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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Book of Mormon Reading Challenge

IMG_8537Back in May our Bishop had challenged the youth to read the Book of Mormon this summer before September 1st. I feel like sometimes we have too many challenges given to us at church and I usually don’t participate in them. However, it has been a loooong time since I’ve read the Book of Mormon all the way through, so I decided to do it. I started on May 17th and finished today.

I had to have this schedule to keep me on track and then I am also a visual person so I printed off the Temple reading chart so I could color it in as I went and see how much progress I was making. I also have 20 pages of notebook paper (front and back) filled w/ notes and personal insights.

A few themes that I noticed throughout my reading are the following:

pridecycle-edit

  1. The pride cycle. When they people were righteous they prospered and were blessed. Then they became too comfortable in their prosperity and pride ad other sins started to creep in. Pretty soon the majority of the people were wicked, so Heavenly Father had to chasten them. That led to humility and repentance. Then it starts all over.
  2. The gospel is very simple. These 5 principles & ordinances are mentioned over and over.
    1. Faith
    2. Repentance
    3. Baptism
    4. Gift of the Holy Ghost
    5. Endure to the End

There is a great promise at the end of the Book of Mormon which reads, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.” ~Moroni 10:4

I already knew that the Book of Mormon is true, but after I finished reading it all the way through this time I wanted to try this promise. I wanted a confirmation that what I already knew is true. It was a very spiritual and personal experience, but I did receive that confirmation. The Book of Mormon is most definitely another witness of Jesus Christ in connection with the Bible and other Holy Scriptures. I am thankful for the guidance and light it has been in my life the past 90 days.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 64; emphasis added). I know that to be a true statement b/c I’ve personally experienced it.

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