The coming
year of 2020 will be a landmark year for the Book of Mormon in the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“the Church”) and throughout the whole
world! For the first time in 190 years since the Book of Mormon was first
published, the whole membership of the Church will have access to and will
(hopefully) be reading and studying it together as individuals and families.
And for the first time in history, individuals and families will have the
resources of Come, Follow Me to use in their personal and family study
of the Book of Mormon. It will be wonderful! I believe that we will see an
outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord on the Saints such as we have not seen before
in this endeavor.
In 1984, President Ezra Taft
Benson, president of the Church at the time, said “. . . for some years now I
have been deeply concerned that we are not using the Book of Mormon as God
intends.” He quoted from D&C 84:57 “And they shall remain under this
condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of
Mormon.” He went on to counsel us as parents and grandparents to instruct our
children and grandchildren “at our dinner table, by our firesides, at their
bedsides, and in our letters and phone calls – in all of our goings and
comings.” Finally, Pres. Benson said, “The Book of Mormon is not on trial – the
people of the world, including the members of the Church, are on trial as to
what they will do with the second witness for Christ.” (“A New Witness for
Christ”, Ensign November 1984)
Since that
call to repentance from our then living prophet, leaders and members of the
Church have made great strides in reading, teaching and using the Book of Mormon
much more effectively and extensively both at home and in church settings.
Hopefully, we have, as a church, largely removed the “condemnation” referred to
in D&C 84. It has been wonderful to see all of the new inspired and
creative ways the Book of Mormon has been used in teaching in the home, in
classes, in talks and addresses and by missionaries in sharing the gospel
worldwide.
Now under
the direction of our current living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, as a church
and as a people, we stand on the threshold of taking the Book of Mormon to a
new level of understanding and application in our own lives and in our homes.
Pres. Nelson has invited us to establish a pattern of “daily feasting on the
words of Christ in the Book of Mormon.” (“Revelation for the Church, Revelation
for Our Lives”, Ensign May 2018) Pres. Nelson has promised that:
“Something powerful happens when a child of God seeks to know more about Him
and His Beloved Son. Nowhere are those truths taught more clearly and
powerfully than in the Book of Mormon.” (“The Book of Mormon: What Would Your
Life Be Like without It?”, Ensign November 2017) Our Prophet has invited
us to embrace “a home-centered and Church-supported plan to learn doctrine,
strengthen faith, and foster greater personal worship. (“Opening Remarks”, Ensign,
November 2018)
So, my
invitation to my family and friends is to wholeheartedly embrace the Book of
Mormon in this year of 2020 by conscientiously reading and studying it
individually and as families. I know that most, if not all, of you have read
the Book of Mormon already at least once, some of you many times. Regardless of
how many times you have read it, I invite you to read it again this year.
President Gordon B. Hinckley promised in 1988, “. . . without reservation I
promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon regardless
of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your
hearts an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a
strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there
will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.” (“The
Power of the Book of Mormon”, Ensign, June 1988, emphasis added)
I also invite you to read and study
the Book of Mormon together as families. The ideal setting is parents with
children in their home reading the Book of Mormon together. (This blog is
inspired by our experience reading the Book of Mormon with our children on
school day mornings in our home over many years. More about that later.) However,
if you are not currently living in a “typical” family setting, then look for
some others (extended family, roommates, companions, neighbors, friends,
ministering brothers or sisters, etc.) with whom to create a “family” setting
for reading and discussing the Book of Mormon together. On our recent mission
to England and Wales, we participated in three Book of Mormon reading groups in
three different wards. Each group was a safe place for members – new or old,
active or returning to activity – and friends learning about the gospel to
study the Book of Mormon together. There is power in the Book! And there is
power in reading it together under the influence of the Spirit!
I promise, (not
because I have any authority of my own but because the Lord’s prophets have
promised) that, if we will faithfully, humbly and prayerfully read and study
the Book of Mormon individually and in our families in the coming year of 2020,
we will share in the generous outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord that will
shower the Saints worldwide with blessings of increased faith, testimony,
conviction, knowledge, love for the Savior and desire to repent daily and stay
on the covenant path.
It seems fitting and is probably no
accident that, in this year when we will commemorate the 200-year anniversary
of the First Vision, the Latter-day Saints are being invited to take it to a
new level spiritually by their diligent study of the Book of Mormon. It will
truly be a landmark year for the Church and for all the members who accept the
invitation of our leaders to read and study the Book of Mormon this year! It
will be wonderful to share it together! Let’s get going!
