But before I do I need to explain and share some amazing things that are going on in our awesome Kingsport Zone and Stake. There is a humongous emphasis on the Book of Mormon right now. Last Sunday we had Ward Conference and our incredible Stake President (I know I have ranted about him before) stood up at the pulpit in a maroon suit that only he could pull off, and gave a great talk all about the importance of the Book of Mormon as a keystone of our religion, our lives, and our testimonies. In closing of his talk he extended to us three commitments.
1. Read and study again the last conference addresses of President Monson: "The Power of the Book of Mormon" President Nelson: "The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like Without It?" and Elder Callister: "God's Compelling Witness: The Book of Mormon"
2. Write your testimony in a Book of Mormon and give it to a friend in the coming year.
3. Participate in the 20 year challenge.
Ok so let me elaborate. The first two are pretty self explanatory. However the last one the twenty year challenge needs some explaining. President Bauserman has a friend who once told him that every day for twenty years he had gone running at least 2 miles. Every day... for twenty years!!!! President Bauserman said that that was remarkable yet it caused him to reflect and ask himself: "If he can run two miles everyday for twenty years than shouldn't I be able to read the Book of Mormon every day for twenty years?" It's been 8 years and he hasn't missed a day since he made that commitment. How amazing is that?! I want to invite all who read this to gear up and participate, commit to reading starting today everyday for the next twenty years. And let me tell you it does not have to be lengthy study.
We had a chaotic day one day and my studies led me to some other scriptures and conference talks in order to prepare for the day and upcoming experiences and lessons. So when it came down to it I was unable to read the Book of Mormon to the extent I would have liked to, but I said a prayer and flipped open to it randomly. The one verse I read wouldn't have mattered to anyone else but it mattered to me it so perfectly described my situation and things that were on my mind. It was no coincidence. No such thing. One verse makes a world of a difference I can wholeheartedly testify of that!
Now backtracking a bit I want to share a little bit more about commitment number two. Keeping all three of these commitments in mind Sister Beare and I attended Zone Conference. As part of our conference we have what is called a "breakout session" where we gather together as a zone and circle our chairs and discuss what goals we can set together to increase success and spirituality. Sister Beare and I have spent a lot of time talking and praying with the Zone Leaders about what we need to emphasize as a zone. Right before President Bauserman issued his commitments we had decided that we felt that the Lord's will for us was to emphasize the Book of Mormon. We felt like that was a good goal for us to talk about together and we planned to discuss it all together with our zone at zone conference. Which we did. And the spirit completely took over the meeting. People threw around ideas about how we can better share the Book of Mormon and how we can get members involved. At one point Elder Macdonald one of the Zone Leaders called on an elder to stand and give his testimony of the Book of Mormon on the spot. He did so and I cannot even describe the Spirit that entered that room. He talked about a passage he had just studied that influenced his life. He bore a sweet and sincere testimony that it was true, and I promise you it affected every single person in that room. We were able to point out that there is power in the Book of Mormon we had all felt it, and that is what the people in Eastern Tennessee and the surrounding states need to feel. We determined that we would use the commitments of our Stake President to our advantage and that we wouldn't let a day go by that we didn't read from and share something from the Book of Mormon. Each of our companionships in our zone went back to their areas and came up with a companionship goal regarding how to better use to Book of Mormon the rest of these next 6 weeks.
Sister Beare and my goal is to have each Book of Mormon that we hand out have a written testimony in the front of it. As we have spent quite a bit of time with the members in our ward this past week we have been able to have some pretty incredible experiences with it and I want to briefly mention three of them.
A sweet member couple picked us up and took us to dinner last Tuesday night, it was right after Zone Conference and we felt so excited and pumped up about the work. We shared a meal with them and then asked them if they would write their testimonies in a Book of Mormon. They did so and we were able to go with the Sister and deliver it directly to a referral we had received the day before. A woman had requested a Bible online and we delivered her one with the Book of Mormon. She wasn't available to talk when we got there her mom spoke with us and accepted both books and our information. We plan on returning back to see if we can meet her and talk with her more. Regardless it was amazing to see the easiness of sharing a testimony it all took place in less than twenty minutes of writing it down someone had a ward members testimony in their home. Who knows what good could come of it? SO AWESOME!!!
I mentioned last week that a sweet elderly couple in the ward knew the woman we were guided to a few weeks ago that was a former member. Last week we had invited them to write down their testimony in a Book of Mormona and then we would take it and deliver it to her. We did this past week and she was very touched by it. She invited us back to share a meal with her and her non member husband and we were overjoyed that she is still welcoming to us. We know we were guided to her house for a reason. AND get this. She shared with us that the day after we stopped by their daughter that was in the hospital sick with cancer was released and doing better. She said she knows it was because we came by and offered words of comfort and prayed with them that she was released. Prayer works. We are so guided, guided by angels. I can never deny that. I also know that there is a strengthening power in the Book of Mormon, she said she still reads it even though she no longer attends with us. I know that even though she isn't a member anymore and her husband never was that because they have the Book of Mormon in their home we are still able to feel the Spirit, I know that. I am excited to go back and hopefully read it with them.
