Handout 1

Read the following statement given by President Henry B. Eyring of the First
Presidency to seminary and institute teachers. Then prepare to answer the question
that follows.

“I will make you this promise about reading the Book of Mormon: You will be drawn to it
as you understand that the Lord has embedded in it His message to you. Nephi,
Mormon, and Moroni knew that, and those who put it together put in messages for you.
I hope you have confidence that the book was written for your students. There are
simple, direct messages for them that will tell them how to change. That is what the
book is about. It is a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Atonement and how it
may work in their lives. You will have an experience this year feeling the change that
comes by the power of the Atonement because of studying this book” (Henry B. Eyring,
“The Book of Mormon Will Change Your Life,” Ensign, Feb. 2004, 11).

As you study the Book of Mormon, how is it helpful to know that prophets such as
Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni included messages for you?

Handout 2

Read the following statements by President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), and
prepare to answer the question that follows:

“The Book of Mormon was written for us today. God is the author of the book. It is a
record of a fallen people, compiled by inspired men for our blessing. Those people
never had the book—it was meant for us. Mormon, the ancient prophet after whom the
book is named, abridged centuries of records. God, who knows the end from the
beginning, told him what to include in his abridgment that we would need for our day”
(Ezra Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God,” Ensign, Jan. 1988, 3).

“If they saw our day, and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is
not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask
ourselves, ‘Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his
record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?’” (Ezra
Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 6).

How can knowing that God inspired prophets such as Mormon, Moroni, and Alma with
what to include in their record influence your study of the Book of Mormon?
Handout 3

Likening Scriptures to Ourselves

Applying Scriptural Truths

How does the teaching, situation, or circumstance described in the scripture passage
relate to my life or the world around me?

How can I act upon the truth taught in the scripture passage?