Since we can thank Nelson for, many years ago, confirming to TBMs what they wouldn't accept coming from us, namely that Joseph Smith "translated" the Book of Mormon by sticking a treasure-hunting rock in his hat and then putting his face into the hat to read words appearing in the rock, I was wondering whether Nelson was a big testimony guy when it comes to the Book of Mormon.

Turns out he puts himself out there as being a big believer.

Excerpt from Nelson's opening remarks for last year's GC:


"My brothers and sisters, how precious is the Book of Mormon to you? If you were offered diamonds or rubies or the Book of Mormon, which would you choose? Honestly, which is of greater worth to you?"

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/the-book-of-mormon-what-would-your-life-be-like-without-it?lang=eng&country=car



As if in the real world you would ever be presented with an opportunity to choose between the Book of Mormon and something that could actually provide you with a very comfortable retirement or pay off the mortgage on your home.

"Hey, I'll give you 50 pure gold ingots of 2kg each for that there Book of Mormon that you have."

"Thank you for your kind offer, kind sir. But the Book of Mormon is more precious to me than all your gold. I will not sell it to you for that gold, which would be enough for me to live in luxury for the rest of my life. Instead, I recommend that you should contact the missionaries or order one on Amazon. You can get a much better price. And, yes, I am this stupid."


I think I would take diamonds or rubies. The missionaries often give out Book of Mormon copies for free.

Knowing that a failed treasure hunter "translated" the Book of Mormon by looking at a magic rock in his hat, I'm not inclined to put much faith in it in any case...and if I ever need one for hamster cage bedding or to use as a doorstop, I can probably get my hands on another one pretty easily.

So if any of you have any real diamonds or rubies or gold or silver or even a significant pile of cash that you want to trade, I think I can get my hands on at least 2 or 3 copies of the Book of Mormon that I could give to you in exchange.

I’d not only sell my Book of Mormon, I’d sell my signs and tokens, but nobody’s offering anything,

penalties. Death by disembowelment or throat slitting. You had to agree to accept these as reasonable punishment in the event that you told any outsider about the secret signs and tokens.

Yeah, they were so valuable that you're life literally was on the line.

When I went through for the first time, the question went through my mind. "Will there actually be any situation where someone wants me to give them the secret signs and tokens so badly and push so hard for them that I will have to remember these penalty oaths to keep myself from falling into temptation?"

Of course, turns out that nobody anywhere cares about the Mormon temple signs and tokens. The only thing they're good for is to reveal how silly and gullible people can be. You can't even use them to get a fresh banana.

I was so exhausted from an overnight bus ride to the Atlanta temple, I couldn't really take it all in. I remember feeling somewhat shocked after all the hype, hearing all that malarkey about disembowelment and throat-slitting.

After we got our very own McTemple here in NM, I was invited by a friend from work who sensed (correctly) that I was edging away from church. I still had a TR at that time, but after Round Two, I let it lapse, permanently.

It's like an elaborate hidden-camera gag show. It's all so ridiculous, you halfway expect a camera crew and TV show host to pop out at the last minute and announce that "you've been punked!"

I'm not sure how they could have come up with a more ridiculous "religious ritual".

I was thinking maybe something like putting a dead chicken in a burlap bag and swinging it 10 times around over your head, while chanting, "Chicken, I sacrifice thee for health in my breasts, thighs and neck and may thy wishbone bring forth blessings from heaven!"

The problem is that even that is not MORE ridiculous than Pay, Lay, Ale, etc. It's about equal. Actually, it's less gruesome than when they had the penalties.

Yeah, I went through in 2001 and only found out afterward that they used to have all the pantomiming. I feel like I missed out.

That said, the endowment is perhaps the biggest letdown in a young Mormon's life. When we got in there and the curtains motored back to reveal a damn movie screen, I remember thinking, "What IS this? This is what all the buildup was for?" And then, when it turned out you get f**king PASSWORDS to get into heaven, I about lost it. That was the day I first considered the possibility the church was not true.

*edited*



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2018 04:48PM by Anziano Young.

It had zero value to me. A waste of paper.

I threw them all in the dumpster.

It would be precious--on a hiking trip as toilet paper.

The BoM is more precious than iron pyrite.

makes a much more attractive paperweight. On balance, I think I would trade at least one or two copies for a good, shiny iron pyrite specimen.

Hey-ho! Hey-ho! It's the pyrite life for me. Shiver me timbers and fetch me my rum! I'll wander the oceans 'til kingdom come!
It's the py~rite life fo~o~r me!

