This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers Moroni 10, which includes Moroni’s invitation to “ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true” (Moroni 10:4).
Following are a few quotes from past and present leaders about this chapter of the Book of Mormon.
‘Perfect in Christ’
“The Lord chooses the humble and meek — partly because they are humble and meek. In this way, there is never a question regarding the reason for their success. These wonderful, ordinary people accomplish great things not because of who they are but because of who God is! …
“God does not need people who are flawless. He seeks those who will offer their ‘heart and a willing mind’ (Doctrine and Covenants 64:34), and He will make them ‘perfect in Christ’ (Moroni 10:32-33).”
“That is a message we all need to hear.”
— Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, August 2021 Brigham Young University devotional, “Five Messages That All of God’s Children Need to Hear”
“We need to partake of the sacrament each Sabbath day. In that ordinance we make covenants and receive blessings that help us overcome all acts and desires that block us from the perfection our Savior invites us to achieve. As we ‘deny [ourselves] of all ungodliness, and love God with all [our] might, mind and strength,’ then we may ‘be perfect in Christ’ and be ‘sanctified’ through the shedding of His blood, to ‘become holy, without spot’ (Moroni 10:32-33). What a promise! What a miracle! What a blessing!”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, April 2019 general conference, “Cleansed by Repentance”
“All of us can meet God’s high expectations, however great or small our capacity and talent may be. Moroni affirms, ‘If ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is [God’s] grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ’ (Moroni 10:32). It is a diligent, devoted effort on our part that calls forth this empowering and enabling grace, an effort that certainly includes submission to God’s chastening hand and sincere, unqualified repentance. Let us pray for His love-inspired correction.”
— Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2011 general conference, “’As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten’”
Charity
“We know that charity is essential for us to be saved in the kingdom of God. Moroni wrote, ‘Except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God’ (Moroni 10:21). …
“It seems to me that we receive the Holy Spirit best when we are focused on serving others. That is why we have the priesthood responsibility to serve for the Savior. When we are engaged in service to others, we think less about ourselves, and the Holy Ghost can more readily come to us and help us in our lifelong quest to have the gift of charity bestowed upon us.”
— President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, April 2018 general conference, “Inspired Ministering”
‘With real intent’
“Read, ponder in your hearts, and ‘ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ … with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ’ (Moroni 10:4) if the Book of Mormon is true, if this is the true Church.
“So… in one sentence: when you receive these things — the Book of Mormon — and you are exhorted to read and ask God if they are true, please just do it!”
— Elder Joaquin E. Costa, General Authority Seventy, April 2017 general conference, “To the Friends and Investigators of the Church”
“We meet in this priesthood meeting because who we are is not who we can become. We meet here tonight in the name of Jesus Christ. We meet with the confidence that His Atonement gives every one of us — no matter our weaknesses, our frailties, our addictions — the ability to change. We meet with the hope that our future, no matter our history, can be better.
“When we participate in this meeting with the ‘real intent’ to change (Moroni 10:4), the Spirit has full access to our hearts and minds. …
“The invitation to ‘come unto Christ, and be perfected in him’ (Moroni 10:32) both requires and expects change.”
— Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, then a General Authority Seventy, April 2014 general conference, “What Manner of Men?”
“Those who receive by the Spirit intend to act. As the prophet Moroni instructed, to receive a witness of the Book of Mormon, we must ask ‘with real intent’ (Moroni 10:4). The Spirit teaches when we honestly intend to do something about what we learn.”
— Brother A. Roger Merrill, then the Sunday School general president, October 2006 general conference, “Receiving by the Spirit”
‘By the power of the Holy Ghost’
“The gift of the Holy Ghost is conferred through an ordinance of the gospel. One with authority lays his hands on the head of a new member of the Church and says words such as these: ‘Receive the Holy Ghost.’
“This ordinance alone does not change us in a noticeable way, but if we listen and follow the promptings, we will receive the blessing of the Holy Ghost. Each son or daughter of our Heavenly Father can come to know the reality of Moroni’s promise: ‘By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things’ (Moroni 10:5).”
— The late President Boyd K. Packer, April 2014 general conference, “The Witness”
“Testimony is personal knowledge, based upon the witness of the Holy Ghost, that certain facts of eternal significance are true. The Holy Ghost is the messenger for the Father and the Son and the teacher of and guide to all truth. Thus, ‘by the power of the Holy Ghost [we] may know the truth of all things’ (Moroni 10:5).
“The knowledge and spiritual conviction we receive from the Holy Ghost are the result of revelation. Seeking for and obtaining these blessings require a sincere heart, real intent and faith in Christ (see Moroni 10:4). A personal testimony also brings responsibility and accountability.”
— Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2010 general conference, “Watching with All Perseverance”
“The Bible had stood for centuries. It is a precious and wonderful book. Now there was a second witness declaring the divinity of Christ. The Book of Mormon is the only book ever published, of which I know, that carries in it a promise that one who reads it prayerfully and asks concerning it in prayer will have revealed to him by the power of the Holy Ghost a knowledge that it is true (see Moroni 10:4).”
— The late President Gordon B. Hinckley, October 2007 general conference, “The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain”
Discerning truth
“I am grateful for the gift of the Book of Mormon. I know that it is true! It contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am unaware of anyone who is diligently reading the Book of Mormon each day with pure intent and with faith in Christ who has lost their testimony and fallen away. Moroni’s prophetic promise carries with it the key to know the truth of all things — including having the ability to discern and avoid the deceptions of the adversary (see Moroni 10:4-5).”
— Elder K. Brett Nattress, General Authority Seventy, October 2016 general conference, “No Greater Joy Thank to Know That They Know”
“Jesus Christ, who was perfect, and Joseph Smith, who admitted that he himself was not, were both killed by false accusers who would not accept their testimony. How can we know that their testimony is true — that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Joseph Smith is a true prophet? …
“I know for myself that my Redeemer has forgiven my sins and freed me of my personal yoke, bringing me to a state of happiness that I did not know existed. And I know for myself that Joseph Smith was a prophet because I have applied the simple promise in the Book of Mormon: ‘Ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ’ (Moroni 10:4). In simple words, look up.”
— Elder Adrián Ochoa, then a General Authority Seventy, October 2013 general conference, “Look Up”
‘Touch not … the unclean thing’
“Just as a fish in a mountain stream must be careful of the lures placed in its path to avoid being pulled away from the water, so must you and I be wise in order to avoid being pulled away from a happy, gospel-centered life. … Thus, do not be deceived into even nibbling at unworthy things, for Satan stands ready to set the hook. It was the very real risk of the hook being set subtly or suddenly that led the ancient prophet Moroni — who actually saw our day — to pointedly warn you and me to ‘touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing’ (Moroni 10:30).”
— Elder Marcus B. Nash, General Authority Seventy, October 2006 general conference, “The Great Plan of Happiness”
