The Short Books: Enos, Jarom, Omni

These books are fascinating in a number of ways and the things I learned as I really poked through them are invaluable.  The testimonies in these books really support and strengthen my own.  The time lines are curious and, for me, raise some interesting questions.  These books also provide an interesting insight to the nature of human beings.  First, getting a testimony:

Enos, Jacob's son, takes charge of the plates that Nephi created and that Jacob, Enos' father continued to write in.  It's interesting to me that in 2 Nephi 4 we read of Lehi's death and in Jacob 1 we read of Nephi's death, but Enos doesn't record when Jacob died.  We know that the plates were handed down from Jacob to Enos, because Enos records the marvelous story of his conversion and a brief description of his ministry.  I have two thoughts on why this is.  It could be that Enos didn't mention Jacob's death  because he was doing what his father charged him to do:  record sacred things and touch only lightly on the happenings of the people (although we don't read of this instruction in these books, I have to believe that Jacob charged Enos with this direction, just as Nephi charged Jacob).  It could also be that due to the difficulty in writing in the plates, that Jacob simply didn't include this detail.  More on this thought later.

Enos had the kind of conversion that we all wish for.  His father taught him well, both in academic and in spiritual things.  He is out hunting and is pricked by the words he heard his father teach.  He is motivated to pray for spiritual confirmation, eventually converses with the Lord and his faith is made sure. 

Here are the action words he uses to describe the experience:  the wrestle I had; heard my father speak; sunk deep into my heart; soul hungered; kneeled; cried in mighty prayer; raise my voice; feel a desire; pour out my whole soul (Enos 2 - 9).  These words, even without the context given them in the verses they come from, are powerful examples of what it takes to have a true testimony of God's love. 

In the context of the verses they come from, they tell of a man who was wholly converted.  They also tell of a means - a method - by which each of us can be totally converted to the Lord's Gospel. 

• Hear or listen to the gospel and recognize the goodness of the people who are sharing it with you (this is true of both the spoken words of testimony or the written testaments that we can read).  
• Embrace the ideas of a God in Heaven who loves His children and longs for them to come to Him.  
• Feel the desire grow inside of you, just your body hungers for nourishment.  
• Seek for a confirmation to the things you have begun to believe through prayer.  
• Be earnest in your prayer, putting your whole soul into the prayer, even to the point of raising your voice to the skies.  
• Continue in this prayer until you receive the witness you desire.

It is my testimony that if each of us can follow the pattern that Enos has shared with us, the spiritual witness we receive will be as sure and steady as a great rock.  It is my hope that we each will put this method to the test.

Don

P.S.  More on these books.....