Book of Mormon Day 325: Honored and Blessed Be His Ever Great Name

Today’s reading:  Mormon 8:14-24

16 And blessed be he that shall bring this thing to light; for it shall be brought out of darkness unto light, according to the word of God; yea, it shall be brought out of the earth, and it shall shine forth out of darkness, and come unto the knowledge of the people; and it shall be done by the power of God.

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.

Praise to his mem’ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins,
Plead unto heav’n while the earth lauds his fame.

Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know ‘Brother Joseph’ again.

(William W. Phelps)

In 1820 a young fourteen year old boy, yearning to know God, humbly knelt in prayer in a quiet grove of trees, seeking answers from the only source he knew could provide them.   What transpired there changed everything.  It was the beginning of a new dispensation and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.  Joseph Smith was chosen by God to be the one to “bring this thing to light … by the power of God.”

I often wonder how this young fourteen year old boy felt – scared, overwhelmed, excited, fearful?  We know as he became a prophet of God and began his work of translation and restoration, he endured unimaginable opposition.  His suffering and sacrifices were great.  Yet, he never stopped or gave in or quit even with so much working against him.  His testimony was firm and he was always faithful.

To me, one of the most powerful witnesses and testimonies of the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, was given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  He said:

“When Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read these words to comfort the heart of his brother:

“Thou hast been faithful; wherefore … thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.

“And now I, Moroni, bid farewell … until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ.”

A few short verses from the 12th chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon. Before closing the book, Hyrum turned down the corner of the page from which he had read, marking it as part of the everlasting testimony for which these two brothers were about to die. I hold in my hand that book, the very copy from which Hyrum read, the same corner of the page turned down, still visible. Later, when actually incarcerated in the jail, Joseph the Prophet turned to the guards who held him captive and bore a powerful testimony of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.  Shortly thereafter pistol and ball would take the lives of these two testators.

As one of a thousand elements of my own testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I submit this as yet one more evidence of its truthfulness. In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth?

Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless. Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be “houseless, friendless and homeless” and that their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and an untamed prairie floor.  Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters of this earth that they know the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses it to be true. Disregard all of that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that! They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

I ask that my testimony of the Book of Mormon and all that it implies, given today under my own oath and office, be recorded by men on earth and angels in heaven. I hope I have a few years left in my “last days,” but whether I do or do not, I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true, that it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the latter days.” Safety for the Soul, Jeffrey R. Holland

Mormon Message:  Testimony of the Book of Mormon, Elder Holland

I have great love, respect, and gratitude for the prophet Joseph Smith.  I have had many opportunities to teach of him and testify of the divine work he has done.  I know these things to be true.   If any of us are “lacking wisdom” let us “ask of God,” just as that young fourteen year old boy did.  We too, can find answers to our questions and we can know what is truth.  Joseph Smith History