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LDS Church
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scriptures.lds.org
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ldschurchtemples.com
familysearch.org
byuradio.org
chperiodicals.lds.org
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My Faith
The Book of Mormon
Another Testament of Jesus Christ
INTRODUCTION
 The
Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the
Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of
the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the
everlasting gospel.
The book was written by many ancient prophets by the
spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates,
were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. 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 the principal ancestors of the American Indians.
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.
After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son
Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the
hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, then a glorified,
resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed
him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the
English language.
In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated
them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many
languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Son
of the living God and that all who will come unto him and obey the laws
and ordinances of his gospel may be saved.
Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the
brethren that 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.”
In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see
the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth
and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are
included herewith as “The
Testimony of Three Witnesses” and “The
Testimony of Eight Witnesses.”
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.
Order a
free copy
of the Book of Mormon. There is no obligation.
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