The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It was written by the by the prophets in the ancient America's and contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
"The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after His resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come (Introduction to Book of Mormon)."
Over and over again the Book of Mormon has invitations to get to know our Savior Jesus Christ and to "come unto Him." Some of my favorites of these invitations are recorded in 3 Nephi.
The first one is in 3 Nephi 9:13-14.
13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?
14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.
I love this scripture because our Savior Jesus Christ is inviting us, beckoning us, to come unto Him and feel of the healing power of His Atonement. His arms are opened and He is waiting for us to come. We just have to take the first step.
The second one is in 3 Nephi 11:14-15.
14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.
This is one of my all time favorite scriptures because the Savior is personally inviting all people to come unto Him, one by one, and feel the prints of the nails in his hands and feet. I know that we cannot physically do this right now, but the invitation still stands. We can truly come to know our Savior Jesus Christ and gain a personal testimony of Him as we read the Book of Mormon. We can come to know that He really is our Savior and Redeemer, and that He is the Son of God. It is through the Book of Mormon that we learn of His teachings and His gospel. We learn the things that He would have us do. I like to think that every week when we partake of the sacrament we get to have our 5 minutes with the Savior. As we partake of the bread and water, one by one, we get the chance to remember that sacrifice that He made for each one of us. We get to remember the marks in his hands, feet, and side. He may not be here physically, but we can still know Him personally.
The third is in 3 Nephi 17:7.
7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.
I love this because again our Savior is inviting us to come unto Him and be healed. We may not all be physically sick, but we all need the hope and comfort that can only come through His healing power. I testify that His Atonement is real. It covers all pain.
As we can see, the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ. He is the center of this gospel, the head of this church. I know that we can come to know the Savior better as we read the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon comes with a promise for all people. It says:
"We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3-5)
Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah. (Introduction to the Book of Mormon)"
I know that this promise is real. I have come to know for myself that the Book of Mormon is true, because I have prayed about it. There is no other way to find out. I know that Jesus is the Christ. He is my Savior, and my best friend. I have come to know my Savior more personally as I have read the pages of the Book of Mormon. You can too. I would invite all of you, member or not, to read the Book of Mormon, and take the challenge to pray about it and find out if it is true. You will receive an answer. God loves you. You are His child, and He will answer.
A very powerful slideshow that depicts when the Savior visited the America's. Pay special attention to the emotion of the Savior and the people as they come unto Him, one by one.
The photography is done by Mark Mabry. (This event takes place in 3 Nephi, in the Book of Mormon)
The progressive blog is now in the hands of the wonderful Sister Simnitt! Check it out! http://sistersarasimnitt.blogspot.com/
This was beautiful Britt.
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