Last summer, a magazine aimed at book lovers published a list of the "20 Books That Changed America." The editors sought out influential modern-day authors and asked them to name the books, fiction and nonfiction, that did the most to change the way Americans live their lives.
They ended up with a list that ranged from Thomas Paine's Common Sense to poet Allen Ginsburg's Howl. And it included "The Book of Mormon," this year's course of study in Sunday School.
This may have been just an early flicker of recognition from the outside world as to the power of that great book of scripture. But the number of lives that have been changed by it is beginning to fill the earth like a fast-moving wave. It is a movement that is becoming hard to miss.
No doubt, the recognition will continue to grow until everyone will have little choice but to acknowledge the influence of "The Book of Mormon" not only in the United States, but throughout the world.
What other book could cause people to leave behind friends, property, careers and other things of this world to trek through a wild and desolate wilderness to gather with the saints? What other book could wield a similar influence over its readers today as it did during pioneer times, losing nothing of its appeal through a span of more than a century and a half?
Because of that book, the Mountain West was settled and a desert was miraculously turned into a large and thriving metropolis. And in an even more powerful way, millions of lives were and still are being turned from spiritual devastation into flourishing gardens that feast on the fountain of knowledge from the Almighty.
Some people literally have given their lives for it, and many others have given up their old selves through a glorious conversion.
More than 100 million copies of the Book of Mormon have been printed in about a hundred languages. It is available in electronic form for a variety of computer platforms. Full-time missionaries and faithful members of the Church give away thousands of copies a day. The book is literally filling the earth.
All of this is particularly remarkable because "The Book of Mormon" stakes its credibility on a remarkable claim. Near the end, readers are told to "ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true." Then comes this promise: "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." (Moroni 10:4.)
No one is asked to follow blindly. No one is told to study until they are convinced intellectually.
It is a promise that convincingly counters the sophistry of critics who try to attack the book and its origins.
People who sincerely test the book's promise come to know of themselves, with an unshakable conviction, that it is true. That, in and of itself, is a powerful testimony of the book's authenticity.
The Prophet Joseph Smith described "The Book of Mormon" as "the keystone of our religion." Indeed, once a reader accepts Moroni's challenge and obtains a personal witness of the book's truthfulness, he or she then can see the rest of the latter-day restoration fall into place. If the book is true, Joseph Smith is a prophet, seer and revelator. That means the First Vision really did happen, the keys to salvation and exaltation were restored, prophets and modern revelations continue, the entire canon of modern scripture — including the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price — is true, and The Church of Jesus Christ is once again on the earth.
There is no more important book on the face of the earth. There is no more powerful book anywhere. We encourage everyone to study it prayerfully.