I have loved the Book of Mormon for a very long time. When I was working on my uncle’s farm in Burley, Idaho, I had a Sunday school teacher who inspired me to read from the Book of Mormon each day. Doing so further moved me to stand for the first time in sacrament meeting to share my testimony of the Savior, His gospel and the Book of Mormon.Through the intervening years, my testimony has grown and my love of the Book of Mormon has deepened. I have continued to, “with joy,” as Isaiah and Nephi have both said, “draw water from the wells of salvation” in the Book of Mormon.
A number of years ago a verse from the Book of Mormon caused me to ponder for the first time the challenge writers of the Book of Mormon faced in engraving their words on metal plates. Today when we write a letter on a computer, we can easily correct our mistakes without leaving a trace. In fact, with spelling and grammar checking software, our mistakes are pointed out to us and can even be corrected without need for us to intervene. Such wasn’t the case for those who engraved the Book of Mormon.
Jacob said, "I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates" (Jacob 4:1).
Moroni shared a similar concern, “Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them; And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing” (Ether 12:23-24).
A few verses later, Moroni reinforced this thought in these words: “I have seen Jesus, and . . . he hath talked with me face to face, and . . . he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things; And only a few have I written, because of my weakness in writing” (Ether 12:39-40).
If it was difficult to engrave the record in the first place, imagine how difficult it would have been, after engraving the words, to smooth the plate and write a corrected word or phrase. How did the writers correct their errors?
Here is the verse that caught my attention. It is Mormon’s observation concerning the Anti-Nephi-Lehies:
“And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace” (Alma 24:19).
In this verse, Mormon took a practical approach. He superseded the original phrase with a corrected following phrase by using the connecting word “or.”
After noticing this verse, I did a word search on the word “or,” which led me to many other examples of corrections that were made. A few more examples follow.
“Wherefore, I, Nephi, did make a record upon the other plates, which gives an account, or which gives a greater account of the wars and contentions and destructions of my people” (1 Nephi 19:4).
"And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (Mosiah 5:2).
“And it came to pass when they had been in prison two days they were again brought before the king, and their bands were loosed; and they stood before the king, and were permitted, or rather commanded, that they should answer the questions which he should ask them” (Mosiah 7:8)
“But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known” (Mosiah 8:17).
“Now, when Amulek had finished these words the people began again to be astonished, and also Zeezrom began to tremble. And thus ended the words of Amulek, or this is all that I have written” (Alma 11:46).
I do not share this observation as a proof of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I provide this insight to point out an internal evidence of the book’s origin as a text derived from accounts engraved on metal plates.
Empirical evidence is interesting but not vital in obtaining a testimony of the divine origin of this inspired witness of Jesus Christ. Such an assurance must come by the power of the Holy Ghost. The scriptures “came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). Therefore, the only way for us to be certain of their truthfulness, is to be moved upon by that same Spirit.
I urge everyone who reads what I have shared to accept the following invitation found in the Introduction to the Book of Mormon:
We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)
Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah.
You can read the Book of Mormon online using the following hyperlink: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng.
You can obtain a physical copy of the Book of Mormon by going to mormon.org. In addition, there is a free app with which the book can be read on mobile devices: Gospel Library by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, available at the iTunes Store, Google Play Store, and the Microsoft Store.
