Ep. 134 "The Book of Mormon—an Immeasurable Treasure on Our Journey" By Elder Ozani Farias

Welcome to Closer to Christ through General Conference, where two friends who love Jesus share

our own approach to studying the most recent general conference talks. This is Abby and Amy,

let's jump into it.

Welcome. Today we are talking about the Book of Mormon,

an immeasurable treasure on our journey, and this is by Elder Ozzani Farias of the 70.

So he tells a story reflecting on receiving a life changing gift 40 years earlier while he was

in high school. A classmate who seemed to have a special light share that he was a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. He invited

him to read it and meet with the missionaries, his friends. After learning about the doctrine of

Christ, the speaker followed Moronized invitation to pray and ask God if the Book of Mormon was true.

And although he did not fully understand everything yet, he felt in his heart that the message was

good and from God, and he received spiritual confirmation through the Holy Ghost.

Just like any great life decision, he was pretty immediately met with opposition.

This was the case for Elder Ferris. After he was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints, friends were trying to convince him that he had made the wrong decision.

What's the benefit or what's the benefit to push back like that, I asked myself, or for us,

where we were born to homes where the gospel was already present. We weren't seeking that.

I mean, in the same way. But I was thinking like anti-contents in our news feeds kind of act in

the same way that that opposition in his case was. And sometimes, it's just a little

anti-content here there. Just somebody misspeaking about the church speaking on behalf of us. I'm like

totally different religions. And I thought, what does that do to me? Does that wear me down?

And I thought, you know, sometimes I'm faced with those things that people want me to doubt.

It's the opposition in my life. And when I look at it, when I look at it, a face value,

I say, I actually renew, it renews my dedication, or it strengthens my testimony because I

briefly question it. I'm like, oh, does that thing bug me? Doesn't bug me? What do I actually know

to be true? So it causes you to reflect on your own. My own opinion is about it. It doesn't take

the next content that somebody positively serene something like, oh, they said that. So now,

I believe it's true. I reflect on my own. Whether it's news that sustains a belief that I was

already holding, or one that makes me question things. And maybe they bring up, like, gritty things

that are hard and will take a minute to chew on. But what I'm saying is not really terrible to

be confronted with that because all of those are opportunities to be questioned. So, yeah, who

wants their friends telling you you made the worst decision of your life? Nobody. But the

testimony that he has 40 years later from that pulpit, the passion that he has. I was like, yeah,

it was probably hard, but what a payoff. That's the testimony that he has cultivated from that

experience. So I just was thinking about this for myself and I wrote these thoughts. I said,

I received renewed confirmation through studying scriptures and praying to stay true to the

covenants. And that's, you know, that's the same thing that this elder had at the same time.

It's like, yeah, I'm going to take your information, but you're not going to let it sit and like

make him stew about it. He's going to say, do I really believe those things to be true? And

again, he comes out of it knowing he had confirmation from God about these things. And he says,

this since then, the Book of Mormon has been my companion and has become an amazurable treasure

in my mortal journey. The Book of Mormon is a treasure. The Book of Mormon is another testament

of Jesus Christ. It was written by ancient prophets through revelation. It's most significant event

in the is the visit in the ministry of Jesus Christ among the Nephites after his resurrection.

I'm so excited because I am in Healum and Nine right now. And I'm like, okay, he's almost here.

Like, yeah, I always wish I knew I could be like right around Easter. Love it. That's all good.

So good. And even if you're in the Book of Mormon, and that's not where you're skipped to those

chapters, right? Celebrate. It is so great. So the book teaches, Book of Mormon teaches the

doctrines of the gospel, explains the plan of salvation. And it shows how people can find peace in

this life and eternal salvation in the next. He wrote some facts out about the Book of Mormon.

I thought they were worth reviewing. He said, the first edition of the Book of Mormon,

another testament of Jesus Christ was published in March 1830 in a small town in New York,

United States. Joseph Smith was 23 when he completed the translation. I always am amazed when I

hear that. 1829. He translated almost the entire book in less than 75 days, printing process

taking about seven months. There are 80,000 full-time missionaries roughly today.

