What is The Book of Mormon?

A question from a friend not of my religion, "what is The Book of Mormon"?

 "I haven`t understood why the prophecies of LDS are considered by critics to be more fake than those of any other religion in the world and I like the part in the Book of Mormon that says that there can still be new prophecies as opposed to general view in many religions that the prophecies ended forever with their favorite prophet.

But if it is clear that the Book of Mormon has been assembled in different times according to current political views of the leaders and made to look like a whole, then it would be understandable why some people don`t take it seriously. Personally I find all central books of religions are influenced by the writer`s views and it is known that the Bible was assembled over a long period. It would just be honest to admit that parts of the book have been added or rewritten later and are thus fictional illustration to held beliefs."

I wrote a blog post a while ago called: The Bible and The Book of Mormon are Both Good Fruit  which clarifies our belief in both the Bible and The Book of Mormon. I would encourage you to read that post.

What is The Book of Mormon?

 On the front cover of The Book of Mormon is says: "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" 

 The Book of Mormon is literally another testament of Jesus Christ along with the Holy Bible, which we use the King James Version. The same version used by most Christian religions.

On the Introduction   page of The Book of Mormon it explains where this book came from and what it is about.

• The Book of Mormon is holy scripture written by prophets who lived on the American continent anciently from 600 B. C. to 421 A.D.  It was written by prophecy and revelation and contains the fullness of the gospel.
• The record was written on plates of gold and passed down from prophet to prophet, each writing God's dealings with their people during their specific life-time. They were commanded of God to write down these things for a future people [us]. Because it was inscribed on metal plates, it was not destroyed.  A prophet-historian named Mormon abridged all the records into what is called The Book of Mormon. Moroni, Mormon's son was the last prophet of The Book of Mormon.  He was commanded to hide up the plates, to preserve them for a future generation.  He put the plates with other special artifacts in a stone box and hid them in a hill covered with a large stone. There it stayed hidden, and preserved until the Lord wanted them to be found.
• Joseph Smith, commanded of God, was led to Hill Cumorah where the plates were hidden in the stone box in the hill..  He translated the plates. I wrote about it here.  You can also read Joseph Smith's own account of that experience here.
• The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.

One thing to keep in mind while reading The Book of Mormon: it is not necessarily in chronological order.  If you look on the very bottom of the page you are going to see dates.  This will tell you the general time period on that specific page.

For example in Omni we read about Mosiah, father of King Benjamin. The book of Omni occurred between 279 B. C. and 130 B. C. See photo below:

 In our natural minds we assume that this happened WAY before the events written later in the book about King Noah and Alma.  This actually occurred during the same time period.  You have events happening in one area, events happening in another area, but happening at the same time.  This makes it even more exciting to me. 

 See the photo below of Mosiah 17 when Abinidi was martyred. You will notice this happens during the same time period as the book of Omni, 37 pages earlier.

I wrote a Mosiah time line a few years ago for myself. You can view it here if you are interested.

What else about The Book of Mormon? 

 '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 page]

"The Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” -Joseph Smith

"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 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 page]

It is TRUE.  It is of GOD.  You don't have to take anyone elses word for it. You can find out for yourself! 

"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, with 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 10:4-5]



The Name of our Church

  The official name of our church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "The Mormons" is actually a nickname given to us because of our belief in  The Book of Mormon,  Mormon was a prophet-historian and was the one who abridged all the ancient records into the book called The Book of Mormon. I'll talk more about that later.

                                                        

What makes us different than almost any other religion

is our belief in God.

Most people believe in some sort of a Supreme Being although they may call him by different names. We know that God lives and I am excited to share with you my feelings about Him.

"We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." [Article of Faith 1]

We believe in what is referred to as the Godhead. 

The Godhead consists of three separate beings who are all Gods: God-our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ-His Son, and the Holy Ghost. You have most likely heard of each and everyone of these.  Most Christain religions believe in God-Jesus-Christ-and the Holy Ghost as ONE person or one being without a form, who fill the immense of space. 

We believe as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that they are three separate beings,  but are one in purpose.  God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus Christ both have perfected immortal bodies of flesh and bone that resemble our own bodies.  The Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit. 

A great example of this from the scriptures is at the baptism of Jesus Christ:

When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, God the Father's voice was heard from heaven, and the Holy Ghost descended like a dove. In this example, all three members of the Godhead were present at one moment. They were not one God, but three separate Beings.

God is our Heavenly Father. 

We are His children. We believe we lived with Him before we came to this earth as spirits. He knew us then as His children. We knew Him as our Father. He presented a plan to us that would enable us to come to earth and grow, learn and be tested and eventually return back to His presence and become like Him. 

God had a great purpose and plan for each of our lives.  We also believe that family is central to the God's plan for us and we each have an eternal destiny as families.

He loves us. He cares about us and knows us by name. He wants to communicate with us, and we can communicate with Him through prayer. I know that He hears and answers prayers.


God is an all-wise, and all-powerful being. He is merciful, kind, and just. I have personally felt His mercy and His love. I know He is real and that He lives.  We can have faith in Him.  One of my favorite scriptures from The Book of Mormon is:

Mosiah 4:9: "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."

Jesus Christ is our Savior

We believe in Jesus Christ as the beloved Son of God.  We believe He came down to earth was born of Mary, lived a perfect life without any sin, and showed us the way in all things as written in the Bible.  Central to the plan of our Heavenly Father is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  The Atonement included His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane as well as His suffering and death on the cross.  Through the Atonement we can be freed from the burden of our sins and develop faith and strength to face our trials.

