Words into Power

by Jeffrey J. Marchant

The scriptures first came to life for me one Sunday evening when I was seven years old. My grandfather had invited my cousins and me to his home that night to read the Book of Mormon with him, and we were a little skeptical. Having already sat through Sunday School in the morning and sacrament meeting in the afternoon, we weren’t too excited about hearing more religion in the evening, but our interest soared when we learned that Grandma would provide dessert afterward.

That night we sat next to Grandpa as he pulled a child’s version of the Book of Mormon from the shelf and started reading. What an exciting story was unfolded to us! Before we left that night our hearts and minds were filled with the story of Lehi and his family.

Over the next weeks Nephi became our great hero. He was the gifted hunter, the valiant leader, and the faithful follower. We wanted to be like him.

I was especially impressed by Nephi’s courage and faith as he carried out the seemingly impossible mission of obtaining the brass plates of Laban. I have since often drawn strength from his words.

“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the things which he commandeth them.” (1 Ne. 3:7.)

What a great experience it was to sit at the feet of my grandfather and hear from him the stories of the Book of Mormon. I can somewhat understand the meaning of Paul’s words to the youthful Timothy:

“From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 3:15.)

Nephi said, “My soul delighteth in the scriptures and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and profit of my children.” (2 Ne. 4:15.) How grateful we should be for prophets like Nephi and for parents and grandparents and teachers who teach us in our youth to read and ponder the scriptures.

You young men preparing for missions will find that the scriptures provide a vital tool. They contain the gospel that you will be going out to teach. To illustrate I’m going to share with you an experience related by a young missionary named David O. McKay.

“In 1897 I left for the mission field. On the boat taking the thirty young elders to Liverpool was a Protestant minister, and the elders soon got into a debate with him. It seems that I was spokesman for a while, and the question came up as to where Jesus was when his body was in the tomb. Now I had learned, as boys and girls learn in Sunday School, priesthood meeting, and Mutual, that Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison, so I spoke up, using about those words. The minister took a Bible and said, ‘Where do you find that?’

“I didn’t know for the life of me where the scriptural reference was to be found, but I knew that I was right. In our group was a man from Holland who was on his way to fill a mission. He was standing by and whispered to me: ‘Peter, Peter.’ I then took the Bible, and I suppose I turned the wrong way to find the Epistle of Peter. For the life of me, I did not know where to find the text. The minister took the Bible and said: ‘My eight-year-old child knows more about the Bible than you do.’ There was so much truth in what he said that I spent the rest of the voyage becoming better acquainted with the scriptures.” (From a talk given by President David O. McKay at a priesthood missionary committee meeting.)

In 1962, prior to the establishment of the LTM, there was another young man who wanted to go on a mission. He had recently discovered that he had a testimony. He had read and pondered Alma’s testimony formula (Alma 32) where Alma likens the gaining of a testimony to the planting of a seed. He had planted the seed of the Book of Mormon in his heart and felt it grow. It had enlightened his mind, increased his understanding, and enlarged his soul. He felt as Alma must have felt when he exclaimed, “Oh that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!” (Alma 29:1.) The young man was elated when he received a call to labor in the South German Mission. He reread the Book of Mormon and the New Testament. He studied the Doctrine and Covenants and began memorizing the missionary discussions. He was excited. He could hardly wait for the best two years of his life to begin.

It was springtime when he arrived in Germany. The flowers were blooming, the trees were green, and the air was filled with sweet fragrance and happy sounds. “What a beautiful land to proclaim the gospel message in,” the missionary thought.

He was sent to Heidelberg, a beautiful city on the banks of the Neckar River, home of the Student Prince, city of a great university and an awe-inspiring castle. His companion met him at the railroad station, and they soon found themselves out tracting.

They approached the first door and knocked. The trump prepared to blow. The door opened and something very dreadful happened. “Guten Tag, meine Herren,” the woman in the doorway said. The trump of God was very silent. The elder couldn’t even speak with a squeak, much less with a voice to shake the earth. He hadn’t even understood the simple greeting.

“I’ve been sent to the wrong mission!” he thought. “How can I cry repentance to a people I can’t understand and who can’t understand me?”

Suddenly the beautiful springtime day became very drab as he dejectedly returned home with his companion to their one-room apartment. The once excited and proud missionary turned to the scriptures for solace.

Hadn’t Moroni once expressed a similar despair? The young man searched and found these words, written as the ancient American prophet struggled to abridge the record of the Jaredites:

“Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; … thou hast not made us mighty in writing; …

“… wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.” (Ether 12:23–25.)

The Lord answered:

“If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” (Ether 12:27.)

The meek and submissive missionary found strength in these words of encouragement. Prayerfully pondering these thoughts, he determined to go and do as Nephi of old when he undertook his “mission impossible.” Two and a half years later he left that beautiful country with a deep love for its people and their language. The Lord had magnified him beyond his natural abilities and prepared the way that his mission might be accomplished.

Paul instructed Timothy, “All scripture … is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

“That the man of God may be perfect.” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17.)

I believe that there is no better way of drawing close to the Lord and of perfecting ourselves than by reading and prayerfully pondering the scriptures. From them we derive a desire for righteousness and a power thereto. I hope that each one of us will find time each day to drink from this undiluted fountain of the word of God.

Illustrated by Gini Shurtleff