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In these photographs that I took in Mexico City’s amazing National Museum of Anthropology, we see something exceedingly rare which was one very common — written books from Mesoamerica. The Spaniards found thousands of books when they arrived in southern Mexico and were alarmed about the potential for blasphemy and Satanic influence in these books that the natives revered so highly. They did the natural politically correct thing and wiped out nearly all traces of that which they did not understand or agree with. Centuries of knowledge were wiped out in the great book burning fires of the Conquistadors. Only a tiny handful of Mayan codices have survived. What a terrible loss!

The sacred ancient records we have today, such as the Bible and the Book of Mormon, were preserved at great cost by many looking forward to future generations. Some gave their lives to protect these records and keep them from being destroyed by enemies. Nevertheless, millions today are not allowed to read these sacred volumes in some nations, or are unable due to poor literacy. Others don’t want to bother.

The Adversary would gladly wipe out our sacred records. What he hasn’t achieved through senseless burning he can still achieve in our own lives if we refuse to read, or if we refuse to remember and apply the lessons of scripture. They may ban every reference to the scriptures in our schools, but don’t let them be banned from your life. Knowledge of our Savior and the great plan of happiness can be found in them, including the Book of Mormon, one of the most important ancient works from the Americas, miraculously preserved and translated for our benefit today.