#6 THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH

            The first week of Come, Follow Me 2020 deals with the supplementary material at the beginning of the Book of Mormon, i.e. the Title Page, an Introduction to the Book of Mormon, the Testimonies of the Three Witnesses and of the Eight Witnesses, the Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and a Brief Explanation about the organization of the Book of Mormon. In this post, I’d like to talk about the Testimonies of these twelve witnesses of the Book of Mormon. If I have time to write another post this week, I’ll write about the organization of the Book, the Title Page, the different plates associated with the record and other related issues.

Twelve Witnesses     

I believe it is no accident that the beginning of the Book of Mormon gives the testimonies of twelve modern (i.e. 19^th Century) witnesses to the Book of Mormon.  Each of these 12 witnesses saw the plates and some of them also saw and heard other important things. Twelve is one of several “magic” or “holy” numbers in the scriptures. In this case, again not coincidentally, the number twelve is made up by the sum of three other “magic” or “holy” numbers of important doctrinal significance. Twelve is the sum of the numbers 1 + 3 + 8 = 12, each of which is a “holy” number.

·      1 – One God, one Father of us all, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5)

o   One Prophet witness (Joseph Smith)

·      3 – Three members of the Godhead (the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost)

o   The Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon (Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris)

·      8 – The age of baptism, the number of Noah’s family saved on the Ark (1 Peter 3:20)

o   The Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon

·      12 – The number of the Tribes of Israel, the number of apostles called by the Lord in the Old World and again in the New World, the number of apostles in the modern Church in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. (Note: There are 15 living apostles in the Church today, including the 3 apostles who are in the Quorum of the First Presidency.)

            (Actually, there were other witnesses who saw the plates. There are records of five women who saw and/or handled the plates. I was aware of two of them, but the other three were a surprise to me. An excellent review of their testimonies is found in “5 Women Who Are Witnesses of the Physical Golden Plates” by Chris Heimerdinger in Book of Mormon Central. The link is https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/5-women-who-are-witnesses-of-the-physical-golden-plates)

Are their stories true?

The central issue related to the testimonies of these twelve witnesses of the Book of Mormon whose testimonies are recorded at the beginning of the Book is if their stories are true – if Joseph Smith really did see an angel, receive the plates from him and translate them by the gift and power of God; if the Three Witnesses really did see an angel who showed them the plates and the interpreters and if they really heard the voice of God commanding them to bear testimony of what they saw and heard; and if the Eight Witnesses really saw and “hefted” the plates. (There is a good review of the testimonies and subsequent lives of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses in the recently-published book by Tad Callister, A Case for the Book of Mormon.)

The testimony of 12 witnesses would certainly be sufficient to convict someone of a crime in a court of law. And yet critics discount the testimonies of these witnesses because of their human foibles and because many of them are related to each other. (Mark Twain is reported to have said with tongue in cheek, “I couldn’t be more impressed if they were all Whitmers!”)  These witnesses never denied their testimonies, even though some of them later became disaffected with Joseph Smith and some left the Church. Two of them (Joseph and Hyrum Smith) even gave their lives for their testimony of the Book of Mormon.

The proof is in the pudding!

Ultimately, the only way to know if the testimonies of these twelve witnesses are true is to read the Book of Mormon. As they say, “the proof is in the pudding.” If the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God and was translated by the gift and power of God, as Joseph Smith claimed it was, then the testimonies of these witnesses is true. If the Book of Mormon is not true, then the testimonies of these twelve men is of no consequence.

And how do we find out if the Book of Mormon is true? There is only one sure way to know that the Book of Mormon is true and that is to apply the test of Moroni, i.e. by asking God with a sincere heart, with real intent having faith in Christ as we read it. There is no other way to know for sure. That is why we will read the Book of Mormon together this year and why we will prayerfully ask God to help us understand it and know that it is true. No amount of archeological evidence, no amount of analysis of word patterns in the Book, no amount of the learning of men is sufficient to give us an enduring testimony of the Book of Mormon. Such a witness and conviction can only come from the source of all truth, from God through the Holy Ghost. So, we must read and pray to know.

The First Vision is the fulcrum

The same logic applies to learning that Joseph Smith’s claim that he saw the Father and the Son in vision in the year 1820. He said that he was concerned for his own sins and was confused as to which church he should join. The truth of this “First Vision” is the fulcrum of the claim of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be the true and living church of Jesus Christ on earth, restored by God through His living prophet. If Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son in a grove of trees in upstate New York on a spring morning in 1820, as he claims he did, then it is the most important message that can be given to the world. The message is – the heavens are open again! God is speaking to His children through living prophets. The truth is on earth again. The prophecies of ancient prophets are being fulfilled. The way is open for men and women to return to their heavenly home with all of the blessings their loving Father intends for them to have.

