I wanted to start this podcast with a very important question. Is the Book of Mormon from heaven or hell? There is no middle ground and it's essential for everyone who is seeking salvation to find out for themselves if it's true. ---Transcript--- Hey everyone, so again, my name is Russell Brunson and I want to welcome to you guys to the very first podcast here on the Book of Mormon Challenge. And I’m not going to lie, it’s something that I have been almost starting, probably on and...
I wanted to start this podcast with a very important question. Is the Book of Mormon from heaven or hell? There is no middle ground and it's essential for everyone who is seeking salvation to find out for themselves if it's true.
---Transcript---
Hey everyone, so again, my name is Russell Brunson and I want to welcome to you guys to the very first podcast here on the Book of Mormon Challenge. And I’m not going to lie, it’s something that I have been almost starting, probably on and off, for the last year, year and a half or so.
I actually first had the idea while sitting in General Conference, it was almost like a calling that I needed to do this and then I didn’t. And then I felt like I should do it, and then I didn’t, and I back and forthed as we sometimes do.
And today’s actually an interesting day. My wife and my kids are out of town and I’m home alone. I woke up this morning, getting ready for church and I felt like today was the day. So I got home from church and had kind of a really cool moment where I had a chance to start thinking through this and what this Book of Mormon Challenge was supposed to be. I had purchased the domain name, I had some ideas, but I didn’t really know what, where, or how. Sometimes you start taking the first step forward and the Lord tells you what to do and how to do it.
So I’m praying that I’m going in the direction that he would have me do. I wrote the intro for this podcast a few minutes ago and I recorded it and hopefully by listening to that you kind of know a little bit about what this podcast is about.
So to kind of begin with, because I’m sure some of you guys who are just finding this randomly on iTunes or someone told you to listen to it, you have no idea who I am and the reality is it doesn’t really matter who I am. The story and this message is not about me, but just to give you guys some context to who you are listening to, who’s talking, my name is Russell Brunson. And yes, the story I told during the intro of the podcast is true.
I was born in the LDS church. LDS stands for Latter Day Saints, for those who don’t know, the Mormon church. And growing up I didn’t know much about what we do, and I went to church and listened to the songs and those type of things. As I got older I remember hearing my dad share with me his testimony about how he found out the Book of Mormon was true. And it was probably, you know my dad is a tough guy, and it was probably one of the few times in my life I’ve ever seen him cry, was when he told his story.
He got his testimony of the Book of Mormon while he was in the MTC waiting to go on his mission to Switzerland. I remember as I was preparing for a mission, thinking cool, I’ll just take care of it at the MTC, I’ll be good to go. I went to the MTC and I got there and I didn’t get a testimony, I didn’t have one. And then as I left the MTC I didn’t have one and I started going to New Jersey where I served my mission. I’m knocking on doors and I was scared because I didn’t have a testimony.
I will tell you guys how I received my testimony and kind of the whole experience behind it, actually in the next episode, but I did. And because of that, I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and because of that my life shifted. Everything since that moment when I found out, when God told me, this is the truth, it set me on a different trajectory. And I look now, almost twenty years later, the fruits of that decision and that answer, it’s been amazing.
At the same time, now I’ve got a beautiful wife, we’ve got 5 kids, I’ve got a business, I’ve got over 100 employees, I’m doing a lot of things. If you Google my name you’ll learn a little about who I am, even though, once again, it doesn’t matter. I have a big company, I’ve written two books through a traditional publisher, I’ve written a lot of other books as well with a software company, a lot of things that are happening. And as happens to most of us, because of so many things happening, a lot of times we forget about the things that are most important.
A while ago I was walking around my house, we live in a beautiful home, and I see Book of Mormon’s laying in different spots around the house and realizing that we hadn’t picked up those, as a family, for months, if not even longer. And I was looking at that one night, just looking at one of these books, it was laying there and I was like, “This book is not important, it’s vitally important to salvation for myself, for my kids, for those who I care and I love and it is the key to help us understand Christ today. And we just throw them on the ground.
They’re just sitting there and we don’t open or read them and this book that should be the most important thing in the world has become just a commodity, it’s just sitting there. It didn’t really matter to us as a family. I remember how much that bothered me, so I remember thinking I have to make this special again, but how do I do that?
