Of Great Worth Unto Us

President Mark L. Pace spoke in the most recent general conference about the Book of Mormon. He said this: “Studying the Book of Mormon, as we are doing this year, always brings us closer to the Savior—and helps us stay close to Him.” After recounting how important the brass plates were for Lehi and his descendants, he continued, “There has never been a people in history with the access to the Book of Mormon and other scriptures that we enjoy today. Yes, Lehi and his family were blessed to carry the brass plates with them, but they didn’t have a copy for every tent! The most important copy of the Book of Mormon is our personal copy. It is the copy that we read.” Indeed, we have such incredible access to the scriptures as no generation before us. Anyone with a smart phone can have the full set of scriptures for free downloaded to it in a matter of seconds. Our problem is not access but usage—do we value the word of God for what it is enough to spend time with it every day? The story of Nephi and his brothers obtaining the plates from Laban is symbolic for us of the value they have: the words of holy writ are so important they are worth risking our lives to have. We do not have to generally do that today, but they merit a great sacrifice of time for us each day to study and draw closer to God through them. As soon as Lehi obtained the plates from Nephi, he “took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning.” The words he read were so powerful that “he was filled with the Spirit” and prophesied of how the plates of brass would be preserved and have a profound impact on future generations. I love Nephi’s summary of this experience: “And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children” (1 Nephi 5:10, 17, 21). The scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, are indeed of great worth unto us today as well, and never has our access to them been so universal.

               I just finished reading Chaim Potok’s novel The Gift of Asher Lev, the continued story about an orthodox Jewish family. In a final, pivotal scene in the book, this Hasidic group of Jews celebrated Simchas Torah in which the congregation dance and sing with Torah scrolls. The fictional protagonist described the event this way: “The men carrying the Torah scrolls danced and sang…. I held the scroll as something precious to me, a living being with whose soul I was forever bound, this Sacred Scroll, this Word, this Fire of God, this Source for my own creation, this velvet-encased Fountain of All Life which I now clasped in a passionate embrace.” Eventually the aged Rebbe (spiritual leader of the group) also danced with the Torah: “The Rebbe began a slow dance. He moved with infinite care, his head entirely concealed by the tallis, his feet making tiny steps back and forth and sideways: an uncanny mystical dance with the Torah and the Master of the Universe, while all watched in enraptured silence” (pg. 362-363). What is powerful to me is the devotion with which this people view the holy writ—for them it is so sacred and powerful that it is worth celebrating in this manner, dancing and singing and rejoicing together as a congregation that they have the word of God. I think that we Latter-day Saints have a lot to learn from them in their reverence for holy writ. For orthodox Jews, Torah is the center of their lives, and surely we could do more to put the words of the scriptures so easily accessible at the forefront of ours.

               Ultimately what matters most in our study of the scriptures is that they bring us unto the Savior. Even more important than understanding the stories and the doctrine is to draw ourselves near to Him through His holy word. President Pace put it this way: “We study the scriptures so the Holy Ghost, the great teacher, can deepen our conversion to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and help us become more like Them…. It is my prayer that reading the Book of Mormon this year will be a joy and a blessing for each of us and will draw us ever nearer to the Savior.” He also quoted these words from President Nelson: “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.” We need the power of the scriptures with us every day, not just in our pockets but in our minds and hearts as we read and ponder their words and feel the Holy Ghost testify to us through the testimony of ancient and modern prophets.