The Book of Mormon

Several weeks ago at church as we were leaving, I was handed (as was all the sisters) a flyer of activities and such for the upcoming month. Attached to this flyer was a paper about a reading challenge. It was for the sisters of the ward to read the Book of Mormon in 30 days. My first thought was "yea, right. Who's gonna do that?" And as I was reading the paper it said, "to complete the challenge you only have to read 18 pages per day."
 

We were driving home in the car and after I read that I said out loud to Kody, "18 freaking pages a day??? Piiffftttt! Who the heck has time to read 18 pages per day? I don't have time to read 8 minutes a day, let along 18 pages! That's ridiculous!" And I was totally turned off to the challenge, and honestly a little perturbed that they "expected" us to do this. I mean sure it could be done, by the older sisters in the ward who don't work, don't have little kids at home, don't do home school, and don't do this and that and the other. Shame on me.
 

After a couple of days of pondering on it all, I repented of my ways. I came to the conclusion that we make time for whatever is important to us. I always have time to check Facebook, or browse blogs, or answer my phone, or check my email, or whatever it is that I want to do. So I thought, Why not make time or want to do this?
 

I've read the Book of Mormon like a novel before, but it's been a while and I thought (and knew) this would be good for me to do. So I said yes to doing the challenge. We were scheduled to start on Jan. 5th, but I started a few days early on the 1st because I thought it would be good to have a few extra days to (1) break it down a bit more so I didn't have to do 18 pages a day and (2) to have a cushion to catch up on reading if I fell behind. Because you never know how life goes with 5 little kids!
 

Well, to sum it up. IT WAS A-MAZ-ING! There were so many things I learned that I didn't know before, or at least didn't remember or realize. And I DID do it in 30 days! it was really enjoyable and a great blessing!
 

Some of the thoughts I've been thinking about and that stood out to me from doing this reading:
 

1. One thing is Alma the younger's faithfulness in teaching the gospel to the people of Nephi. I never really understood how many cities he visited and how many people he labored with in teaching. And even though he was 'stricken in years,' he did not waiver. He never said "Lord, I'm too tired, please have someone else go. Someone who is younger and has more energy." His desire to bring people to the truth, to call them to repentance, was at the forefront of his mind and heart. He even gave up being Chief Judge to go and proselyte. A position, that I'm sure, he probably felt at some point was a good enough calling. But no, he continued on. He fought the tiredness, the weariness of traveling, the mocking, and turning away of people who would not listen. And he taught, with all the energy of his heart. Why? Because he loved the people. It burdened his soul so greatly that his people, in essence his family, would be cast out and would not be saved because of their rebellion. So he labored with all his might physically, mentally, and spiritually to bring them back into the fold.

That just makes me say WOW! What a great guy to work so diligently and love so deeply. He had experienced both sides of the fence. On the one side of living in sin, rebellion, and seeking to destroy the church and people of God. And then experiencing the mighty change of heart and living only to serve God and the people of His church. He fully and completely knew and understood the sweetness and joy that comes with living the gospel. I love his example of love and dedication! I hope to achieve something similar one day when I grow up. :)

 

2. When returning to Zarahemla with King Lamoni, his people, and all the Lamanites that were converted, Ammon's joy is so great and full at the fact that so many people (7 cities) joined the church of God. Ammon glories in the Lord and goes on and on about his joy and how happy he is. I really felt that coming through the pages as I was reading. I can imagine how he probably jumped up and down at seeing the change to goodness in the lives of the Lamanites. And then when Ammon meets his dear friend Alma after being gone so many years, the reunion is a "joyful meeting." So much so, that Ammon is completely overcome with joy that his strength is exhausted and he falls down. Oh, what a sweet reunion that must have been! Makes me want to be penitent and humble enough to receive such joy!
 

3. I love the response of Pahoren to Moroni. His example of being patient with someone who is struggling and taking his heartache out on someone else, is very inspiring. I hope to be like Pahoren and stay calm, patient, and listen to those who may take their stress and worries out on me. And respond with love and kindness, rather then react with being defensive and saying something like "Well don't take your problems out on me. It's not my fault. I have my own things to worry about!" Pahoren was a wonderful example of how the Savior would respond to anyone of us.

 

 

4. On the other side, I LOVE Moroni and the true patriot he was. Raising the Title of Liberty, being willing to stand for truth and righteousness, and fight against his own government for not defending the cause of freedom. Alma 48:17- "...If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." Wow! Reminds me of a quote from Ezra Taft Benson, "Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace." Love that!!
 

5. The word "Remember" (and similar words like remembrance, remembered, etc) appears over 240 times. Fifteen of those are in Heleman 5. I heard once something along the lines that we know everything already. It's just a matter of recalling to our remembrance those things. I don't know if that's totally true, but to me it sounds good. I know that Spencer W. Kimball said that the most important word in the dictionary "could be remember. Our greatest need is to remember....Remember is the word." Why do you think it's so important to remember?
 

6. I've come to learn that how we live does make a difference. The personal righteousness of a few can become a great blessing to others. Even Sodom and Gomorrah probably would have been spared for the sake of even ten people who lived righteous lives. We see this over and over in the BofM and in our own day. Because of a few people who are honest, righteous, and do the will of the Father, large bodies of people are spared, saved, and continue to prosper. Which gives us the chance to help and teach others to be righteous also.
 

7. In 3 Nephi, I love how the Savior teaches the people the Beatitudes. I think it's somewhat or even a large part of a revelation into his own character.

 

 

8. The book of Ether basically summarizes the entire Book of Mormon. I never realized this before. God commands a group of people to leave their land before it is destroyed. They build boats to sail across the sea. They arrive in the promised land. They build up cities, multiply, and prosper. Then turn their hearts away and become prideful and forget God. Prophets come and teach them to repent. They see their wickedness and are humbled. Some kings reign in righteousness and some kings reign in wickedness. People live in captivity and bondage and then are freed. Wars, contentions, pride and humility, just go around and around. And ultimately the entire civilization (millions of people) is destroyed. There is no weapon that can prevail against the righteous, except their own unrighteousness. Simple as that.
 

9. I love how Ether 12 mentions faith 35 times. I'd say it's pretty important!
 

10. And lastly, I really appreciate Moroni's final testimony to the world in Moroni 10 starting in about verse 30. And I love how he states in verse 4 about "receive"ing these things. That he didn't just mean read, but he meant to accept. It's a good reminder to me to make sure I accept it!
 

Okay, I'll stop. Sorry to ramble on. This was a great experience and I'm so glad I did it.
 

"I know the scriptures are true!"