So what I ended up doing, I started searching for an original copy of the Book of Mormon. I remember when I was on my mission somebody had said, there was one for sale on EBay or something, it had sold for like $150,000, I don’t know, something crazy like that. So I’m like, I’m going to see if I can find one. So I started searching and through my searching I think I found 6 that were actually for sale. Some of them were really expensive. One of them was owned by Hyrum Smith, who was Joseph Smith’s brother, it was for sale for over a million dollars. There was one from Samuel Smith, who was the first missionary of the church ever, it was on sale for over a million and then it went down from there.
There was a $500,000 one, a $200,000, $100,000, an $80,000 and then I found one that was cheaper as well. I ended up purchasing, not the million dollar one, I purchased one that was a lot cheaper, but it was funny because I didn’t…It was actually an EBay auction and I didn’t buy it, and it expired. And then later, a couple of months later he relisted it, I was like, I had all this emotional drama. Finally I decided you know what, I’m going to do it. Because I need to make this special to me again.
And it’s interesting because, I know there’s a lot of different people listening to this. There are people who are not members of the LDS church, there are people who used to be, who left, and there’s probably people who are members of the church. So regardless of where you’re at, I want you to understand that I needed and I wanted this to be special to me and my family and I wanted to treat this like it was probably treated when it first came out. When Joseph Smith printed the first 5,000 copies, people financed their entire lives to be able to print this book and when they got it, it was like when it touched their hands for the first time, I can’t even imagine what that felt like.
You hear the stories about Parley P. Pratt, when he got the book and he sat down and he spent, he started reading and read for an entire day until he finished it. He said that sleeping and eating became a nuisance because he wanted to read this book. I think about the first missionaries, when somebody came to England and they handed one of these books to someone, what that must have felt like, and how special that could have been and should have been and probably was.
And I wanted that again. So when we ordered the book, it was right before General Conference, which those who aren’t members of our church, General Conference is when the Prophet and the 12 Apostles speak to us twice a year. So I called up the person I bought it from, I said, “Can you overnight this to me. I want this before conference. I want to show my kids this.” So it showed up and we had this just amazing moment with my kids where I had a chance to tell them the history of the Book of Mormon and how it came about. We talked about the Gold Plates and the whole origin story of the Book of Mormon, which I’m sure we’ll cover in more detail in future episodes, But how it came about and the sacrifice that went into this thing.
I showed pictures online on LDS.org of where it was printed at the Grandin Building, the whole thing. We talked about there was only 5 thousand copies that were printed and how most of them have been destroyed or have fallen apart. I said, “Hey you guys want to see something cool?” and I opened it up and I pulled this book out and let my kids touch it and it was so cool in their eyes. They’re like, “Dad, this is one of the first ones? This is one of the ones you talked about?” I’m like, “Yeah, how cool is that?”
Since then, it’s been fun to share it with people around me. A lot of times someone has an heirloom like this and they put it in a glass case and air proof it so that fingerprints don’t destroy it because they’re looking at it as an investment. But for me it was never an investment for financial purposes. I wanted the investment for me and my kids, being able to read it as a real book. So It’s been such a cool experience.
And as we read it as a family it’s been fun because, you know the first time it was printed, think about this, it was back in the early 1800’s and they didn’t have printers and things like that, so they were taking letter by letter and put them on these things and then they’d stamp ink on it, and stamp the ink onto the pages. It was crazy. So there’s little typo’s and little errors and things like that, that somewhere between the translation, you know the people reading it, to the people putting the metal pieces in to spell all the words out of this huge book, the little issues. So as we say something in the book that sounds different, like “Shall” versus “shalt” or just little typos like that, the kids will raise their hand and it’s come to be a really cool, special thing.
That’s why we did it, and shortly after that I felt like I wanted to share this experience with more people. Because if other people, if I can make the Book of Mormon more real for other people as well, it will transform their lives as it has transformed mine. So that’s why this podcast and this challenge and everything has been created.
I’m just not sure exactly what’s going to happen on bookofmormonchallenge.com but it’ll be a challenge for all of us to go through, to find out if this book is true, or if you’re a member who left, or if you are a member who believes, how to actually take this book and use it as a tool to radically shift your life and the life of your family. So that’s what this is all about. And again, I don’t know the path of where this is all going yet, I just know that this is the direction that I am supposed to go.
My biggest fear with this podcast, honestly, and why I don’t think I’ve done it for the last year, year and a half since I first had the idea was, I teach, I’m an educator, I’ve written books, I speak at seminars all around the world, I have audiences of…our next event coming up we have 3500 people will be there, I’ll be speaking for 3 days onstage. I’m not afraid of speaking or teaching, I do that all the time. My biggest fear is teaching within the church, teaching about God, because it’s not me. I’m fully aware of that.
