Brad Wilcox - 52 Life-Changing Questions from the Book of Mormon

Other books by John Hilton III

The Little Book of Book of Mormon Evidences

Please Pass the Scriptures

How? Essential Skills for Living the Gospel

Other books by Brad Wilcox

Raising Ourselves to the Bar

The Continuous Atonement

The Continuous Conversion

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hilton, John, III, author.

52 life-changing questions from the Book of Mormon / John Hilton III, Brad Wilcox.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-60907-579-8 (hardbound : alk. paper) 1. Book of MormonDevotional literature. 2. Christian lifeMormon authors. 3. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDoctrines. I. Wilcox, Brad, author. II. Title. III. Title: Fifty-two life-changing questions from the Book of Mormon.

BX8627.H525 2013

289.3'22dc232013019438

Printed in the United States of America

Edwards Brothers Malloy, Ann Arbor, MI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To our grandparents

John and Janet Hilton, Jack and Jaynie McEntire, Ray and Grace Wilcox, and Ed and Mary Camenish

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to our grandparents for passing their testimonies of the Book of Mormon to us and all their descendants.

We thank our wives, Lani and Debi, for their examples, love, and support. We couldnt do what we do without them. We also thank our families.

Wendee Wilcox Rosboroughs and Jaclyn Nielsons careful editing of the manuscript made a difference. We appreciate them for all their extra miles. We are also indebted to Laurel Christensen Day, Cory Maxwell, Chris Schoebinger, Lisa Mangum, Vicki Parry, Chrislyn Woolston, and the entire team at Deseret Book, Time Out for Women, and Time Out for Girls.

Finally, we express gratitude to the Sunday School general presidency, Russell T. Osguthorpe, David M. McConkie, and Matthew O. Richardson, for all they do to improve learning and teaching in the Church.

Introduction

Has a question ever changed your life?

A woman named Janice shared an experience in which a question changed her life. She was sitting in a church meeting, studying Philippians 4:8, which says, Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

As she pondered this verse, she felt the Holy Spirit say to her, What about your soap opera? Is there anything honest, pure, or lovely in it?

Janice was shocked. She loved her soap opera. She had watched it for eighteen years! But as she pondered these questions, she had to confess that there was little in the program that was lovely or of good report or praiseworthy. She felt the Spirit whisper another question: So what are you going to do about it?

Janice later referred to what she had heard from the Spirit as a life-changing question. She made the decision to give up her soap opera, and she found that her decision made a profound difference in her life.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks wrote about a completely different question that changed his life:

During my first five years as Brigham Young University president I was one of about five leaders who had weekly coordination meetings with Neal A. Maxwell, then commissioner of the Church Educational System. One day he began our meeting by asking, What would you like to be remembered for after you are released from your present positions?... Pondering this inspired question taught me an important lesson. I applied it not only to my employment but also to my position as a father.

Questions can be powerful. Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, The restored gospel of Jesus Christ gives us abundant answers. But Jesus also asked some searching questions which tell us even more about the stretching journey of discipleship.

Where can we find these questions that will awaken us out of mentaland spiritualdoldrums? A good place to begin is the Book of Mormon. President Ezra Taft Benson taught:

The Book of Mormon... was written for our day. The Nephites never had the book; neither did the Lamanites of ancient times. It was meant for us. Mormon wrote near the end of the Nephite civilization. Under the inspiration of God, who sees all things from the beginning, he abridged centuries of records, choosing the stories, speeches, and events that would be most helpful to us.

We wonder if, in addition to the stories, speeches, doctrines, and events, Book of Mormon authors selected questions that would also be most beneficial for us in our day. The Book of Mormon contains 543 questions, many of which may serve as alarm clocks, prompting us to wake up and think carefully. While some questions, such as Will they not testify that ye are murderers... ? (Alma 5:23), may not apply to our lives, others, such as Are we not all beggars? (Mosiah 4:19), merit our careful consideration.

Interesting Facts about Questions in the Book of Mormon

Did you know that...

Sixty-one different individuals in the Book of Mormonincluding prophets, missionaries, investigators, and apostatesask questions?

Alma 5 has the most questions (forty-two!) of any chapter in the Book of Mormon? (Alma 30 is a distant second with twenty-two.)

Alma the Younger asks the most questions in the Book of Mormon? He asks 103 questions, or nineteen percent of all the questions in the book. Even if Alma 5 were not included, Alma the Youngers questions would total more than anyone elses in the Book of Mormon. (Nephi is in second place with forty-one questions.)

The most commonly asked question has to do with how people rememberor forgetthe Lord? Variations of this question appear twenty-six times.

Jesus Christ asks thirty-five direct questions in the Book of Mormon?

In this book, we present fifty-two questionsone for each week of the year. We briefly discuss the context of each question and then focus on how pondering and applying the question may impact our lives.

On the cover of this book is depicted a treea tree made up entirely of questions. It is easy to notice the trunk and the leaves that make up the outside of the tree, but lets not forget the rings of growth inside. Our hope is that the questions in this book will sink inside each one of us and motivate us to become what God wants us to be. Spiritual rings of growth are not easy to see, but they are the true evidence that the questions in the scriptures have made a difference.

Thats why we must take seriously Zeezroms query: Will ye answer me a few questions which I shall ask you? (Alma 11:21). Only as we spend the time to think deeply about the questions asked in the Book of Mormon will the Spirit help us find answersanswers that, when internalized and acted upon, have the power to help us grow and change our lives.