2024
15 Reasons to Keep Reading the Book of Mormon Every Day
December 2024

Digital Only

15 Reasons to Keep Reading the Book of Mormon Every Day

By Stan Thomasson

See if you agree with my list, or better yet, discover your own list!

hands holding the scriptures

I read hundreds of books every year in many genres. By far the most impactful and my favorite has become the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

It was not always so. There was a time I felt I knew all the stories and had progressed beyond what the book could offer. I stopped reading the book and purchased many others about Book of Mormon doctrine and settings. However, once my intellectual curiosity waned, I found my testimony had become fragile and stale. My testimony had departed from my heart to only my head, and I lost track of what I knew deep in my heart.

One day, I heard President Russell M. Nelson teach this truth: “We need to feel, deep in ‘the inmost part’ of our hearts [see Alma 13:27], that the Book of Mormon is unequivocally the word of God. We must feel it so deeply that we would never want to live even one day without it.” President Nelson is not the first prophet to tell us to read the Book of Mormon every day. But that talk was so powerful and spoke directly to me. I wanted and needed the power President Nelson described, and I wanted more than anything to heal my starving testimony.

I can’t imagine going one day without the Book of Mormon. Its words have become my words as I have faced challenges or helped others with theirs. I’ve compiled reasons to read the Book of Mormon every day and recently shared my top 50 with my wife. She was incredulous at first. But as I shared my list, she enthusiastically added more reasons. Now we are over 70 and counting.

This book is truly a wondrous gift. It is both a guide and a manifestation of God’s love, given in our day to counter the influences of the adversary. By reading and daily renewing our testimonies, we grow our faith to act on its teachings and see how Jesus Christ rescues us and those around us. A person truly can get closer to God by reading this book and following its teachings than by reading any other book (see introduction to the Book of Mormon).

Although we are nearly done studying the Book of Mormon as part of this year’s Come, Follow Me, we are invited to continue studying its truths throughout our lives. Here are 15 of the reasons I continue to study the Book of Mormon every day. See if you agree with my list, or better yet, discover your own list!

I study the Book of Mormon so I can:

  1. Receive a witness of Jesus Christ (see Moroni 10:5–7; 2 Nephi 33:10–11).

  2. Employ the most effective resource to get closer to God and Jesus Christ (see introduction to the Book of Mormon).

  3. Learn how to “liken all scriptures unto [myself]” (1 Nephi 19:23; see also verse 24).

  4. Receive strength to overcome and endure difficulties (see Mosiah 29:20).

  5. Hear the Lord’s voice and learn how He may speak to us individually (see Jacob 7:5; Enos 1).

  6. Strengthen my faith by regularly remembering God’s “goodness and grace” (Moroni 8:3).

  7. See how ancient prophets saw our day and apply the cautions they provide (see 1 Nephi 13:40).

  8. Understand that Christ’s mercy comes through repentance and a softened heart (see Alma 12:34).

  9. Feel that ancient prophets are speaking directly to me about my challenges (see Mormon 8:35).

  10. Focus my life on remembering the possibilities of Christ’s good news and the certainty of gospel promises (see Mosiah 2:41).

  11. Experience joy and glory that cannot be put into words (see Alma 26:16).

  12. Develop the ability to ask for and expect answers to prayers (see 2 Nephi 4:35; Mosiah 4:21; 3 Nephi 27:28; Ether 3:2).

  13. Discover the freedom of being “led by the Spirit” (1 Nephi 4:6; see also Ether 2:6)

  14. Discover the desire and strength to eliminate harmful distractions from my life (see 2 Nephi 1:13–14).

  15. Understand that being a humble follower of Christ can keep us from being led astray (see 2 Nephi 28:14).

President Nelson was right! The Book of Mormon has a miraculous power. If you don’t believe me, try your own experiment upon the words of President Nelson. The impact on me has been so thorough that I have committed to read and ponder the Book of Mormon every day for the rest of my life.

It is now a cherished companion and friend. I have learned that there is much more to the Book of Mormon than what is written on the page. I have verses come to mind that are direct answers to what I need, in that very moment, for myself and those I love. It is certainly my testimony that keeping this commitment to take time daily for God, through reading this book, helped me rekindle the fire of my testimony. I again thoroughly know the truth of the gospel, and I am so excited about the next things I will learn.