0:00:00 - 0:00:18 OK. Well, I had an overwhelming response from that. Excuse me, that question about what can we do to help people have greater access to the book of Mormon or however, I phrased it on the blog there and uh instead of responding to all those emails, I thought I'd, I'd summarize the points and uh kind of 0:00:18 - 0:00:44 share the information. So, um one insight that I thought was, was quite uh insightful, um fit for purpose, I guess. Uh one person uh mentioned this idea, well, why they asked themselves, why haven't I looked into other religious books like the Quran or whatever? And uh this is a funny question because 0:00:44 - 0:01:12 I've read the Quran uh actually was gifted a copy by an incredibly brilliant person. I mean, a person full of light um that I met in Malaysia. It's an interesting story. I, I love that man very much. He's a I am. I marvel uh sidetrack alert, I marvel that the world is full of people far more evil than 0:01:12 - 0:01:36 normal people realize. And yet God is so merciful and sprinkling truly good people all over the place and uh they're not common, but they're numerous enough. And, uh, when you go through the desert of human nature meeting these people, it's a glass of ice water. It's just a beautiful thing. Anyway. Um 0:01:36 - 0:02:00 , oh, I miss that guy. I only, I only worked with him for a month. Um, anyway, um, so, uh, but, but in thinking, like, well, Rob, why did you read the Koran? I thought, well, because I'm a weirdo because most people won't even read a book that they have many, many, many, many reasons to believe is full 0:02:00 - 0:02:26 of good stuff. Um Let alone one that they're reading just in case, right? So uh just with an open mind to find truth wherever it sits. Well, um most people are not like that. So uh you have to ask yourself what's the missing link? Why uh why is it that people have not um have not encountered and valued 0:02:25 - 0:02:44 the things that you have encountered and valued and then you provide the missing link. So with that approach in mind, uh I asked, well, what is missing? And it turns out that access is not missing. We live in a day and age where, you know, in times past, there were plenty of excuses about accessibility 0:02:43 - 0:03:06 , but today, forget it. Everyone has access to, to information uh to most of the information that's available, uh published information. I mean, not information from God that uh that is openly accessible in different ways, but there's a very high price to pay to get it. They're really good stuff, at 0:03:06 - 0:03:34 least. So, uh I'm actually reading notes for once. So trying not to ramble. It's, it's late, it's past my bedtime. Um So, um here's the rule of thumb. Uh So, so if something exists already, then there's no reason to do it again. Um You just wanna refer people to the thing that's been done, but if it 0:03:34 - 0:03:52 doesn't exist, then any attempt to do it might be better than nothing. It's not always the case. So go for it. Uh But if you can't make something better than what's already out there, you have to ask yourself, what are you doing? Right. There's no point in people wasting time doing something that's not 0:03:52 - 0:04:17 as good as what's already available. So uh one person suggested that there may be people out there who's missing link is there's just not a um like a beautiful enough version of the book of Mormon because people have made nondenominational versions that are low cost and you know, as a book, they kind 0:04:17 - 0:04:40 of look like the great value brand intentionally. Um And it's funny cause even so it's funny I grew up poor and I've known wealthy people, right? And it's funny because wealthy people are turned off by things that look cheap and poor people are all about it. It's like, uh that's a, that's a, a brand 0:04:39 - 0:05:00 of something I want uh like the great value basic labels at Walmart. It's like Well, that's what, that's what I can afford and that's what I'm gonna go to because I'm trained for that wealthy people. Like, they'll be upset if they save money almost. Right. Um, I guess that's a broad brush. Uh, I could 0:05:00 - 0:05:24 tell a story. But anyway, so, uh, the very thing, this is important though, this isn't a random rant. Um, it's an important gospel principle to realize that people react differently to the same stimuli. So it's really important. Uh You'll see this echo through a lot of things that I write uh published 0:05:23 - 0:05:43 and not yet published. So I think absolutely, there are people out there who would be much more receptive to a really fancy copy of the book of Mormon than a cheapo copy. And I think there would be people who are really receptive to cheapo copy that wouldn't be so receptive to an expensive one. I guess 0:05:42 - 0:06:01 there's a print on demand service called Alabaster. Maybe that makes a