Each member of the Church who is 12 or over is potentially in possession of what are arguably the two most valuable documents in the world.  An infinitesimally small number of people have ever even been eligible to possess these two documents, and he or she who does not possess them is in a lamentable and dangerous position.

One of the documents to which I refer is a 531-page book.  The other is a 3" x 4" piece of paper with three signatures on it.  One document is the Book of Mormon.  The other is a temple recommend.

Concerning the Book of Mormon the Prophet Joseph Smith said that "a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."  (Introduction to the Book of Mormon).  Of the millions of books in this world, that statement places the value of the Book of Mormon right on top of the stack.

The Book of Mormon was not had by the Nephites.  Their prophets wrote it, but the people didn't have it.  It was written for us of this day.  Since it was brought out of the ground and translated 190 years ago, upwards of 175 million copies have been printed.  Over 16 million of the 7 billion people currently living subscribe to its precepts.  Perhaps one in one thousand people is following what numerous prophets, including our current prophet, have asked us to do with this book.  The prophets have asked us to read from it daily.

Can you grasp a sense of how special it is that you are privileged to have this opportunity?  Why weren't you born at a time and in a place when there would have been no chance of your ever holding a Book of Mormon in your hands?  There are reasons for this.

Let me tell you how some people are using this book.  Hopefully you'll find an idea concerning a goal that you, yourself, might make in how to make better use of it.

I have a six-year-old grandson who has taken it upon himself to read the Book of Mormon.  To begin with, he managed about seven verses per day.  The Book of Mormon is going to teach him how to read.

Five years ago I served as the counselor to a district president in Vanuatu in the South Seas.  As a young man, Ian Mahit answered a call from the Church to serve a mission in New Zealand.  He entered the Missionary Training Center in New Zealand unable to speak English or to understand anything that the instructors there were saying.  He became very discouraged.  Two instructors asked how they could help.  He replied that they could fast and pray with him.

The three of them began a fast.  The next morning, instead of going to breakfast, they met in a classroom and prayed.  Following the prayer, Ian picked up an English Book of Mormon and began to read.  He was understanding what he read!  He was thrilled.  All day long he sat there in that classroom and read.  Ian says that the Book of Mormon taught him English.

There was another young man in Vanuatu by the name of Adam Rosflender.  As an 11-year-old boy he had a job working for a fishery.  One of his duties was to daily take the garbage to the rubbish pile where it could be burned.  One day he there found a burned book.  Only the last half remained.  He took it home and read it.  He read about prophets.  He read about two civilizations he'd never previously heard of.  He read of a visit that Jesus Christ made to one of these groups of people after His resurrection.  He read about the destruction of both of those civilizations.  At the end of the book he found the name of a church—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He went back to his little island of Mere Lava and told his family that if they ever found this Church, they must immediately tell him.

Years went by.  As a young man he found himself on the main island in the capital city.  He noticed two men in white shirts and ties.  It was hot and humid.  He offered them a drink of water.  As they drank, he read their name tags.  He was overjoyed when he realized that he'd found the Church for which he'd been searching.  He insisted that the missionaries teach him right then and there.  Soon he, himself, applied for, and served, a mission.

The father of my daughter-in-law has been an extremely active man all his life.  He was a contractor and a stake president.  He's now 79 years old, and suddenly finds himself on oxygen and unable to do much without running out of breath.  Last year he read the Book of Mormon seven times.  This year he intends to finish it once a month.  He can do that by reading just 18 pages per day.  It takes me about 2-1/2 minutes to read a page of the Book of Mormon, so he will be able to accomplish his goal by reading just 45 minutes to an hour each day.  What do you suppose that will do for him?

My daughter has a family of 10 children that includes older teenagers down to a baby.  I made a phone call to ask about their reading program.  The 18-year-old son answered the phone.  "How long has it been that your family hasn't missed a day of reading the Book of Mormon together?" I asked him.

"We just completed six years!" he proudly replied.

What do you suppose that has done for that family?

As a young father I set a goal to read the Book of Mormon with my oldest son when he was seven years old.  I wanted him to be able to say that he'd finished reading the Book of Mormon before he was baptized.  We did it.

I then set out to do the same thing with his six-year-old sister.  Eight-year-old Nathan was enthralled with the book. and with what he'd done.  So each evening as Katie and I read the Book of Mormon together, Nathan got into his top bunk and read the Book of Mormon aloud to his five-year-old brother in the bottom bunk.  The reading became a race.  Ultimately all four of us joined up and finished the last three chapters all together.

What do you suppose that did for those three children and their father?  I can answer that.  It cemented them to the Church.  They all now read their Books of Mormon daily, and with their families.  The girl, later in life, knowing only rudimentary Spanish, decided to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish.  She accomplished her goal.  She read it again.  She then tackled the Book of Mormon in German, and read it through twice, also.  She doesn't consider herself a Spanish or German speaker, but she can now understand anything that she reads in those languages.

The older boy in my story realized while on his mission that if he finished reading the Book of Mormon just a few more times he'd have read the book once for each year of his age.  He completed  his goal, and has maintained it.  He will be 49 this year (2020).

His example struck a chord with his father.  His father was a convert to the Church at the age of 20.  His children are all light years ahead of him when he was at their age, and he's been playing catch-up all his life.  It took some doing, but he's now able to say the same thing about his readings of the Book of Mormon that his son says.

