President Ezra Taft Benson proclaimed the need for members of the Church to actively declare the truths of the Restoration. By so doing, we become the “hissers” spoken of in 2 Nephi 29:2–3:
“Our main task is to declare the gospel and do it effectively. We are not obligated to answer every objection. Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand. …
“The Book of Mormon is to be used ‘for a standard unto my people, which are of the house of Israel,’ the Lord says, and its words ‘shall hiss forth unto the ends of the earth.’ (2 Ne. 29:2.) We, the members of the Church, and particularly the missionaries, have to be the ‘hissers,’ or the tellers and testifiers, of the Book of Mormon unto the ends of the earth.
“The Book of Mormon is the great standard we are to use. … The Book of Mormon is the great finder of the golden contact. It does not contain things which are ‘pleasing unto the world’ (1 Ne. 6:5). … It is a great sieve” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1975, 95–96; or Ensign, May 1975, 65).
President Gordon B. Hinckley shared the following example of how the Book of Mormon changed a life forever:
“[The Book of Mormon] has touched for good the lives of millions who have prayerfully read it and pondered its language. May I tell you of one such I recently met in Europe.
“He was a businessman, successful in his undertakings. In the course of his travels he met two of our missionaries. They tried to set up an appointment to teach him. He put them off but finally agreed to listen. He somewhat perfunctorily accepted what they had to say. He became convinced in his mind that they spoke the truth, but he was not moved in his heart.
“He decided that he would read the Book of Mormon. He said that he had been a man of the world, never given to crying. But as he read the book, tears coursed his cheeks. It did something to him. He read it again and felt the same emotions. What had been conversion of the mind became conversion of the heart.
“His way of life was altered, his perspective changed. He threw himself into the work of the Lord. Today he fills a high and holy calling in the cause he has come to love” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1990, 70; or Ensign, Nov. 1990, 52).
Refer to the chart “The Stick of Judah and the Stick of Joseph” in the appendix (page 412).