I can speak at an event, I can get people excited, I can tell stories in a way that motivate and get people excited. But if I go on this mission to serve you guys in this way, if I don’t have the spirit with me, I know that none of this will matter. Because this is not about me being a good teacher, it’s about me, allowing or letting or having, or whatever, the spirit speak through me to you. So I pray as I do this that I’ll have the spirit so that you will not just hear what I say, but you feel what the spirit wants you to learn through these messages. And I’m going to try as close and as hard as I can to stay close to the spirit so I can deliver this in a way that will give you the ability to feel the spirit and make the changes you need to.
With that said, as I’m going through this I am 100% fully aware that I am going to mess up a lot in this. I’m going to teach things that maybe aren’t doctrinally correct, things that I think are right, things that are my opinions, or things like that. So a big thing, this is not the doctrine of the church, this is according to Russell. I’m going to try to stick as close as I can to the doctrines, what we know are true. But if I mess up, don’t blame the church, blame me. That’s a big thing.
The second thing is if I say something, don’t take my word for it. That’s the most amazing thing about God is that the power he has given us is not take things blindly on faith. Faith is not about blinding believing and walking. He says, learn something and then bring it to him, and pray, and ask, and he’ll tell you if it’s true.
So if you hear me talk about the Book of Mormon, about concepts, about doctrine, about ideas, about things that I believe are true, the reason why I’m sharing them is not because I’m a genius or because I made them up or anything, it’s because I heard them, and then I prayed, and then the Lord told. I know that God answers prayers and I know he’ll answer your prayer if you ask. So if you’re confused or you wonder or whatever, ask. I’m sure we’ll do a podcast going deeper into how to do that and what to look for and what you’re trying to feel, but he is the ultimate giver of truth and he will let you know if it’s true.
Alright, so why am I doing this podcast? A couple of reasons. Number one, I’ve got the 5 most amazing kids on Earth, by far. Someday I’m not going to be here and I want this to be archived forever. I want my kids to know what I believe. I want them to know that forever. My kids, my grandkids, I want people to know what I believe. And I want my testimony to stand. That’s number one.
Number two is because there’s a lot of people in my world around me who see what I do in the business side of things or other places, and I want them to be very clear on where I stand and what I believe. I’m hoping that I have people who aren’t members who wonder, “Why is Russell so happy all the time? Why is he so excited? What is wrong with this guy?” I want you to understand what is wrong with me is this. I am happy, I have this spirit, I understand where did I come from, why I’m here on Earth, and where I’m going. And when you understand those things with absolute clarity, you can’t help but be happy and be excited.
Yes, there are sad, depressing, horrible things that happen but when you understand the plan, it makes you free, it makes you happy. So for those around me who are wondering why I’m so happy, I want this to help you understand where I stand, what I believe and hopefully it will give you the boost, the inspiration, whatever you need to figure it out for yourself as well.
Because the third reason I have here on my notes is, if I can help one other person understand this and feel what I feel, they say in the scriptures if you help one soul come to Christ how great will be your joy in Heaven with that person. And I hope this will be a tool to help at least one other person. And if I do that it’ll be worth the time and the energy that I put into it.
And number four, the last one is that I know how I work and I know that when I’m focusing on something I will learn it and I will get more from it. For example, when I have to teach a lesson in church and I have the whole week to prepare, I prepare, I study, I learn, I get so much value in that week I’m like flawless. Satan can’t tempt me. I can’t struggle, I can’t deviate, I do everything perfect and I love that feeling. And then when I don’t, it’s harder, life is harder to focus.
A little while ago I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting and I told the Bishop from the pulpit, I said, “If there’s ever a calling for a full time sacrament speaker, please tell me. Call me to do that. I would love if every week I just had a chance to give a talk.” And after I sat down, I had this epiphany. I was sitting there thinking, maybe I can’t give a talk in Sacrament every week, but I can have that feeling, what if I……and that was one of the reasons why I wanted to start this podcast. If every Sunday I have a chance to record a podcast, and I have all week to study and prepare and get ready for it, and then I record it, it’d be the same thing. I’d keep the spirit with me throughout the entire week.
