The Book of Mormon
I got my (first) very own Book of Mormon when I was baptized at eight years old. The ward primary presidency and my bishop signed their names inside the cover alongside their testimonies that it was true (a common practice when you give someone a Book of Mormon).
It’s actually kind of amazing to me how many people claim they believe the Mormon church to be the only true church, but they’ve never read its principle text: the Book of Mormon.
I read it for the first time when I was 16. I did what I was supposed to do after reading it—prayed to God if it was true. I never got the recognizable answer I was looking for, so I just assumed it was true. Everyone else around me seemed to think so.
I began taking learning about the church and its doctrine pretty seriously after this event. I still skipped seminary once in a while and made disruptive jokes in Young Women church lessons, but I was a good Mormon girl throughout high school.
I went on to read the book seven more times in my twenties, which pales in comparison to dedicated missionaries and other devoted members.
By the Gift and Power of God, by David Lindsley
History of The Book of Mormon
Joseph Smith claimed that an angel appeared to him and after several visits to its burial site in the Hill Cumorah (Manchester, NY), he was eventually allowed to dig up the metal plates that contained the contents of The Book of Mormon. Joseph said that the golden plates were engraved in written characters called “Reformed Egyptian.”
Smith “translated” the plates into English by looking at a stone in a hat. When I was growing up, everyone was taught by the Church that Joseph Smith literally read aloud from the plates using a device called “The Urim and Thummim” while a scribe wrote for him. More recently the Church has updated its narrative to include the hat and stone. Once printed, The Book of Mormon became the primary text of Mormonism and is described as the “keystone” of the religion.
The Book of Mormon is said to be “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” and is believed to contain writings of ancient prophets that lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421. It recounts God’s dealings with the inhabitants of the ancient Americas, referred to largely as Nephites and Lamanites. When I was growing up in the Church, we were taught to view The Book of Mormon as factual history. The Church has softened this narrative and more and more people are regarding The Book of Mormon as a spiritual guide not necessarily based in reality.