Tomorrow marks the 11th anniversary of my baptism into Christ and as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Furthermore, it will be the 186th anniversary of the publication of the Book of Mormon, so it seems rather รก propos that one engages in some personal reflections on that great text, including its importance in my life.
I won’t repeat my conversion story (abbreviated version here), but I was a nerdy 14- year old, and when I first came across the Church, I was intrigued by the Book of Mormon. Granted, I thought the idea of angelic visitations to be utter nonsense (I was strongly agnostic at the time), but the very fact that Joseph Smith produced something tangible like the Book of Mormon did interest me, so I decided to hunt down a copy (a 1920 printing which I purchased for € 10 which I still have and treasure).
For the space of two years, and after having read a lot of literature on the Church, mainly on the issue of Book of Mormon historicity and related issues, I decided to seriously read the text as I wanted to know for sure if it was true or not; I still remember to this day the power of the Holy Ghost that overwhelmed me, on both and intellectual and spiritual level, that confirmed to me the truthfulness of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon as the Word of God. I remember waking up the next day feeling like a new person, and knowing deep in my heart and mind that something had changed in me and my perspectives as I knew “Mormonism” to be true and all that entails (Joseph Smith to be a prophet; the existence of the supernatural; historicity of the Book of Mormon; etc).
Over the past 12 ½ years since that faithful night in October 2003, my testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown, and I have read it many times since (over 50+ times cover-to-cover), as has my testimony of the theology of the Restored Gospel and Joseph Smith as a prophet of God (including studying for 5 years in a Catholic institution theology and related fields such as biblical languages and scholarship). I am grateful for the Book of Mormon for getting me to take the claims of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the LDS Church seriously, and being a key part of my spiritual conversion to the Gospel.
I often share a version of this story as it helps explain how someone like me (who is strongly introverted and nerdy, and prefers having their face behind a book than give talks/presentations) do that I do--it is because I truly believe and know it to be true, both in my heart and in my mind, and I have a desire to help teach and defend the Restored Gospel, which also shows the transformative nature of the Restored Gospel.
I would urge anyone reading this post to take up Moroni’s challenge (Moroni 10:3-5) to find out for themselves the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.