It gives me focus on my studying, it gives me a reason to do it and when I do that I’ll enjoy it. And each Sunday I’ll have a chance to record this for you guys and hopefully it will help you as well. But honestly, it’s a selfish reason for me, to help me stay on the straight and narrow path, which hopefully is okay for me to do. I hope you guys do the same thing. I think everyone should be publishing. We don’t talk more about our beliefs. We should be writing blogs and doing podcasts and talking. So hopefully, if this inspires one other person to do the same thing as well, that is awesome. That is another purpose behind it.
Alright, so before I wrap up this session, I want to just talk about two things. Because this is why I’m doing this podcast, and this is why it matters, and this is why it matters for you to listen and to pay attention and to read the Book of Mormon and then to pray about it. Because I have so many friends who, I’m not shy about, my friends know I’m Mormon, they know my beliefs. They’re always like, “Oh that’s nice Russell. That’s cool that you guys believe that.” I’m like, “I don’t just believe that, I know it.” And I don’t want people to dismiss it. So I’m going to talk about two things that can be seen as kind of harsh, but it’s important because I need you to understand how important this is.
I remember on my mission I would knock on people’s doors and I’d share the message of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ coming to Joseph Smith. I’d share this amazing experience that literally has transformed everything, and I’d share with somebody and they’re like, “Wow, that’s so cool.” I’m like, “I know. Can we come back and teach you more?” or they’d say, “That’s awesome, I believe that’s true, I believe that actually happened.” I’m like, “That’s amazing. So will you read the Book of Mormon?” and they’re like, “No, I’m good.” And I’m like, “What?” Do you understand? You need to understand the severity of this.
If this is true, this is the most important thing that’s ever happened on planet Earth outside of the atonement of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. This is the most important thing that’s happened on Earth besides that one thing. What’s cool is they actually tie together directly. So I’m like, I would almost bring concerns to people’s minds initially because I’m like, “I need you to understand how important this is.”
So that’s kind of my goal right now. I’m going to probably raise some concerns, but that’s good because it’s going to help you understand why this is important. Because I don’t want you listening along and be like, “Oh that’s nice, I’m going to listen and get inspired once a week or whatever.” No! This is not about inspiration, this is about change. If you don’t make a change in your life, there’s no purpose to this at all. And you have to understand the severity of what we’re talking about for you to understand why you need to make that change.
So these are two quotes. One is from a father, and one’s from a son. The father was one of the 12 apostles. He’s my favorite dead apostle, he’s no longer on Earth now. And I will talk about my favorite living and dead apostles, but my favorite one who has passed away, his name is Bruce R. McConkie and speaking of the Book of Mormon this is what he said,
“These are deep and solemn and ponderous matters. We need not think we can trifle with sacred things and escape the wrath of a just God. Either the Book of Mormon is true, or it is false. There is no middle ground. Either it came from God or it spawn from the infernal realms. It is not and cannot simply be another treaty on religion. It either came from Heaven or it came from Hell. And it’s time for all those who seek salvation to find out for themselves whether it’s from the Lord or if it’s from Lucifer.”
Alright, now that’s about as dramatic of a line draw in the sand as you can make. You’re here today listening to the Book of Mormon Challenge podcast and as I’ve just stated, there’s not a middle ground. Either this book, that I’m holding in my hands right now, again this is one of the original 5 thousand books. Either this book was given to us from God, or was given to us from Satan. That’s it. There’s no middle ground.
So for you, you need to understand that, and be like, “Okay, if this came from God I need to get it in my hands and I need to read it and understand. I need to ask God if it’s true. If it came from Satan, then everything Russell’s talking about is pure evil.” There’s no middle ground. It’s not like, this is a nice book, this is a good book. It’s either from Heaven or Hell and that’s it.
So for any of us, who are true seekers of truth and want to understand why are we here, the three big questions. Where did we come from? Why are we here? And Where are we going? If you want to know those answers to those questions, they are here within this book and you will understand them with perfect clarity, but you have to understand first that this book either came from Heaven or Hell. It’s vital for you to find that out.
I can’t tell you. I can tell you what I believe, but you have to know. And it’s so vitally important that if you don’t figure that out, if you’re like “it’s not that big of a deal.” If you’re wrong, “oh yeah, it’s gotta be evil.” Or “It’s got to be good.” Or whatever. You can’t just be like, “Oh yeah, I’m sure it’s a good book.” No, it’s not a good book, it’s either from Heaven or from Hell and you have to figure this out for yourself. That’s how important this is.
