Although I
grew up inactive, the Book of Mormon has always been a part of my life. I was baptized at age 8, where I received my
first copy. It sat atop my closet, not
really touched or read.
I attended
church sporadically, mostly with friends and socially. Once I turned 12, my Young Women’s leader
brought over another Book of Mormon. She
left it on my doorstep and when I opened it, it had her testimony inside. I remember thinking how sweet it was that she
had taken the time to write her testimony inside and how great it was that she
had brought me over another Book of
Mormon to add to my collection.
In High
School, I signed up for seminary with other friends of mine, and watched them
as they opened their scriptures that were highlighted and marked and
referenced. I was envious of their worn
scriptures as I looked at mine, still brightly shining and smelling new. As I started dating, I met an active boy who
was preparing for a mission. We wrote
his entire mission and he would send me care packages from Germany. Inside one care package, was another Book of Mormon. This one also had his testimony written
inside, but also highlighted scriptures—just like the girls in seminary. He had taken the time to reference scriptures
and bookmark his favorites. And there
it sat, atop my closet next to my collection. Occasionally I would take them
down, flip through them and try to understand what I was reading. But, not really absorbing what I had read or
understanding what any of it meant. I
couldn’t understand how members read scriptures daily, or how they studied
them, or what it was that I, personally,
needed to learn.
President Gordon B. Hinckley
(1910–2008) made this promise to you: “Here you are on the threshold of your
mature lives. You … worry about school. You worry about marriage. You worry
about many things. I make you a promise that God will not forsake you if you
will walk in His paths with the guidance of His commandments.”
So I read
and then I stopped. And I read, and then
I stopped. And I struggled with the
material, and I was unsure of what I was reading. And I now know what it was I was
missing---Faith. Faith in the Book of
Mormon and the faith that it is true.
Elder Todd
Christofferson is quoted as saying “The central purpose of all scripture
is to fill our souls with faith in
God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ.
But what is faith? And how does one GAIN faith?
Elder
Quinton L Cook gave a talk in 2008 “Strengthening Faith as You Seek
Knowledge”.
He breaks down Faith into
5 steps.
1. Understand that their truly is opposition in all things.
The choices you make are critical.
Prior to meeting Caden, I didn’t have much
direction in life. I knew I wanted to be
a nurse and how I was going to do that.
However, I had no eternal plan.
I made choices that affect me eternal salvation frequently.
As Caden and I got closer, and we talked
more seriously about marriage and our relationship goals, we realized how
important it was to both of us that we had an eternal family. I wanted my children to have the gospel not
just be a part of their lives, but to completely consume them. I wanted to live a life that completely
encompassed the gospel.
But, how do we get there? Where do we
start?
2. Strenghten your testimony as a foundation
for all the
choices you make.
I met with my YSA bishop and I got to
work. We discussed my personal goals,
and the goals of Caden and I together.
And his advice to me was simple: Read your scriptures, Say daily prayer,
and attend all your meetings. Scriptures. There it was again. But, I had tried this before and it didn’t
work. I decided to give it another try. I pulled down the scriptures hiding in my
closet and opened to the first page. I
began reading just a verse a day and then a chapter a day. It felt different than the first time, and I
understood more than I had before. My faith had already grown in just a few
short months, and I could feel the difference
once I began to read.
3. Seek knowledge diligiently, wisely and humbly.
I began asking more questions and getting
more answers. I started saying daily prayer before I would read, and finish
with a night prayer to help me remember the things I had learned. I became hungry for knowledge and wanted to
absorb as much as I could. Caden and I
took a seminary class together at Weber State, and we attended a Family and
Relations class through his home ward.
The more I attended, the more answers I got. My faith now was real and it was
constant. I was receiving answers to
prayers, direction in my life and guidance as to what the next step would
be.
As we continued our scripture study, we
learned to grow as a couple. Caden would
text me versus he read that night and I would respond with what it meant to me
personally. He would send his
interpretation. We not only grew as a couple, but our testimony had grown
exponentially in just a few short months.
It was FAITH that kept us
reading, and FAITH that helped us
towards our goals of an eternal marriage and a forever family.
Caden and I finished the Book of Mormon together
the night before we were scheduled to be sealed for time and all eternity.
4. Follow your prophet as you make your choices.
So, we finished the Book of Mormon. But, scripture study is not over. Elder Cook suggests we Follow the Prophet to
strengthen our faith and what better way to follow the prophet than to study
his current revelation by reading the ensign and listening to conference. As a Mom of two little girls, life gets
hectic. So, a great way for me to study the scriptures is to listen to a
conference talk in the mornings as I get ready.