Finally, we went and had a lesson with a young couple in the ward that just announced they are pregnant. They are so sweet and are planning on moving soon but are very missionary minded. He never served a mission because he went into the marines and has since become a recruiting officer. (Side note: The parallels between what he does as a recruiter and what we do as missionaries are amazing, so similar! The major difference is we aren't trying to recruit we just invite... but I guess in a kind of way we are trying to recruit people to come and serve in "God's army"... hmm that is interesting to think about). Either way we had a great discussion with him and his wife who is a convert. We asked them how their lives have been blessed and changed by the Book of Mormon and they both shared how it helps them accept their situations in life, he shared that it helps him be less angry and she said that it helps her be more in tune to spiritual promptings and to pray more sincerely. I absolutely love that! And I agree! We invited them to write their testimonies in Books of Mormon and either give them to a friend or give them to us on Sunday and we would give them out. Well guess what they came to Church on Sunday and caught us in the hallway and handed us the two books with their written testimonies in them! YAY!!!! I LOVE IT when people actually keep their commitments it makes my heart so happy. We were able to head out to a far away part of our area and were guided to a secluded road with only one house on it. A sweet young mom answered the door and told us that she had a Mormon friend in highschool and had actually been out to the Visitors Center in Salt Lake, she wasn't interested but accepted a Book of Mormon and when we showed her the written testimony of that couple in the front her outlook completely changed. She took it and we know that no matter what happens to her in the future, she will never forget that. They say that it takes most people about 7 times to encounter the church before they accept anything... I don't know if that stat is true but I do know that she had had at least two run ins before we met her, than us, and when she opens that book and reads that testimony there is another one.
I know that there truly is power in the book. I know that it is true, it has blessed my life countless times and I have taken it for granted more than I should. I have since repented and can say I have been reading it every single day and sharing it every day and that is something I never want to lose. Whether I share it with a non member or a member, with a family member or a friend I want to read it and share it every day for the rest of my life. I am so grateful for the peace that enters my mind and heart when I open it, and for the lessons I learn and parallels I draw. I don't understand how a 20 year old girl could relate to men and women thousands of years ago if it wasn't true. I don't know how I could feel peace and assurance if it wasn't true. I don't know how I could have a sometimes almost tangible desire to do and be better, to find and follow Christ more fully if it wasn't true. It is true. I know it. I can't deny it. I love it. It has changed my life, and continues to do so. Why would I ever want to give that up?
I echo the words of Elder Callister, "God's fingerprints are all over the Book of Mormon" I find Him in it's pages daily, I find His attributes, His guidance, His mercy, His love, and His will. How could I ever not want those things on a daily basis? How can I not commit to reading it every day and somehow sharing it every day?
I want to commit all who read this to take part in the commitments that we are working on here. You can even help us with our goal. I've invited my family to write their testimonies of the Book of Mormon and send them to me in the mail and Sister Beare and I will paste them into a Book of Mormon and hand them out. If any of you feel prompted to do so as well please send your testimony to me at
11320 Station West. Rd. Farragut TN, 37934
Or get them to my mom and she can send them to me (hopefully that's ok mom:)
I promise as you commit to a more enhanced study and desire to share the Book of Mormon that the light will increase in your life and so will the light in others. You just never know the influence you have. I recently read about a family that picked a random address (I'm not sure exactly how this worked) but they sent a Book of Mormon with their testimony over seas and a young girl received it in some country in Asia, she read it, it changed her life, she shared it with her family, all were baptized.
Personally I think there is a reason there is a blank page right at the first of the Book of Mormon. It is for your testimoy. Your personal witness. Yes there are the testimonies of the three and the eight witnesses as well as Joseph Smith's but I don't find any coincidence why Heavenly Father left a page blank for your testimony and witness. It's because He depends on us to do His work and spread His words.
How grateful am I for the chance to do this 24/7 for the past 14 months and for the next 4 I am so grateful.
May we all be a part of what our zone calls ourselves the "BOM squad." Without being disrespectful we really do consider The Book of Mormon to be "the bomb" both in slang terms but also literal terms because it really can and does destroy evil and floods the earth with light.
I know it is true.
And so is this Church.
And so is my testimony.
I hope y'all have a blessed week. Read, and share, lift and light this increasingly dark world with The Book of Mormon.
Love,
Hermana Hall
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