The Power of the Book of Mormon

In Chapter 16, The Power of the Book of Mormon, Gordon B. Hinckley boldly declares, “There is nothing we could do of greater importance than to have fortified in our individual lives an unshakable conviction that Jesus is the Christ. That is the purpose the coming forth of this remarkable and wonderful book.”

An unshakable conviction of the Savior is not something we gain once in our lives and it remains unshakable. It requires us to daily fortify it. That fortification comes as we study and apply the teachings found in the Book of Mormon, teachings which draw us closer to Jesus Christ. We are blessed to live when the scriptures are not only available to all, but easily accessible as well. With modern technology, we are able have them with us almost constantly. I hope we never take them for granted because of the “easiness of the way.”1

The way has not been so easy for most. Think about the great cost to the early Saints. Not only did the Prophet Joseph pay a tremendous price, ultimately his life, for us to have this book, but other faithful men and women, sincerely seeking truth, “gave up everything they owned, not a few gave their lives for the witness they carried in their hearts of the truth of this remarkable volume.”

I love Parley P. Pratt’s description of the Book of Mormon! He calls it the “book of books … which was the principal means, in the hands of God, of directing the entire course of my future life.” What are we willing to give up to have that truth in our hearts? Does it change the way we live today? Do we let it direct the course of our future lives? To direct our future, we must take time today to truly study. What a small price to pay so that tomorrow the testimony of truth will still be burning in our hearts! Just as Harold B. Lee taught, “That which you possess in testimony today will not be yours tomorrow unless you to do something about it today.”2

The power of the Book of Mormon is its ability to change our hearts. In the lesson, President Hinckley shares an amazing story of man whose life was changed from reading the Book of Mormon. The change began when he found a copy of the Book of Mormon in the prison library. As he read it, his heart changed. He wrote to Church headquarters, sharing his experience and requested a copy for himself. President Hinckley said, “We sent him a copy. Some time later, he walked into my office a changed man. He was touched by the spirit of the Book of Mormon and today is a successful man, rehabilitated, earning a living honestly for himself and his family.”

That is a dramatic change! But we all have need to change in our lives. Russell M. Nelson has said, “This book can help with personal problems in a very real way. Do you want to get rid of a bad habit? Do you want to improve relationships in your family? Do you want to increase your spiritual capacity? Read the Book of Mormon!"3 The power that comes from reading the Book of Mormon is available to all who are willing to pay the price. President Hinckley reminds us, “Such is the power of this great book in the lives of those who read it prayerfully.”

Many years ago, our stake president asked us to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days. He promised our lives would be blessed for doing so. It was a time in my life when I was really feeling overwhelmed. My husband was the bishop, I had four young children and I was experiencing postpartum depression. Not only was time a problem, but I had difficulty concentrating. I wondered how I could accomplish this challenge. But each afternoon as I put the kids down for their naps, I sat in the hallway and read. I soon found that my ability to concentrate was improving, I had more patience with my kids and I was feeling peace. I don’t know that I gained any scriptural knowledge but I did gain a testimony that there is power in the Book of Mormon and power in following our Church leaders.

Prophets, past and present, have given specific promises – prophetic promises – regarding the power of the Book of Mormon.

Ezra Taft Benson testified, “It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called ‘the words of life’ (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.”4

"Without reservation," Gordon B. Hinckley said, “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.”5

And most recently, Thomas S. Monson implores us to “prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives.”6

Jeffrey R. Holland has warned, “There is one kind of latter-day destruction that has always sounded to me more personal than public, more individual than collective—a warning, perhaps more applicable inside the Church than outside it. The Savior warned that in the last days even those of the covenant, the very elect, could be deceived by the enemy of truth. If we think of this as a form of spiritual destruction, it may cast light on another latter-day prophecy. Think of the heart as the figurative center of our faith, the poetic location of our loyalties and our values; then consider Jesus’s declaration that in the last days ‘men’s hearts [shall fail] them.’ … Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times—including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to ‘come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.’ … I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work—and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times—until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies.”7

Especially now, we need the power to resist temptation, to avoid deception, to stay on the strait and narrow path, to hear the voice of the Spirit, to overcome doubt and fear, to receive heaven’s help, an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience, a stronger testimony of Jesus Christ.

Another prophetic promise is found at the end of the Book of Mormon. Moroni tells us, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”8

Describing the first time he read the Book of Mormon at age 23, Parley P. Pratt said, “As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists.” Just as he “knew and comprehended that the book was true,” so can each of us - because of that prophetic promise found in Moroni 10:4.

I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the power it has to bring us closer to Jesus Christ. I have felt the promised blessings as I have made it a part of my daily life. May we all accept the challenge to take time every day to prayerfully read the Book of Mormon. And as we do, I hope we will recognize the power it brings into our lives and the change it brings to our hearts.