So I’m putting that on you. This is the challenge that we’re going through, the Book of Mormon Challenge. The challenge is for you to figure that out. Is this from Heaven or is this from Hell? I promise you as you read these pages, you will feel and you will know and you will understand where this is from. But also understand that when you understand and when you find out where this is from, you have to change your life in accordance with that. That’s the second half of the challenge. We’ll get to that later. But right now that is the challenge for you to find out. Is this book from Heaven or from Hell?
As Bruce R. McConkie said, “It’s time for all those who seek salvation to find out for themselves whether this is from the Lord or if it’s from Lucifer.” So that’s the challenge you guys, and I want you to understand that. I’m saying it as boldly as I possibly can because it’s that important.
People always talk about, “Oh yeah, it’s a good book…” No, it’s not. It’s not another treaty on religion. It either came from Heaven or from Hell and for all those who are true seekers for salvation, you have to find out for yourself. Alright that’s number one.
Number two, my next question I get a lot and I understand is people ask, “Why do we need a Book of Mormon? We have the Bible, we have these other things, why do we need that? Why would God make this other thing come to us? What’s the purpose of it, what’s the reasoning?” Okay, I’ll get into that the next episode. We’re going to go deeper into that, but there’s a quote from Bruce R. McConkie’s son, his name is Joseph Fielding McConkie.
When I heard this the first time I got it, and I understood it. This is what he said, “Why a Book of Mormon? Because it’s the perfect test of spiritual integrity. Acceptance of the Book of Mormon requires the same faith that was necessary to accept Christ in the Meridian time. As he was opposed by false traditions and a corrupt priesthood, so the Book of Mormon is opposed today. The doctrines are the same, the opposition is the same, and the courage and the faith necessary to accept it are the same.”
So what that means is this book right here, that I’m holding in my hands, how we treat this book is the exact same way we would treat Christ if he was here today. I want you guys to understand that. How do you treat the Book of Mormon right now? People always say, “If Christ was here I would have been one of the one’s that fought for him. I wouldn’t have let him be crucified. I would have been on his side. I would have been one of his disciples. I would have been one of his followers.” Well, he’s not here today, he’s risen, he’s back in heaven, he will be coming again for the second coming hopefully sooner than later, anxiously waiting that.
But he’s not here today, so what did he do? He sent something and these words, inside of this book, they’re his words. Everything it talks about is his. The words, the lessons, the messages, the stories, the doctrines, this is Christ’s doctrine. How you treat this book is how you would have treated Christ if he was here today. This was the test. This is our test of spiritual integrity.
So think about it, the reason I started this whole challenge is because I was looking at that. I was looking at this book sitting on the ground, you know my kids have kicked around, it’s sitting there, laying there a Book of Mormon, a blue one, sitting there. I’m looking at that thinking, how am I treating this? How I treat that book is how I would treat Christ if he was here. I’d just lay him on the side and I walk around and do my other stuff. Too busy with my daily life. Too busy with my work, with my kids, with school, with all this stuff to even notice he’s there.
When you think about it that way, it changes things. How you treat this book, is how you would treat Christ if he were here today. So for me, I thought I need a change or else there’s going to be a day when it’s too late. I’m going to see him again and at that day I don’t want to be someone who said, “I didn’t cherish your message, I didn’t listen, I wasn’t paying attention.” I want that day to see him and be able to give him a hug and know that I treated him the way that he deserved to be treated.
So this book, this amazing book that I cannot wait to get into with you guys, and for those who have not read it yet, I cannot wait for you guys to read it. For those who have read it, I cannot wait to re-inspire you, re-get you excited about it because this book, the way we treat this book is how we’d treat Christ. And if all of the craziness of our days is keeping us from this book, and keeping us from this message and keeping us from this thing, then we’re missing it. We’re missing the whole point.
All the other things are just distractions. How we treat this book is how we’d treat Christ if he was here on this Earth. So this challenge is about a couple of things. First off, this challenge is for you to figure out where this book is from. Either it came from Heaven or from Hell. Either it came from the Lord or From Lucifer. It’s time for us, for all of us who really care about salvation, those who want to return back to our Heavenly Father, it’s time for us today, to figure out if this came from Heaven or from Hell. That’s number one.
Number two, after we find out and we understand who this is from, we understand that these are Christ’s words, this is his teachings, his message, his doctrine, his principles, everything wrapped into a perfect book. As soon as we understand that, then the next challenge is how we’re going to treat this book. How are you going to treat this message? Is it going to be something you read every once in a while, like I’ve been guilty of doing? Or is it going to be something you grab onto and hold with your hands and share with other people?