But Satan knew the importance of this message to the world, so he began immediately after the First Vision occurred to fight against Joseph Smith and he continues to this day to do all he can to destroy faith in the reality of the First Vision. He has concocted every conceivable argument possible to discount the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith that he “had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light [he] saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to [him].” Joseph said, “Though I was hated and persecuted for saying I had seen a vision, yet it was true.” He went on to say, “Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it;” (JS-H 1:25).

(Joseph actually provided a number of accounts of his First Vision. There are at least four accounts which he wrote or dictated himself and five additional accounts recorded by contemporaries. Some people are troubled because there are some variations in the “emphasis and detail” of the accounts but “despite the differences, a basic consistency remains across all the accounts of the First Vision. Some have mistakenly argued that any variation in the retelling of the story is evidence of fabrication. To the contrary, the rich historical record enables us to learn more about this remarkable event than we would if it were less well documented.” An excellent discussion of the First Vision Accounts is found in the Gospel Topics Essays, from which I have quoted in this paragraph. Here is the link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng)

The Book of Mormon is the prooftext

            Knowing that there would be great opposition to Joseph Smith and his account of the First Vision, the Lord provided a way for honest seekers of truth to know if Joseph Smith was, in fact, telling the truth about seeing God. The Book of Mormon is the prooftext (“a passage of scripture presented as proof for a theological doctrine, belief, or principle.”) of the truth of the First Vision. At the time of the organization of the Church, the Lord said, referring to Joseph Smith, “And gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon; . . . Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true, and that God does inspire men and call them to his holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old;” (D&C 20:8, 11)

            The Book of Mormon is true! And because the Book of Mormon is true, the testimony of Joseph Smith about the First Vision is true and the testimonies of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon are true. The truth is the truth – regardless of where we stand in relation to it!

There are absolute truths

There are absolute truths in the universe. We have a loving Father in Heaven. We lived with Heavenly Parents before we came to this life. Jesus Christ is the only Begotten Son of God and is our Savior and Redeemer. Our Father and the Savior did, in fact, appear to the young man, Joseph Smith, in response to his humble prayer of faith in 1820. An angel sent from God did actually appear to Joseph Smith three times one night and twice the next day in September of 1823 to inform him of a book written by ancient prophets recorded on gold tablets buried in a hill near his home. Joseph Smith later did in fact translate a portion of those plates into the record we know today as the Book of Mormon.

These truths are not up for vote. They are not conditional – depending for their truth on who or how many believe them. We cannot make them be not true by choosing to not believe them. We can only choose to limit our blessings by turning away from them and ignoring the truth which is presented to us by our loving Father.

            Maybe I can explain with a parable.

Parable of Two Mountain Peaks

On a bright, clear Saturday morning a father and his young teenage son were driving in the car through some mountainous terrain together. The father knew the area well and wanted to teach his son a valuable lesson. So he said to his son, “There is a lesson in these mountains about understanding truth. Would you like to learn it?” His son somewhat reluctantly, typical of a teenage boy, agreed to cooperate. His father pointed to two mountain peaks off in the distance to the left of the road ahead and asked, “Which of those two peaks is higher?” His boy answered quickly, “That’s easy, Dad! It’s clearly the one on the right, nearer to us.” His dad just nodded and they talked about something else as they drove across the lovely valley for about half an hour. When they got to the other side of the valley, the dad said to his son, “Now look at those two mountain peaks and tell me which one is higher.” The two peaks were now in the distance off to the right of the road ahead. The young man said with some surprise, “I was wrong, Dad. It is clearly the peak on the left that is higher.” Wanting to teach his son a lesson, the father then said, “There is a lesson to be learned here about the truth. Can you tell me what the lesson is?” His son thought for a minute and then, pretty proud of himself for figuring it out, said, “It looks to me, Dad, like the truth depends on where we stand in relation to it.”

