Words: Worth A Thousand Pictures

In English I learned that different words can have different effects on the reader. One word can be extremely positive and another can have quite a negative feeling, even though both words have virtually the same meaning. I also learned that words have the ability to change a whole nation or just one person, for bad or for good. The words in a significant piece of writing can be simple like in Common Sense, or extravagant like The Declaration of Independence. Both helped to start the revolution, even though one was more elegantly written than the other, but what mattered was the words inside and the meaning they brought to the people reading them.

In my Book of Mormon class we learned about the same thing and how words can affect generations. Nephi was a great writer and portrayed his trials in such a way that we could learn from them and benefit. He showed his example through his humble and faithful writing by the words he used. Our teacher showed us that words are important, even to the Lord. This being evident when He sent Nephi and his brothers back to Jerusalem to retrieve the brass plates. These plates weren't valuable to the Lord or to Lehi's family because they were of precious gold, they were important because of the words written upon them by all the past prophets. Lehi's posterity would need these plates to be reminded of their transgressions and to humble themselves to become like the prophets of old. These plates served the Nephites and Lamanites in preserving generation upon generation from destruction by keeping them righteous. And all of this because of a few hundred pages of words.

So if words mean that much in our everyday lives, why not be more careful with how we use them. A few simple words can impact someone's life forever, so the next time I am about to write a paper or say something aloud, I'm going to remember that words have power and I have the ability to use them for good.