20 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land; and I beheld a abook, and it was carried forth among them.
(As this say, the people who came to America prospered in the land, which means the people who came from Europe. The Book mentioned is the Bible)
23 And he said: Behold it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew. And I, Nephi, beheld it; and he said unto me: The abook that thou beholdest is a brecord of the cJews, which contains the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the dplates of brass, save there are not so many; nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles.
(The book, bible, is the record of the Jew. The Jew doesn't mean all of the House of Israel. The Jew refers to the Judah Tribe. The Bible contains the covenants that the Lord made with the people. Many of the prophets that lived in Israel are recorded in it. The plates of brass is a record that is engraved on the metallic plates for preservation. They are very important to those who are not Israelite)
24 And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast beheld that the abook proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God.
25 Wherefore, these things go forth from the aJews in purity unto the bGentiles, according to the truth which is in God.
(When it came from the Jews, it was in its pure form, with no corruption or thereof in it. The Twelve Apostles' teaching are in it. It came to those who are not of the tribes of Israel in it's purity)
26 And after they go forth by the ahand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews bunto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that cgreat and abominable dchurch, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have etakenaway from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are fplain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.
27 And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men.
28 Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and aprecious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God.
(This occurred in the first century AD after the apostles was killed. There was no one with the authority from God. The people began to turn to the wisdom of the World in an attempt to understand the scriptures. They began to change the teaching to match their philosophies. The Church is of the Devil. The people involved therein changed the teaching and took out the plain and precious teaching in it. Some are intentional, some are accidental due to human errors. Many things was missing from the Bible for that very reason. I know there are people who would argue otherwise; the Bible have been tampered with long before it came into its form. Which means before the scriptures was compiled they was changed. How important are those plain and precious things? Very important for it help us understand the scriptures a lot better)
29 And after these plain and precious things were ataken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest—because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.
(This is very true. We have seen that it was fulfilled, every whit and jot of it was fulfilled. Look at history. The Bible came forth to all of the nations of Gentiles (meaning non-Israelite) ever since it was created. It also came to the American Continent through many religious groups that came to stay. Because of the missing components, it caused a lot of confusion and strife. Without those plain and precious things, Satan was able to control them by muddling up the doctrines with the doctrines of Man)
What doctrines was changed? For one, the true nature of the Godhead. Many times I've encountered this from people who claim from Matthew 3:13-17 that they are one person. If one would think carefully and ponder about it. Anyone with logic can state that such thing is impossible. How can Jesus Christ be in 3 places at one time? Jesus Himself came out of the waters and the Heavens opened, the Holy Ghost came down in a form of dove (Now, to refrain from those who may misunderstand, the Holy Ghost does not take the form of the dove nor does it dwell in a body of a dove), and God the Father spoke from Heaven. Why three different places? If Jesus Christ was all three, why can't He proclaim Himself about it? Also, God said "This is my Son", which means God is a different person. Why did the Bible talk about the Oneness? I will give three analogies.
Analogy 1: The Three-leaved Clover, how many leaves are there? Three, how many stalks are there? One. So there are three members to one clover.
Analogy 2: A computer. We call the machine a computer, but how many parts are there? There are three main parts to it. The monitor, the mainframe, and the keyboard. I am not mentioning the other parts so that I can emphasize the point. The monitor displays information from the mainframe. The mainframe processes everything that it takes in and output the results. The keyboard is used to input data. Without one, it doesn't work. Can we use a computer without the monitor (Be DEAF Friendly HERE!!!!!)? No, we can't. Can we use it without the mainframe? No, of course not (I am referring to a basic Desktop Computer). Can we use it without a keyboard? No, we can't. So with all three it works. Exclude one of them and it is useless. Same thing with the Godhead. Exclude one member and you have incomplete Godhead.
Analogy 3: The United States Government. I will love to hear them try to disprove from all the analogies. The United States Federal Government have how many parts to it? Three. What are those three parts? The Legislative branch, the Executive branch, and the Congress. The legislative branch makes all the laws for the nation. The Executive Branch acts on it. The Congress takes care of all the judging and mercy. Why are the government set up this way? To act as a check and balance so that one won't have too much power. As we see from Monarchy, one man had too much power over the people and became an oppressive tyranny. Godhead is the same way. God the Father created everything in this Universe. Jesus Christ is His Son. The Holy Ghost's responsibility is to bear witness of them. They work together to help further their purposes.
I know that what I've said is true. I cannot deny nor take them back. Even if people make my life hard, I still know that they are true. Just as Joseph Smith cannot deny his testimony. I cannot for fear of coming under condemnation for saying this. I've read the Book of Mormon a lot during my mission, read of Jesus Christ, and am now reading the Old Testament. They all supports each other. I can't understand why people doesn't believe that we are not Christians. For the Book of Mormon said the name of Jesus Christ many times. Not just a few random mention, but is mentioned in every books in the Book of Mormon. As you may notice, I said books, not book. The Book of Mormon have more than one books in it. During the Hill Cumorah Pageant, one of the lowest point in my mission, I've read the book called "How New Testament Came to Be". I was deeply amazed and impressed by what it said. I also particularly liked what one scribe said to another scribe "Idiot and knaves! Don't change it!" something along that line. It helped me understand how the Bible we have today came to be. Because of that, I know that we need additional scriptures to prove that they are true. If I just read the Bible, I won't believe it. With the Book of Mormon I came to know it is true. I invite all people to read the Book of Mormon and to learn what it really is. Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
