The Book of Mormon

I cannot say that my conversion to the Book of Mormon came in one instance.  I don’t have an elaborate experience to share where lightning hit me, a light bulb came on, fireworks exploded, or any other cliché metaphor to compare it to.  But I can say that I believe, with all the knowledge I contain, that God has witnessed to me that the Book of Mormon is revealed scripture and that it represents the fullness of God’s gospel being restored to the earth through a prophet.   My belief in the Book of Mormon is from consistent reading and studying of it and living the principles.  I can say with surety that the Book of Mormon is from God and that when I follow the commandments it teaches I find true joy.  One of my favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon is in Mosiah when a king is giving his final counsel to his people:

 “…I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.  For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.  O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it” (Mosiah 2:41). 

If we want to be happy we must follow God’s commandments.  There’s no other way.  The way, His way, is taught plainly and powerfully in the Book of Mormon.  I invite all of you today to begin to read the Book of Mormon, whether you have already read it or this is the first time you've heard of it, because when you do the Spirit will enlighten your mind and give you the exact answers you have been seeking for.  

 (This is me as a missionary, holding a Book of Mormon, and ready to share

 that glorious news with the people of Ohio) 

A powerful moment in strengthening my testimony of the Book of Mormon came through the testimony of one of God's apostles.  Elder Holland has been one who can always speak to my soul.  I am deeply moved and inspired whenever I hear him speak and his talk "Safety for the Soul" will forever been engrained in my mind as an unforgettable witness of the Book of Mormon.  These are just a few of his words but you must read the entire talk to comprehend the power and impact it can have in your life.  

"For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died—from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”

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. If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages—especially without accounting for their powerful witness of Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on what is now tens of millions of readers—if that is the case, then such a person, elect or otherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit. In that sense the book is what Christ Himself was said to be: “a stone of stumbling, … a rock of offence,” a barrier in the path of one who wishes not to believe in this work. Witnesses, even witnesses who were for a time hostile to Joseph, testified to their death that they had seen an angel and had handled the plates. “They have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man,” they declared. “Wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true.”

Elder Holland- "Safety for the Soul" (Conference October 2009) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul?lang=eng

Further study of the Book of Mormon: 

Preach My Gospel:  

The Book of Mormon is powerful evidence of the divinity of Christ. It is also proof of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith. An essential part of conversion is receiving a witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true.

The Book of Mormon is the keystone in 3 ways:

It is a Witness of Christ

It contains the Fullness of doctrine

It is our Foundation of testimony

Regarding the Book of Mormon, the Prophet Joseph Smith said that “a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (introduction to the Book of Mormon). The Book of Mormon is a springboard to testimony and personal revelation.

President Gordon B. Hinckley declared: “Those who have read [the Book of Mormon] prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power. … 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 … 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, 6; emphasis added).

https://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/what-is-the-role-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng 

Elder Holland's Mormon Message about the Book of Mormon:  https://www.lds.org/pages/book-of-mormon-an-introduction?lang=eng