Years ago, a 10-year-old girl received a gift from a woman who told her, "This is a very special book. Take care of it. Treasure it."

The girl eagerly opened the little book. "Why are some words printed in red?" she asked as she looked at one of the pages. Her older friend said, "Because they are important. They are words that Jesus spoke."

"Really? Jesus said this?" the child asked, pointing to one of many verses. "Yes," her friend said.

The girl was amazed. At any time, she could open the book and look for what Jesus had said.

In the years that followed, she discovered that the person who had given her the gift was right: It was a special book. A red-letter edition of the New Testament, it was small enough to fit in a pocket; she sometimes carried it around with her. Although she didn't understand everything she read in it, the girl treated it with care and treasured it all through her childhood. It was one of the few tangible things for which she mourned as an adult when a fire destroyed it along with a portion of her home.

A convert to the Church and now a gospel doctrine teacher, she realizes that the New Testament itself — and not just her little red-letter edition of it — is one of the world's great treasures.

All of us ought to recognize its incomparable value. Youth and adult classes have just completed a Sunday School course of study of the Old Testament, wherein are recorded prophecies of the Messiah's coming. During 1999, the course of study for these classes focuses on the New Testament and its record of the living Jesus of Nazareth, His immortal teachings and the sayings of His chosen servants.

This treasure-trove of holy writ enriches us with gems of wisdom and thought, and with pearls of inspiration and understanding.

In the New Testament, we read of the angel's annunciation to Mary and of Jesus' birth at Bethlehem. The accounts recorded by Matthew and Luke provide enough details so that we, too, can marvel with shepherds and wise men at His glorious birth in humble surroundings.

With the turning of each page, a magnificent account of a great life unfolds to us. We find few references about the boyhood of the Christ child, who "grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom." (Luke 2:40.) Through printed words, we see Him as a Man among men who ministered to the meek and lowly. We read of how He gave strength to weak limbs, bestowed sight to blind eyes and restored life to bodies that lay dead.

In the New Testament, we can find nourishment in Jesus' offering of the bread of life. We can slake thirst forever by drinking from the well of living waters to which He guides and invites us to partake.

The Savior's teachings were expansive but the record of what He said is brief. Speaking at the October 1979 general conference, Elder Howard W. Hunter, then of the Quorum of the Twelve, said: "The life, acts, and teachings of Jesus can be read rapidly. . . . The Master used few words in His teachings, but each one is so concise in meaning that together they portray a clear image to the reader. Sometimes, however, many hours might be spent in contemplation of profound thoughts."

In different books, chapters and verses of the New Testament, we gain added knowledge of His mortal life and ministry. We learn of the kind of love that surpasses all understanding, of the qualities of mercy and demands of justice as we read of His atoning sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane, sacrifice on the cross atop Golgotha's hill and resurrection from the garden tomb.

Through the pages of the New Testament, we are tutored along with His apostles to whom He gave counsel and admonitions before His death and issued divine commissions after His resurrection.

While the New Testament leaves out many details of the Savior's life, it is still the most thorough record known of His mortal mission and ministry. But we are blessed to have a companion volume of scripture, the Book of Mormon — Another Testament of Jesus Christ, that also tells of the Savior.

In addition to learning from the Savior's teachings, we will be enriched as we read in the New Testament many writings and teachings of servants He authorized to preside over His Church. By learning of the Church He established in the meridian of time, we recognize the principles and ordinances that distinguish His Church of the Restoration.

If we study in seriousness the New Testament, along with the Book of Mormon, certainly we will learn of those teachings and precepts that will bring us closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to God, the Eternal Father.