History has borne out this truth as illustrated in the scriptures and Church history as will our obedience to Him.

1) Importance and Value of Scriptures
What God requires:
In the Book of Mormon, Nephi and his brothers returned to Jerusalem following God’s commandment to Lehi to have them “go unto the house of Laban and seek the records and bring them down hither…” (1 Ne 3:4) before continuing their journey in the wilderness. Through faith and the Lord’s help, they obtained the plates.
The ‘reason thereof’?
Nephi knew that “it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers; and that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets ..since the world began” (1 Ne 3:19-20).

On searching the plates of Laban in detail, Lehi found that they “.. were desirable… even of great worth …” because “ ….we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children” and that “… it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us” (1 Ne 5:21-22).

The ‘great worth’ and ‘wisdom in the Lord’ is apparent some 400 years later when we compare Nephi’s people with the people of Zarahemla:
Like Lehi and his family, they had “…come out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried captive into Babylon…”, had “…journeyed in the wilderness…were brought by the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them.”
But unlike Lehi’s family’s experience, “their language had become corrupted… and they denied the being of their Creator” and had remained so until Mosiah taught them in his language and shared his genealogy with them.
Why? Because they “…they had brought no records with them.” (Omni 1:15-16).

2) Loss of The 116 Pages of Manuscript
What God requires:
Nephi declared “….I have received a commandment of the Lord that I should make these (small) plates for the special purpose that there should be an account engraven of the ministry of my people” (1 Ne 9:3) “..for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not. But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all of his words.” (1 Ne 9:5-6) (emphasis added)
The ‘reason thereof’?
In April 1828, Joseph Smith began translation of the plates. After 116 pages had been written, Martin Harris pressed to be allowed to show them to his family. Joseph was subsequently permitted to hand them to Martin to show to only specified family members. However he also shared them with others and the manuscripts became lost.

God, knowing this would happen and that any re-translation of the lost 116 pages of manuscript would be compromised, and wanting Joseph (and all men) to know that His work “cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught”(D&C 3:1) despite what man might try to do to thwart it, had Nephi make the other set of plates covering the same revelations and teachings some 2,400 years earlier; and Mormon to include them in his abridgements. Both did not know why.

What God Requires Today
In our day, God also ‘requires’ us to do through His living prophet, President Gordon B Hinckley, who gives the ‘reasons thereof’’. Some of these are:

1) Read The Book of Mormon
What God ‘requires’:
“…members… to ..read or reread the Book of Mormon.. before the end of this year (2005).”
The ‘reason thereof’?
If we do so “there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolve to walk in obedience to His commandments and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.”

2. Pornography
What God requires:
“..We do not have to view salacious magazines…. read books laden with smut….watch television that is beneath wholesome standards…rent movies that depict that which is filthy…..sit at the computer and play with pornographic material found on the Internet.
The ‘reason thereof?
“..we can do better than this. We must do better than this. We are men of the priesthood.…it will be amen to the effectiveness of that priesthood for anyone who engages in the practice of seeking out pornographic material…”

3. Tithes and Offerings
Tithes - What God requires:
“It is the Lord's law of finance…”
The ‘reason thereof’?
“…I remind you, and those who do not pay tithing but who should, that the Lord has promised marvelous blessings” (see Mal. 3:10–12).
“..if members "even living in poverty and misery . . . pay their tithes and offerings…though meager…will have rice in their bowls and clothing on their backs and shelter over their heads.
“He has also promised that "he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming"” (D&C 64:23).

Fast Offerings - What God requires:
“…a fast offering….costs the giver nothing other than going without two meals a month.”
The ‘reason thereof’?
“It becomes the backbone of our welfare program, designed to assist those in distress.”

4) Serve Mission
What God requires:
“…my dear young friends, I hope all of you are pointed in the direction of missionary service.”
The ‘reason thereof’?
“…I can promise you that you will grow as you have never grown in a similar period during your entire lives. …. a happiness that will be unique and wonderful and lasting……that you will reevaluate your lives, that you will establish new priorities, that you will live closer to the Lord, that prayer will become a real and wonderful experience, that you will walk with faith in the outcome of the good things you do.”

5) Learn and Do Our Duty
What God requires:
Now, brothers and sisters, we must do our duty, whatever that duty might be….”
The ‘reason thereof’?
“Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God.”

(6) Be Spiritually and Temporally Self-Reliant
What God requires:
“…so live that we can call upon the Lord for His protection and guidance. This is a first priority.”
“..I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family.”
“…begin with a one week's food supply…gradually build it to a month…then to three months….gradually build toward a reasonable objective.”
“Save a little money regularly…get out of debt ….discipline yourselves in matters of spending, in matters of borrowing, in practices that lead to bankruptcy and the agony that comes therewith.”
The ‘reason thereof’?
“We cannot expect His help if we are unwilling to keep His commandments….”
“The Lord has said, "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30).
“None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us”
“…the Lord will bless us, and watch over us, and assist us if we walk in obedience to His light, His gospel, and His commandments.”
“If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts.”

(7)Temple Activity And The Family
What God requires:
“I urge our people everywhere…live worthy to hold a temple recommend ..secure one and regard it as a precious asset, and …make a greater effort to go to the house of the Lord and partake of the spirit and blessings to be had therein.” The ‘reason thereof’?
“The ultimate purpose of all we teach is to unite parents and children in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they are happy at home, sealed in an eternal marriage, linked to their generations, and assured of exaltation in the presence of our Heavenly Father”
“…if our people would attend the temple more, there would be less selfishness in their lives… less absence of love in their relationships….more fidelity on the part of husbands and wives….more love and peace and happiness in the homes of our people. There would come into the minds of the ..Saints an increased awareness of their relationships to God our Eternal Father and …the need to work a little harder at the matter of living as sons and daughters of God.”

Fundamental Principles To Enable Us To Learn To Do
To enable us to do as God requires us, through His prophets, we must:
(1) “Believe in God;
believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth;
believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth;

“believe that man doth not comprehend all things which the Lord can comprehend.” (Mosiah 4:9) Why?
Because “ .. my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways saith the LORD.”
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” “…my word …that goeth forth …shall not return unto me void, but ..shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:8-11)

(2)“Believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you;…” (Mosiah 4:10) through Him whose “…blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam…(Mosiah 3:11) because “..there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:17)

(3) “…and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them” (Mosiah 4:10) This we do by following the prophet, because “I the Lord, …called upon my servant Joseph Smith Jun., …and gave him commandments..and also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world;”(D&C1:17 - 18) for “..whether by mine own voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same.” (D&C1:38)

We will then discover the principle that “true doctrine understood changes behavior better than the study of behavior will change behavior”(Boyd K Packer) and in applying it we can look forward with confidence to our ‘mighty change of heart’ as described by Alma (see Alma 5) and qualify to eventually “enter into my (the “Lord’s) rest.”(Alma 12:34)