They're going to be interested to see what that number blossoms to in June, July.

There's just like a huge influx of 18 years that are trying to graduate. Yes.

These missionaries serve in more than 150 countries and was awesome with this influx of

missionary. You're seeing new missions being announced all the time. And they serve as volunteers

dedicating their time to testify that the Book of Mormon is true and that it bears witness of Jesus

Christ. I love that this book is so powerful. It speaks for itself and that truly 18 and 19

year olds can rely on the truths and teachings of one book and they can go throughout the world

and change lives with it. I mean, that's just a testament to its power and to its truth

because who is a masterful teacher at 18 and 19, not very many people.

Having missionary children myself, myself, I've witnessed a change in my own kids as they've

dedicated the years teaching others from these pages. It was so sweet. My son was telling us the

other day that they do a lot of Facebook. I love missionary work in his mission. And somehow we

got on to a forum that had like 30,000 people on it. And he said, you know, just for a quick

testimony of Jesus Christ and said, if you want to know anymore, well, come to find out. I mean,

it was maybe it was 300. It was seen by 30,000 people and commented by a lot. Most of it was him

totally getting bashed. Okay. Which is fine. Yeah. Like I was just listening to what he was saying.

And he's like, mom, and he started reading all the comments to me, right? And there were a few of

them. I was like, bless this person. Bless this person. He goes, he goes, man, this this guy right

here, he's my homie. He happens to be a former member of our church. And he was like, you guys

lay off of him. He just so you know, these boys go out there on their own dime. The just like

this says, they're volunteering. And he just wanted to share something about Jesus. And I was like,

thank you. You know, and there were other things too. And there were some nice things. But there

were quite a few people that came to his aid, I would say. And we're just kind of like, you guys,

come on, just calm down. And anyways, I just was kind of quiet and listening to what my son had

to say about it. And my, you know, he was telling his siblings too. And his younger sibling was like,

man, that's rough. And he goes, you know what? I think it's a win. And he goes even bad,

but even bad publicity is good publicity as far as the Lord goes. And I was like, wow, where do you

learn that? And then he said, I think it's a win because 30,000 people saw that testimony. And I

was like, way to go. That's a great way to think about it and to look at it, right? Yeah. And

that they're so like so hyped up that they've got a comment on something somebody's testifying

of. Yeah. Means that it pricked something in them, right? Rather than just scrolling past and

being indifferent to it. And also the thought came to my mind as you were speaking that a former

member of the church that is willing to stand up and be like a aid to, right? To his brother. I know.

I think that potentially opens them up to some other spiritual experiences, just kind of

in passing or though maybe recognize God in their life. Because he wasn't on the bed. I have

that same testimony, brother. What he was saying was like allow him to testify of Jesus Christ.

And so in that way, and him saying that he stood up for Jesus in that moment, he's gonna

receive some blessings from that totally. I thought it was very I agree with that. I'm

told that all that interaction is super positive. Absolutely. And when you put yourself out there

as we're being encouraged to share more freely and openly in social media, we put ourselves

out here. Yeah. Yeah. We're behind the microphone. Like we're, you know, you know, there's some

safety, but we get our fair share of, you know, bad comments directed to it. Does that make me want

to stop? Not really. Not doing it for that, right? Yeah. Absolutely. No publicity is bad publicity.

Give us a one star rating. I'm like, did you even listen? Oh goodness. Just kidding. Hey, if

you're listening, you and you like this podcast, go ahead and leave us a review. It will help

more people see us. So we can testify to more people. So now the talk goes on to lay out three

principles to practice to deepen our conversion to Jesus Christ. So number one, be diligent,

consistent in our daily study. Like Alma and the Sons of Mosiah, we must search the scriptures

diligently that we might know the word of God and be strengthened in the truth. That's an Alma

172. While serving a mission as mission leaders in the Georgia Atlanta mission, El Diferious and

his wife encouraged missionaries to study the Book of Mormon 30 minutes a day. This practice

strength in their faith and help them expect miracles, which is one of the things present

Nelson asked us to do. Even though people may not always have that much time after a mission,

right? It's not that we always have a full 30 minutes in our day, sincerely prioritizing daily

prayerful study of the Book of Mormon brings greater spiritual strength and confidence in the

Lord and His promises. And then here's a challenge for readers. This should air at the beginning

of Holy Week. And for the next seven days, read the Book of Mormon every day and pray before

and after you read asking Jesus Christ to help you recognize one truth or one insight that meant

something special to you or that might be significant. I love that. Um, step two that he outlined

was make your study more meaningful by feasting upon the words of Christ. Nephi taught feast upon

the words of Christ. For behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what you should do.

