love beginning at the top of his head and spreading through his body to the tips of his fingers and toes warming him through and through. He was embraced with love and light. He told me that he “melted like butter”. He wept and thanked his Father in Heaven, telling Him that he would go on a mission and ask for His help to get ready.

            J. Dell went back to his bishop and said, “I am ready. What do I need to do?”

            I met Elder Holbrook a few months later as we began serving in the British South Mission. He was a hard-working, obedient and beloved missionary but he didn’t convert a lot of British people. But he did convert a lot of missionaries as he told them his conversion story and bore a powerful witness of the Book of Mormon, the love of his Father in Heaven and the power of fasting and prayer. (Obviously, he didn’t really convert anyone. Only the Spirit converts. But you know what I mean.)

I often compared Elder Holbrook to Ammon, one of the sons of Mosiah, a strapping, strong and powerful servant of the Lord. It was a privilege to serve with him. I love the man!

My testimony of the Book of Mormon

            I’ve never had an experience in reading the Book of Mormon or in prayer like Elder Holbrook had, but I know that it is true. Like drops of water dripping into a bucket until it finally overflows, my testimony of the Book of Mormon has accumulated over many years and many readings of the Book. My heart overflows with love for the Book! I have applied the test of Moroni – I have asked God (Moroni 10:3-5) and the Holy Ghost has let me know by the “still small voice” that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that it was truly translated by the gift and power of God by Joseph Smith from ancient metal plates delivered to him by an angel from God. I know that Joseph Smith did not author that book, nor did Oliver Cowdery, or Sidney Rigdon or anyone else in modern times. It was written by ancient prophets and translated by Joseph Smith by the power of God. I have absolutely no doubt of the truth of what I have just written. And there is nothing that anyone could tell me about how Joseph translated the Book or how many textural changes have been made since the first edition or whether steel mills have been found anywhere in ancient America or whether B.H. Roberts was troubled by things he reportedly discovered about the Book of Mormon or any of dozens of other arguments that have been made to claim that that Book of Mormon is a fraud. I know that the Book of Mormon is true by an unimpeachable source – by the sure witness of the Holy Ghost speaking to me in my mind and in my heart (D&C 8:2).

            I don’t have answers for all of the critics’ questions and criticisms of the Book of Mormon. But a testimony of the Book of Mormon doesn’t come from man or from any of his ways of communicating. A testimony of the Book of Mormon comes from God through the channel of His messenger, the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost has spoken to me, to the real me, the spirit that animates my body, the spirit within me that is a son of Heavenly Father, and has spoken heart-to-heart, spirit-to-spirit in a way that the world doesn’t understand but is never-the-less very real. He has confirmed to me time and time again that the Book of Mormon is true. And because the Book of Mormon is true, I know that Joseph Smith is truly a prophet of God and that the things he said happened to him, really did happen. I know that he saw the Father and the Son nearly 200 years ago in response to his humble prayer and that the Church which They restored to the earth through him is the true Church of Jesus Christ with all of the power, authority, doctrine, ordinances and covenants necessary to bring us back to our heavenly home.

            Some people think, because Moroni’s promise is in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon, that they have to wait until they have read the whole Book before they can ask or receive an answer to know that the Book is true. We can know that the Book is true each time we read it, from Nephi to Moroni! If we are prayerful and humble and have faith, the Lord will speak to our hearts through His Spirit every time we read the Book of Mormon and so we can know again, today, everyday, in the present tense, that the Book of Mormon is true! I’m grateful for this living testimony of this living Word of God. It is this testimony and a desire for all of my family and those who read what I write here to gain such a living testimony in their own lives that motivates me to write and share what I know with each of you.

May the Lord bless each of us as we walk this path together.