Russell M. Nelson, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, (now the Lord’s Prophet, Seer and Revelator) said:
“Not long after my call to serve as one of the Twelve Apostles. I was summoned to the office of the President of the Quorum, President Ezra Taft Benson. He expressed deep concern that members of the Church did not fully appreciate the value of the Book of Mormon. With emotion in his voice he read to me from the eighty-fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants:
“Your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—
“Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:54-55).
By that time, President Benson had completely captured my attention. He then concluded his admonition:
“And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:57).
I shall never forget that lesson. Since then, . . . many other leaders of the Church have continued to extol the Book of Mormon to people throughout the world.
I would like to add my testimony of the divinity of this book. I have read it many times. I have also read much that has been written about it. Some authors have focused upon its stories, its people, or its vignettes of history. Others have been intrigued by its language structure or it records of weapons, geography, animal life, techniques of building, or systems of weights and measures.
Interesting as these matters may be, study of the Book of Mormon is most rewarding when one focuses upon its primary purpose—to testify of Jesus Christ. By comparison, all other issues are incidental.
When you read the Book of Mormon, concentrate on the principal figure in the book—from its first chapter to the last—the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. And look for a second undergirding theme: God will keep His covenants with the remnants of the house of Israel. (From the November 1999 Ensign, “A Testimony of the Book of Mormon”)
(Also from his book “Teachings of Russell M. Nelson” p. 36-37)
For a ‘taste’ of the Book of Mormon and its potential power for upward change in your life click: ‘feel the Spirit’
