The Proof is in the Pudding

I just finished reading The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  This wasn't my first time through, nor will it be my last.  The incredible insights and gems of wisdom I get from it change with each reading.  This time, as I was finishing the last chapter and feeling the familiar stirrings of truth in my heart, these words popped into my head:  The proof is in the pudding.  I then referred back to a verse I had just read in Moroni, Chapter 10, Verse 6:  And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.  Makes complete sense, right!  I then looked up the pudding phrase.  The Urban Dictionary says that the phrase is a shortened version of an older adage, The proof of the pudding is in the eating.  In other words, if you want to know if something is good, eat it.  Explore the evidence!  If you do this with The Book of Mormon, you will find that it does lead inquiring souls to Christ, and it only makes sense that something that leads us to Christ is good.

During the summer of 1985, after my first year of college, I had the opportunity of participating in The Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York.  This pageant portrays highlights from The Book of Mormon against the backdrop of the hill where the record was found by Joseph Smith, the translator of the book.  Before the pageant would begin each night, the cast welcomed visitors and talked to them about the history of the book.  For the most part, we were greeted kindly--sometimes with interest, sometimes not.  However, one particular evening, we ran into a group of people who had not come to find the proof in the pudding but to discredit the pudding itself.  We were told that we had been brainwashed into believing in The Book of Mormon from the time that we were young. They actually felt sorry for us and tried to convince us that we had been deceived.  I asked them if they had read the book, and I was not surprised to hear that they had not.  In fact, their minister had strongly advised against it, saying that the book was evil.  In a spirit of love, I urged them to find out for themselves by reading it, but their minds were closed.  I had read the book.  I had prayed about it and knew of the true principles it contained.  I felt like I was a better person for having read it.  I had found the proof I needed to know that it was good pudding.  However, I could not force someone to pick up the spoon and taste it.  I felt disheartened and sad that something so dear to me was judged and sentenced before it was even put to the test.

I urge those of you who read this blog to pick up your spoons and taste this book with open minds and hearts.  Put the promise at the end of the book to the test:  And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal father in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and 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).  Find out of the pudding is delicious by examining the evidence.

I testify that The Book of Mormon is the word of God.  This book has shaped the course of my life for the better.  How can a book that exhorts its readers to come unto Christ, and be perfected in him be anything but good?  Don't take my word for it!  Read it!