Although many people have heard of the Book of Mormon, leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say few people have actually read it.
The Book of Mormon Experiment is a church initiative trying to change that.
Dozens gathered outside the Joseph Smith Building last week to participate in a scripture reading challenge called The Book of Mormon Experiment.
BYU social science major, Hunter Westbrook, felt spiritually uplifted by his experience.
“I love reading the passages that testify of Jesus Christ. There are many testimonies of Him and just that the Book of Mormon and the Bible testify together that Jesus is the Christ,” Westbrook said.
This initiative gave each participant a page from the Book of Mormon and invited them to read it and experiment on the word of God. With a clipboard and pen, students and faculty highlighted every reference they could find to Jesus Christ and God.
The pondering participants could then write down any thoughts or inspirations that came to them on the back of the page.
Advertising professor Jeff Sheets organized the event.
“It’s been a lot of fun; I think we could give 30,000 pages of the Book of Mormon here at BYU. There are students who are in between classes that are pausing, and we’ve had some really meaningful experiences,” Sheets said.
Participants also had their photo taken on a polaroid. Students running the event pinned up the pages and their accompanying photos inside the Joseph Smith Building.
The Book of Mormon Experiment attempts to give both members and non-members a spiritual experience while reading the Book of Mormon.
More information on the initiative can be found on churchofjesuschrist.org.
