I KNOW!

I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of God. I am so grateful that I have been blessed to have it in my life. This semester I've been able to study the Book of Mormon and gain many insights from it. The Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. Christ is mentioned in some form or another on almost every page of the Book of Mormon. The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to persuade men to believe in Christ (1 Nephi 6:4, 19:23). The Book of Mormon contains nothing but that which is important to us (1 Nephi 19:6, 3 Nephi 26:12). Those who wrote for the book and those who abridged it, contained only things that would be of utmost benefit to those who are reading. The writings are sacred and true. Imagine writing on gold plates; it wouldn’t be easy! With that said, you would write only that which was necessary. Therefore, the words contained in the Book of Mormon are so important and critical to us in this day! Moroni saw our day. He saw the wickedness of the world and struggles that we would go through. This is why he didn’t give up when he was the last righteous person on earth. It would have been so easy for him to hide the plates and lay down to die. He would have spared himself a lot of loneliness. However, Moroni was stronger and wiser than that. He was solidly grounded in Jesus Christ and would not deny the Christ (Moroni 1:3). Not only would he not deny the Christ, but he would not give up his life either. He knew he had a purpose and he needed to fulfill it. Not only did he want to do the will of the Lord, but again, Moroni saw our day. By wandering by his self to finish the plates, I know that Moroni had extreme love for us. He was willing to be alone in order to write that which the children of God in this day needed to hear. He was not about to leave us without guidance. That is commitment to the Lord and I know that I can learn from Moroni. What gave Moroni the will-power to go on? Several answers factor into this question including the fact that Moroni had a strong testimony and that he was not alone because he had the Lord with him. However, Moroni also had a purpose and vision. We were his purpose and vision and he had to complete that. This is what gave him the strength to go on. Elder Richard G. Scott said, “When you have established personal standards and made covenants to keep them, when temptations come and you act according to your standards, you will be reinforced and given strength beyond your own capacity if that is needed. Difficulty comes when you enter the battle of temptation without a fixed plan.” So the question is: what is your vision? When temptation comes, what are you standing for? Once you decide that you’re going to do something, it’s a lot easier to do. When you decide that you’re going to do something, you take away the temptation to do otherwise. Stand strong! Find a cause and stick to it.

I love this gospel with all that I have. I'm not perfect, but I'm doing my best. I'm grateful for Christ and his atonement. He was willing to give up his life so that I might be made perfect. I do not want to take advantage of that gift. I challenge everyone to find out for themselves if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true and if Christ really lives. When you find this out, you will find power in your life that you did not know existed.