Jan 2, 2024

Jesus Teaching in the Western Hemisphere by John Scott

We have spent these past weeks immersed in the birth, life, and teachings of Jesus Christ. We love Him. We worship Him. We are immensely grateful for the gifts He has given us. Of these gifts, Phillips Brooks wrote, “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.”1 This is the pattern of God’s gifts to us; they do indeed come quietly, without fanfare, often not even recognized.

One of the greatest of these gifts is the Book of Mormon. In its literary brilliance, its spiritual enlightenments, and its unveiling of heaven’s truths, it stands supreme in the earth of all books ever written. Wilford Woodruff wrote, “All the ingenuity of all the men under heaven could not compose and present to the world a book like the Book of Mormon. Its principles are divine—they are from God. They could never emanate from the mind of an impostor, or from the mind of a person writing a novel. Why? Because the promises and prophecies it contains are being fulfilled in the sight of all the earth.”2

This gift has come to us quietly after being prepared by a prophet of God over 1,600 hundred years before. His name was Mormon. He was an extraordinary man. He worked tirelessly to compile and prepare a record that was to be brought forth in these last days that the Saints of God might arm themselves with great spiritual power. 

The book begins with Mormon giving us an introduction to his work and to whom he has written it—the Lamanites, the Jews, and the Gentiles, that they might know of Jesus Christ. Then, in 1981 an introduction to the Book of Mormon was included. This introduction gives an overview of the grand adventure we are about to be immersed in as we read. And oh, what an adventure it will be! We will learn of valiant Lehi and Sariah and their incredible family journey. We will learn of wars and rumors of wars. We will learn of once-great civilizations, now extinct because of poor choices. We will meet valiant prophets such as Moroni, King Benjamin, Nephi, and more. We will see lives change through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, such as those of Alma the Younger and thousands of humble Lamanites.

And the grandest adventure of all? We will sit at the feet of Mormon as he tells us of the wondrous, majestic visit of the resurrected Lord and Savior to the American continent. Nothing in all of literature can compare! In the introduction we will be given the challenge to ask our Heavenly Father if the things we will be reading are true. Let us do so. Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book ever written, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book.” Let us try his promise and see for ourselves. This year, may this grand adventure take root in our souls as we learn of, and then abide by, the Book of Mormon’s saving principles. 

Craig Lindquist is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, happily married to Dianna for the past 46 years. By trade he is a cabinetmaker, actor, and writer. He lives in Henderson, Nevada, except when he travels to film or to work on the construction of temples.