First Thought Paper for Mission Prep

Four years ago, my home Stake became the first Stake in the United States to put on the Stake Youth Conference called “Moroni’s Quest.” The youth conference was similar to Pioneer Trek, but instead of reenacting what the pioneers did, we all dressed up as Nephites and Lamanites, and spent 4 days reenacting the Book of Mormon from start to finish. I was 14 years old at the time. I remember the spirit being very strong and that my testimony was strengthened of the Book of Mormon.

This last summer, my Stake again put on the Moroni’s Quest conference and I had a chance to be involved a second time in this great event. This time, however, I received an assignment to be Nephi, son of Lehi, in the reenactments. All of the reenactments were pre-recorded, to avoid the risk of lines being forgotten and to help the whole program to run more smoothly. I had a couple different recording sessions and about a week before we were to set off, I felt that my part was essentially done. Come to find out, the director of the reenactments wanted all of the actors to have their lines memorized, in order to make it more real for both the audience and for us as actors. I was not very excited by this proposition, because Nephi had A LOT of lines, and I was uncomfortable enough as I am nowhere near a lover of theater.

Grudgingly, however, I put the recordings of my lines on my ipod and began listening to the recordings while I worked for my Bishop during the day. After listening to the recordings countless numbers of times, I found that the story of Nephi, taught to me since my primary days, began to change. I began to hear the voice of the Lord speaking to me, Nephi, commanding me to slay Laban, build a ship, and explaining how it was to be done. I found that the words of Nephi to the Lord asking for “strength, that I may burst these bands with which I am bound” became my own words and my own prayer, pleading with my Heavenly Father to forgive me of my weaknesses and shortcomings. I realized that Nephi was not born with faith. He had to trust in the Lord and the adversary worked to shake his faith just as he does today. I found it easier, in my personal reading, to liken the scriptures to myself because I now see the characters as people, the stories as accounts of real events.

After the first day of the conference, I was exhausted in every way. I had been up early for rehearsals and then gotten the plates, killed Laban, built a ship, passed the plates to my brother, Jacob, and died. As I got in the tent, anxious for some rest, my fellow priest quorum brother asked if he could read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon out loud, because it helped him focus on the words more effectively. Initially, I was irritated. We had just spent the last 18 hours reenacting the Book of Mormon! Why would you be anxious to read it now? As he read, however, the spirit fell over our tent in a way that I had never experienced before. His testimony and faith in daily scripture study, no matter what the circumstances, strengthened my resolve to read the Book of Mormon more diligently.

On the final night of the conference, we experienced the climax of the Book of Mormon. We were blindfolded by our leaders, and led through strange paths and were deafened by the sounds of thunder and lightning. After a time, we were instructed to remove the blindfolds. As our eyes adjusted, we saw Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, coming down the hill to meet us. I was called as one of the twelve disciples, and partook of the sacrament, administered by my Redeemer. I saw the change in the countenance of my fellow Nephites and Lamanites as He walked among us. I know that He lives. I know that the Book of Mormon is the record of His people in the Americas. It really is true.