"If you were offered diamonds or rubies or the Book of Mormon, which would you choose?"

Even at my most believing, this would have been an idiotic rhetorical question. I would have answered, "Of course I'd take the diamonds and rubies. Then I'd sell one, use the money to buy a BOM, and I wouldn't have to settle for one or the other."

Mormon false choices are the most asinine false choices.

Wally Prince Wrote:

> So if any of you have any real diamonds or rubies
> or gold or silver ...

Any quantity of diamonds or rubies would serve quite well as trade in exchange for the bogus farrago of nonsense called the bloody boring BoM.

Joe's pals and handlers got the thing together as total copy-cat "scripture" cribbed from many sources. Lazy Joe was there to stamp his name on the fake as "Author & Proprietor."

copyright in Canada, meaning that he would have lost all right to control the use and distribution of the book throughout Canada. He probably would have accepted much less than diamonds and rubies. Probably would have been willing to accept a couple hundred dollars or maybe twenty dollars.

Turns out nobody wanted to buy it at any price.

Kind of puts Nelson's "how precious" sermon in an awkward light, now that you think about it.

I would probably give a diamond or two to see a copy of the book of MORmON shoved right where it belongs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wALvdgurB4

Precious as toilet paper, though I care about what kind I use, and wouldn't take a second look at the dirty, spoiled, trashy bomb [book or moron bs].

M@t

btw, How much Gold / Diamonds for the Canadian copyright???

Definitely not enough according to nelson's standards

Why, I would never give away my Book of Mormon! What would I use to hold up that end of the sofa?

Just kidding, I burned my copy years ago. I wish someone would have given me diamonds for it.

I have a ring that is far more precious than the BOM.

It was "precious" enough for me to throw into the recycling, all the while hoping that somehow it will be made into toilet paper so somewhere in the world, someone will be wiping their ass with its remnants.

The recycling machines don't like the glue.

So remove the covers and the back with the glue before you shred & dump the worthless book.

I picked up a copy at a garage sale for fifty cents.

If I owned one (I don't), I'd toss it in the trash. Giving it away carries too much possibility that someone will read & believe it...

line to bottoms of parakeet cages. But the paper is thin, not very absorbent, and probably more trouble than it's worth.

But I no longer have budgies due to cats, and not likely to change.

I imagine that my expensive, leatherbound Quad may end up as a paperweight some day.. . I certainly don't use it for anything.

I carry a Book of Mormon on backpacking trips. The pages are great to make fires with.

Do they still charge the missionaries for the BoMs they distribute?

Is that a part of the $ their families & friends dole out to them each month but send to ChurchCo?

Joseph Smith tried to sell it before he made a religion out of it. No one would buy it.

I wonder if the day will come when the BoM becomes a quaint anachronism, a relic of 19th century imaginative "history."

I love all the pictures of the good looking men with muscles

At some point I was given a copy of the bom with a'golden' cover. It was gold colored with 'engravings' on it and my teenage self thought it was just the best!
It was only available in English (I am Dutch) but I loved it! I felt very speshal....

I was a just a kid back then so I forgive myself for being so gullible.. Hahaha.

Does anyone remember those golden books?

You can still find some of them on Amazon and probably on ebay.

https://www.amazon.com/1980-Gold-Foil-Mormon-English/dp/B000WMRB9Y

This one sells for $62.00...so I guess that's how precious it is.

Yes that's it!!

62 bucks!!

Wow.. Speechless..

Ty D Bol is of great value; the BoM not so much.

Remember that it is clean that you can see.

It's as precious as it was when I was in seminary in high school, when they had released time (at least in Utah. Do they still?)

Not at all.

It's as precious now as it was when I went on a mission to make my parents happy.

Not at all.

It's as precious now as it was during my mission, when the converts we "taught" read the first chapter or two in Portuguese (Brasil) and pretended like they understood what the message.

Not at all.

And it's as precious now as it was up until 20 years ago when I still pretended like I was reading it and understanding what the message was.

Not at all..

at least the central theme of the N.Testament is love, kindness, honesty, respect.


Not So / AWOL / MIA or 'hidden'-disguised in the BoM

Love that Freudian slip by the Hinkcster in the Brokaw interview linked above.

"We have a second witness to Jesus Smith, er... Christ, which is the Book of Mormon."

Well done, Gordo! The mask slips down for all of youse guys at times.

expensive toilet paper

Zero.