read THE book

read THE book

Missionaries are handing out copies of the Book of Mormon all over the world, even as you read this. So what is this book? If it’s given out for free, why do so many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints count their Book of Mormon as one of their most valuable possessions? What kind of book can cause so many readers to change their lives, their minds and their hearts? What kind of book can answer life's seemingly unanswerable questions?

The Book of Mormon is the word of God, like the Bible. It is Holy Scripture, with form and content similar to that of the Bible. Both books contain God's guidance as revealed to prophets as well as religious histories of different civilizations. While the Bible is written by and about the people in the land of Israel and surrounding areas, and takes place from the creation of the world until shortly after the death of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon contains the history and God’s dealings with the people who lived in the Americas between approximately 600 BC and 400 AD. The prophets in the Book of Mormon recorded God's dealings with His people, which were compiled by a prophet named Mormon onto gold plates.

Before these faithful Christians perished, their record was safely hidden away. Joseph Smith obtained these ancient records in 1827, and with the gift and power of God Joseph was able to translate the ancient writings into what we have today. The Book of Mormon, along with the Bible, testifies that Jesus Christ is our divine Redeemer and that by living according to His gospel we can find peace in this life and eternal happiness in the life to come.

tate's message...

as we visited the four Maria's we had one of my favorite experiences yet. We started talking about if she got an answer from god that our message was true and she told us she felt something different but didn't believe that god called a prophet again. We immediately started talking about the Book of Mormon. But she put up a wall and said that she wasn't going to read it. We told her to at least let us explain what it is before she says no. We then took our Books of Mormon and read every single word of the introduction. Of how it is nothing but the communication between god and the people here the the Americas. And how it is another testament of Christ. And how one of the most important parts in the book is when Christ visits the people here. I was grateful to be able to testify that the book ONLY talks about Christ. By the end of the introduction we could see that she already realized that it was book that would bless her life and not anything weird or out of the ordinary. 

The Book of Mormon is a book that has changed my life. And it can change anyone else's as well. All you have to do is read it. We invited her to read it and she said "now I want to read that book". It had been a long time since I had had a spiritual lesson like that. A lot if people don't accept things because they don't know really what it is exactly. So take the time and help them understand exactly what it is!!! I know that it is the most important book we can read. So read it. It doesn't matter if you read a verse a day or a chapter a day. But read something at least. I promise blessings and more blessings to those who read the book. Sunday was a weird day. I gave my last testimony in church. And we had a meeting with some leaders from the church and then we planned and then said bye to some people and visited some investigators. This weeks message. READ THE BOOK. It's true.

 So Monday was a weird day. It was like Pday and not at the same time. But me and my comp started working at 330 just like a regular day but didn't get much done as the comisarios called us and dropped off materials for the whole zone so that took a while. But then I did divisions with elder almeida. He is from Brazil. We had a good day and I learned a lot from him. He is a hard worker and inspires me ha. It's crazy to think I was once in his position just starting my mission. It goes by too fast. But just gotta keep working. Nothing else we can do. We had some good lessons and I met some really good people. I was grateful to have another day to teach and stuff. I know I won't have a lot of time to do that after this week. But it was a good day.

 Tuesday was a good day. We started by doing some contacts in the morning and we ended up finding a family of less active members as well as a kid who let us teach him for like 15 minutes. So successful morning. Then we are lunch and headed straight to divisions. I went with elder dowling from lone peak. We had a good day. We taught Alicia our convert, Found some nice people to teach and then had a really long meeting in the church. We ended the divisions and just went home. I was tired after a hard days work but also grateful for the people we met and 

taught.

 Wednesday was a weird day. We started with district meeting as usual. It went well. And then we met Hermana Nancy and her family in town for lunch. I got pastel de choclo. Mom look that recipe up and try it. It's really good. I love that family and will miss them a lot. After lunch we headed straight to rancagua to the mission office because my comp had to take an English test. I just say and hung out with one of my old comps elder hart who is the secretary. We had a good chat about old times. Then it was time to go to buin to sleep for the night. I only got to see like 2 people from one of my old sectors but it was still really cool. I love buin. It was also fun to stay the night with elder Powell from rexburg and talk about the high school days when we played each other. He is a good kid.

 Thursday we did divisions and my comp went to the temple and I stayed in buin and had our Pday. We did do some service in the morning and then just went to write our families and stuff. Like I said in not sure when my Pday will change but if I don't write Monday then I will write next saturday. Then we just went to the house and rested for a long time. We  went out to work a little and it was good to teach some people. This week has been hectic. We took a bus pretty late back to San Fernando. I was really worn out so it was nice to get back to my bed.

 Friday I did divisions with elder Valenzuela and it was way fun. He is a cool kid and will definitely be a good friend. We found some decent people to talk to and teach and it was fun to learn from someone else. We ended the night just like every Friday night. Under the church lights playing soccer ha. I actually had a couple goals so I was proud of that.

 Saturday in the morning we met back up with our comps. And then me and elder arnez found some lunch and ate in the church watching church videos.  Have a good week. Love you all. 

Elder Harding.