My goal with this challenge is for the latter. I want all of us sharing this message and this podcast is my initial attempts towards that. Bookofmormonchallenge.com that’s coming my next challenge towards that. And I’m encouraging you guys to participate in this, and I hope that you do and I hope that you take this for the importance that it is. This is literally the most important message you’ll hear in your life.
This book as you will find, will teach you about God, it will teach you about Christ, it will teach you about his sacrifice he made for us. It will teach you about the way we can repent and return back to him. It will teach us how to be there together as a family. Everything that you need to know to answer the three questions. Who are you? Actually the first one, where did you come from? Why are you here? Where are you going? Those questions will help you understand who you are and when you know who are, it’ll change everything.
Your life will be happier, your future will be brighter, and life will be better. So that’s my goal with this podcast. I’m so excited that you are listening to this, and next episode I’m going to be talking about a concept I call the three givens. I’m really excited for that. This is a talk I gave in church a little while ago, I’ve been preparing and talking and thinking about this for a long time and I’m so excited to share that with you.
With that I’m going to end this intro episode. If you know anybody else who you think would be interested to listen, tell them this story, “I met this crazy guy, he went and spent a fortune, bought one of the original 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon, and he did that because he wanted to find out if it came from Heaven or from Hell and you should listen to this podcast.” And tell them that and let them subscribe and let them listen to this message and then give them the challenge. Tell them, “You’ve got to find out for yourself. Russell figured it out for himself, I figured it out for myself, other people have figured it out for themselves, now it’s your turn. Is this from Heaven or is this from Hell? You need to find out.”
This is not something you should be trifling with, not something you should just wash away and be like, “Oh, I read something online so it’s evil.” If you’re trusting people’s opinions on Google, you are insane. Being an internet marketer now for over 14 years I know how simple it is to publish anything you want online. Do not trust other people’s opinions. The only thing you should trust, is God’s opinion.
This is something that is so vitally important to your salvation, to your happiness, to everything. It’s not something you should trifle with, “Oh, I read this article about this.” Or “Oh, my friend said this.” Or whatever. The only person that needs to tell you that this is true or not is God. I can’t tell you that. I’m going to be excited because I am and I’m going to talk about this, share ideas, my only goal is to inspire you enough to go and ask God if this is true. That’s it.
I’m not trying to convince you of anything. That’s not my goal or my purpose ever. I cannot convince you of this. If I logically convince you that this is true, guess what’s going to happen? As soon as you start moving down this path, Satan’s going to come and he’s going to turn the heat up and you will not be able to withstand the trials and you will leave.
I have family members people I love more than anyone on Earth who have left the church. Because they didn’t know this book is true. They hadn’t read, they hadn’t prayed, they hadn’t gotten the message, they had not had Heavenly Father tell them that this is true. So when the heat came up, they left. I have friends who were members of the church, went on missions and when the heat came up they walked away.
The heat will be turned up. I want you to understand that. When you accept this, and you understand it, temptations and trials and people will come around you and try to pull you and rip you away from that. That’s how Satan works, he does not want you to be happy. He will do everything in his power, so if I logically convince you of this, someone can un-logically convince you just as simple.
Now I say that as, not to be cocky or anything. I’ve written books on persuasion, I think there’s few people on Earth who understand persuasion better than me. I can persuade people of anything. But if I can persuade you of one thing, you can be persuaded away. My job, my goal of this podcast is not to persuade you of anything, it’s to get you excited enough to dive into the book so that you will then go and ask God, and he will tell you. And if he tells you, then you will know it’s true.
Over the last probably 20 years or so, since he told me, I’ve had insane amounts of pressure from every single side trying to pull me away from this message, but guess what? God told me it was true. So nothing can, I can’t be moved. I believe him. And there’s nothing that anyone can do ever to take that away from me. You need to have that same thing. But you’re not going to get it from me logically convincing you of anything, so I’m not going to.
All I’m going to do is hopefully get you excited enough to read the book and then to pray. God will tell you and then you’ll know, just like I know. That’s the goal you guys. Thank you again for listening to this podcast, please invite others you know to listen to it as well, and on the next episode I’m going to talk about the three givens. And this is the core foundation of your testimony. In God, in Christ, and in the restoration of the church through the Book of Mormon.
So thank you guys again so much for listening. I appreciate you guys and I’m excited to start this journey with you. I hope that this message gets you excited enough to read the book and to treat it the way that it deserves to be. And that’s all I got today. So thanks again you guys and I’ll talk to you all again soon. Bye everybody.