Joseph Fielding Smith: “When one of the brethren stands
before a congregation of the people today, and the inspiration of the Lord is
upon him, he speaks that which the Lord would have him speak. It is just as
much scripture as anything you will find written in any of these records, and
yet we call these the standard works of the Church… the word of the Lord, as
spoken by other servant, is just as much
the word of the Lord as the writings and the words of other prophets in other
dispensations”
5. Live so the atonement can fully efficacious in your life.
Flash forward 4 years, and we now have a
beautiful growing family. My faith in the scriptures is strong and ever
growing. My faith in the gospel is solid
and continues to be solid. We have two children who have been born into
the covenant and are sealed to us for time and all eternity. I have a husband who holds the priesthood and
the knowledge and strength that brings to our family. And I have a love for my
savior, for the gospel and for my ever-growing testimony. And I have a love for the scriptures, for
modern day prophets and for this church.
Isan S. Arden is quoted from the Ensign saying: “As we engage with God in sincere prayer,
read and study each day from the scriptures, ponder on what we have read and
felt, and then apply and live the lessons learned, we draw nearer to Him.
God’s promise is that as we seek diligently from the best
books,
‘[He] shall give unto [us] knowledge by his Holy Spirit’
I
understand, now, why reading was so difficult in highschool, and prior to
meeting my Caden and becoming active again in the church. At that time, I
wasn’t living the gospel, I didn’t have the spirit with me and I hadn’t said
any prayers. I was reading the Book of
Mormon in the way I read Harry Potter.
Page by Page with no pondering and no faith that what I was reading was
true. With no FAITH.
I knew how
to read the scriptures, page by page and line by line. But, I didn’t know how to really study the
scriptures.
So, how do you do it? Where
do you start?
Step 1—Make
a commitment. Like picking up a book of
Harry Potter, I had agreed to read the Book of Mormon. I didn’t know how much I was going to read,
or how often, but I had committed to reading the entire thing.
Step 2—Start
Where You Are. Coming from an inactive
home, with no family home evening and no regular church attendance, I didn’t
have a solid foundation in the church. I
didn’t grow up knowing the Book of Mormon stories and I was literally starting
from basics. And that’s okay. I was starting from ground zero, but it was a
start.
Step 3—Pray
and Seek the Spirit. Reading cover to
cover doesn’t help and I didn’t learn anything without the spirit with me. I needed to pray, I needed the spirit to
guide my path and to help me understand what it was that I was reading.
Step 4—Set
Goals. I started with just a verse a
day, then a chapter, and then I was reading more than a chapter at a time. It was a slow start, and sometimes I had to
read and re-read and read again, but I was setting goals to read the Book of
Mormon and I wanted to achieve it.
Step
5—Personal Application. I learned
personal application best through seminary.
I had an amazing seminary teacher who wouldn’t just teach us Book of
Mormon stories, but who would than apply it to my current life. It is amazing to me that one story can apply
to me as a pre-teen, then later again as a high school student, then later
again as a newlywed and then later again as a mom of two children. The story is the same, but it means
something a little different each time I read it.
Step
6---Take Notes. I think back often to
the girls in my seminary class and their Book of Mormons full of color and
highlights. It was a symbol of really
diving into the scriptures, to absorb the stories and to learn from them. Taking notes is a great way to remember what
the sprit was testifying at the time of reading, or what was learned or felt in
that moments.
And again,
the last step. Step 7—Have Faith. This is the step I was missing from the
beginning, the step I wasn’t sure how to obtain. Have faith that the scriptures are true. That the spirit is truly testifying of its
truthfulness and that we can truly rely on the gospel.
(True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 54). “Having faith in Jesus Christ means
relying completely on Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and
love. It includes believing His teachings. It means believing that even though you do not understand all
things, He does. … He is
always ready to help you as you remember His plea: ‘Look unto me in every
thought; doubt not, fear not
I don’t
always understand all things that I read, that I study or that I learn from the
Book of Mormon. But, HE does. He is always ready to help us and to teach
us and to help us draw nearer to him. I am grateful for FAITH—when I don’t understand all things or I can’t comprehend, I
am grateful for the faith that what I am reading is true. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon, for my
ever growing testimony and for my faith
in our Lord and Savior. I’m grateful for
my amazing husband who continues to help me learn and helps me grow, and I’m
grateful for my beautiful children who are a constant reminder to me of what
Heavenly Father must feel for all his children.
I love this church and I say these things in
the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
