As Latter-day Saints we accept a sacred charge when we are baptized, and according to President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, the Book of Mormon is one of the best guides to learn how well we are doing in keeping that charge—and how to do better.
“First we promised to become charitable. Second, we promised to become witnesses of God. And third, we promised to endure,” President Eyring said during an address at the October 2011 general conference. “The Book of Mormon is the best guide to learn how well we are doing and how to do better.”
Take Courage from Moroni
“You can take courage as I do from the example of endurance given us by Moroni,” President Eyring said. “He was alone in his ministry. He knew the end of life was near for him. And yet listen to what he wrote for the sake of people not yet born and the descendants of his mortal enemies: ‘Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.’
“Moroni gave that witness as the valedictory to his life and ministry. He urged charity, as do the prophets throughout the Book of Mormon. He added his witness of the Savior when death loomed before him. He was a truly converted child of God, as we can be: filled with charity, constant and fearless as a witness of the Savior and His gospel, and determined to endure to the end.
“Moroni taught us what that requires of us. He said that the first step to full conversion is faith. Prayerful study of the Book of Mormon will build faith in God the Father, in His Beloved Son, and in His gospel. It will build your faith in God’s prophets, ancient and modern.”
Find Your “Book in a Box”
“It can draw you closer to God than any other book. It can change a life for the better. I urge you to do what a missionary companion of mine did. He had run away from home as a teenager, and someone had placed a Book of Mormon in a box he carried with him in his search for more happiness.
“Years passed. He moved from place to place across the world. He was alone and unhappy one day when he saw the box. The box was filled with things he had carried with him. At the bottom of the box, he found the Book of Mormon. He read the promise in it and tested it. He knew it was true. That witness changed his life. He found happiness beyond his fondest dreams.
“Your copy of the Book of Mormon may be hidden from your view by cares and attention to all you have accumulated in your journey,” President Eyring said. “I plead with you to drink deeply and often from its pages. It has in it the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only way home to God.”