good one. So if anyone wants to jump on that, make a high end book of Mormon, um of course, commercial versions of high end books of Mormon are already available. So um maybe the difference there would be, it's, it's not denominational 0:06:00 - 0:06:23 , it's not tied to some specific person or movement. OK. Another suggestion was maybe the missing link is like a guided tour of the book of Mormon, um like an essential guide type thing. Uh I'm not sure, I believe that one. And the reason is there are tons of people who have written commentaries on the 0:06:23 - 0:06:44 book of Mormon. But also last time I checked, you know, the line for commentaries for the book of Mormon is not like the line for a Metallica concert, right? It's like people aren't beaten down the doors to get into that one. So uh if you know a person like that, then uh that's great. I just don't think 0:06:44 - 0:07:07 that those people exist in any number. It's hard enough to find somebody who wants to read a book, let alone a book on a book like that's extra innings. That's an even higher barrier, I think. Um, ok, but here's a, here's a point that was, uh, pretty clear as I read these emails, their needs. I think 0:07:06 - 0:07:33 we need to look at the idea of demonstrating big value in big things through demonstrating big value in little things. So what do I mean by that? Uh You gotta chop it up, you gotta chop it up into little pieces. And, um, part of my thinking on this spurred a video that I put out recently, I think it's 0:07:33 - 0:07:53 called Impulses and Echoes, but I don't know, off the top of my head, but here's four ideas of how this could get chopped up and I'm just sort of throwing these out there. I'm not gonna do any of these. Um, I have to do other things, but if these strike your fancy uh a lot of people emailed me and said 0:07:52 - 0:08:13 , I don't necessarily have ideas for this, but I'd like to help. So if you end up doing any of this stuff and you would like me to, I'm happy to put you into contact with people or even just put out a, a post on the blog and maybe we can connect you guys up to do your own thing. Um But I call this uh 0:08:12 - 0:08:36 the Gorilla Gospel, just go out and do the things that you have the resources to do in the way you feel inspired to do them. But here's four specific ideas that might tickle your fancy uh idea. Number one, a website where there are individual verses organized by topic, you see the sort of thing out there 0:08:36 - 0:09:02 for the Bible. There isn't one for the book of Mormon as far as I know uh that isn't denominational. So obviously the L DS topical guide. Um But we're talking about something much more uh specific and, and uh obviously not deno denominational and I'll make a point on that in a second. Um And then another 0:09:01 - 0:09:20 one is, I think somebody should make a website, maybe it could be the same website where people can submit and there could be an administrator who filters out the crazy stuff. People could submit really nicely done social media images. And the only rule is all you can put on. There is a verse from the 0:09:20 - 0:09:36 book of Mormon, no comments. It's, it can be pretty, it could be a picture and whatever, you know, fancy fonts and whatever. But a anyone could go there and just copy that and paste it on their social media. It would be the easiest thing in the world to do. And I think just that little thing would be 0:09:36 - 0:09:56 massively valuable because it's a bite size chunk. Someone could read one verse and instantly see value in that verse and connect that to value in a, in a bigger thing and uh go down that road and it's like instead of inviting somebody to do something without giving them reasons, give them a reason and 0:09:56 - 0:10:16 maybe you invite him to do something, but it's implicit, it's like one thing at a time and you, you put the, you put the reward first and then they're enticed to do more, right? So, and then if you don't find value in that fine, I mean, the path ends there, right? So uh I think people would be willing 0:10:15 - 0:10:39 and ready to share things just by copy pasting. Um But to be of full value, I said I had four things, sorry, there's two things and then two comments, I misread my bullets here uh to have full value. These things really do have to be nondenominational. So some efforts have been made in the past by others 0:10:39 - 0:10:59 that were branded as nondenominational and some people even emailed me and said, do you know about this. Yes, I do. Um They're not nondenominational folks. Like if it's plastered with someone's opinion about stuff or extra things that come from a specific person or trademarks that are owned by specific 0:10:59 - 0:11:17 people and described as such on the website that is not a non domination site, that is the website of a church. And even if they don't brand