Baskets and Books

Welcome to the Neighborhood News

Speaking of books, one of the most important books ever published is the Book of Mormon. It has influenced millions of people and generated plenty of press.

This is the account of one person, Jacob Hamblin, in 1842, and his feelings after he read it. You can find the full account in the article A Book That Transforms Lives, written by Brent L. Top.

“The evening after the Elder had preached I went in search of him, and found him quite late at night. I told him my purpose, and requested him to give me a ‘Mormon Bible.’ He handed me the Old and New Testament.

“I said, ‘I thought you had a new Bible.’ He then explained about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and handed me a copy of it.

“The impressions I received at the time cannot be forgotten. The spirit rested upon me and bore testimony of its truth, and I felt like opening my mouth and declaring it to be a revelation from God.

“On the 3rd of March, 1842, as soon as it was light in the morning, I started for a pool of water where I had arranged to meet with the Elder, to attend to the ordinance of baptism. On the way, the thought of the sacrifice I was making [by going against my family’s wishes] … caused my resolution to waver.

“As my pace slackened, some person appeared to come from above, who, I thought, was my grandfather. He seemed to say to me, ‘Go on, my son; your heart cannot conceive, neither has it entered into your mind to imagine the blessings that are in store for you, if you go on and continue in this work.’

“I lagged no more, but hurried to the pool, where I was baptized by Elder Lyman Stoddard” (in Stories from the Early Saints: Converted by the Book of Mormon, ed. Susan Easton Black [1992], 41–42).

Today, after 181 years, we still believe that this book was translated by the grace and power of God.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Monday 20 June, click here.

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