Becoming a Witness

In Doctrine and Covenants Section 5 we read about Martin Harris wanting to become a witness to the golden plates. I thought it was interesting that the Lord gave Martin some specific instructions of what he needed to do in order to prepare himself to be a witness...

• humble himself in mighty prayer and faith (v. 24, 28)
• have a sincere heart (v. 24)
• prepare to bear testimony that they are true (v. 25, 26)
• make covenants (v. 27)
• repent (v. 28)
• keep the commandments (v. 28)
• exercise faith in the Lord (v. 28)

Obviously we aren't needing to prepare ourselves to be witnesses of the golden plates, but we are expected to be witnesses of the Book of Mormon, and there are other things in our day that we need to be prepared to be witnesses of.  Some of the things I can think of are...

• The life and mission of Jesus Christ. 
• The importance of marriage and family. 
• The prophet Joseph Smith and his role in the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So how do we gain a witness of these things? The same spiritual instruction that Martin Harris received from the Lord applies to us as well. In order to be a witness of the Book of Mormon (or any aspect of the gospel of Jesus Christ ) we have to do some preliminary work in order to prepare ourselves to receive that sure knowledge. Just like Moroni says in Moroni 10:4, we have to have a sincere heart and real intent if we want to know the truth of all things. By doing those things listed above, we are showing the Lord our sincere hearts and our real intent to become a witness of the things we need to know.  

It's also good to note that the Lord warned Martin Harris that if he did not receive a witness then he would fall into transgression. (v. 32) The lesson we can learn here is that by participating in the process of preparing ourselves to be a witness we are also participating in the same process that offers us protection against falling into transgression. As we work to improve in one area of life, God multiplies our efforts and we are given greater rewards than we expect. (Mosiah 2:22) So as we qualify to become witnesses we are also given the blessing of increased protection from the adversary.