This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers Mormon 7-9, which includes Mormon’s invitations to the house of Israel and Moroni’s writings to unbelievers.
Following are a few quotes from past and present Church leaders about these chapters in the Book of Mormon.
Mormon 7
“I do not know if … my ancestors for whom temple work has been performed have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit world. However, I can have hope, I can exercise faith, I can make and keep covenants with God, and I can live my life in a way that will allow me to be with my ancestors ‘in a state of happiness which hath no end’ (Mormon 7:7).
“And when I get to the other side of the veil, if they have not yet accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, I will make sure to teach it to them. I can’t wait to give them a hug, to tell them how much I love them, to have heart-to-heart conversations that I never had with them when they were alive, and to testify to them ‘that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God’ (title page of the Book of Mormon).”
— Sister Reyna I. Aburto, then the second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, in the September 2020 Liahona article “Miracles of Healing Through Temple Ordinances”
Mormon 8
“It is true, we live in a time foretold in the scriptures as a day of ‘wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places’ (Mormon 8:30), when ‘the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them’ (Doctrine and Covenants 45:26).
“But how does this affect us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Are we living with apprehension, fear and worry? Or have we, amidst all of our challenges, not reason to rejoice? …
“My dear brothers and sisters, aren’t the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and our membership in His Church great reasons to rejoice?”
— Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2007 general conference, “Have We Not Reason to Rejoice?”
“Perhaps Moroni’s teachings and example helped the Prophet Joseph learn how to stand as a witness in a wicked world. Moroni lived in the kind of world he predicted would exist in modern times — ‘a day when there shall be … murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations’ (Mormon 8:31).
“Moroni also knew firsthand about loneliness and discouragement. After a great and tremendous battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites where all of his people were destroyed, he lamented: ‘I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not’ (Mormon 8:5). Can you sense Moroni’s loneliness and discouragement?
“I realize that many of us also at times feel without friends and alone in a wicked world. Some of us feel we have not ‘whither to go’ as we face our trials. But you and I can not only survive but prevail, as did Moroni, in our efforts to stand for truth in perilous times. What did he do when facing a lonely and hostile world? He, in faithful obedience to his father’s direction, finished the record on the gold plates. He became familiar with the writings of the prophets. Above all, he fought his way out of his discouragement by clinging to the Lord’s promises for the future. He clung to the covenants that God had made with the house of Israel to bless them forever.”
— Sister Susan W. Tanner, then the Young Women general president, April 2005 general conference, “Glad Tidings from Cumorah”
“The prophet Mormon put it another way: ‘Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies — because of the praise of the world?’ (Mormon 8:38)
“When we have a yearning and don’t know what it is for, perhaps it’s our soul longing for its heartland, longing to be no longer alienated from the Lord and the pursuit of something much higher, better and more fulfilling than anything this earth has to offer.”
— The late Elder Marvin J. Ashton, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 1992 general conference, “A Yearning for Home”
“The prophet Mormon tells us that ‘by the power of [the Lord’s] word did they cause prisons to tumble’ (Mormon 8:24). …
“Haven’t we all been delivered from various forms of captivity? How did you feel when the doors were opened to your personal prison? How was it to feel free? How wonderful it is to be liberated from any kind of a prison. …
“I then was led to think of Him who really delivers us from various types of prisons into forgiveness, a newness of life, of spirit, of change, and of opportunity, and how the souls of men find such relief, fulfillment and safety when this occurs. I thought of the Son of God and His greatest freewill offering to each of us, given at the expense of His own life and under excruciating pain. I thought of how our Father in Heaven loves each one of us. And though we sometimes walk into prisons of our own making, He is there with keys to unlock the doors that bind us.”
— The late Elder James M. Paramore, then a General Authority Seventy, October 1992 general conference, “By the Power of His Word Did They Cause Prisons to Tumble”
“Moroni, the last of the inspired writers, actually saw our day and time. ‘Behold,’ he said, ‘the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you.
“’Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing’ (Mormon 8:34-35).
“If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, ‘Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?’”
— The late President Ezra Taft Benson, then the President of the Church, October 1986 general conference, “The Book of Mormon — Keystone of Our Religion”
Mormon 9
“Dear brethren, we need to wake up to how commonly accepted practices in the world choke our power in the priesthood. If we think we can even flirt with pornography or violations of chastity or dishonesty in any form and not have it negatively affect us and our families, we are deceived. Moroni stated, ‘See that ye do all things in worthiness’ (Mormon 9:29). … If there are any unresolved sins preventing our worthiness, we need to change.”
— Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, then a General Authority Seventy, April 2014 general conference, “What Manner of Men?”
“Many believe that revelation ended with the Bible even though the Bible itself is a testimony of God’s revelatory pattern over 4,000 years of man’s existence. But one incorrect doctrine such as this is like a domino set in motion that causes the fall of other dominoes or, in this case, the fall of correct doctrines. A belief in the cessation of revelation causes the doctrine that ‘God is the same yesterday, today, and forever’ (Mormon 9:9) to fall. … But fortunately the Book of Mormon reenthrones the biblical truth of continuous revelation:
“’And again, I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations. …
“’Do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever … ?’ (Mormon 9:7, 9).
“In other words, if God, who is unchangeable, spoke in ancient times, He will likewise speak in modern times.”
— Elder Tad R. Callister, then a General Authority Seventy, October 2011 general conference, “The Book of Mormon — a Book from God”
“One of the things I learned in this most recent reading of the Book of Mormon was how much God loves all of His children in every nation. … Again and again the Book of Mormon teaches that the gospel of Jesus Christ is universal in its promise and effect, reaching out to all who ever live on the earth. Here are some examples, quoted directly from that book. …
“‘And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ … all men are redeemed’ (Mormon 9:13).”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2006 general conference, “All Men Everywhere”
“Because of repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our garments can be spotless, pure, fair and white. Moroni pleads, ‘O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day’ (Mormon 9:6). …
“We come to this world in many colors, shapes, sizes and circumstances. We don’t have to be rich, tall, thin, brilliant or beautiful to be saved in the kingdom of God — only pure. We need to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ and keep His commandments. And we can all choose to do that regardless of where we live or what we look like.”
— Elder Clate W. Mask Jr., then a General Authority Seventy, April 2004 general conference, “Standing Spotless Before the Lord”
“With Moroni of old, I believe in a God of miracles. Moroni wrote to the people of our dispensation, ‘Behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles … and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are’ (Mormon 9:11). Moroni proclaimed that Jesus Christ did many mighty miracles, that many mighty miracles were wrought by the hands of the Apostles, and that a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever must be a God of miracles today (see Mormon 9:18; Mormon 9:9). …
“Just as important as these ‘mighty miracles’ are the smaller ‘private miracles’ that teach each of us to have faith in the Lord. These come as we recognize and heed the promptings of the Spirit in our lives.”
— Sister Sydney S. Reynolds, then the first counselor in the Primary general presidency, April 2001 general conference, “A God of Miracles”
