february 5, 2013 is the day i finished reading the Book of Mormon for the very first time.
i always knew the scriptures were/are important. i went to church every sunday as a child and relied on my parents' testimonies to know whether the LDS church was true or not. i never really had doubts about it. i started developing my own testimony when i hit the ripe age of 12 and had entered young womens. there was a time in young womens when one of my awesome YW leaders challenged us to read the entire Book of Mormon. she gave us a chart and said that when we finish she'll give us a present. i hopped to it. i read and colored in the sections of the chart i had finished reading BUT i started to slack off. that was my problem, i wasn't very good about finishing things i wasn't really into in the first place. i really started reading just to get the prize. but i found the scriptures are hard to read. i was dozing off a lot (most likely because i was reading at the worst times and in the worst places: late at night and warm in my bed.) i was also having a hard time understanding the scriptures. they were written wayyyy back when and the writing language is just different. but shoo, i could knock out one of the huge harry potter books in a few days. the time came when my fellow young women announced in class that they were done reading the BOM. the teacher praised them and gave them their presents. i felt embarrassed being the only one that didn't finish so i raised my hand and announced that i finished reading as well. i totally lied and i totally still feel guilty about it. the present was a church music CD and i knew i didn't deserve it, even if it was just a CD.
fast forward to high school, the age where going to seminary was a must for the LDS teen. seminary back east was at 6 in the morning. it seriously sucked waking up so early but i sorta liked going to seminary. it was a chance to hang out with my friends and to be honest, it meant not having to ride the school bus. i LOATHED riding the school bus. and i went all 4 years of seminary. and i remember one of those years (2005) when prophet gordon b. hinckley challenged all members of the church to read the BOM and to finish by the end of the year. the seminary teacher pulled out a chart with the class' names and she kept track of everyone's progress. and yet again, i lagged behind. i had thought to myself, well there's no way i could finish by the end of the year so why even try? this time around there wasn't a prize given out but i could see my peers' happiness in accomplishing something the prophet asked us to do. i just never had my heart into it. even in school, if we had to write a book report on a book i didn't care about, i would just watch the movie based on said book and called it good.
the college years were full of religious classes that i really enjoyed, i loved hearing my professors' perspective of certain scriptures. but yeah, still haven't read all of the BOM.
and then i got married. and being married makes you completely comfortable with your spouse that you don't feel the need to hold things in anymore and can feel comfortable enough to let your spouse know what you're exactly feeling. well i can be such a grump and whine about the dumbest things (i know you're so surprised, alyssa? grumpy?) being the awesome missionary that he is, brett made me realize the true importance of the Book of Mormon. when i get in my pouty moments, he would ask, "have you read your scriptures lately?" and i HATED that question cuz i knew he was right. when i would read my scriptures i did feel better, not just about our current situation but about life.
brett challenged me to read the Book of Mormon for 30 mins a day. and i did. i won't tell you exactly how long it took me. i did slack off for periods of time here and there but i finished. i had to change my habits so i wouldn't snooze. i read in the mornings while everton and i ate breakfast. i didn't have the tv nor my computer on.
there were times when i didn't even understand what i was reading. but brett told me that it didn't matter, as long as i was reading. and times that i did understand i got really into it and i read longer than 30 mins. i noticed that i was a more pleasant person when i read. everton seemed to not drive me nuts like usual. i became even more in love with my husband than i already am. the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and the miracles He performed here in the Americas. i feel closer to my Savior than i did before. and today when i read the last chapter of the Book of Mormon i came across this verse...
"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
and so i did that. when i finished the last book in the Book of Mormon, i knelt down in prayer asking my Heavenly Father if what i read was true. then i felt His spirit pour into my heart like liquid and a confirmation told me that the Book of Mormon is indeed true and that Jesus Christ did live on this earth and died for our sins. And that through the power of the Atonement we can live as Eternal families in Heaven. and i think that's the best present of all.
i can't tell you how many times i started reading, "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents..." over the years of my life, or how many times i needed to read the BOM to help me through things i dealt with in my life, but never finished because of pure laziness. but i sure am glad i finally read it and i definitely plan on reading it over and over and over.
sorry for the novel. but i felt it was important to write down all my feelings about the Book of Mormon so that my little gentleman and my future kids can learn to love reading the scriptures and not be slothful about reading like their mother did.
