Book of Mormon training — Missionary Training Center Sunday afternoon presentation
Be a Book of Mormon missionary! Be a ‘Nephi’ missionary! The role of the Book of Mormon in conversion — Missionary Training Center presentation
0/ The conversion of Parley P. Pratt (see below)
1/ Be a Book of Mormon missionary
- OBEY like Nephi (1 Nephi 3:7, 1 Nephi 4:6)
- PRAY like Enos (Enos 1:4, 11-12)
- PROCLAIM like King Benjamin (Mosiah 2:9)
- ENDURE like Abinadi (Mosiah 17:9-10, 20)
- INVITE like Alma (Mosiah 18:10)
- SUPPORT like Amulek (Alma 10:8-12)
- LEAD like Captain Moroni (Alma 48:17)
- WORK like Nephi (Helaman 10:4-5)
- RESPOND like Alma (Alma 8:13, 16, 18)
- TESTIFY like Mormon (Mormon9:26-29)
- HOPE like Moroni (Moroni 10:30-34)
- LOVE like Jesus (3 Nephi 11:13-17)
2/ Be a “Nephi” missionary (D&C 33:6-8)
- Thrust in your sickles (What is the sickle?)
- Reap with all your might, mind, strength
- Open your mouths! (D&C 60:2)
- I can be like Nephi?? Yes!
- 1 Nephi 3:1, 3:6, 3:7, 3:10, 3:15, 3:16, 3:19, 3:20, 3:21, 4:1, 4:2, 4:6
- 2 Nephi 1:27 !!
3/ The Lord bears His testimony of the Book of Mormon – D&C 17:5-6
4/ “The Book of Mormon is powerful evidence of the divinity of Christ. It is also proof of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith.” – Preach My Gospel, page 103.
5/ “…because the Book of Mormon is true!” President Nelson’s experience – Whenever President Nelson is asked why some good thing has happened in his life, his response is usually, “Because the Book of Mormon is true”. His message is that since the Book of Mormon is true, everything else that he holds dear is also true. The Book of Mormon is the bedrock upon which all good things rest.
6/ “Almost every basic, fundamental doctrine presented in the Bible is found in the Book of Mormon, only more clearly defined and taught. No one lives now or has lived or every will live who can discredit or destroy the Book of Mormon or its teachings. Those who read the book should be looking for Christ and His teachings. They should not be looking for historical details or information on geography, wars, or adventures. Their main interest should be to receive a testimony of the divinity of the Savior.” – Elder Glen L. Rudd, Emeritus Seventy
7/ The Book of Mormon is the most unusual and unique book in all the world:
a/ NO OTHER BOOK was ever brought forth by an angel to a prophet. Joseph Smith History 1:33-34 (District )
b/ NO OTHER BOOK has ever been translated from plates written centuries ago in an ancient language. Mosiah 1:6 (District )
c/ NO OTHER BOOK has had an angel come down from heaven to show metal plates to witnesses. Book of Mormon intro, page VI; 2 Nephi 27:12-14 (District d/ NO OTHER BOOK has ever had the voice of Christ testify that it is true! Doctrine and Covenants 17:6 (District )
e/ NO OTHER BOOK contains the specific promise that all who read it can receive a witness that it is true. Everyone can know! Moroni 10:3-5 (District )
8/ Internal evidences of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 2)
9/ “The Book is either true or false – there are no other possibilities. If you are not an active member of this church, be it critic, investigator, or less active, you are saying that the Book of Mormon is either irrelevant, unimportant, incorrect, or false! There is no neutral ground. If you are not an active member of this church, then you must explain how an unschooled farm boy in his early 20’s brought forth this masterpiece and presented it to the world.”
10/ Conclusion – 2 Nephi 33:10-11
Parley P. Pratt and the Book of Mormon
“It is inspiring to learn how Parley P. Pratt came to know of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. In August of 1830, as a lay preacher, he was traveling from Ohio to eastern New York. At Newark, along the Erie Canal, he felt inspired to leave the barge on which he was traveling and he walked 10 miles into the neighboring country. He met a Baptist deacon by the name of Hamlin, who told him ‘of a book, a strange book, a VERY STRANGE BOOK! …’ This book, he said, purported to have been originally written on plates either of gold or brass, by a branch of the tribes of Israel; and to have been discovered and translated by a young man near Palmyra, in the State of New York, by the aid of visions, or the ministry of angels. Now quoting Parley: ‘I inquired of him how or where the book was to be obtained. He promised me the perusal of it, at his house the next day. … Next morning I called at his house, where, for the first time, my eyes beheld the ‘BOOK OF MORMON’—that book of books … which was the principal means, in the hands of God, of directing the entire course of my future life. I opened it with eagerness, and read its title page. I then read the testimony of several witnesses in relation to the manner of its being found and translated. After this I commenced its contents by course. I read all day; eating was a burden, I had no desire for food; sleep was a burden when the night came, for I preferred reading to sleep. As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists.’ Parley Pratt was then 23 years of age. The reading of the Book of Mormon affected him so profoundly that he was soon baptized into the Church and became one of its most effective and powerful advocates. In the course of his ministry he traveled from coast to coast across what is now the United States, into Canada, and to England; he worked in the isles of the Pacific and was the first Latter-day Saint missionary to set foot on the soil of South America. In 1857, while serving a mission in Arkansas, he was shot in the back and killed by an assailant.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 2005
Using the Book of Mormon to answer objections or difficult questions
“All objections basically hinge on whether Joseph Smith and his successors were and are prophets of God receiving divine revelation. The only problem the person has to resolve for himself or herself is whether the Book of Mormon is true. If it is, then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was his prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and that Church is led by a prophet of God.” — President Ezra Taft Benson, page 108-109 PMG
- Restate the objection in your own words, ensuring that both you and the objector understand the question.
- Give a brief, simple response to the best of your ability using modern revelation if possible.
- State that the resolution of the problem or question really depends on whether Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
- You can KNOW that Joseph was a prophet by determining if the Book of Mormon is true! We can help you come to know that the Book of Mormon is truly revealed scripture.
- If necessary, state that we don’t have definitive answers to every question, nor should we expect to, and we are admonished to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
BEING AN EXAMPLE
Paul’s admonition found in 1 Timothy 4:12 – “Let no man despise thy youth: but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
- Word _________________________________________________________
- Conversation ___________________________________________________
- Charity _________________________________________________________
- Spirit __________________________________________________________
- Faith __________________________________________________________
- Purity _________________________________________________________
How did the Savior ‘set an example’ in the episode recorded in Matthew 14:22-33?
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