At this point I'm sure you're all wondering what kind of education my poor home-schooled children are getting, if their mom doesn't even know how many days there are in a week. I just had to find a way to squeeze TJ's testimony in. He truly is the spiritual leader of this family and I'm so grateful he took the time to share. His account of how the Book of Mormon helped him in our early years of marriage is totally new to me, so that makes me really glad I asked!
Because I teach scripture to
teenagers for a job, (I’m an LDS seminary teacher) I’m in the scriptures for
hours every day. You might think that
the scriptures would get tiresome, but after 5 years of teaching I’ve found it
to be just the opposite. You also might
think that I would get my fill of them at work and would not want or need to
study them personally at home each day, but I’ve also found that to be
untrue. In my personal life I RELY on studying the scriptures each day,
and especially the Book of Mormon. Why
especially the Book of Mormon? It is
hard to quantify, but I can answer by simply stating that it just works
best. This doesn’t surprise me
considering what Joseph Smith boldly declared, “a man would get nearer to God
by abiding by its precepts, than any other book.” I have many theories as to
why living the precepts of this book in particular works best.
Perhaps, most importantly is the
frequency, depth, and clarity with which it testifies of my Savior Jesus
Christ. Its central purpose is clearly
and explicitly to bring me to Him. Its
success in doing so is demonstrated in my feeling about my favorite scripture. Yes, I do have a favorite, a one and only
favorite that will be so forever! 2nd
Nephi 26:24 states: “He (Christ) doeth not anything save it be for the benefit
of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life
that he may draw all men unto him.”
This one simple phrase, this beautiful doctrine revealed in the Book of
Mormon, that he doesn’t do, or in effect say, feel or even think, for that
matter, ANYTHING except its express purpose is to benefit me and mankind brings
such astounding clarity to the character of God as to motivate me to complete devotion
to Him. The realization that he does
NOTHING unless it is to help us startles me with wonder into a deep sense of
gratitude and desire to please him. I am
inspired to love him with all my heart, might, mind and strength as I learn of
his infinite love for me in the Book of Mormon.
Because of what I’ve learned in the Book of Mormon I dedicate my entire
life to His service. What else could
bring me closer to God than such a desire?
The Book of Mormon also works for
me by solving my daily dilemmas; over and over I receive inspiration that is
exactly what I needed with my struggles.
I can think of many examples. One
of my favorites is when Kari and I were engaged we had decided to have children
right away, even though I was scared out of my mind about providing financially
for a family. We both only had two years
of college completed. We did have some
money saved, but between the two of us we had only one part-time job because we
were moving to Provo as soon as we got married.
My worst fears about money and providing were realized day three of
marriage; on our honeymoon our car broke down and was totaled. We had to spend almost all our savings on a
new car. Now our resolve to have children
right away was really put to the test.
We felt strongly that God did not want us to delay having children and
so we took a big leap of faith. The
first months of marriage were scary for me as I worried about the future. I had 3 years of school left before my career
as a teacher began, so I was going to school full-time and could barely work at
all, and once a baby came Kari would have to quit her new job and then it would
all hit the fan. How was this going to
work? I will never forget the answer I found in Mosiah, chapter four, where
King Benjamin promises that if we are faithful, “ye will not suffer your
children that they go hungry, or naked.”
I couldn’t believe it. God was
answering my prayers, telling me that He would make sure I could provide for my
family if I moved forward in faith. As I
pondered over this promise my fears about the future were swept away. I knew the future was bright. We successfully had 2 children before I graduated, and I consider it a miracle that we now have 5
children, a big beautiful home in our dream town, and no student loan debt, all on a teacher’s
salary and without Kari having to work a day outside the home since our first
baby. The promises in the Book of Mormon
really work.
Another example is that recently I’ve
been feeling like I don’t have the time to complete all that I need to do. I’ve been stressed as I try to balance the
many demands on my time. It doesn’t help
that I’m a perfectionist. I often fret
and worry about how my efforts don’t provide the outcome I’m looking for. Once again, my problem was solved in the Book
of Mormon. Moroni 7:33: “And Christ hath
said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever is
expedient in me.” This came as a
revelation to me. Yes, through faith in
Christ I will be made equal to any task, but I learned that I am only made
equal to the tasks that God deems expedient.
I learned that if I fail at something or if things don’t turn out like I
had hoped, it just wasn’t expedient. In
other words it didn’t really matter in the big picture of my eternal
progression. This principle brings
tremendous comfort to me as I continually battle my fallen hopes.
Just this week I’ve been struggling
again with the same issue and found another scripture that deepens my comfort
when things go awry. 2 Nephi 32:9 “…pray
unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance
unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.” With this promise in mind, I can’t lose! No matter what the results of my efforts, if
I will be prayerful then God will turn it for my good! I am now constantly reminded of God’s
infinite wisdom, concern, and help in my behalf. I feel like He’s always there with a big
safety net ready to catch me. Even
though I fall, and--I do fall--He is there to catch me and ensure that
everything will be okay in the end.
Wow! God is so good to me! I feel like much of what I know about Him
comes from the Book of Mormon. I rely on
this book to bring me closer to my Savior Jesus Christ. It works and I love the results!
