BYU (Brigham Young University) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.”  As part of their undergraduate coursework, BYU students take multiple semesters of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.

In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.

In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelites who settled in ancient America.  (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names.  We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.)

Let us know if you’d like to receive your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon, and/or if these messages encourage and assist you spiritually as well.

Book of Mormon: Sharing the Gospel

The Book of Mormon is awesome! I feel like this week has truly showed me the validity of the Book of Mormon. I have read this book my entire life and I feel like I still cannot even grasp its wonderful contents. Growing up, the Book of Mormon was just a book full of stories of heroic prophets where battles were fought and the righteous prevailed. Obviously, I don’t look at it this way anymore, but I never truly realized how much the Book of Mormon revolves around the Savior. Now I know that this book testifies of the Savior. This week I read 3 Nephi chapters 6 through 10, when the prophecies of the prophets are fulfilled and the earth is being destroyed because of the death of Jesus Christ. After reading some articles on these specific chapters, as well as the discussion in class, I never realized how terrifying that experience must have been. Such destruction for such long periods of time is truly horrifying. A girl in my class pointed out today how awful it must have been for those who were righteous to see the people that they loved, friends and family, be destroyed because of their wickedness. How horrible it will be to witness the destruction of those whom I love at the second coming of Christ. I realized that it is my responsibility to spread the gospel to the ones I love. It is my responsibility to help the ones I love come unto the Savior. I am in no way a perfect person. I have so many faults. I feel like I constantly turn to the Savior for forgiveness. But the light of the gospel is so beautiful, everyone deserves to have it. In 3 Nephi 10:6, the Savior says: “How oft I will gather you..if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.” How great it is to hear that. The Atonement is ALWAYS available to us. No matter what. That knowledge makes my heart full. That is the reason I am a member of this Church. The Book of Mormon testifies of the importance of the Atonement and the endless love our Savior has for us. It is a beautiful book and all who read will feel the Spirit testify to them of its inalienable truth. How I love this book. How I love this gospel. How I love my Savior.

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs