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)

Monday, November 29, 2010

Day 92: Helaman 10-11

Pondering opens the channel of communication with our Father in Heaven. The problem most of us feel today is we do not have time. What? No time for our Heavenly Father? Yes. We feel we cannot take even 5-10 minutes to pray, study the scriptures, or ponder. Pondering takes time to sit back and reflect - reflect on our lives, what we've read, what we are praying or will pray about. Too often we feel the need to do something more; that pondering is a waste of time.

On the contrary! The Lord makes us the "lost time" by invigorating our minds, strengthening our bodies, increasing our capabilities. This seems so counter-intuitive, but the Lord has promised great blessings of similar sorts if we but give Him time. Do you have room enough for your Father?

“We all do a lot of studying, but most of us don’t do much meditation. We don’t take time to think. I’d like to suggest that next fast day . . . everybody in this hall set aside an hour or two. Sit by yourself. Go in the bedroom and lock the door. Go out in the yard under a tree. Go in your study if you have one and shut the door, and think about yourself and your worthiness. Read from this great book [Book of Mormon]…There’s a great word that’s used, ‘ponder.’

“’Ponder.’ What do we mean by ‘ponder’? Well, I think it simply means kind of quietly thinking things through. Ponder what you have read. Ponder your life. Are you worthy, are you living the commandments…?” (President Gordon B. Hinckley, Church News, 01/06/96)

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