Introduction

(blue font 2013 are my comments red 2022 )

Introduction

  The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. While we know God will "yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God (Article of Faith #9), the Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the Doctrine of Christ, which will lead us back to the Father. This Book makes a prophecy in 3 Nephi 16:

10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, who are these "Gentiles"? Americans? The Church? How do they "sin against" the gospel? How do they "reject the fulness" of the gospel? What is the "fulness of the gospel?" The above statement that The Book of Mormon contains the "fulness of the everlasting gospel" suggests that this prophecy means that The Book of Mormon is rejected. This could be those who are offered it but won't read/accept it; or members that have it but don't believe it or read and follow it. It seems that one can't "sin against" the gospel unless they have accepted it, since you are not accountable if you do not have something. and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, this sounds a little more like it is the "nation" of Gentiles and not just members of the church (which are among all nations) and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, Does this combine the sins of the nation with the sins of the members? Does it mean missionary work is not successful? behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.
11 And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them. The Jews?
12 And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel. The Book of Mormon?
13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.
15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.
16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, thus hath the Father commanded me—that I should give unto this people this land for their inheritance.
17 And then the words of the prophet Isaiah shall be fulfilled, which say:
18 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; when? with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Notice "the Lord" brings again Zion...
19 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
20 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. What will that look like?

  The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. "following the prophet" is more than just following the living prophet. These ancient prophets must be followed too... Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C. and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians. It is interesting to note that it while the commandment to worship God or be swept off the land was limited to the Nephites who had received the fulness of the Gospel and rejected it (the Lamanites were not swept off, even though they didn't worship God) and the Jaradites who continually rejected the prophets. I don't know what their stand was concerning the gospel, but we know that they had repeated efforts by prophets warning them to repent or be destroyed. I suppose we could enter a period where "many prophets" preach the same message to America. It may not be about joining the church as much as it is about rejecting these prophets. Are they just the prophets of the church or are there other "prophets" that God inspires with this same message?
  The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after His resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.
  After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the Hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, then a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language. I don't know if this is meant to be a type, but one would think that Mormon would be the one who would deliver the plates to Joseph, considering he did almost all the writing. But the "father" delegated the task to his "son" to be the messenger of salvation to the boy Joseph.
  In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that all who will come unto Him and obey the laws and ordinances of His gospel may be saved.
Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” The Book of Mormon is so vital to our religion, one man said it this way: “If you were to drop a nuclear bomb on my testimony, the Book of Mormon would be like the little cockroach that climbs its way to the surface from beneath all the rubble.” I like that analogy. Once you know this book is true, nothing can destroy what it means to you and has done for you.
In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as “The Testimony of Three Witnesses” and “The Testimony of Eight Witnesses.”
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, I personally believe that when we sing "We thank thee O God for a prophet" we are singing about Joseph Smith and not the current prophet. Joseph is "the" prophet of the these last days. (Notice it says "is" not "was") 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. For those who pray and don't feel like they receive an answer that qualifies as coming with "power", consider this possibility - especially if you are a life-long member...

"President Joseph F. Smith explained how this pattern of revelation occurred in his life: “As a boy … I would frequently … ask the Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon line …, until He made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He did not have to send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did He have to speak with the trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of the still small voice of the spirit of the living God, He gave to me the testimony I possess. And by this principle and power He will give to all the children of men a knowledge of the truth that will stay with them, and it will make them to know the truth, as God knows it, and to do the will of the Father as Christ does it. And no amount of marvelous manifestations will ever accomplish this” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1900, 40–41 as quoted by Elder Bednar April 2011). I do not think this path to testimony, however, negates the need for each of us to be "born again" and "baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost", which I believe IS a manifestation of power.