That's second Nephi 32, three feast meaning more than just reading, mean savoring, pondering

and applying. As you study the book of Mormon, make your study more meaningful. Maybe you can use

tools like the gospel library app to identify eternal truths about God's plan and covenants. I

always like to make a little note. If I highlight something, maybe just testify. So I can read my

own words back. Nothing. I love nothing more than my own testimony of that same thing. Yes. And

I was a leader. Yes, when you see the date. And I'm like, Oh, God, that was 319. This was happening

or whatever. I was doing a move. I love that. Um, record impressions that you're having and

what you're reading. The book of Mormon can answer the questions of your souls. As Nephi taught,

we should apply the scriptures to our own lives. When we feast on the words of Jesus Christ,

we invite revelation and guide us to the choices and challenges we face. If you decide to take the

challenge, um, the Amy just presented during this Holy week, start off the week with a question

that you would like to ponder and allow time in your scriptures to find all or part of that answer

as the week progresses. So good to have you. Thank you. Um, 3 is various testimony of the truth

on us of the Book of Mormon. So just as Lehigh desired to show the fruit of the tree of life with

this family, it's interesting. Abby, this is the second time this week that, um, I have heard in a

talk was well, we also heard it in state conference. Just reminding us how great that story is of

the tree of life that once Lehigh partook of it, his very first thing that he wanted to do,

we share it with his family share with everyone. I love that. Um, and that's what bearing testimony

is. When we gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, we develop a desire to share that joy that comes

from knowing the gospel of Jesus Christ at the conclusion of this week, whether it tracks with Holy

week when you're listening, um, and ends with each Easter or you catch this episode later on,

we would invite and encourage you to take an opportunity to testify of the truthfulness of the

Savior in his life, his ministry and his resurrection and that the Book of Mormon has been the source

of truth and that has helped build that testimony. On a final thought about Holy Week, uh, last year,

we recorded this whole, um, whole session or episode, um, about Holy Week and we invite you to go

back and listen to that and please share it with others. It's so good. We have, um, Abby's husband

who came and I could just sit and listen to him the whole time. I loved every minute of it.

It's an episode. It's episode six nine and can you listen to in one pass or it is broken into a day

or a week, a day at a time for the whole week? Yeah. And it really, it breaks down to some days.

It's like a few minutes. I guess. Perfect. Um, well, we don't know a whole bunch about some of the

days like Wednesday or yeah. And kind of he tried, he did a big youth activity and he tried to pair

like that woman or that thought, you know, to center those days, those thoughts and there's a

million things out there. There's a million people that have Holy Week studies. But if you're the

type that's busy about doing things and you just want something in your ear, it's a great way to

just help you refocus and recenter. Totally. If, if you missed your chance kind of incorporating it

more Jesus into your whole season, I love that that you can add a little bit more. That's

Holy Week basically. Yeah. Um, I think we'll take. Sorry. I felt such a spirit when I listened to

this talk and I, I mean, I just kind of had it on play and not just listening to for the sake of

listening, like I was really prepared to study it. But I was like, it was funny because like little

lines in the talk were just kind of take me back to some moments of my life and maybe some of the

darker ones when or when I was really seeking questions, different things. And it reminded me how

answers have been provided to me so many times in that book. And so you get people that question

the book, the integrity of the book who wrote the book was it translated and and a million different

little attacks that they want to place at that book. But if I ever find another book in my time on

earth, it gives me more peace and guidance. It teaches me more about my savior. I'll tell my

testimony about that book. Yeah. But since it hasn't come up for me yet, this is the book. I want to

testify. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. And he did have other children that were not

in Jerusalem at the time. I know he had children. I mean, well, when I say that, there could be

another continent of people that he also prepared for and established the covenant with them, you know,

multi-continent things like I do believe that he has the same love for all of his children.

