Selling it

Our Stake President challenged us to read The Book of Mormon by Thanksgiving weekend.  After I got over my first few minutes of excuses why this shouldn't apply to me (I'm already reading it with my family, I read it twice last year, etc.), I remembered that this is actually a good thing.  The Book of Mormon is one of my favorite books of all time, if not THE favorite book of all time.  I started thinking about people I love that probably haven't even read it and thinking they should probably read it.  And then I asked one of them to read it with me.  It turns out she isn't interested, but I think I just ASSUMED she would be because I asked her to.  I didn't actually tell her why she might want to.  (I know I would flunk sales school...)  So here are my top five reasons that I love the Book of Mormon and think everyone else should read it and love it too:

1. It starts out with such a great hook.  The first book, First Nephi, is a great adventure story.  There are dreams and visions, attempted murders, an actual murder, a family making an escape from their hostile homeland never to return again, and the same family finding a new and promised land.  It is a great story!  And then you also get a quick summary of what is going to happen for the whole rest of the book.  I've always thought Heavenly Father was so smart to inspire Nephi to write Cliff Notes for The Book of Mormon in the first book--the part most people are going to actually get through.

2. The words are so beautiful.  Some of the most poignant and gorgeous words in holy writ are found in the Book of Mormon.  I love Nephi, but also Jacob, Mormon, Moroni, King Benjamin and more.  Here is just a small sample of Jacob's beautiful writing at the end of chapter seven:

26 And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the record of this people being kept on the ^aother plates of Nephi, wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our ^blives passed away like as it were unto us a ^cdream, we being a ^dlonesome and a solemn people, ^ewanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.

 27 And I, Jacob, saw that I must soon go down to my grave; wherefore, I said unto my son ^aEnos: Take these ^bplates. And I told him the things which my brother Nephi had ^ccommanded me, and he promised obedience unto the commands. And I make an end of my writing upon these plates, which writing has been ^dsmall; and to the reader I bid farewell, hoping that many of my brethren may read my words. Brethren, adieu.

3. The doctrine is so clear.  Christianity is made crystal clear in The Book of Mormon.  Our purpose in life, how the atonement of Jesus Christ works, and what happens after this life are laid out clearly and succinctly by prophets most of the world has never heard of.  I love it--probably because I'm a believer, but it would also make the plan clear to the murkiest of doubters or agnostics.

4. My days are smoother and I feel like a better person when I read it.  If I am down or discouraged, or even just feeling regular, reading The Book of Mormon is the quickest way for me to feel God's love.  It is faster than praying for me, which probably says more about my skill with reading versus my skill with prayer than the actual efficacy of either one, but it is still an impressively quick way to feel my heart unclench and open with softness and love.

5. It is the foundation for everything I believe and the way I live my life.  Because I have read these words and prayed about them and found them to be solid enough to stand on, I've built my entire life and code of behavior on the foundation of knowing these words to be truth from a God who loves me.  Everything I have and know that matters is tied up in how I feel about The Book of Mormon.  It sounds like a lot, and it is. 

So maybe that's what I should have said.    At least I hope that my list would spark a tiny bit of interest instead of none.  It's probably the best thing I have to offer anyone after all.