“As Many As Believed Never Did Fall Away”

Ed J. Pinegar, Richard J. Allen

So remarkable was the spiritual transformation among the Lamanites that Mormon, the compiler and abridger of the sacred record, is impressed to declare that they remained true throughout their lives, never falling away. What does it take to ensure that one never falls away? It takes commitment like that of the Lamanite converts. They are zealous in keeping the commandments. They are passionate and devoted to their covenants. They are honest and upright in all things. They are firm in their faith and endure to the end. Conversion to the Lord through the Spirit is a transforming and magnifying experience, leading to inner peace and a commitment to follow the commandments and endure to the end. It is the Spirit that converts. President Brigham Young taught:

The Spirit, Not Logic or Debate, Makes Converts—Let one go forth who is careful to prove logically all he says by numerous quotations from the revelations, and let another travel with him who can say, by the power of the Holy Ghost, Thus saith the Lord, and tell what the people should believe—what they should do—how they should live, and teach them to yield to the principles of salvation,—though he may not be capable of producing a single logical argument, though he may tremble under a sense of his weakness, cleaving to the Lord for strength, as such men generally do, you will invariably find that the man who testifies by the power of the Holy Ghost will convince and gather many more of the honest and upright than will the merely logical reasoner. (Discourses of Brigham Young, comp. John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954], 330)

Commentaries and Insights on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1

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