A Marvelous Work and a Wonder

“Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:1).  Doctrine and Covenants section four, section six, section eleven, section twelve, and section fourteen all start with this or a similar phrase.  So what is this “marvelous work” that is so important that the Lord refers to it in the first verse of five different sections of the Doctrine and Covenants?  It refers to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.  But why was this such a great and marvelous work?  Well, there are several reasons for that!

First, where did the book come from?  It was a record painstakingly engraven on metal plates by the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, preserved by the hand of the Lord for hundreds of years, and then delivered to the boy Joseph by the hand of an angel.  That’s not something that has ever happened before in any recorded history that I know of.  Sounds pretty marvelous to me!

Second, how was this ancient record (written in a dead, forgotten language called “reformed Egyptian” by Moroni) to be translated?  The young Joseph, who had received minimal formal education as a young child, knew nothing of foreign languages and could barely compose a coherent sentence was going to do it!  As Martin Harris was convinced when he witnessed the process for himself, it was only by the gift and power of God that such a feat could possibly be accomplished.  Again, pretty marvelous in my opinion!

Third, what was to be done with the record once it was translated?  The young, impoverished Joseph was to publish this record containing the word of God unto all the world.   Eventually, Martin Harris leased his farm to pay for the printing costs, but even after printing the book it still had to go unto all the world.  That’s a pretty daunting task!  A young farm boy from upstate New York had to get the book all over the world.  Although it only made it to a few countries during Josephs lifetime through missionaries to Europe, the Book of Mormon today has truly gone to all the world, translated into more languages than I even know names for and carried by an army of young men to the four corners of the earth.  Again, marvelous!

A little aside...  While serving my mission in Taiwan, I spent some time in our mission office.  One day the senior couple assigned to our mission invited us out to lunch.  While at lunch, the senior elder asked us, “Do you know why the church is true?”  Well, I obviously knew why the church is true—because it is!—but I didn’t know what his reason was...  So, he told us, “Because if it wasn’t, this army of nineteen-year-old boys would bring it to its knees in a day.”  I would say that’s another marvelous thing about the Book of Mormon: in spite of all the ... not-so-intelligent things that these young missionaries do, when people read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, they know that it is the word of God and they join the church!  That’s actually in fulfillment of another prophecy (that the weak will confound the wise), but I think it’s kind of related to Martin Harris and Joseph Smith too.  Like Martin, this brother was amazed that these inexperienced, unlearned young boys can find so much success!

Finally, what is the Book of Mormon?  It is another testament of Jesus Christ.  It is the voice of ancient prophets crying to us from the dust.  It is the keystone of our religion.  It is the book that will bring us closer to God than any other.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and it is truly a great and marvelous work.

What I learned from the lost 116 manuscript pages

One of the most common promises in the scriptures is: "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened" (3 Ne 14:7–8).  I have learned from my personal study of the scriptures as well as my own personal experience that this promise is 100% true.

I used to believe that God would only answer some prayers (those that were in accordance with His will and would be in our best interest), but I have found that this is not exactly the case.  If we express enough faith and work by asking for long enough, He will answer our prayer.  This same lesson was taught by the Savior during his earthly ministry as the parable of the unrighteous judge (Luke 18:1–8).  We need to be careful what we ask for, because God will answer our prayers—but it may be unto our condemnation if that which we ask for is not right.  Martin Harris learned this lesson from both the positive and negative perspective.

When Martin wanted to show the 116 manuscript pages to his wife and other relatives to prove the truth of the work to them, he asked Joseph to inquire of the Lord.  The Lord said no, so he asked again.  After several times, the Lord finally granted them permission to do as they wished.  However, they paid for the consequences of their choice.  The manuscript pages were lost, and both Joseph and Martin’s salvation was at stake.  Fortunately, they both sought and obtained forgiveness for their sin, but they learned the lesson that you should not ask for that which is not the Lord’s will.  He will grant it, but it is unto your condemnation.

On a more positive note, Martin Harris also received his wish to be one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon.  Upon learning of the Lord’s plan to have three special witnesses of the Book of Mormon and the Gold Plates unto this generation, Martin Harris immediately desired to be one of them.  Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, and the other two witnesses proceeded into the forest—and what did they do?  They poured out the desires of their hearts unto the Lord until the blessing was fulfilled.  Martin Harris and two others beheld the Gold Plates and other sacred artifacts by the hand of an angel, and they heard the voice of the Lord bear witness of the truthfulness of the work.

I personally have also had an interesting experience with praying unceasingly.  My freshman year here at BYU I had my mission prep class right before physics, so I would bring my brand-new scriptures (which I had just purchased with plans to bring them on my mission with me) to class every day.  One day, however, I accidently left them in my classroom, and didn’t realize that I didn’t have them until after all the buildings on campus had closed for the evening.  It was a Friday, so first thing Monday morning I rushed back to my classroom, only to find my scriptures gone.  I asked the professor, and I went and looked in the lost and found, but to no avail…  I felt terrible that I had lost my brand-new scriptures, and I wanted desperately to find them.  For the space of three weeks I pleaded with the Lord every night that I would be able to find them again, and I continued my efforts.  Finally one day while I was walking with my physics professor (asking where the Geology department was because he suggested that they might be in a lost and found there), I had a very strange experience.  I stopped walking, and suddenly found myself looking in the opposite direction.  After I recovered from the initial confusion of “why am I stopped?” I realized that I was staring directly at my scriptures!  They had been tucked away in a corner of a strange room that I had never even walked by before!  I knew immediately that the Lord had answered my prayer, but it did take three weeks of praying.  I know that God hears our prayers, and He will answer them if we express enough faith.