After reading just the title of the article I thought of the many verses like these that are written throughout the Book of Mormon:
2 Ne 1:9, 20, 31
9 Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their inheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever.
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20 And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.
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31 Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful thy seed shall be blessed with his seed, that they dwell in prosperity long upon the face of this land; and nothing, save it shall be iniquity among them, shall harm or disturb their prosperity upon the face of this land forever.
I have a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and that these principles are vital if we want to prosper in this land which God has given us. Lehi was teaching his children that if they wanted to be successful in the new land which they had come to, they had to obey God's commandments. It's a simple principle, and we can see it demonstrated throughout the Book of Mormon and also today. Whenever people became prideful, greedy, and wicked, the people suffered--for example, they became vulnerable to attacks from the Lamanites, they were cursed with famines, and they fought with each other--sometimes to the point of civil war. If they repented, they were able to heal--physically, temporally, and spiritually, and they prospered and had great joy.
This same concept applies today. One of the greatest reasons that people suffer in the United States today is because they do not keep the commandments of God--many people do not love their spouses or value the family, they commit whoredoms and abominations, they are greedy and covetous and dishonest, they are not willing to work, and they even deny the existence of God and the right of others to worship Him. These and many more things are causing poverty, sickness, and grief. We cannot prevent all suffering--part of the reason we are here on this earth is to endure trials, because without enduring trials there are many things that we could not learn. However, much of the suffering that occurs on this earth is because of sin and disobedience to God's commandments, and this iniquity prevents us from prospering in the land. There is an increasing number of people who insist that sin and disbelief in God are not the problem--they blame it on the government, big businesses, racism, and even the Christians. But in many ways they are wrong. God has given us this land, and the only way that we can fix the problems that exist here, heal from our many kinds of wounds, and prosper again in the land is by repenting and obeying His commandments again. So our greatest source of strength is God, and the only way we can receive that strength is by obeying and trusting in Him.
That's why we need to be missionaries and share the Book of Mormon with people--to convince them to obey God's commandments. And it's not just about prospering in the land during earth life. It's about building God's kingdom and helping to bring about the eternal life and exaltation of as many people as possible. The hard work of the prophets and people of God in the Book of Mormon to convert people to the gospel and convince them to repent was a very effective means of establishing peace again in the land, and it will work for us too.
Several of the prophets of the Book of Mormon speak directly to us and tell us they have seen our day. I sometimes wonder if they slapped their foreheads and said, "AAAAAHHHH! They're going to do it again! Why don't they get it?"
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