The Book of Mormon Shows Us The Way

This subject is on my mind after reading from some books which I'll reference below and from reading this post quoting a Stake President's talk where he shares his thoughts of the troubles of Babylon in our world today and that a goal we can make to protect us from these troubles and bring us closer to the Savior in our own lives is to "spend time each day reading and studying the Book of Mormon..  So, exactly how can reading the Book of Mormon help us?  From "Triumph of Zion" by John Pontius, page 170 -

As a matter of record, we are to this day laboring under a divinely imposed condemnation for taking lightly the things which we have received.

54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

 55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

 56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.

 57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—(D&C 84:54-57)

Even though this condemnation will remain until we remember the Book of Mormon, the solution isn't in reading the divine word within, but as verse 57 notes, in doing "according to that which I have written."  The Book of Mormon's opening pages records Lehi having a personal visitation with God and receiving his commission to call the people of Jerusalem to repentance.  The next big account is of his son Nephi having a similar experience.  The Book of Mormon is a graphic witness to the vastness of our privileges in the priesthood, of seeking the face of God, and obtaining these grand blessings, from page one onward.  So, if we do as "I have written" in the Book of Mormon, we should be seeking the face of God.  

For more on this subject of seeking the face of God, read "Following the Light of Christ into His Presence" by John Pontius and "The Second Comforter" by Denver Snuffer.  Specifically for more on this condemnation we are under because of our treating lightly of the Book of Mormon, see pages 328-343 of the Second Comforter, a chapter titled "Fleeing Babylon" - he shares great insights there about how Babylon of old is still with us culturally and how it is to be ground to dust per King Nebuchadnezzer's dream, by the latter day church through the Book of Mormon, which does not have any Babylon influence since Lehi and his family left Jerusalem before Israel was destroyed and the Jews taken captive.

So, continuing from this subject of the Book of Mormon and seeing the Lord's face and how it relates to building Zion in our day, Pontius continues in "Triumph of Zion" on page 171:

Why could our inability to become a Zion people be a part of this condemnation?  It is because Zion was to be our greatest accomplishment as a people--and thus has the potential to become our greatest failure.  As the language aptly defines, we haven't built Zion because our predecessors ("in times past") for whatever reason, failed to do so, and we in this generation are continuing to take lightly our privilege of building it.  We have received the priesthood and the promises, and yet we continue in the wilderness, even while myopically proclaiming our exile habitation to be the very Zion which we were expelled from for not building.  

Once again, only the living prophet can command the construction of the city and society of Zion.  I completely believe that when we are ready as individuals, and when the timetable of the Lord has matured, then the Lord will speak, and only then will we build the New Jerusalem.  Until then, we are only speaking of the personal quest of building Zion within our own hearts.  Becoming a Zion people can only open the doors and hasten the time when the actual city will be built. 

I just ordered another book by Denver Snuffer "Removing the Condemnation" and look forward to reading more of his thoughts on this subject.  I'll try to post more of Snuffer's insights regarding Babylon and the Book of Mormon in another post soon.