            The story doesn’t end there. The father pulled the car off to the side of the road so they could talk. He complimented his son on coming up with an answer that sounded pretty good. And then he said, “There is a topographical map of this region in the glovebox in front of you. Take it out and see if you can find those two peaks.” The young man was familiar with topographical maps (so called “topo maps”) because he had used them with his dad when hiking in the mountains. He knew that the parallel curving lines represented different levels of elevation. Without much trouble, he found the two peaks on the map. When he did, he looked surprised. His dad asked him, “So which of the two peaks is higher?” The son was fairly amazed and said, “Actually, Dad, they are exactly the same height!” His father, obviously pleased, then asked his son, “So, my boy, as I said, there is a lesson here about the truth. Can you tell me what it is?” His son didn’t even try to venture a guess this time. He said, “No, dad, how about you tell me?”

            His father looked him squarely in the eyes and said, “My son, the truth is the truth – regardless of where we stand in relation to it!” He then went on to talk with his boy about things in this life that are true and how we can come to know that they are true. He told his son that the most important truths are eternal truths that come from God and can only be learned from Him and by the ways He has established for us to learn them. Finally, he warned his son that we can break ourselves against eternal truths if we want to, but we can’t make them become not true by choosing not to believe in or accept them.

Satan is the father of lies

            Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44), is promulgating one of his most pernicious lies in our time. He is doing his diabolical best to convince people that there are no absolute truths; that truth is in the eye of the beholder; that you can decide what is true for you and I will decide what is true for me even though we may come up with different “truths.” Further, he is teaching that to try to get someone to believe in “your” truth is an invasion of their personal integrity and an affront to their intelligence. All truth is relative, Satan teaches, and we decide what “truths” we choose to believe and live by. What is true for you is not necessarily true for me. I’m offended if you expect me to believe your truths and if you want me to make choices based on what you “know” to be “true.”

How we learn eternal truths

            But there are eternal truths. And we can learn them from our Father in Heaven by the medium of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth. The promise of the Book of Mormon is that we can know that it is true by the power of the Holy Ghost and thus know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet who actually saw God and restored His church to the earth and that we have living prophets and apostles on the earth today with all of the keys, power and authority necessary to bring us back to our heavenly home sealed together for eternity with those we love. These truths are eternal. They are not debatable. Their verity does not depend on whether we or anyone believes they are true.

A lesson from physics

            Think of it this way – a little logic from physics. When Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son in the grove of trees in the spring of 1820, he said that the pillar of light which surrounded them was “above the brightness of the sun” and that he saw two personages “whose brightness and glory defy all description” standing in that pillar of light. They were not dark silhouettes within the bright light. They were brighter than the pillar which itself was brighter than the sun (the brightest light Joseph had ever seen). Some of that light from the pillar of light and the Beings of light within the pillar surely escaped upward from where They appeared to Joseph in the forest. That light is still travelling through space at 186,000 miles per second and is now nearly 200 light years away from earth. If a person living on a world nearly 200 light years away from our earth were to train a remarkably powerful telescope on the planet earth orbiting a medium sized star in our Milky Way galaxy at just the right time, they would see light coming from a small forest in the eastern part of North America.

What I’m saying is that the reality of the First Vision is recorded forever in the universe. It is not debatable. It is not up for a vote. It is not relative or conditional. It is absolutely true. It is true, regardless of where we stand in relation to it. And the Book of Mormon is the way God has given us to know that Joseph’s story of the First Vision is true.

Invitation to read with an open mind and a believing heart

So, as we read the Book of Mormon together this year, as you read it individually and with your family, have an open mind and a humble, believing heart. Ask yourself, could Joseph Smith have written this book by himself? Could anyone have authored this book other than prophets from the ancient civilizations of which it speaks? What am I feeling? Listen to the Spirit speak to you in your mind and in your heart (D&C 8:2).

My testimony

I add my testimony to those of the twelve witnesses of the Book of Mormon whose testimonies are found in the front of the Book. I’ve never seen an angel, let alone Angel Moroni, and I’ve never seen the plates, but I know that the Book of Mormon is true, that it is the word of God recorded by ancient prophets, delivered to Joseph Smith by Moroni and translated by the gift and power of God. Because I know that the Book of Mormon is true, I know that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet, that he saw the Father and the Son and that they are real. And I know that the true Church of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth in these latter days in fulfillment of ancient prophecy through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Because I know that the Book of Mormon is true, I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, in fact, the true church of Jesus Christ, “. . . the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased . . .” (D&C 1:30). And I know that President Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s prophet today and that His (the Lord’s) church is securely established on the “. . . foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;” (Ephesians 2:20)

I’m grateful for the Book of Mormon – the “keystone of our religion” and the keystone of my testimony!

#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.