And I'm just so grateful that that book was preserved in a mountain side for such a time as this

that it would come forth that it would be brought forth by a young boy who had not a lot of education

or skills. And what I find interesting, like we do we talk about chat in this program in this

one before, but just before we talked about chat and I'm like, the more that technology catches up

and it can do, you know, analysis of writings, it just goes to strengthen the authenticity of the

book of Mormon being multiple writers and a translation, an abridgment of multiple writers.

And I've always made this claim. I'm like, if you're going to call Joseph Smith a lion or

fraud, then he also needs a Pulitzer Prize. Whatever the greatest literary awards are there,

because if he pulled this off being a charlatan, then that's pretty incredible. But I know,

in fact, that he was a prophet of God and he was not challenged with something that was easy to do.

But it was worth it. And so many of the, you know, early people of the church, they were tasked with

some really difficult things. And some of them, you know, they did succumb to the attacks. People

trying to tear them down, but their testimony of this book being valid and legitimate did not,

that wasn't in the knowledge that I have of the histories that I have of the closest to first

hand accounts that I have that didn't deny the book. And fair. So not everybody likes the way

things are run and, you know, church culture maybe gets in the way of things. But what a beautiful

reminder here, the closing, almost closing words of the conference session to just reiterate that

the truth is restored in this book. And it will bring you the light and the joy and answer

answer innumerable questions that you can bring to it. So thank you. I appreciate that we have

the opportunity to do this. And we have quite a few opportunities to testify, but I definitely

want to add my testimony that I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. And it's taught me

more about Jesus Christ than anything. So now I just need to be better at applying what I learned.

Sometimes I do. Sometimes I need a little more. Don't we all right? Yeah. I do the thing I love

about the Book of Mormon is that it truly is living scripture. As many times as I've read it,

as many times as like you said, whether it's covered a cover or whether it's I pick it up just for

a verse or I go straight to third Nephi, whatever it is, it is always relevant to me in that moment.

And I am always amazed. It's just I truly have come to know not only that God is in the details

in my life, and he sees me and knows me. And because I know because that happens for me, I know that

happens or that it's true for everybody, meaning he sees and knows everyone of his children on this

earth. And the other thing that I love is that it has taught me more about the nature of Jesus Christ

than any other book. Sometimes I hear other scripture and it almost feels his nature and that

almost feels foreign to me. And sometimes he sounds like a very harsh God or whatever. And some

people have said before, like, how do you justify like the difference in it? And it's just interesting

because for me, my spirit recognizes Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon. I have come to know him

there. And I just feel like everything else I have questions about will get worked out and filtered

out because I know and I love and I trust the Jesus Christ I've learned from those pages. Yes.

From God to a prophet on two goals and plates and translated.

Less editing, not knocking the Bible, but if you're a pastor that's like fire and brimstone,

the God that you want to perpetuate in the words of the Bible is going to be a really harsh

stern, severe God. I feel like it's so much easier to see the true nature of him.

I do too. I recognize with the new, you know, with another testament, the new covenant that he made.

Yeah. You were talking and I was like, man, it's almost like what you're saying is that the Book

of Mormon is an immeasurable treasure. Absolutely. On our journey. What a great name for a talk, right?

I'm going to close. Thank you for your testimony. I'm going to close with his testimony. He said,

I encourage each of you to deepen your study of the Book of Mormon. I know as we feast upon the

words of Christ found in the Book of Mormon, the Spirit will help us understand eternal truth

and share our testimonies with conviction with those whom the Lord has prepared to hear his message.

I testify that those who ask God in faith will gain a testimony of the truth and divinity of

the Book of Mormon by the power of the Holy Ghost and that he testified in the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen. Amen, Abbey. Thanks so much. I think this is Easter Sunday. It is happy Easter. Happy Easter.

Here's Racer.