December 9–15: “May Christ Lift Thee Up”
Moroni 7–9
Before Moroni concluded the record we know today as the Book of Mormon with his own final words, he shared three messages from his father, Mormon: an address to “the peaceable followers of Christ” (Moroni 7:3) and two letters that Mormon had written to Moroni. Perhaps Moroni included these messages in the Book of Mormon because he foresaw similarities between the perils of his day and ours. When these words were written, the Nephite people were turning away from the Savior. Many of them had “lost their love, one towards another” and delighted in “everything save that which is good” (Moroni 9:5, 19). And yet Mormon still found cause for hope, teaching us that hope does not mean ignoring or being naive about the world’s problems. Hope means having faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, whose power is greater and more everlasting than these problems. It means “lay[ing] hold upon every good thing” (Moroni 7:19). It means letting the Atonement of Jesus Christ “and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind” (Moroni 9:25).