I started on my personal quest to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover for the month of December. I decided to start, as Maria VonTrapp says, "...start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.". It occurred to me as I was reading that:
  • This is one of very few books that tell the reader the outcome of the book and even fills in details that happen midway through the book. This would be known in the literary and silver screen world as spoiler alerts.
  • The book even encourages the reader to read parts of the book; even those that occur within the last page of the end of the book:
Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, rwith real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

 (Moroni 10:3-5)
  • The book gives a preamble, if you will with the particulars of the coming forth of The Book of Mormon; of Moroni's multiple visits to the young Joseph Smith.
  • The Book of Mormon and authenticity of the plates from which it has been translated are attested by the Witness of 11; 3 who handled the plates under the supervision of an angel of The Lord and 8 who were shown the plates by Joseph Smith.
The facts are:
  • The Book of Mormon is not a fiction or non-fiction book. It is scripture, just as the Bible is. If one takes the approach of reading The Book of Mormon "...with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ.." rather than read it like a novel, or with intention to find fault - the promise is there that the truth of it will be given to you.
  • One can read The Book of Mormon sequentially cover to cover, or they can read bits and pieces here and there. The result will be the same: "he (Heavenly Father) will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.".
  • Just because I intend to read it sequentially does not mean you do. I have found sometimes, that just opening up a page or two will enlighten my mind.
  • It is inspired scripture. It is meant for us in our day and time.
  • The Book of Mormon is currently (as of this blog post) #2 in the free eBooks for religious Christian Education on Amazon.com and contains 4.5 stars out of 5. That is significant to me as many do not consider The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a Christian religion, yet for the book to be #2 for the religious Christian books says otherwise even if it is Amazon.
  • It may sound like rhetoric, but I have found many answers to my 21st Century trials in the Book of Mormon.
As I have read The Book of Mormon several times, I know when certain things occur within the book. What I gain, however is scripture that I have read before, jumping "off the page" at me because It has personal significance to me at the time I read it. I invite you to open the book of Mormon and read - read a verse a day, a page a day, a chapter a day. Just read and you will be blessed.

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