The Book of Mormon, is it true

     This past week has been interesting to say the least. My wife and I went to a home with the Sister missionaries to follow up on a number in their contact list. We followed the "girls" to the destination and asked them about the contact before knocking on his door. They had said that he was interested in meeting with them but was not going to convert to being a Mormon. I think back to a little over a year ago when I said the exact same thing with the exception that I didn't even want to meet them, at least this guy did. So up to his door we went and knocked, when the door opened he looked a bit surprised and exclaimed that there was a whole gang of us. I have to say that both my wife and I have been to lessons before with the missionaries but this time we both felt uneasy before hand about this one. He welcomed us in and invited us all to sit down, on his table were a couple of history books, nothing really to set alarm bells off yet. After a few moments and some ice breaking questions, you know like what do you do for work? Are you a history buff? You know just conversation. Then a question was asked to the man, do you have any beliefs, like in God or what faith? His response was, oh I believe in God alright, the creator of the world the ultimate authority. He took this opportunity to ask who we thought was the ultimate authority, who did we worship. He really stared down Sister Foote so she was compelled to answer that God is the ultimate authority and Jesus Christ. He asked her not to lie so her responds was I  will not lie to you I have no reason to. So he then more stated than asked do you not worship Joseph Smith!?!? No of course not We worship God and Jesus Christ is our savior. He retorted with a rather rude tone as to when did that change?!?! He was then adamant that Sister Foote read from Doctrine and Covenant section 84 and read it out loud. She complied and read a few paragraphs, when she had got far enough the guy asked the question, did that happen? He repeated it a few times. I have to admit I was taken aback because I realized that this was a set up, that this guy had only let the girls come so he could bash. He then wanted sister Foote to read Deuteronomy 9, she was reluctant and didn't open her bible at that point knowing that this was just going to be a negative experience. He was loudly asking what are you afraid of the Bible? Read it if your not afraid of it. He then made it a point of pride that the last two girls that had come by left crying. This was enough for my wife she let this guy have it in a polite but matter of fact way. Sister Wright asked if this was only an invitation so he could bash. It was shortly after this that we as a group stood up to leave, he was saying  that we had no right to tell people what we were telling them, that it is false doctrine. False prophets like Joseph Smith will die, sister Wright replied that all men die. He was again read Deuteronomy 9 it is all about your Joseph Smith. We were at the door at this point now and his goodbye remark was at least you are not crying! We were all like thank you for your time and off we went, it was apparent that we would only engage in further negative banter if we stayed.
    This experience certainly gave me a new found respect for missionary work and opened my eyes to the challenges they can face.
    So I really had hard time over this, I was stunned and really silent because I did not know what he was taking about, what was it in section 84 that had him so riled up? Did what happen? New Jerusalem has not yet been built that I know of so I guess no it hasn't happened.... Yet. And Deuteronomy 9 I found out later was all about false prophets, so why did he say it was all about Joseph Smith? I do know that it states that a false prophet will lead you to follow a god that is not familiar or will lead one to disbelieve what is contained in the scriptures. I don't recall reading anything that would make me think that God is not the one we follow, I mean we are taught about God and we read the same bible as so many other Christians, we do not discount any part of the Bible, it is scripture and is the word of God that has been written down many years ago by scribes and get this Prophets.
   So now The Book of Mormon, what is this? Is this book truth, or is it a very well written book of a fantasy by a young uneducated man? I thought about this all night because I felt that that seed of doubt had been cast ( not a good seed) and it had kind of consumed my mind, I didn't sleep well as my mind kept wandering back and forth. I thought back to a little over a year ago when the missionaries invited me to read the book, at first it was a lot to take in, it wasn't easy to understand at all, wait a minute now maybe it was trickery, maybe this book is so well written that it tricks the reader into believing it, maybe this young man really was a genius and had tricked the people around him to think he was uneducated. What a brilliant man, he has duped even his own parents, he has not been honest in his dealings with them. He has carefully since childhood made them believe he is honest but in reality has duped them. OK now really could he have done that? I do not think so. The Book of Mormon is to well written for that time period, it could not have been fabricated even by a literary genius, it would not have been written by any man who was righteous and it certainly could not have been written by someone who was not.
    I have only remember the moment I realized that this book was true and the words contained within were righteous words written by the hand of prophets and those selected to record the history of these people and the visit by The Christ to his people in this land. I believe that this book is of divine origin and that Joseph Smith nor any of his associates could have written this book nor would they have written it, I believe that those who are critical of the text contained within have not actually read it and have certainly not prayed to know its truths. I believe that the critics are more in fear of believing it so they spend a great deal of time trying to disprove it I can't speak for others but my own experiences with this book are incredible beyond belief, instead they are experiences of knowing and of receiving witness of the truth through the Holy Ghost. This book is not about believing, it is about knowing, knowing that our Father in Heaven lives, that he loves us and wants us to return to him, that he is the one true God. I think that the crowning moment in this book is when the resurrected Christ visited his most righteous people in the Americas and organized his church just as He had done in the Holy Land before his crucifixion. If The Book of Mormon is True as I know and believe it is then Joseph Smith is truly a prophet of God, and perhaps one of the most important Prophets of all time and The Book of Mormon is of utmost importance to every person on this earth. The work must continue and the missionaries must persevere and continue to bring the truth to not only those that disbelieve but to current members of the true church , the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints.
  I know that The Book of Mormon is true and I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and that he lives in each of us, and only through him do we have the opportunity to have eternal life. God lives and he loves us all so so much. I know this and I love this and I love God the Father and Jesus the Savior and I love you all. I say this in the name of the Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.