22 Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.
The above reference is a verse I know better in Portuguese than English because I recited it from memory at every missionary gathering on my 2-year, full-time mission in Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints some 20 years ago. The verse is Ammon's testimony of the great blessings that are given to faithful missionaries, and he was a great missionary.
In reading from the Maxwell Institute Study Edition of The Book of Mormon I'm learning that a little structural formatting enriches the reading experience and can be a wonderful aide to deeper comprehension. So I'll try my hand at a structural re-rendering of Ammon's declaration (in both languages mentioned):
Yea, he that
- repenteth and
- exerciseth faith, and
- bringeth forth good works, and
- prayeth continually without ceasing—
unto such it is given
- to know the mysteries of God;
yea, unto such it shall be given
- to reveal things which never have been revealed;
yea, and it shall be given unto such
- to bring thousands of souls to repentance,
even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.
Sim, aquele que
- se arrepende e
- exercita a fé, e
- faz boas obras, e
- ora continuamente sem cessar —
a esse é concedido
- conhecer os mistérios de Deus;
sim, a esse será concedido
- revelar coisas nunca antes reveladas;
sim, a esse será concedido
- levar milhares de almas ao arrependimento,
assim como a nós nos foi concedido levar estes nossos irmãos ao arrependimento.
It's apparent from this restructuring that there are four conditions which are terms for becoming eligible to be given certain opportunities and blessings. As with The Book of Mormon in its entirety, we can know that these specific promises are true by following the conditions upon which that knowledge is predicated:
Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would
- remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men,
from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and
- ponder it in your hearts.
And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would
- ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true;
and if ye shall ask
- with a sincere heart,
- with real intent,
- having faith in Christ,
he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
-Michael Whatcott