What has the Book of Mormon done for me?  It has made me acquainted with Jesus Christ, my Savior.  It has taught me who I am.  It has given me a glorious future.  It has cemented my family to me.  It taught me how to repent.  It enabled my baptism and the companionship of the Holy Ghost.  It has given me happiness and peace of conscience.  Because of it I experience joy every day.  It has immeasurably broadened my knowledge.  Because of it I know things that the most eminent anthropologists, archaeologists, and astronomers are still struggling to find out.  In short, the Book of Mormon changed my life, and has made it what it is.

If a person is so lucky as to have a Book of Mormon—if he doesn't use it—is he any better off than the myriads of people who have so far not been blessed with the opportunity of reading it?

And then there's that other little document, the temple recommend, that you have in your purse or pocket.  We could ask the same question about it:  If a person is so blessed as to have a temple recommend—if he doesn't use it—is he any better off than the myriads of people who have so far not been blessed with the opportunity of having one?  Some members are happy to be card-carrying members of the Church, but rarely use their recommends.  They're missing out on some sublime and far-reaching opportunities and blessings.

Consider for a moment the excitement and joy experienced by persons on the other side of the veil every time you present your recommend at the temple recommend desk.  Wilford Woodruff said, "There will be very few, if any, who will not accept the Gospel" and the work that is done for them in the temples of our God.  (Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Wilford Woodruff, pg. 191).  They have been waiting and praying for this time to come, and because you have chosen to come to the temple this day, their time has finally arrived.

Joseph Smith taught that whenever anything is done on earth in the name of a deceased person, that person has the right to be there, and to see what is being done with his name.  The spirits are there.  They are witnesses, and they are happy.

Melvin J. Ballard, the grandfather of M. Russell Ballard, was an Apostle.  He was being witness in the Logan Temple for 1,000 baptisms that were being performed that day for the dead.  As he sat there, he wondered how these ordinances were being received on the other side of the veil.  He said that a vision opened.  On the other side of the room he saw a large group of people dressed in white gathered at the base of a staircase.  As a name was read in the baptismal font and the baptism was performed, one person would ascend the stairs, watch the baptism, smile, and move on.  He testified that there was a person present for every name that was done that day.  From that day onward he went throughout the Church proclaiming that when work is done in the temple for a deceased person, that person is present.

Consider the ramifications of these next two stories.

"Several years ago in a temple in Central America, the wife of one of our now-emeritus General Authorities assisted a father, a mother, and their children in receiving eternal covenants in the sealing room where the temple mirrors are located.  As they concluded and faced those mirrors, she noticed there was a face in the mirror that was not in the room.  She inquired of the mother and learned that a daughter had passed away and accordingly was not physically present.  The deceased daughter was then included by proxy in the sacred ordinance."  (Quentin L. Cook, Ensign, May 2016, pg 100).

Soon after the Logan Temple was opened the temple president was notified that a large company of rough-looking people had taken over the grounds.  The temple president went outside to talk with their leader.  The leader announced himself as Satan, and demanded that the temple be closed.  The temple president refused.  "Then I'll tell you what I'll do," Satan said.  "We will whisper in the ears of the people of this valley, and we'll tell them not to come."

The temple president used his priesthood and dismissed the multitude, but for several years thereafter they might as well have closed the temple because very few people came.  One man observed that whenever he announced his intention to go to the temple the next day or the next week that things went wrong around the farm, preventing his temple attendance.  Either the cows or the horses got out, or the machinery broke down, turning what should have been a one-day job into one that lasted a week.  He learned that if he wanted to go to the temple he had to act like he was going about his day as normal, and just drop his buckets, or whatever he had, and run to the temple.

It gives me the shivers to think of that story if I have an unused temple recommend in my wallet.

We can't go to the temple every day, although some do.  We might not be able to go every week, either, although some do.  My wife and I serve on the Wednesday mid shift at the Meridian Temple, and it's the best calling that we've ever had.  We're in a time of life and in a circumstance that makes that possible.

I am extremely proud of the people in our temple district.  I began working in the Boise Temple just before the Twin Falls Temple opened.  A bunch of stakes that had formerly been in the Boise Temple district were siphoned off and assigned to the Twin Falls Temple.  That should have had quite a negative effect upon the amount of ordinance work done at the Boise Temple, but a year later the Boise Temple president announced that the total ordinances completed at the Boise Temple had actually increased by 11%.

Two years ago the 32 stakes that comprised the Boise Temple district were divided in half, with 16 of the stakes being assigned to the Meridian Temple.  The Meridian Temple is busy.  This presents me with a big worry.  As ordinance workers we have to take second place to the patrons who come.  During our shift we can only do temple work for our own ancestors when there aren't other patrons present.  They're always there.  And they're bringing their own names.  My personal tally is that 85% of the endowments done in the Meridian Temple is for names brought there by the patrons.  That is wonderful; but there is little time or opportunity for me to do my own family's ordinance work, and I just can't make that 2-hour trip more than once a week.

It might not be possible for you to even go to the temple once a month.  We're all in different circumstances and conditions.  But one thing is certain, if we don't set goals for ourselves, we won't reach them.  If we don't determine to go to the temple, we won't find the time or the opportunity to do so.  It's that simple.  We miss out, those on the other side miss out, and our families miss the blessings.

There are two documents that are arguably the most valuable documents in the whole world.  Are we using them, or do they sit idle and unused?  Do I, do you, need to be like our youth and set some goals?