Encouragement

Hi Everyone! We're working our way through the Isaiah chapters. I am really impressed--you're all so smart, and I am learning so much from reading what you have to say. In case you're feeling overwhelmed, or disappointed that you're not getting more out of the readings, here is a quote from Boyd K. Packer that might encourage you to continue (slog? muddle? wade?) on. Enjoy!

“The Book of Mormon is a book of scripture. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is written in biblical language, the language of the prophets.

“For the most part, it is in easy-flowing New Testament language, with such words as spake for spoke, unto for to, with and it came to pass, with thus and thou and thine.

“You will not read many pages into it until you catch the cadence of that language and the narrative will be easy to understand. As a matter of fact, most teenagers readily understand the narrative of the Book of Mormon.

“Then, just as you settle in to move comfortably along, you will meet a barrier. The style of the language changes to Old Testament prophecy style. For, interspersed in the narrative, are chapters reciting the prophecies of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. They loom as a barrier, like a roadblock or a checkpoint beyond which the casual reader, one with idle curiosity, generally will not go.

“You, too, may be tempted to stop there, but do not do it! Do not stop reading! Move forward through those difficult-to-understand chapters of Old Testament prophecy, even if you understand very little of it. Move on, if all you do is skim and merely glean an impression here and there. Move on, if all you do is look at the words. …

“… The Lord had a purpose in preserving the prophecies of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, notwithstanding they become a barrier to the casual reader.

“Those who never move beyond the Isaiah chapters miss the personal treasures to be gathered along the way” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1986, 76–77; or Ensign, May 1986, 61).