The Book of Mormon: Evidence of His Love

By: Jeff Sherrill

My name is Jeff Sherrill and I have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a young age. Though my parents were members of the church, I was lucky enough to investigate many churches and choose which church to join. I came to an understanding of the truthfulness of the church through many texts, prayers, and experiences. Blogs such as this helped cultivate my thinking on the subject of religion. I ask that you read what I write while respecting my feelings as I will do with you. If you have questions or wish to discuss a subject further I invite you to do so.


To understand the church and its beliefs requires one to study The Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith said that “…The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion…” I believe that this is true and it is the subject of The Book of Mormon that I wish to discuss with you. To be fair, one post regarding The Book of Mormon would not do it justice just as one post regarding The Bible would not do it justice. To even hope to understand its purpose in one post would not do it justice so I wish to discuss with you one reason why The Book of Mormon is on the earth today: To serve as a testimony that God loves us.


To understand this principal it is important we look at the overall message of The Book of Mormon. The message it brings is: Jesus is the Christ, he is the son of God and that through him and ONLY through him can we receive eternal salvation. The subtitle of The Book of Mormon is: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It chronicles the history of those who lived in the America’s from approximately 600BC to 420AD. The people knew of Jesus Christ, they all prayed to the same God as those in the Bible did and they too gave testimony of His greatness and love. For us to hear their testimony is truly a blessing.

In the John 10:16 Christ says, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” If we are to disregard The Book of Mormon (and I do not suggest that we do often) it would seem that there is no documented evidence suggesting that Christ visited anyone else. Wouldn’t one wish to write down the words that they hear? The works that allowed them to join their fold? The direction that their shepherd would take them? I believe that they would and I believe that they did. Just as he did in the Holy Land, Christ taught the same principals, appointed apostles and performed miracles.


How does this let us know that we are loved? It shows us that we are loved because we believe that in the Lord’s eyes the testimonies of those in the Holy Land and those on the American continent are of equal worth in his eyes and we can prove this through scripture.


Ezekiel 37:15-19 states:

15¶ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of E'phra-im, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.


It is understood that after the fall of Israel to Babylon many of the tribes were lost and the Jews rallied around the tribe of Judah which has become a dominant force in Jewish culture and history. Because of this, we can reference The Bible (which contains the writings of the Jews and early Christians) as the stick (scroll) of Judah. This stick of Ephraim must be another collection of writings.


In The Book of Mormon the prophet Lehi is calling Jerusalem to repentance at the same time Jeremiah and others all calling repentance declaring that Jerusalem will be destroyed if the people do not. Lehi receives a revelation from God that he and his family should depart. Before they go however, they need to recover the scriptures that had been written up to that point which had been written on plates of brass so they might have the word of God with them. Besides scriptures these plates of brass contained a very detailed genealogy (or family tree).

Upon recovery of these plates Lehi discovered that he was of the lineage of Ephraim and a descendant of Joseph who went into Egypt. Because his family and others brought about a civilization here on the American continent of that same lineage it is safe to say that in the same way we can reference The Bible to be the stick of Judah, we can say The Book of Mormon is the stick of Ephraim.


God indicates here that these two sticks are one in our hands. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we hold these two books as one in our hands, hearts, and minds. We do not hold one book above the other. In fact we feel that they support and validate each other to be a force for good and that they create a more complete picture of the workings of God and what we need to do to return to Him.


Think of it this way, if you have two people standing before you and one says “God is my savior and here is why…”, you will more than likely believe his words as you know he believes this as truth. Now the next person also says to you, “God is my savior and here is why…” his examples as to why he says that will not be the same but the message is and just because another person says the same thing it doesn’t mean that the first person’s message has been cancelled out. As with The Book of Mormon, we know more about what God has done.


I believe the writings of The Book of Mormon to be true with all my heart. I know that it contains the words of ancient people testifying that Jesus Christ is their savior and that we will draw closer to him by understanding and knowing of his ways. I know that by showing us that all testimonies are equal in his eye that he truly loves us all regardless of what differences we, as his children, may have. When I say I know that Jesus Christ is my savior and that through him I can return to my father in heaven it means just as much and is just as important as anyone who has, is or will ever live on this earth.


I ask that those who have not read it to please read it with the mindset that it is a testimony. It speaks of God and it is because of that message that you will find the goodness in it. I pray and know that you will.