I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.
Joseph Smith
The Book of Mormon is a keystone because it establishes and ties together eternal principles and precepts, rounding out basic doctrines of salvation. It is the crowning gem in the diadem of our holy scriptures. It is a keystone for other reasons also. In the promise of Moroni--namely, that God will manifest the truth of the Book of Mormon to every sincere inquirer having faith in Christ--we have a key link in a self-locking chain. A confirming testimony of the Book of Mormon convinces 'that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God' and also spiritually verifies the divine calling of Joseph Smith and that he did see the Father and the Son. With that firmly in place, it logically follows that one can also receive a verification that the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are true companion scriptures to the Bible and the Book of Mormon. All of this confirms the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the divine mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, led by a living prophet enjoying continuous revelation. From these basic verities, an understanding can flow of other saving principles of the fulness of the gospel. James E. Faust
Another Testament of Jesus Christ
Believe in the Book of Mormon as another witness of the Son of God. This book has come forth as an added testimony to the world of the great truths concerning the Master as set forth in the Bible. The Bible is the testament of the Old World. The Book of Mormon is the testament of the New World, and they go hand in hand in testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gordon B. Hinckley
Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?
2 Nephi 29:7-8
Svetlana was a young mother living in Leningrad, Russia. She had importuned the Lord in prayer to make it possible for her to obtain a Bible written in the Russian language. The year was 1989, and such a Bible was rare and very expensive. In the fall of that year, she and her family went to Helsinki searching for a Bible. While walking through a park in Helsinki, she stepped upon an object hidden beneath the ground cover of autumn leaves. She stopped down, spread the leaves, and found a book. She picked it up and found it to be the answer to her prayers--a Bible written in Russian. So excited was she that she joyfully recounted the story to another woman who was also in the park. The second woman asked Svetlana, "Would you like to have another book about Jesus Christ, also written in the Russian language?" Svetlana answered in the affirmative. The Finnish woman, wife of a district president, provided Svetlana with a copy of the Book of Mormon and invited her to church. Svetlana took the missionary lessons, joined the Church, and returned to Leningrad with her family. She then invited friends into her home, and many of them responded to the message of the missionaries and were baptized. Svetlana, her friends, and others like them are the pioneer foundation upon which the Church has been built in that part of the world. Russell M. Nelson
Testimony of Joseph Smith from Liberty Jail
Hell may pour forth its rage like the burning lava of Mount Vesuvius or of Etna--yet shall "Mormonism" stand. Water, fire, truth and God are all realities. Truth is "Mormonism." God is the author of it. It was by Him we received the Book of Mormon.
D&C 17:6
He has translated the book even that part which I have commanded him--saith the Lord and as your Lord and your God liveth--it is true.
This is God's testimony of the Book of Mormon. In it Deity Himself has laid His Godhood on the line. Either the book is true or God ceases to be God. There neither is nor can be any more formal or powerful language known to men or Gods. Bruce R. McConkie
The Book of Mormon is true just what it purports to be and for this testimony I expect to give an account in the day of judgement. Joseph Smith
The Three Witnesses
It is recorded in the American Encyclopaedia and the Encyclopaedia Britannica, that I, David Whitmer, have denied by testimony as one of the three witnesses to the divinity of the Book of Mormon, and that the other two witnesses, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, denied their testimony to that book. I will say once more to all mankind, that I have never at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof. I also testify to the world, that neither Oliver Cowdery nor Martin Harris ever at any time denied their testimony. They both died reaffirming the truth of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. David Whitmer
Early Testimonies of the Book of Mormon
I have been abused and thrust into a dungeon, and confined for months on account of my faith, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. However I thank God that I felt a determination to die, rather than deny the things [plates] which my eyes had seen, which my hands had handled, and which I had borne testimony to. Hyrum Smith
When Lucy Mack Smith was confronted by Deacon Beckwith and other religionists of Palmyra encouraging her to not say "anything more upon the subject" of the Book of Mormon, she said, "Deacon Beckwith, if you should stick my flesh full of faggots, and even burn me at the stake, I would declare, as long as God should give me breath, that Joseph has got that Record, and that I know it to be true."
Zina Huntington declared that when she first saw the book, "My whole soul was filled with joy. Without opening it I clasped it to my heart and exclaimed, 'O Truth, Truth, Truth!' I knew it had been brought forth by an angel's hand and the feeling that possessed me was one of supreme ecstasy."
