Have you ever stood outside early on a spring morning right at sunrise? When the golden rays of the sun sweep across a field of grass, the dew transforms into tiny drops of liquid light. The effect is magical. If I were an artist, I would paint an image of liquid light flowing from the pages of the Book of Mormon. Since I don’t have that ability, I once tried to capture a picture of those droplets in a song:

I daily drink of living water,

a flowing stream that fills my soul.

Oh, there is something in these words

beyond the wisdom of the ages,

for tiny drops of liquid light

come spilling from the pages. (1)

As we begin a new year of Come, Follow Me study, I have reflected on the “liquid light” I have received over past decades as I have searched the pages of the Book of Mormon. Sometimes that light resulted in deeper understanding of a gospel principle, and sometimes it motivated me to action.

After reading the Book of Mormon for decades, I came across Ether 12:27 again—counsel about the Lord showing us our weakness and helping to make us strong. I recognized that although I’d always thought it was an important scripture, I had never actually acted on it, never approached Heavenly Father in humility and asked Him to show me my weakness.

I finally acted on the light and truth before me, sincerely asking God to reveal my weakness. I confess that I was not prepared for what He showed me, but as I gradually humbled myself and accepted that He was telling me the truth, my life gradually began to change in significant ways. How grateful I am for the drops of liquid light that led me in a better direction. (2)

Several of my friends have shared with me how the liquid light of the Book of Mormon has blessed them. Here are their experiences:

Kelly’s story:

“A few years ago, after having been married for nearly 18 years, I had to make some very difficult decisions. With four children, ages 5 through 14, I had to be careful with my choices as they would affect my children’s lives and not just my own.

One particular evening a few months later, I was trying to study the Book of Mormon, desperately seeking comfort and guidance.  My children were in bed for the night and I was, too. The all-consuming emotional pain and physical heartache were becoming too much to bear. Working full-time as a single mom, homework helper, handyman, chef, maid, therapist, nurse, yard worker, “CFO”, etc., was beginning to take its toll on me.

I sobbed as I reached for more tissues, trying futilely to see the words on the pages in front of me.  I found it hard to breathe, let alone to make out what was being said. Finding it impossible to study, I decided to turn out the lights and try to make it through yet another sleepless night.

Scooting further under the covers, I continued to cry, holding my scriptures to my chest with both arms when suddenly I knew. I knew that HE knew where my heart was and that all I could offer that night was to hug my scriptures as I fell asleep. I felt power from the Book of Mormon. A warm, calming, deep peace encompassed me from the tip of my head down to my feet and I realized that I would never look at my scriptures the same way again.”

Leta’s story:

“When I turned eight years old, I was challenged to read the Book of Mormon every day, and I did so faithfully. I didn’t really understand most of what I was reading, but I just kept doing it, and I knew it was the right thing to do.

Seven years later, when I was a sophomore in high school, I was receiving some severe verbal abuse from an older boy at school. This abuse began very abruptly. When he saw me in the halls he would swear at me and yell loudly which drew a ton of attention to me. It was very embarrassing. I wasn’t sure why he was so upset at me. I began to dread going to school.

One morning during that hard time, I was reading my scriptures before school and stumbled upon a verse that told me to pray for my enemies, bless them that curse me, and do good to them that despitefully use me and persecute me. I felt as though Heavenly Father was speaking to me directly.

I decided to pray for this boy–and not just once. The only way I could overcome the complete and utter anxiety I felt about going to school was to pray for him every time he came into my head, which was probably three hundred times that first day. I was completely consumed with him and trying to go down different hallways to avoid running into him. I prayed and prayed and prayed.

I knew that I hadn’t done anything intentionally to upset him and realized something must be a little off with him. I prayed that his personal life would be healed and whatever he was feeling would be softened and that his anger would go away. I prayed for his family and I prayed that he would feel loved and I prayed that he would be kind. Every day I continued to avoid going where I thought he might be and continued to pray and pray.

Then a miracle happened. Exactly two weeks after stumbling upon that scripture, this boy called me up out of the blue and simply said, “I’m sorry for the way I treated you.” That was the moment that the scriptures became real to me. I knew my prayers were heard, that there are actual answers to our prayers in the scriptures.

It took seven years of me reading every day before I had a personal experience with the Book of Mormon beyond just feeling peaceful. From that moment on I have become a witness to the fact that Heavenly Father speaks to us through the scriptures.”

Suzi’s story:

“I was introduced to the Book of Mormon forty-nine years ago in Okinawa where our family was living on military assignment. One day while walking to the house of my new friend, Connie, my three little girls and I met a woman working in her garden. We exchanged hellos. She then asked a most unusual question: Had my girls been baptized? After I said, “No,” she replied, “If the plane goes down on your way back to the States, your girls will go to Hell.”

I was stunned and didn’t know how to process what she had just said. Our conversation ended politely and the girls and I continued a few doors down to Connie’s house. She welcomed us, and when she asked, “How are you?” I said, “I don’t know.” My answer revealed my distress about the conversation with her neighbor, which I related to her.

Connie said, “Wait right here.” She disappeared and returned a minute later flipping the pages of a little blue book. She put the open book in my hands. “Read here: Moroni 8, verses 8 through 12.” As I read these verses, I felt comforted by the Lord’s comments about little children not needing baptism. The words felt true.

My conversion to my Savior and His gospel began from these fifteen minutes halfway around the world. A well-intentioned woman and a well-prepared Connie were part of answering my yearning for more meaning in life. With hindsight I could see the Lord’s design on my behalf. A few months later I was baptized.

Having grown up in Massachusetts, I had never heard of the Book of Mormon… Continued growth, direction, purpose, peace, and hope have all come from this experience.”

My story

For me, one of the greatest blessings of the Book of Mormon has come through the stories which demonstrate how God assists his servants who keep their covenants.  A vivid example of the Lord providing help for a covenant keeper is the story Lehi, who–at the Lord’s command–“left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.”

What a marvelous example of living the law of obedience and the law of sacrifice. Then came a surprising gift to enable Lehi and his family to fulfill the difficult assignment given them:

“And it came to pass that as [Lehi] arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither [they] should go into the wilderness.” The pointers “did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which [they] did give unto them.” (1 Nephi 16:10 , 28)

Certainly, this was an unexpected gift, physical evidence of godly power, provided to assist a covenant keeper in doing what the Lord had commanded. Through Book of Mormon stories, I have seen that when we show that keeping covenants is a priority, we may be surprised at the kind of help made available to us. We may receive callings or assignments that allow us to participate in building God’s kingdom in significant ways. We may gradually notice that we’ve been blessed with a gift of the spirit which we had not previously enjoyed–a gift bestowed in order to help us do heaven’s work.

God’s power may manifest itself through material assistance, unexpected opportunities, the help of loved ones on the other side of the veil, or a new talent which emerges, all of which allow us to gather Israel in different ways than we have done before. And when God asks hard things of us, “our faithfulness to our covenants allows us to expect the Lord’s assistance, even by miracles.” (3) This has been a life changing lesson for me.

Everyone who undertakes a serious, sincere study of the Book of Mormon will at some point experience the “tiny drops of liquid light” that come spilling from its pages. Comfort, hope, the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, power, and practical help for overcoming our problems–these are the rich gifts of the Book of Mormon. Come, and drink your fill of the Savior’s liv