Dear Missionaries and Families,
This week we invited missionaries who are new to the mission or those who were not here to participate in our Book of Mormon reading in February – April of this year, to begin to read the Book of Mormon daily and to read it in its entirety in 61 days, To finish in that time frame, you will need to read about 9 pages per day. We suggest doing this by reading 3 pages in the morning, 3 pages at lunch, and 3 pages before retiring to bed.
A personalized copy of the Book of Mormon has now been given to every missionary in every group who arrived since April. Inside the front cover of your copy is a reading schedule as well as quotes from President Ezra Taft Benson concerning the power of reading the Book of Mormon and the names of Christ. As you read, we invite you to find and mark in red every reference to Jesus Christ and His Atonement. When you have completed this assignment you will have your own personal “witness” of the Book of Mormon as another testament of Jesus Christ.
We invite friends and families of our missionaries to join with us in this inspiring endeavor.
The authors of the Book of Mormon desired readers to receive a witness of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. The Book of Mormon came forth with the intent to convince Jews and Gentiles that JESUS is the CHRIST. The Book of Mormon is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” By reading and marking every verse which contains one of the Savior’s names or titles, and references or teachings about the atonement, and then praying about the truth of these scriptures, you will gain your own witness and testimony of Jesus Christ. You will be able to testify as did Nephi, Abinadi, King Benjamin, Alma, Ammon, Mormon, Moroni and others that Jesus Christ is indeed the Redeemer and Savior of the World. We invite you to frequently bear your testimony of the Book of Mormon and invite your investigators to hold and thumb through the marked pages of your Book of Mormon. They will feel the strength of your witness and feel the power of the book just by holding it. The Book of Mormon will be your most powerful conversion tool.
President Hinckley promised blessings to those who read the Book of Mormon, “Without reservation I promise you that . . . there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.” Sister Marston and I have experienced these blessings in our life. We know you will receive these same blessings as you read the Book of Mormon. We know we will see miracles in our missionary service.
We love you and pray for you.
“Much of the Christian world today rejects the divinity of the Savior. They question His miraculous birth, His perfect life, and the reality of His glorious resurrection. The Book of Mormon teaches in plain and unmistakable terms about the truth of all of those. It also provides the most complete explanation of the doctrine of the Atonement. Truly, this divinely inspired book is a keystone in bearing witness to the world that Jesus is the Christ” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson [2014], 129–30).
We are also using the Book of Mormon for discussion in our interviews coming up during the next several weeks. Each missionary is to focus on their own specific reading assignment and come prepared to share and testify of a scripture in that assignment that has significance to them. A copy of that interview assignment is also attached.
We invite all to read the Book of Mormon.
We invite you to begin to share with me your experiences while reading from the pages of the Book of Mormon and when completed we will have a wonderful mission-wide testimony of the power of that sacred record.
We love you and pray for you.
Best regards,
President Michael F. Marston
California Roseville Mission
916-847-5595
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