“One of the sweetest verses in the Book of Mormon states simply, ‘And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them.’ The promises of the Lord are extended to all those who follow the pattern of life that builds happy, holy marriage relationships. Such blessings come as the delightful, predictable consequences of faithfully living the gospel of Jesus Christ. … Marriage is a gift from God to us; the quality of our marriages is a gift from us to Him” (Clayton, “Marriage,” 85).
“The small book of Fourth Nephi provides a classic example of the steps that lead to apostasy. [Just like the collapse of Nephite society recorded in 4 Nephi, any nation can decay and fall into destruction.] In the first part of this book the historian [describes] an almost perfect society. … [then] step by step the things that led the people from the state of nearly perfect happiness to a state of exceeding wickedness:
“(1) A small part of the people revolted from the church—verse 20.
“(2) The people became ‘exceeding rich’—verse 23.
“(3) Some of the people began to be ‘lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel’—verse 24.
“(4) After the people were built up in pride, ‘from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them’—verse 25.
“(5) The people began to be divided into classes—verse 26.
“(6) The people began to ‘build up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true church of Christ’—verse 26.
“(7) Many churches were established ‘which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel’—verse 27.
“(8) These churches which professed to know Christ did administer ‘that which was sacred [the sacrament] unto him whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness. And this church did multiply exceedingly because of iniquity, and because of the power of Satan who did get hold upon their hearts’—verses 27–28.
“(9) Another church was established ‘which denied the Christ; and they did persecute the true church of Christ, … and they did despise them because of the many miracles which were wrought among them’—verse 29.
“(10) ‘ … the people did harden their hearts and seek to kill’ the few remaining righteous people, including the three Nephite disciples—verse 31.
“(11) The ‘wicked part of the people began again to build up the secret oaths and combinations of Gadianton’—verse 42.
“(12) And finally, the people became ‘proud in their hearts’ and ‘vain like unto their brethren,’ thus ‘both the people of Nephi and the Lamanites had become exceeding wicked one like unto another … ; and there were none that were righteous save it were the disciples of Jesus’—verses 43–46” (Ludlow, Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, 296–97).