Linger Longer AKA Ponder

As I begin reading the Book of Mormon in a slower, more meaningful way, I’m trying to really chew on the moments that cause me to pause.

This morning, as I read Joseph Smith’s testimony, one phrase stopped me. Moroni told him that the Book of Mormon contains “the fulness of the everlasting gospel,” delivered by the Savior to ancient inhabitants.

I sat with that for a minute.

Do I truly understand what the fulness of the gospel is?

For a moment, I felt a bit of panic—like I needed to go study everything all over again.

But then a quieter thought came: Wait… I’m already immersed in it.

Maybe it’s simpler than I make it.

The fulness of the gospel looks like this:

1. Faith in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ
2. Repentance
3. Baptism by immersion
4. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost
5. Temple ordinances and eternal families

I believe this is the fulness. And yet, I also believe there is so much more revealed—especially through temple ordinances: eternal life, premortal existence, and everything in between. God is trusting us with this knowledge. That thought alone is amazing.

Another idea stayed with me.

Joseph Smith was told that great desolations—famine, sword, and pestilence—would come upon the earth in this generation. What exactly is a “generation”? Is it the same as a dispensation—like the dispensation of the fulness of times? Could it mean everything from Joseph Smith’s day to the return of Jesus Christ, that glorious moment when all will see Him?

Something to ponder.

And I love that word—ponder.

What does it really mean?

I think Joseph Smith shows us. After Moroni appeared to him three times, he couldn’t sleep. His mind was fixed on what he had experienced. His strength was gone.

I understand that.

I’ve had moments, touched by the Holy Ghost, where the experience felt so full that it left me physically drained. Awake. Still. Thinking.

Pondering.

I’m looking forward to reading the Book of Mormon again this year. I know I could read it in three months.

But this time, I don’t want to rush.

This time, I want to linger longer.