What Book Has Best Influenced Your Life And Why? by Darnel

What Book Has Best Influenced Your Life And Why? by Darnel - May 2017 Scholarship Essay

When I was a very young and tender boy I was always curious if there was a God, and what he wanted me to do? So I opened up a book, a very peculiar book, a book about nations at war with each other, how God had dealt with both of them, and blessed them. While reading this book I was drawn to how through exact obedience, Heavenly Father had blessed the people in this book. I was seven when I first picked up this book and began to journey through it’s history of this chosen people, and have read it multiple times, front to back, applying its lessons through my life. It has been the motivation to be a better person in my life by following the bravado of two-thousand young men who went to battle a ferocious, blood-thirsty enemy, who delighted in shedding the blood of their kin. Out numbered and inexperienced in battle, they went boldly into battle, with courage and faith in the God above that they would be preserved because of their obedience to the Commandments of God.
I wanted to be like them, with so much faith, courage, and trust, that they had no fear, and that at the end of the battle, none of them were slain by the sword.
Then there was the story of the Prophet who declared the coming of Jesus Christ, as the Savior of the world. He would preach from city to city, and once found himself thrown out of a city, was commanded by the Lord to return to this city, and preached from the city wall. As angry townsfolk returned to shoot arrows and throw rocks, he was protected by the Lord. Not a single arrow or rock had made contact with him, and he finished his message unharmed.
Once again I was inspired to live my life with such devotion to my God that I would receive his blessing and protection as I too shared his divinity and message. That through my obedience I would not have to worry about the dangers of the world.
What is this book, you ask? Why it is The Book of Mormon and it is another testimony of Jesus Christ. It has not come to replace, or fight against the Bible, but it has come to add it’s testimony of Jesus Christ.
This book had such a profound impact on my life I was able to share it’s message of blessings through obedience to God’s Commandments, with the people of Papua New Guinea, serving a ecclesiastical mission for my church organization. It brought so much joy, wisdom, and understanding to my life, that I wanted all to receive these same blessings as well.
Through sharing the experiences and stories in the Book of Mormon with others, and how applying the book's teachings in my own life left a profound impact. Seeing others develop such a love for the book made me feel so much happiness, and as I watched them applying the teachings to their life, I was witness to their life changing experience where they too were able to receive so much happiness. It was such a blessing to share this book's message, and be blessed, and bless others.
This book alone had such an influence throughout my whole life, and continues to do so.