Mormon Bloggers

Heather shares some of her thoughts on the exodus/promised land theme in the Book of Mormon — a common theme in scripture. This post is part of our Book of Mormon series. The Book of Mormon: History of a Promised Land ~by Heather L. America has been a “Promised Land” to many people through the years, some even more ancient than the Pilgrims or the Vikings! The Book of Mormon contains a record of three of those peoples: one came by faith to preserve their language, one came to escape the destruction of Jerusalem, and one came to bear witness of its destruction. [Read more about the Promised Land theme in the Bible and Book of Mormon and find scripture references on the topic of Promised Land.] All three peoples were given the same promise from the God that led and preserved them: And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you…. -1 Nephi 2:20 And as we read the... Read the rest of this entry »

Heather @ Women in the Scriptures invited people to share their testimonies of the Book of Mormon to celebrate the birthday of Emma Smith (which was yesterday, July 10). Today, as part of our Book of Mormon series, we’re sharing her Book of Mormon testimony post with you. Be sure to look at the comments for the links others have shared to their Book of Mormon posts. You can also find more thoughts from Latter-day Saints about the Book of Mormon at bookofmormononline.com And to contribute to her invitation, we’ll be including a link back to this post so that people can read the testimonies in our series to this point: “The Book of Mormon…changed my life” Latter-day Saint Women Write about The Book of Mormon: Amanda “The Book of Mormon…was made for me” What the Book of Mormon means to me Thoughts on the Book of Mormon: “I know this is a true book” If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will you consider sharing your testimony of... Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s another in our series where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share thoughts and experiences regarding the Book of Mormon. Today, J., age 12 shares his testimony. (Links added.) The Book of Mormon is one of the best books I have ever read. I know that this is a true book abridged by Mormon the prophet. I know that it contains a record of the early people in the Americas. I know that it contains a true record of the coming of Jesus Christ the Savior [to the American continent, after His death and resurrection]. I know that the book is true. I have received this confirmation many times. I am so grateful for this book and everything that it has done in my life. —— Other Book of Mormon posts in our series: “The Book of Mormon…changed my life” Latter-day Saint Women Write about The Book of Mormon: Amanda “The Book of Mormon…was made for me” What the Book of Mormon means to me  Read More →

Editor’s note: This is part of our continuing Book of Mormon series, where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share thoughts about, and experiences with, the Book of Mormon. (For previous posts, see below.) Today’s post comes from an 11-year-old Mormon girl. ~by R., age 11 The Book of Mormon is very special to me because every time I do my scriptures in the Book of Mormon I find something new. I love it! And reading it just makes me feel good. My favorite story in the Book of Mormon is of Lehi’s dream about the tree of life. I like that story because of the symbolism and I love symbols.   Other Book of Mormon posts in our series: “The Book of Mormon…changed my life” Latter-day Saint Women Write about The Book of Mormon: Amanda “The Book of Mormon…was made for me”    Read More →

This is another post in our series, with people sharing their personal feelings about and experiences with the Book of Mormon. (See previous posts here and here.) Today, Kathryn shares her powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon, and how it impacted her at a critical time in her life. You can find Kathryn at Well-Behaved Mormon Woman and on Twitter at LDSNana. You can read the entire post, The Book of Mormon and Me, on her blog. ~by Kathryn I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was 10 years old, but our family rarely ever attended church. I was exposed to the teachings of Mormonism mainly through other family members and my hit-and-miss association with the Church. I credit my grandmother and one particular aunt for their religious influence in my early years. Because of their teachings, I knew what the Spirit felt like — although I didn’t realize what it was at the time.  In some interesting way, although I rarely attended, I ... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: This is our second post in our series where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share about what The Book of Mormon means to them. You can read the first post in our series here: “The Book of Mormon…was meant for me“. Today, Amanda shares some of thoughts, posted with permission. You can read her entire blog post here. I haven’t always been an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was proud and selfish, into doing my own thing and trying more worldly ways. Granted the world has some ways that are fun but always left me feeling hollow and a bit lost by the end of the day. I began to feel my spirit was a great chasm of darkness. I felt lost. Oddly enough, through this lonely road of exploration, I always felt there was a God, He loved me, and I continued to pray daily to Him. I felt His Spirit here and there. Then one day, I couldn’t feel His presence in my life at all. I knew... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: Over the next few days, we’ll be sharing thoughts and experiences of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about The Book of Mormon. Today, R shares some of her thoughts. I consider myself to be a normal woman, married, with 3 children and running around doing all the things that a wife and mother would do.  With all that is required from me and all the struggles that seem to be around us, I have questions and concerns and problems that occur, just like everyone else.  So I turn to the Lord in prayer and ask my questions or tell him my concerns and problems. And you know how he answers me?  Through the Book of Mormon.  I will pray or even just be thinking on something and a few days later I am reading in the Book of Mormon and their is my answer.  It comes so strongly and plainly I can’t believe my name isn’t right there in the text.  I not only know that my Father in Heaven hears and answer prayers, I know that... Read the rest of this entry »