Solomon Chamberlin wrote: "About the time that Joseph Smith found the gold record, I began to feel that the time was drawing near, that the Lord would in some shape or other bring forth His church. I made some inquiry through the country where I traveled if there was any strange work of God, such as had not been on the earth since the days of Christ. I could hear of none." Then Chamberlin wrote of being drawn to the Palmyra area and spending the night at a farmhouse in the vicinity: "In the morning the people of the house asked me if I had heard of the gold Bible [Book of Mormon]. When they said 'gold Bible,' there was a power like electricity went from the top of my head to the end of my toes. This was the first time I ever heard of the gold Bible." Chamberlin indicated that a few days later he went to the shop of E. B. Grandin, where printing had begun on the Book of Mormon. "As soon as they had printed 64 pages, I took them with their leave, and pursued my journey to Canada, and I preached all that I knew concerning Mormonism.
Experiences with the Book of Mormon
Before the rededication of the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple in 2004, the temple doors were opened to many notable leaders from government, business, and education. As I accompanied a highly respected, elected leader through the temple, I noticed that his attention was acutely focused. It wasn't until we reached a sealing room at the end of our visit that I fully understood why. In a solemn tone he said to me: "Mr. Andersen, I want to tell you something about my family. My oldest son passed away five years ago at age 35 of cancer. In his final months he could find no peace. He was nervous, distraught, and concerned about his family, his life, and what was ahead of him. Knowing of my son's situation, a friend of mine who is a member of the Church shared with me a copy of the Book of Mormon and suggested I share it with my son. It was a miracle to me to see the effect of that book on my son. He devoured it. He wrote notes and thoughts in the margins. His concerns and anxieties disappeared. In reading the Book of Mormon he found enormous peace. When he died, the book was next to him. I am so thankful for the peace it brought to him." Neil L. Andersen
Sister Celia Cruz Ayala of the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission decided to give the Book of Mormon to a friend. She wrapped it in attractive paper and set out to deliver her present. On the way she was attacked by a bandit who stole her purse and with it the wrapped copy of the Book of Mormon. A few days later she received this letter: "Mrs. Cruz: Forgive me, forgive me. You will never know how sorry I am for attacking you. But because of it, my life has changed and will continue to change. That book [the Book of Mormon] has helped me in my life. The dream of that man of God has shaken me. . . . I am returning your five pesos for I can't spend them. I want you to know that you seemed to have a radiance about you. That light seemed to stop me, [from harming you, so] I ran away instead. I want you to know that you will see me again, but when you do, you won't recognize me, for I will be your brother. . . . Here, where I live, I have to find the Lord and go to the church you belong to. The message you wrote in that book brought tears to my eyes. Since Wednesday night I have not been able to stop reading it. I have prayed and asked God to forgive me, [and] I ask you to forgive me. . . . I thought your wrapped gift was something I could sell. [Instead,] it has made me want to make my life over. Forgive me, forgive me, I beg you. Your absent friend."
Such is the conversion power of the Book of Mormon. F. Burton Howard
We Have Been Admonished to Study the Book of Mormon
No member of this Church can stand approved in the presence of God who has not seriously and carefully read the Book of Mormon. Joseph Fielding Smith
Members of the Church everywhere should know the Book of Mormon better than any other book. Not only should we know what history and faith-promoting stories it contains, but we should understand its teachings. I have noted within the Church the difference in discernment, in insight, conviction, and spirit between those who know and love the Book of Mormon and those who do not. That book is a great sifter. Ezra Taft Benson
The Book of Mormon will be with us "as long as the earth shall stand." We need all that time to explore it, for the book is like a vast mansion with gardens, towers, courtyards, and wings. There are rooms yet to be entered, with flaming fireplaces waiting to warm us. The rooms glimpsed so far contain further furnishings and rich detail yet to be savored, but decor dating from Eden is evident. There are panels inlaid with incredible insights, particularly insights about the great question [the reality of Jesus Christ]. Yet we as Church members sometimes behave like hurried tourists, scarcely venturing beyond the entry hall. Neal A Maxwell
During the war in Vietnam, some of our men were taken prisoner and kept in nearly total isolation. Permitted no access to the scriptures, they later told how they hungered for the words of truth, more than for food, more than for freedom itself. What they would have given for a mere fragment of the Bible or Book of Mormon that lay so idly on our shelves! They learned by hard experience something of Nephi's feelings when he said: "For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children. Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard." Spencer W. Kimball
I urge you to get acquainted with this great book. Read it to your children; they are not too young to understand it. I remember reading it with one of my lads when he was very young. On one occasion I lay in the lower bunk and he in the upper bunk. We were each reading aloud alternate paragraphs of those last three marvelous chapters of Second Nephi. I heard his voice breaking and thought he had a cold, but we went on to the end of the three chapters. As we finished he said to me, "Daddy, do you ever cry when you read the Book of Mormon?" "Yes, son," I answered. "Sometimes the Spirit of the Lord so witnesses to my soul that the Book of Mormon is true that I do cry." "Well," he said, "That is what happened to me tonight." Marion G. Romney
I am convinced that each of us, at least some time in our lives, must discover the scriptures for ourselves--and not just discover them once, but rediscover them again and again. Spencer W. Kimball
