Day 7: 2 Nephi 25 - 33

"Gentle Healer" by Greg Olsen

This morning I woke up early to do the reading before the day's activities would require my attention. However, it wasn't quite early enough--not when I had to have everyone dressed and fed and ready to go out the door by 8:00 AM. Needless to say, once the day began, it never slowed down. Until now... at 9:00 pm, and I'm finally writing. Sorry to those of you who have told me you like to read the blog and then sit down with your scriptures--I hate to throw things off for you! I'll try again tomorrow...

I LOVED this section of scriptures. There were so many times when I thought to myself--I know that is what I believe, and now I know where it is in the scriptures! I hope I'm not the only one who is that way; I know the doctrine, but I don't know where to find it. I guess that is one reason we're doing this right? Now I just need to learn how to commit those references to memory (Dad, if you're reading this, just remember you were never my seminary teacher--just all of your other children's!).

As I went back and reviewed what I had circled and underlined and noted, a few things seemed to stick out to me--but the most important one was that Jesus Christ is our Savior. There is no doubt that Nephi knew it, he wanted his people to know it, and we too, can know it.

There were so many times while reading this that I wondered how anyone could think we are not Christians. No one could ever read the Book of Mormon without recognizing that we believe in Christ, we follow Christ, we look to Him for our salvation. There can be no doubt, absolutely no doubt about that.

"In His Light" by Greg Olsen

Nephi writes many times about the plainness of his words. You can't say it more clearly than:

2 Nephi 25:26
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophesies, that our children may know to what source we may look for a  remission of their sins.

and
2 Nephi 31:20
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shal press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

I shared a quote early on in this challenge from President Gordon B. Hinckley, but I left out part of it. Let me share it again, in it's entirety:

President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “I would like to urge every man and woman . . . and every boy and girl who is old enough to read to again read the Book of Mormon during this coming year. This was written for the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. There is nothing we could do of greater importance than to have fortified in our individual lives an unshakable conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of the living God. That is the purpose of the coming forth of this remarkable and wonderful book. May I suggest that you read it again and take a pencil, a red one if you have one, and put a little check mark every time there is a reference to Jesus Christ in that book. And there will come to you a very real conviction as you do so that this is in very deed another witness for the Lord Jesus Christ” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 44).

I am sorry that I did not include President Hinckley's full suggestion at the beginning of this challenge, because I have done it and now realize how wonderfully true it is. There are little check-marks all over my scriptures and the impact it has made on me has been surprising. If you can--do what President Hinckley suggested. I didn't do it in red, but somehow those little pencil check-marks have opened my eyes and given me that "very real conviction" that first and foremost, the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ.