What a hard thing it is to pick my favorite verse from the final chapters of The Book of Mormon and expound on it for the blog. Should I quote the last few verses of chapter 7 about faith, hope and charity and how "charity is the pure love of Christ and who is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him." There could hardly be better advice than that.
Or should I talk about one of my favorite scriptures of all time in verse 48. For those who feel they should have more charity but don't, how do they achieve it? "Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love.." The answer is right there.
But then there's the advice in chapter 9 about not giving up on others, even if it seems hopeless.
"And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease labor, we should be brought under condemnation." You never stop trying with loved ones - even if they don't change, at least you can take comfort in the fact you'd tried our hardest.
Of course, chapter 10, the final chapter is filled with pearls of wisdom. There's the promise of Moroni in verse 4 that if we read and then ask the Lord if this scripture is true, "if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost." It's a simple promise, easy to understand, and yet entire talks could be given about each phrase of that verse. It's a promise I've put to the test and received an answer.
As powerful as verse 4 is, there's so much to learn from the remainder of the chapter. There are the inspiring verses that tell us that the Lord give each of us special gifts. We should consider what our special gifts are and use them to build the kingdom.
Verse 23 really stuck me. "If ye have faith ye can to all things which are expedient unto me."
Now, that's a promise that gives me hope I can accomplish whatever of the Lord wants of me.
However, I think verse 32 really hits the nail on the head with the primary message of the Book of Mormon. "Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in him and deny yourselves of all ungodliness." That's what all the other verses are leading us to do - to come unto Christ. After all, the Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ.
But finally, the thought hits me that I don't have to choose just one verse to talk about in my blog post. There's nothing that says I can't mention all of them that I like, so I did.
What a blessing it has been to read the Book of Mormon with the youth of our ward. I'm so gratified at the testimonies our young people have of this great scripture. I, along with so many of you, bear testimony of its truthfulness and leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
