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.

Day 6: 2 Nephi 10-24

Hi! I’m Brianne and I’m guest posting today. My first thoughts when I realized which chapters I agreed to post about were:

1. Augh! Most of the Isaiah chapters!
2. I’m glad we’re getting through the bulk of the Isaiah chapters in one day.
3. This will give me a good opportunity to really study these chapters since I am writing about them.

Since there is so much information in this section, I decided to focus on:

1. Why is it important for us to study Isaiah?
2. Why are parts of Isaiah included in the Book of Mormon?

Why is it important for us to study Isaiah:

1. We are commanded to read Isaiah. 3 Nephi 23:1 states, “. . . Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.” Really, this is the only reason we need.
2. Isaiah prophesied about our day. It is in our best interest to know and understand his prophecies.
3. Isaiah is difficult to understand. We need to seriously study his words. To more fully understand the meaning of his prophecies, we need to know the history of the people and events that took place in Isaiah’s time. We need to know about the social, political, and religious events of his day.

Why are parts of Isaiah included in the Book of Mormon:

1. I hope Cortney doesn’t mind, but I am going to include a verse from 2 Nephi 25 since it explains why parts of Isaiah were included in the Book of Mormon. 2 Nephi 25:8 says, “. . . I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good have I written them.” Many of the prophecies have meaning in Isaiah’s time as well as in our time and in the future. We have the knowledge available to us to understand it.

2. Nephi states in 2 Nephi 11:2-3 that Nephi, Jacob, and Isaiah all saw Christ. Having Isaiah’s account of seeing Christ (2 Nephi 16) included in the Book of Mormon adds a third witness. “Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word” (2 Nephi 11:3).

Nephi understood the importance of the words of Isaiah. We often learn by repetition. Having Isaiah’s writings in the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon intensifies their importance. These words are so vital that they needed to be in multiple books of scripture. I hope that we can more fully understand the words of Isaiah and take the time to study them.

Thank you Cortney for the 30 day challenge and for asking me to guest post! I have enjoyed the additional study time and I know my testimony will be strengthened through this process.

Day 1: 1 Nephi 1-8

It felt so good to complete this first reading assignment. :) I'm smiling--are you smiling?

Before beginning, I sat down a few days ago and reviewed this:

Then as I read this assignment, I noticed the explanations Nephi gives regarding the scriptures themselves, their origins, their content, and their importance. I particularly liked 1 Nephi 6:4-6

4 For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.

 5Wherefore, the things which are ^apleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world.

 6Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men.

So, there it is, plain and simple--now we know what we can expect from reading the Book of Mormon--nothing less than what is most important, than what is of greatest worth, than what will bring us closer to God. Did anyone else notice these scriptures as you read?

For some time now, it has been my tendency to notice references in the scriptures to men's hearts--and that has been the case with this reading as well. I am always impressed by how often the Lord emphasizes the state of a man's heart. Within these first eight chapters, I noted ten scriptures in which the state of the heart was specifically mentioned. I also noticed many examples and scriptures about faith and obedience. 

I don't intend to give you a summary of what we read today, or full detail about what I learned. The interpretation and inspiration that comes is unique to each of us. But I would like to offer a platform for discussion and comments. The goal is first and foremost to make time for the scriptures--which may not necessarily include time for others' commentary. But in the course of this challenge, maybe sharing a few thoughts here will enhance the experience in a way that will open us all up to greater knowledge and understanding. 

I love the scriptures! 

Happy reading,