Avatar4321 Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-ezra-taft-benson/chapter-10-flooding-the-earth-and-our-lives-with-the-book-of-mormon?lang=engIn another thread I disagreed with someone about the Book of Mormon being an excellent second witness to Jesus Christ. So I thought maybe we could discuss this teaching from president Benson.Howard J. McOmber II pondered President Benson’s exhortation to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon. He wondered, “How could I as an individual be a significant part of such a flood?“Then one night,” Brother McOmber said, “as I was pondering this problem I realized that I could give every individual on my street the opportunity to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon.“But there was a problem—they knew me. They knew about my dog that barked too often—and too early in the morning. They knew that my yard was not the garden spot of the neighborhood. They knew my shortcomings as a neighbor; they would probably turn me away.“I determined to have faith and go ahead anyway. I would offer them the book—even if they might throw it away, or let it collect dust on their shelves for years. Yet I found myself thinking negatively; I had almost convinced myself that nothing could come of my efforts.“Then I remembered that I knew my neighbors at least as well as they knew me. A few had told questionable jokes at the last community development meeting, and a few had drunk too much at the last neighborhood barbecue. Some seemed to have little purpose in their lives. I wondered what I would have been like if I weren’t a member of the Church, or if I’d never heard of the Book of Mormon. Clearly, this book could help those who would give it a chance.“So I contacted everyone on my street and offered them a copy of the Book of Mormon—and they all thanked me! It went so well that I went to the next street, completed my subdivision, and then went on to the next subdivision. When I was through, I had visited 104 houses and placed forty books.“It started to become easier to offer copies of the Book of Mormon to acquaintances.“In time I had given all seventy-five employees at my work copies of the Book of Mormon. Twenty-three of them took the missionary discussions. Seven were later baptized, and four children belonging to my coworkers also joined the Church. One man took two discussions but then lost interest in investigating the Church. Seven months later, after he had moved on to a job at another company, he called to tell me that he had been reading the Book of Mormon and had realized that he was feeling the calm, peaceful touch of the Spirit, just as I had described it. He, too, soon finished the discussions and was baptized.“I love the Book of Mormon. I think of it as the Lord’s calling card, and I have been amazed at how easy it is to start a spiritual flood with it on a personal scale. When we do the work of the Lord, we have his help.”What are you doing to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon? What about flooding your lives?Something I've started to do is study the Book of Mormon in Spanish. So I'm learning truths of the gospel and working on my foreign language skills at the same time. 1
Avatar4321 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Posted July 21, 2015 Do you think we are fulfilling the Lords call to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon?
CV75 Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 What are you doing to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon? What about flooding your lives?Probably not enough, but I've been reading it every day for at least the last 30 years, so hopefully I'm actually drinking in some of the flood! 1
cinepro Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 Honestly, it would be interesting to have the Book of Mormon re-written in a style and format that is more accessible for people today. Maybe have a YA version too. Because I suspect our culture of "reading" is changing swiftly, and the likelihood of someone reading the Book of Mormon and being interested or impressed by it seems to be less and less each year. Unless you've grown up reading it and being told how great it is, it's pretty dang tough to get through. That toughness might have been tolerable in 1830, 1910, and even 1990, but in today's world, I suspect the number of people who are interested in reading "tough" books is vanishingly small. 1
Hikinggal Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 In my very humble opinion the only true way to foster interest in the Book of Mormon is to be a living example of how it positively effects my life. As a friend told me once, you do not have to go on a mission to be a missionary for your faith. Or, to put it another way... if you saw a friend, relative, etc. who lost weight and is now the glowing picture of health wouldn't YOU be interested in how they achieved it? 2
Rivers Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 Honestly, it would be interesting to have the Book of Mormon re-written in a style and format that is more accessible for people today. Maybe have a YA version too. Because I suspect our culture of "reading" is changing swiftly, and the likelihood of someone reading the Book of Mormon and being interested or impressed by it seems to be less and less each year. Unless you've grown up reading it and being told how great it is, it's pretty dang tough to get through. That toughness might have been tolerable in 1830, 1910, and even 1990, but in today's world, I suspect the number of people who are interested in reading "tough" books is vanishingly small.We need to figure out some way of getting people to read it. It's supposed to be our greatest missionary tool!
CV75 Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 But how do we get others tool read it.In my experience, it's been a one-on-one invitation, usually accompanied by making sure they have a copy. There is no way to get someone to be accept the invitatoin other than to behave in a way that aligns with the Spirit who carries the invitation unto their heart (2 Nephi 33:1). The rest is really up to them. 1
Calm Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 But how do we get others tool read it.Bribery? Works with the grandkids picking up their toys...
Sanpitch Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) I have had an interest in the missionary success in trying to get someone interested in reading the BofM in countries such as Italy. How could those people have an interest in some farm boy in the USA who claims to have a relation with God and translated the metal plates. I have had at least one nephew missionary who spent his time in Italy and according to Cumorah.com success there is very weak. Also in Japan the member numbers keep going up but the number of wards and branches are going down. It almost seems useless to me but who am I to voice an opinion. Edited July 21, 2015 by Sanpitch
filovirus Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 Honestly, it would be interesting to have the Book of Mormon re-written in a style and format that is more accessible for people today. Maybe have a YA version too. Grant Hardy put out this wonderful version: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Mormon-Readers-Grant-Hardy/dp/025207341X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437519273&sr=8-1&keywords=grant+hardy I find I can get different insights by reading this version than I would get reading our current version. The benefits of both when put together are astounding.
Calm Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 Hardy's book has helped me concentrate on what I am reading. Reading in the typical column version causes my eyes to skip forward, it is too familiar and too well set up for skimming. I lent it to my sister in hopes that she enjoys reading the BoM more as she is reading Mormon's Codex and other stuff to help her engage the text more. If it works, I will be getting another copy for myself.
carbon dioxide Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 I need to flood my life more with it. Flooding the earth with it probably will result in a lot of Book of Mormons being tossed in a landfill.
hagoth7 Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 I have had an interest in the missionary success in trying to get someone interested in reading the BofM in countries such as Italy...I have been working on this very thing for about a decade. For a primer, I would suggest doing a search in this forum for Tiro and also for Lombards.
hagoth7 Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 I have had an interest in the missionary success in trying to get someone interested in reading the BofM in countries such as Italy...I have been working on this very thing for about a decade. For a primer, I would suggest doing a search in this forum for Tiro and also for Lombards.
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