Seek This Jesus

To my daughter,

                With a new year comes opportunities for new goals, and I am very excited this year that we have the opportunity to study in depth the Book of Mormon. I hope that one of your goals will be to read and study this with the Come, Follow Me program. With your busy schedule, you might think that you do not have time to read the Book of Mormon. But I humbly suggest that you do not have time to not read this book. What I mean by that is that the Lord will bless you in all aspects of your life through a study of The Book of Mormon such that you will have greater power to do everything else. Here is one promise from our beloved prophet, President Nelson: “My dear brothers and sisters, I promise that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better decisions—every day. I promise that as you ponder what you study, the windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own questions and direction for your own life. I promise that as you daily immerse yourself in the Book of Mormon, you can be immunized against the evils of the day, even the gripping plague of pornography and other mind-numbing addictions.” Do you want to be able to make better decisions and receive protection against the evils of our day? Study the Book of Mormon. President Gordon B. Hinckley said this, “Brothers and sisters, without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.” Oh, how you and I need the Spirit of the Lord to help us! I know that this is true—the Holy Ghost will come into your life more fully as you truly read and ponder the words of the Book of Mormon. This will help you do better in school, find good friends, achieve your goals in sports, and improve all your relationships. This is the only book in the world given to us by an angel of God, and the miracle of its coming forth is representative of the miracles you will see in your life as you study it.

                I want you to know that the Book of Mormon means everything to me, and I have been a student of its pages for over three decades. Most importantly, it is a witness of Jesus Christ, and it is how I have come to know who He is and what He wants of me. When I was a missionary, there was a period of time when I read a single chapter—Ether 12—every day. I read it over and over and over again. It is still one of my favorite passages in the Book of Mormon, especially because of its invitation to come unto Christ. Moroni, alone and being hunted by the Lamanites, was finishing his abridgement of the story of the Jaredites. He felt his weakness acutely and worried over his writing which he felt was not as powerful as that of others’ writing. The Lord spoke to him these words, “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” To me this is the essence of the gospel: we are all weak, but as we come unto Jesus Christ in humility, He will make us strong! No matter what our sins or temptations or failings or shortcomings may be, as we humbly seek Him, He will turn our weaknesses into strengths! I love the way that Moroni finished this chapter: “And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen. (Ether 12:27). That is the invitation of the Book of Mormon. The prophet Alma gave us a powerful example of what this looks like. After he had committed many sins, he came to understand the true terrible nature of his deeds and felt deeply ashamed before God. He recounted to his son, “While I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!” How did he come unto the Savior? He repented with all his heart and reached out to the Savior for forgiveness. When he did that, Jesus indeed forgave him and filled him with joy and light that was so powerful he said that there could be “nothing so exquisite and sweet as was [his] joy” (Alma 36:17-21). I promise that you can feel that joy this year as you likewise seek to come unto Jesus by sincerely reading in the Book of Mormon. 

Love,

Dad