The Book of Mormon; " need I say more? "

The video that will be at the bottom of this post is one of my favorite testimonies of the truth of the Restored Gospel, and the evidence of that restoration through The Book of Mormon. My last blog qouted some paragraphs from the Introduction of The Book of Mormon, and that got me thinking about my testimony of the book itself.

Many people have asked me why I would read from a book " written by Joseph Smith ". Just the other day a man told myself and Elder Wells that he can't believe that we would read and study from anything other than the Bible. I want you to notice the quotes around written by Joseph Smith. There are quotes there because that is one of the misconceptions that missionaries as well as members have to deal with every day. I somewhat addressed that false statement in my most recent post. Just to be sure and clarify, I will put it into very plain english. Joseph Smith did NOT write The Book of Mormon.  The Book of Mormon is an ancient record of people who lived in the American contenants. It's was written by inspired prophets of God, just as the Holy Bible was. The record was translated by Joseph Smith through the power of God. There is no other explanation for how a man in his late teens and early 20's who had only 3 years of formal education could have produced such a record of spiritual importance.

The Book of Mormon is a blessing from God to all his children. It is his desire that all of his children read from its pages and recieve the message of the Savior that it has to offer. There is no doubt in my mind about this. I know that The Book of Mormon is scripture written by inspired men. I know that " it contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting Gospel ". I know that Joseph Smith did not write the book, but was chosen by the Lord to translate it. Most importantly I know that anyone else who reads this book with a sincere heart and faith in Christ, truly wanting to know through prayer if the book is true, and then being willing to forsake all sin and act on the answer that they recieve, will come to know of these truths the same way that I do. If anyone who is reading this has once had this answer to their prayers, I ask you to please leave a brief testimony in comment after reading this, and watching the concluding video. For those of you who may have recieved this answer once before and have forgotten it, I emplore you to humble yourselves to your knees in prayer and ask your Father in Heaven again to remind you of the thing you had once learned.

The following video is the closing remarks of this blog. Please take the 17 min. out of your day to watch this video. I know that it will help all those who are truly seeking an answer to their prayers. The man you will now watch give testimony, is a chosen apostle of God, and one of my personal favorite speakers, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.