The Book of Mormon

I wish words could do a better job at describing a feeling.  Much like a taste or a sound, feeling is arbitrary and after the volumes that have been written about experiencing God through the Holy Ghost, it is safe to say that one must come in contact with that feeling personally in order to full grasp the complexly simply peace that comes from our Heavenly Father.

When it is said that the Lord works in his own way and his own time, this means to me that His hand can often be a surprise when it touches our hearts or lives.  Some of the most spiritual experiences have come right out of the blue and answered questions that I did not really know that I had or was going to encounter.  A lot of these experiences are things that I do not feel right sharing but the common theme among the most memorable is my surprise when a feeling comes, a thought is entertained and I know that it did not come from anywhere else but God simply because there was no other way that this very specific feeling would have came to me at a particular moment.  This surprise of mine could be viewed as something of being unprepared, for faith in God should erase this the surprise when He interacts with us, but I believe that sudden contrast in my mood and sentiments creates a proof of sorts.  It is true that I feel the spirit at church and other expected times but the real testament to me has been when the Lord has seen it fit to teach me something in a powerfully impressing manner at a time when I had both needed it but yet was taken back by the moment.

D&C 88:66 likens the Lord to a voice of one crying in the wilderness.  "In the wilderness, because you cannot see him- my voice because my voice is Spirit, my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end".  I hear this verse quoted often in that we cannot see out maker but a key piece of information is sometimes overlooked.  When we feel the spirit, according to this scripture, we are feeling the voice of the Lord.  He is speaking to us.  How much more sacred our moment of spiritual peace become when we think of the personal nature that it is to feel the spirit.  It is direct communication from our Father.

Recently I have had the surprising experience to have the voice of the Lord testify to me that the Book of Mormon was actually translated from the plates of gold given to the Prophet Joseph Smith.  It is a true record of a group of people living here on this continent to whom Jesus Christ ministered after His death and resurrection.  It is the record of the "other sheep, which are not of this fold" who truly heard Jesus speak and His lips profess what must be done to achieve salvation.  I sat down on the couch this morning with a bowel of cereal, picked up my Book of Mormon from the floor, flipped it open and read the end of verse 61 in Alma 5, "come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life".  As I did so, I felt a voice say to me that this is true and that Joseph got this book from exactly the means which he claimed.  It was real, distinct, and all be it unexpected, welcomed and life changing.  The Book of Mormon is true my friends, the Lord loves us and watches over us in our hour of need, even if that hour is surprising when it arrives.