I invite each and every one of you, regardless of age or ability, to join us in studying the Book of Mormon every day. If you are already reading it daily, then please continue. If you have never read it, please begin. There is no requirement of quantity of verses to read or time to spend studying. My request is to simply join together as a stake in daily study of the Book of Mormon. If you miss a day don’t give up, start again the next day.

Daily study of the Book of Mormon draws us nearer to Christ because it contains the full power of His gospel and provides the greatest understanding of His atoning sacrifice. The Book of Mormon teaches us why we are here on earth and where true and lasting happiness can be found. It contains a plea from our Savior to repent and come to Him. Reading from this sacred record increases your desire to believe in Christ and nurtures that desire until it blooms into a complete, powerful conviction that He lives and is your personal Savior and Redeemer. President Nelson promised,

I add my testimony to that of our prophet; daily study of the Book of Mormon will bring you closer to Jesus Christ, increase your ability to hear the Holy Ghost, and purify your hearts. I promise that consistent study will strengthen you and protect you against all the efforts of Satan and his followers. I also promise that your efforts to read daily will bring greater peace and happiness to your life and build your strength to endure to the end. - President Ward

This endeavor comes after many hours of discussion as a stake presidency, in conjuncton with the stake council, on how we might increase our love of man and of God. We recognize that we are preparing our hearts to gather Israel and are readying ourselves for the singularly most spectacular event in the earth’s history – the second coming of Jesus Christ. To prepare for that time we must cleave to one another, strengthen our love and relationships with all of God’s children, and fortify our foundations to withstand future hardship, persecution, and requirement to sacrifice at a greater level. We, the stake presidency and stake council, believe that the Book of Mormon is the pathway for that preparation.

When it comes to increasing our love of God and His children there are a few key connections that we might find helpful. We love God as we recognize and feel His love for us. Our hearts soften when we consider, for instance, the amount of love the Savior must have felt for each of us, individually, that He would expose Himself to the agony of the cross and submit Himself to those painful moments in the garden just prior to His physical death. With the softening of our hearts that comes as we feel His love for us, we find greater desire and power to follow Him and we experience a deepening love for Him. He becomes the center of our world, and we increasingly find it a joy to let God prevail in our lives. But what helps us to understand that love? How do we discover the love that God has for us in a way that is far more than understanding it in our minds, but helps to build those binding feelings deeply within our hearts? At least part of the answer lies in our feeling of God’s love through the promptings of the Spirit and the role that the Holy Ghost plays in helping us to feel love and truth. God’s love is manifest and our souls expand every time we feel the Spirit. When we pray for guidance and receive such help by the Spirit, we are feeling a portion of God’s love and personal attention for us. When we feel a burning from listening to a testimony or a teaching in sacrament meeting, we are feeling our Father in Heaven's love. When we bow our heads in prayer and let gratitude swell in our hearts for even the simplest of blessings, we are experiencing divine love. Thus, the feeling of Holy Ghost is key.

The Holy Ghost is a member of the godhead with a uniquely special role – to testify of God, the divine role of Jesus Christ, and of all truth. Because the Book of Mormon is among the richest sources of truth, reading its pages is one of the most powerful ways we can feel the Spirit because the Holy Ghost has specific charge to testify to you as you read its passages. Thus, incorporating that wonderful book in your life daily will drastically increase the feeling of the Spirit in your lives and will lead to a greater feeling and comprehension of God’s love for us. When we feel a conviction of the love that God as for us, and we feel that love in return, our love and charity for His children will invariably expand; for our hearts begin to love His purposes and we cannot help but love who He loves. Such feelings will indeed develop. They occur naturally. Consider the plight of Enos, who recieved divine forgivness and was filled with God's love as he reached for the Savior. His faith in Jesus, about which His father had spoken, came to full fruition and led to his forgiveness. The moment he was forgiven and felt God's love, his heart was immediatley filled with love and concern of His brethren. Thus, our partaking of God's love always leads to an expansion of love for others. Our increased love of His children is the foundation upon which we can more effectively, and with great urgency, gather Israel.

The prophet Lehi made these connections. In his vision of the tree of life, he saw a path that led to a tree, whose fruit was white and pure. When he and others partook of the fruit they were filled with the love of God. But perhaps most importantly, he saw a rod of iron next to the path, which represented the word of God. From Lehi’s vision, we learn this basic and true formula. The word of God leads us to the love of God.

The Book of Mormon can be the most powerful influence in our lives. In a world that is in constant need of better balance of justice and mercy, the word of God is precisely what is needed for all who live in it. Consider the words of Alma.

Although reading and studying from the Book of Mormon is a divine pattern that should be followed throughout our lives, the intent of this invitation is to help all of us discover and rediscover the blessings that come from following the prophet and reading from the Book of Mormon every day. For now, we will focus our efforts together over the next few months. But, we would like to come together in early January for a brief fireside and testimony meeting were we will share experiences and feelings about our reading, and offer gratitude to Heavenly Father for the Book of Mormon through music and prayer. We love you and thank you for your willing heart.- Presidents Ward, Stanley, and South