As a boy in an active Mormon family, I was very much submersed
in what I would call Mormon “Oral Tradition”. I was continually surrounded by
gospel topics at the dinner table, at early morning seminary, and during church
services. I heard beautiful stories of courageous ancestors converting to the
restored gospel. I read the Book of Mormon daily, but I read out of a sense of
obligation and duty
rather than a desire to learn and grow spiritually.
While in the Provo Missionary Training Center, I began to
gain a sense of spiritual urgency. I soon realized that my spiritual knowledge
gained through a faithful family culture might not be enough for the future
investigators I might teach, or even myself.
For the first time, I went to the scriptures for answers. I
specifically remember reading prophecies about the Savior and was impressed to
see that the Atonement was real, even prior to Christ’s Birth.
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy
walls are continually before me.” Isaiah 49:16
I read the Gospels in the New Testament and I marveled at the
words of the Savior.
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle
me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
I opened to 3rd Nephi and read about Christ’s
arrival to the Nephite people.
“Feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet…”
His hands became real to me.
The scriptures were His way of inviting me to know Him in a personal way. Literature
has been the avenue for a deeper, more personal level of faith and loyalty to
God.
