Dear Sisters and Elders –
I have loved reading about your experiences with the Book of Mormon challenge. Many of you have shared significant insights about the Atonement and how we can access it more effectively in our lives. Thank you!
This week I received a letter from an investigator who is scheduled to be baptized in the very near future. Please find below an excerpt from his correspondence:
“God has moved and has spoken to me so deeply. I know that I have found the Church that I have been seeking my entire life. … With all my heart I do believe that God established His kingdom on earth through Jesus Christ, His Son and our Savior. I do believe that after his ascension to Heaven that…man lost sight of the path set before [him]. In the 1800s, I believe that God and Jesus Christ appeared before Joseph Smith and re-established the true church, the church that we have come to know as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.”
After reading this, I could not help but think of the following passages in Preach My Gospel:
When talking with others, “refer quickly and simply to the Restoration of the gospel” (159) and “no matter where you serve or whom you teach, center your teaching on the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ” (6). The Restoration is central to our message.
WHY must we “refer quickly to” and “center our teaching on” the Restoration of the gospel? Because, the Restoration of the gospel “is our unique message to the world” (PMG, 159). “The Church is not just another religion…. It is a restoration of the ‘fullness of [the] gospel’ (D&C 1:23), the same as was revealed and taught from the beginning” (PMG, 7).
HOW do we help others to know the truthfulness of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ? First, “pray that you will be led to those who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. Pray that you will recognize them” (PMG, 94). The investigator who sent me the letter referenced above had been searching for God’s true church his entire life. He was prepared.
Second, help others understand that “The Book of Mormon is…proof of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith” (PMG, 103). "We can know that it is true by the Holy Ghost, as promised in Moroni 10:3–5. After reading and pondering the message of the Book of Mormon, any who desire to know the truth must ask in prayer to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ if it is true” (PMG, 39). Anyone who knows the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon through the Holy Ghost will also know the validity of the Restoration.
As a companionship, please review the message above. Evaluate how effectively you focus on the Restoration and use the Book of Mormon in your proselyting efforts. Discuss ways to involve the doctrine of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon more powerfully in your finding and teaching.
When we focus our finding and teaching on the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will find more people to teach and we will help them to have more “strength to overcome their objections and concerns” (PMG, 109) during the conversion process.
Thank you for your faithful efforts to be powerful representatives of Jesus Christ and effective messengers of His restored gospel.
With love,
President Pingree