It's True

The Book of Mormon is True!

Preach My Gospel study idea says to write how I felt when I first gained a spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon is true.  I have to go back in time about 35 years ago.  I was in a miserable marriage that had no hope of improving.  I was employed in an office where there were many bishops, seventies, and returned missionaries who took a personal interest in my happiness.  They knew I was inactive in the church and they started right where they needed to.  They somehow piqued my interest in the Book of Mormon.  I started reading it and was fascinated that it was not like the Bible at all, but rather a very connected story written in language I could really understand.  Where had I been all these years?  I knew I had studied it in Seminary as a young girl.  I soaked it up like a hard, dry sponge.  My days were happier; I was happier.  I saw things surrounding me that I had never seen before.  I even saw beauty in things that were not necessarily beautiful such as the artificial grass (rocks sprayed green) by the government to impress expected visitors at the base where I was working.  It was an exciting time in my life.

When did I actually gain my spiritual conviction of the truthfulness of the gospel?  I don’t remember actually kneeling down and asking at the completion of reading the Book of Mormon.  I don’t even remember if I finished the Book of Mormon this time around.  It took me several tries, if I remember correctly.  However, as I was preparing to receive my endowments for my 30^th birthday, I had a Sunday School lesson where the teacher challenged us to gain that spiritual witness.  I happened to be fasting that day anyway, so I went home after my Sunday School meeting and proceeded to do as the teacher had suggested.  This is in the days when Sunday School was in the morning and we returned for Sacrament Meeting in the late afternoon.

I knelt down and prayed fervently for a witness of the truth of the things I had been learning.  Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ true?  Is the Book of Mormon true?  Is Joseph Smith a prophet?  I asked all these questions and waited for my answer.  It was a long afternoon.  I was alone and closed my eyes and fell asleep.  When I awoke, I was devastated because I hadn’t received my answer to any of these questions, although I knew in my heart they were true.  I was hoping for a “spiritual witness”. 

It was a Fast Sunday.  In our church, Fast Sunday is generally the first Sunday of the month and we fast from food and water for 24 hours and donate the money saved to provide for those who can’t provide for themselves.  It also allows us to draw closer to the Spirit, as we are not thinking about our physical needs but rather spiritual needs.  We have a Fast and Testimony meeting where we are given the opportunity to bear our testimonies to the truths we know.  I generally bear my testimony, but wondered if it would be appropriate.  I did not have my spiritual witness.  As soon as the meeting was opened up, I bounced out of my seat as fast as I could.  I took the microphone and said, “I know. . .”  As soon as I started bearing witness to those things I thought I knew to be true, it was as if someone had punctured a hole in my bosom and poured warm liquid inside.  It moved around and I was totally overcome with tears.  What was happening to me?  I had never experienced this in my entire life.  This was my spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon as well as the Gospel and all other facets of the Church are true.  I sat down much faster than I have ever done before.  It was an amazing experience and foundation for a testimony that has grown only stronger since that time. 

How did I feel?  Happy!  Happy all the time as I went about my work, my play, mothering, even dealing with the trials of being a new divorcee.  My life looked so hopeful.  I remember driving home one night and looking at the mountains to the east.  The sun was at my back and I was so filled with joy I had to stop and just look at the beauty that was before me.  My life has never been the same and I’ve never looked back and questioned that experience.  It was real.  I’ve experienced it since, but never to the same degree.  Yes, the Book of Mormon is true.  That said, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who was raised up to usher in the restoration of the Gospel.  Each prophet who has served since Joseph Smith has been a prophet of the Lord, including Thomas S. Monson who is currently our prophet.  I love the Gospel and find joy in anything I can do to further the work before us until the Savior returns.