My love for the Book of Mormon started in 1987 when President Ezra Taft Benson gave his landmark talk in Conference “The Book of Mormon–the Keystone of our Religion.” He said that the church was under condemnation because we hadn’t been focusing on the Book of Mormon enough. We started his talk with attention getting statement:
“My beloved brethren and sisters, today I would like to speak about one of the most significant gifts given to the world in modern times. The gift I am thinking of is more important than any of the inventions that have come out of the industrial and technological revolutions. This is a gift of greater value to mankind than even the many wonderful advances we have seen in modern medicine. It is of greater worth to mankind than the development of flight or space travel. I speak of the gift of the Book of Mormon, given to mankind 156 years ago.”
This caught my attention! He went on to about the specific ways the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. He also said that the church as a whole was under condemnation for treating the Book of Mormon lightly. He then talked about the blessings of studying the Book of Mormon. As I listened to him, I wanted these blessings for myself and my family. That’s when I began a serious study of the Book of Mormon. Many prophets have also talked about the blessings that come when studying the Book of Mormon so I’ve included one of President Nelson’s
President Ezra Taft Benson: “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” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson
President Russell M. Nelson: “My dear brothers and sisters, I promise that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better decisions—every day. I promise that as you ponder what you study, the windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own questions and direction for your own life. I promise that as you daily immerse yourself in the Book of Mormon, you can be immunized against the evils of the day, even the gripping plague of pornography and other mind-numbing addictions” (“The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?” Ensign
or Liahona,
Nov. 2017, 62–63).
[2014], 141).
Witness of Christ 