Today, 196 years ago, for the first time ever, the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ was made available to the public, so happy birthday to the Book of Mormon!

I am so blessed to have read this book many times. It is my favorite book.

Did you know that the Book of Mormon is the most Christ-centered book on the earth, as far as I know? It mentions a name of Christ on average every 1.7 pages. It also has over 100 names for Jesus Christ. Go here to learn more about that.

Here are some fun facts about the Book of Mormon.

The publisher, E.B. Grandin, started selling the Book of Mormon at his bookstore for $1.75, in Palmyra, New York, on March 26, 1830.

You can learn more about the print shop here and take a virtual tour.

Watch the video below done by my husband’s cousin Lynne Hilton Wilson to learn of the history of the publication of this book, which is sacred scripture to millions of people.

Below the video you will find some interesting screenshots from the video.

It’s published in 97 languages in the complete format, with excerpts in 20 languages.

The timeline below shows some interesting events that led up to is printing.

The publication of this book was a huge project! Joseph Smith placed an order for 5000 copies, when the usual order at the Grandin print shop was around 600 copies. It took 12 men working 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, for several months, from the fall of 1829, until March 26 1830, when it first went on sale.

What’s more important than the facts surrounding its publication is how it has borne witness of Jesus Christ and changed people’s lives. I have read it, love it, and prayed about it to God, asking to know if it’s true. The Holy Ghost has borne witness to me that it’s true.

If you want a list of amazingly beautiful plain and precious truths in the Book of Mormon go here, then scroll down about 2/3 of the page to the heading that says “Book of Mormon Times at a Glance: Some Statements of Gospel Principles.” The first principle on the list is “All good things come from Jesus Christ and persuade us to do good,” from Ether 4:11-12.

Go here to read the story of an Italian man, a Protestant minister, who found a copy of the book with the cover missing, read it, and started preaching from it, even though he didn’t know the name of the book. He eventually got baptized by missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you go to that link at the start of this paragraph, you can also watch a mini movie about him that the Church made, at the end of that blog post.

Here’s the story of a man who read the book as a Jewish teenager when he was preparing to be a rabbi, got converted to Jesus Christ, got baptized, and served a mission for the Church. Now he is a chaplain for the U.S. military.

Over here we have a story of a man who asked, “Isn’t the Bible enough?”

Then this video below shows a woman, wife of an Air Force man, mother of 4, and native of the former Soviet Union. She was 18 when the USSR broke up. She tells her story of finding the Book of Mormon in Ukraine and becoming a believer of it, after she failed to prove it wrong. Amazing!

My Family Devotionals Ebook has more stories about the power of the Book of Mormon changing people’s lives, in the March section. Go here to get the ebook.

Want to play a Book of Mormon-themed Wits and Wagers game? Go here!

Go here to get your own copy of the Book of Mormon. Read it online here. It’s true and it will change your life infinitely for the better if you let it!