~by Michelle A couple of years ago, my dad sang in the choir for an amazing musical/dramatic presentation of the story of Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the gospel, which included the story of how the Book of Mormon came to be. The performance was in the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was so moved by the music, and, of course, the message that is a foundational element of our faith. Recently, Seth Adam Smith put one of my favorite songs from this program, Joseph Smith, the Prophet, to video. This video and song portray the testimony of the three men who were witnesses to the plates from which The Book of Mormon was translated. You can also see a video from a live performance of this song. (See more music from this performance here.)  Read More →

As was expected, Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s musical, “The Book of Mormon,” was recognized last night at the Tony awards. Here is a frank (and fairly detailed) review from a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who saw the Book of Mormon musical.   We share again the Church’s simple statement as well. “The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people’s lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ.” You can read more about The Book of Mormon at Mormon.org/Book-of-Mormon, which includes topics such as the following: The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ The Book of Mormon and the Bible support each other The Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul (Read what Church members say about how The Book of Mormon has helped them find answers about the purpose of life) The Book of Mormon draws people closer to God (read what Latter-day Saints... Read the rest of this entry »

On 5 November 1937 at the New York Times Book Fair, author and editor Henry A. Wallace (who later went on to be Vice-president of the United States) stated the following while speaking on the subject “Good books of the Nineteenth Century”: “Of all the American religious books of the nineteenth century it seems probable that ‘The Book of Mormon’ was the most powerful.  it reached perhaps only one percent of the people of the United States, but it affected this one percent so powerfully and lastingly that all the people of the United States have been affected.”      The Book of Mormon is “others’ words“ in the greatest sense.  First of all, it is a compilation of the words of numerous prophets.  More important, however, is the fact (and millions upon millions have now testified to its truth) that it is the word of God.  His words should have the utmost presidence when discussing “others’... Read the rest of this entry »

“therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days” Sometimes we assume that the book of 1 Nephi is like a journal – that he kept it as he went along. Maybe that’s the case for the other plates he kept, I don’t know, but with the version we have access to, Nephi wrote this record 30 years after Lehi’s family left Jerusalem, and well after the time they arrived in the Promised Land.  (see 1 Nephi 19:1-5 / 2 Nephi 5:28-31) Why does that matter, you ask? Well, it doesn’t, really. I just thought that was kind of cool. Then again, maybe you could draw the lesson from it that keeping a journal is not enough, we should write our life history, too. Okay, so maybe that’s not the intent, but that’s a good lesson, too!  Read More →

Hey! It’s been a while since I posted anything, so I figured I’d post something today. Since my last post, I’ve moved from Alberta to Provo, because I’m going to BYU this year. Overall, the experience has been everything I’d hoped for. It’s amazing! Anyway, for my main post today I decided I’d post one of the papers I wrote for my Mission Prep class, about an experience I had this past summer at the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Anyway, here we go: This past summer I was privileged to be in the cast of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. During our seventeen days at Hill Cumorah, I had many life-changing experiences, both socially and spiritually. After I found out I had been accepted to Brigham Young University, I was worried. In high school, I had bad experiences with making friends. I was the only priesthood holder in my graduating class and I hated being around many of my classmates because they were largely interested only in where the next party was. Also,... Read the rest of this entry »