3 Behold,
I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be
wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful
the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam
even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
As you can see from how I have highlighted the verses, Moroni invites people to read the Book of Mormon and ponder its message, which is, according to him, how merciful the Lord is to us. The primary message of the Book of Mormon is to testify of God's mercy as manifested in the life, mission and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His life for all of us. Moroni's invitation is that as you read the Book of Mormon and ponder and pray about the things in the Book of Mormon, that the truth of God's mercy will be made known to you. This was evident in what happened tonight.
As we went around and read in our random order, it just so happens that my brother Layton, who lost his daughter Brooklyn to SIDS two years ago, ended up reading verse 14, which reads as follows (in reference to spiritual gifts):
Without getting too detailed, we have felt and believed that Brooklyn is one of these angels who ministers to people here on the earth. In April 2009, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said this of the Easter season:
"Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter
season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly
alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought
great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of
our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son,
the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members
on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders,
friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our
mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the
Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the
truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we
may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said: 'I will not
leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide
with you].'”
In essence, through the Book of Mormon, our loving, merciful, kind Heavenly Father was testifying of His compassion for us in letting Layton and his wife know that He was aware of them and that their little angel Brooklyn was not far from us at that moment. Shortly after that the sun shone through the clouds for the first time in all of today, which was, to me, another simple sign that God was aware of us and was letting us know that. It may sound silly to some, but the feeling there and the timing of the sun peeking through the clouds was more than a coincidence.
Then, interestingly enough, the last verse of the entire Book of Mormon fell to Shaina (Layton's wife). It ended up that Layton read this one as well, and the Holy Ghost bore witness to all of us why things had worked out this way as Moroni's words pierced our hearts:
34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.
The image of the joyful resurrection of little Brooklyn and having her meet with her family again came into my mind and heart, and then I thought of where she is now, in the paradise of God, awaiting the glorious resurrection when she will be restored to her body and have her family surrounding her again, and the Holy Spirit testified to me of the reality of God's perfect plan and of His loving kindness for all of us, and particularly for our family on this day. The resurrection is a reality and having our families forever is a true doctrine made possible because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
As if this wasn't enough, as we got in the car to drive home, we just happened to be listening to a radio station that plays Christian music on Sundays, and the following 2 songs came on in succession on our drive home:
God truly does love us each as individuals, and is anxious to show us that love. The Book of Mormon is a testimony of that love, and when you feel like you can't feel that love, then please remember that God loved you enough to send His perfect, innocent Son to give His life just for you!
