President Gordon B. Hinckley on the Book of Mormon

"I take in my hand the Book of Mormon. I read its words. I have read Joseph Smith's explanation of how it came to be. To the unbelieving it is a story difficult to accept, and critics for generations have worn out their lives writing books intended to refute that story and to offer other explanations than the one given by Joseph the Prophet. But to the open-minded, this critical writing has only stimulated them to dig deeper; and the more deeply they dig, the greater the accumulation of evidence for the validity of Joseph Smith's story. Still, as has been demonstrated for a hundred and fifty years, the truth of the Book of Mormon will not be determined by literary analysis or by scientific research, although these continue to be reassuring. The truth about the origins of the Book of Mormon will be determined today and tomorrow, as it has been throughout the yesterdays, by reading the book in a spirit of reverence and respect and prayer."
(Praise to the Man, Ensign, Aug 1983, 4)

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Day 65: Alma 27-29

“I believe that every Latter-day Saint who has received a testimony of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged has this same feeling that Alma had--a desire that all the world might hear the testimony of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. When men and women receive a testimony of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, they are anxious that all the world should have that same knowledge and faith. They are anxious that the gospel should go to every honest soul. And there is no other labor in all the world that brings to a human heart, judging from my own personal experience, more joy, peace and serenity than proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. - President Heber J. Grant

“True spirituality helps us to achieve balance between being too content with our present self and the equally dangerous human tendency we might have of wishing for more enlarged and impactful roles. Alma said, ‘But behold…I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.’ However, note the often ignored, but tutoring, verse that follows: ‘Now, seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?’ (Alma 29:3,6) To develop that kind of justifiable contentment to better use our existing opportunities—is obviously one of our challenges, particularly so when we seem to be in a ‘flat’ period of life. We may feel underused, underwhelmed, and underappreciated even though we are ignoring unused opportunities for service all about us.” (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Notwithstanding My Weakness, pp. 115-6)

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