Ether 5

(Below is a list of questions that help me think about each verse as I read it. The numbers represent the verses in the chapter.)

The Lord will do his work and provide witnesses of the reality of it.

1-3. What might it have been like for Joseph Smith to encounter these verses that were directed to him as he was translating the book of Mormon?

1. In this verse there is a command that the records are not to be touched unless God commands it. Occasionally there are things in our lives that the Lord forbids us to do. How can we show faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and trust that they know how to bless us? When we are obedient, what does this convey to our Heavenly Father?

4. How can you also be a witness to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon? How could your witness of the Book of Mormon influence others?

"Personal visitations might become common as time goes on, but this guidance of the holy ghost is renewed and continued, day after day, year after year, if we live to be worthy of it." – Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:44

5. How can repenting and coming into the Father and the Son save us? How is this different from, and yet more powerful than having a spectacular witness?

6. What authority does Moroni have in regards to the words he has shared in the book of Ether? Why will Moroni stand at the judgment bar the last day? What question do you think Moroni might ask you?