themselves as that, that's exactly what it is. And if you believe in the book of Mormon, you really shouldn't have been duped by that because it says what churches 0:11:17 - 0:11:42 are in the book of Mormon. Anyway, you check that out. Um So, um, the reason this has to be done in the first place is because organizations like the L DS church have monopolized the book of Mormon. And I shouldn't say like they're the prime offenders and, you know, I'm not harking on them too bad with 0:11:42 - 0:12:01 this because, uh if you believe what they believe, then it makes sense that you would monopolize the book of Mormon because in that view, there's no way of disentangling them, right? If one's true the other is true, that's a terrible, logical fallacy. It's like saying if the constitution is true, absolutely 0:12:00 - 0:12:28 anything the US government does is blessed by God. You know, I don't buy that to you anyway. Um So, but because they haven't made the book of Mormon available to all in a way that's not uh inescapably tied to their church. Um and others have copied the same mistake. Um This is necessary and that's also 0:12:28 - 0:12:47 why I don't want to be personally involved because I think it'd be great for there to be a resource out there that from the Get Go says this is a nonpartisan thing, a nondenominational thing. The only thing we wanna do is make the book of Mormon more accessible to people that don't read it already. And 0:12:46 - 0:13:05 uh there's no editorial organization, there's no commentary, there's no tie to some church or person. It's just everyone can link to this and say this has been done. It's been done. Well, no one else is gonna do it better. Let's just use this one and then it can get promoted in the links uh in the search 0:13:05 - 0:13:30 engines. Um And like I said, there's a lot of people out there who are willing to help. But all that being said, here's the really big takeaway from reading those emails. Um The biggest lack is not accessibility to the text. And uh uh as you swim through things, you learn more and you grow and you realize 0:13:30 - 0:13:48 things you didn't realize before. But one thing that's, that's become super obvious to me is that the reason this is not out there is not because it's, it's not easy to get to. And I, I like, I believe that these two websites in particular would be very valuable. I think the equations been solved for 0:13:48 - 0:14:13 the printed copies um but the electronic sources, I think could be a little better. Um But I think the really big difference will come through people and I think it's the people that are lacking. And what do I mean by that? I mean, actually believing what the book says, actually living according to what 0:14:13 - 0:14:35 it says and then, and only then not that you should wait until then, but that these should, should all come together uh actually broadcasting that and doing so from an internal basis, like I was saying that in that other video about uh impulses and echoes. So what's an example of this? Uh go reread the 0:14:35 - 0:14:55 story of Ammon and his brothers? So Ammon went, well, let's start with his brothers, his brothers went and they said, we're preaching the gospel, we're missionaries, we're preaching the gospel and they went out and did the whole textbook missionary thing and they got arrested and thrown into jail and 0:14:55 - 0:15:13 they would have died there if Ammon hadn't done something better. And what was the better way he went to the king? And he said, I'll be your servant and you know, he's a prince, he was a prince of the, the opposing kingdom and here he was and he said, no, I'm just here to be your servant and I'll still 0:15:13 - 0:15:36 stay here and be your servant till I die. Maybe we'll see. Um And then he actually like he went out and he lived what he believed to be true. And he ended up cutting off people's arms and whatever. But he showed that there was value in what he had in the context of what the people he wanted to teach 0:15:35 - 0:15:55 could understand and already valued. They wanted their sheep to be safe and they had been plagued by these bandits that no one could do anything about. And Ammon came and he cut their arms off and they couldn't defeat him. So, what better evidence of value do you need? And that's the kind of thing that 0:15:55 - 0:16:17 we need to do. And, uh, if you're not living a life where you have evidence of God's power in your life, maybe you should make some changes. It's time, the time is short, it's time to live what you say you believe. So, um, I think very little can be done without addressing that problem. Um, and I think 0:16:17 - 0:16:30 a whole lot will be better as that problem is addressed, but I think these websites are a good idea. So, thanks for sharing your thoughts on that and thanks for watching this video. That was way too long. See you.