The Holy Ghost

 Unlike God the Father, and Jesus Christ His Son who have tangible bodies of flesh and bone, the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit. He is also a member of the Godhead andhis  role is to testify of Jesus Christ, and to testify truth.  He communicates with us through feelings that come into our hearts and mind. We can recognize and feel when something is true and right by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Two Book of Mormon missionaries, Ammon and Aaron, taught people who did not have a Christian background about God and how to pray. You can read their experience in  Alma 18:24-40 and Alma 22:4-23

Other quick references to what we believe:

• The Family: A Proclamation to the World
• Articles of Faith
• The Living Christ
• The Proclamation of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Best Marriage Advice Ever

Before I was married, my wise mother sat me down and gave me the best advice

I have ever received about marriage:

4 Ways to Have a Happy Husband

Happy Husband #1: Keep the Cave Clean

We wives really underestimate how important this is to our husbands. They may not say it, but oh, how they love a home that has order. When they come home from work and the house is a place of chaos both physically and spiritually...they feel that stress and it adds an extra burden to their shoulders.

This does not mean that our homes have to be perfect, or that we have to do all the work ourselves. Keeping the house clean is kind of family project. For the most part, this is something we can all strive to make run smoothly, and to not give up after a few bad experiences.

I realize that some women are offended at this suggestion, and I don't mean to offend anyone. But, you must know, a husband is a happy husband who comes home to order not chaos.

I worked at our local temple for about a year in the housekeeping department. Basically we cleaned the temple before it got dirty. A little different concept than our homes. There were nights when we were super busy and could only get done the bare minimum of cleaning. That happens at home too...a lot. On those busy days at the temple, if we got nothing else done, we would empty garbages, do bathrooms, and vacuum. That covered it for that night.

I have implemented that into my home as well, although I have added a few others.

• Beds made
  
• Dishes done
  
• Laundry
  
• garbages
  
• vacuuming
  
• bathrooms
  
• de-clutter


That may sound like a lot still, but they are the basics.

First off, have you ever gone into a home that smells badly? This is embarrassing for both the homeowner and the visitor. You want to eliminate those sources that can cause odor in your homes. Many times, we get very used to the smells in our home, and don't realize  our home may stink!

 Dirty dishes, dirty laundry, un-flushed toilets, and dirty garbages can make a home smell. So if you don't have time for anything else, take care of the smelly things first!

Next, there are just a few tricks that make a house look cleaner than it may be. A made bed does wonders to make a bedroom look cleaner. I always tell my kids to make their beds FIRST when they are cleaning. This makes them feel like great progress is being made because their room looks clean with just the bed made.  A vacuumed floor also is another trick, that makes the room look 5 times cleaner just because it is vacuumed.

 At  the end of the night if we can just go through and de-clutter a little, it helps keep the house looking and feeling cleaner. Plus you will wake up in the morning and not feel like you are already behind. Going to bed with at least a semi-organized house is the best!

A clean house radiates a spirit all on it's own. Have you ever noticed how your children love to play in a clean area? Cleanliness really is next to Godliness and you can feel that when you take the time to keep your house in order.

Striving to have a basically clean home, and a sense of order in your home will do wonders for your marriage, the spirit in you home, and peace in yours and your husband's hearts.

Happy Husband #2: Love Him

When it comes to loving our husbands the most important point to remember is that they need to be loved. 

Love them when you wake up, love them when they come home, be grateful when they call you, be grateful for all the ways they take care of you, notice all the hard work they do for you and the family, let them know how wonderful they are, and love them frequently.

We don't read minds well, and so you have to tell them who awesome they are, and be specific. You know what you love about your spouse and the many small thoughtful things they do for you all day--tell them! Then sit back and watch them glow with pride and want to do anything and everything for you.  It will happen.  Make them feel like they are worth a million bucks-because they are!

When they come home after work, let coming home be pleasant for them. When they walk in the door, don't shove the kids at them and tell them"I have had it,.... now it is your turn!" I am sure they are more than willing to help out and take any burdens off of your shoulders, but it is all in the approach. Greet them with a hug, a kiss, and a smile. We have a tradition in our marriage, that when my husband comes home we get 5 minutes interrupted in our room with the door shut to talk about the day. Our kids know this is part of the routine when my husband comes home, and they expect it to happen.

Don't keep score.  "I got up the last three nights..." etc. Care for you husband. Be nice to him. He'll return the favor. It will make your marriage sweet if you don't keep score.

Nurture your husbands. They can do our job and can do everything for themselves. That is not the point. It brings love into your relationship when you nurture your husbands. Another word might be-serve. This doesn't take away from you, it makes you more whole. It is a loving thing to do...take care of them. Make them feel wanted, needed, and nurtured.

Happy Husband # 3 Feed Him

Our husbands like food, and want to eat good tasting food on a regular basis.  All of  our husbands are different in what they like to eat..but they all want to eat.  So feed them!

Happy Husband #4 Stay Attractive

I have seen this happen: Women get married and stop dressing nicely, stop doing their hair, stop wearing make-up (if they wore it when they dated) and let themselves go. They pretty much stop doing all the things they did to attract their husbands to them to start with.

A husband wants to show you off, and wants to feel good about himself. This has a lot to do with our appearance. He wants YOU to look good. I know it may not seem fair, but it is true.

  Men are visual, and staying attractive effects how they feel about us [and how they feel about themselves.]   Some of it, we can't help. Hormones, diseases, genetics can do cruel things to our bodies. A caring loving husband will love us in spite of our imperfections and vice versa. But it is still good advice to make every effort to stay attractive to our husbands.

Smile. Be positive. Don't be high maintenance. Strive to better yourselves. Be someone interesting to talk to.  Make his happiness your top priority. And just watch, he'll do the same.

These time-less truths may sound old-fashioned , but if you follow them, you will have a happy husband who will look to you as his greatest strength, and the love of his life.