The Book of Mormon is a historical record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas (600 B.C. to 400 A.D.) It is holy scripture comparable to the Bible and contains Christ’s everlasting gospel. Its central message is to convince all “that Jesus is the Christ, the eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.”
The story of the Book of Mormon began with a man named Lehi, a Hebrew prophet, who fled Jerusalem with his family and several others, at the instruction of the Lord. Lehi and his sons built a ship and sailed from the Arabian Peninsula to the Americas approximately 600 B.C.
Lehi’s family grew after they arrived in the Americas. His family eventually split into two groups, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The Lord continued to call prophets in America and they recorded their teachings on metal sheets or plates and passed them on from generation to generation.
The crowning event of the Book of Mormon came when the Savior Jesus Christ visited these ancient inhabitants in the Americas in 34 A.D. after his resurrection and ascension, and taught the same gospel He preached in ancient Jerusalem. He also healed the sick, the lame, the blind, and all who were afflicted. The effect of His visit was so profound that for the next 200 years the people lived in perfect peace.
About 322 A.D., a prophet named Mormon, compiled a history from many ancient records written by prophets into one set of golden plates. The faithful Christians among them eventually died out, but not before their record was safely hidden away. God guided Joseph Smith to these golden plates in 1827.
With the Lord’s help, Joseph Smith translated the ancient writing into what we have today. The Book of Mormon, along with the Bible, testifies that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. The Book of Mormon is published in 107 languages including Spanish, Chinese, Portugese, Russian, Tagalog, Samoan, Tongan, and Efik. Over 145,000,000 books have been published since 1830.
Everyone is invited to read the Book of Mormon and find out through sincere prayer if what it says is true. We can feel this confirmation when we study the Book of Mormon with diligence and faith, and pray about it, as promised in the following scripture: “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and 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” (Moroni 10:4).
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