Ok, so each year as a church we study, dive deep, into a different book of scripture. We study sections of scripture each week with our families, at church, in our personal study through the Come Follow Me program. There are all kinds of podcasts to listen to to help you understand more, and my personal favorite: We Believe.
And I love it so much. I love that it connects me with something so much bigger than myself.
For the last two years, inspired by a gift my friend gave me, I’ve had a goal to read every word in the books we study. It started with The New Testament because my friend gave me a hardbound copy with large margins where I could write all my thoughts. (I can’t find a link to that one, but here’s a softbound one if you’re interested.)
So I bought myself a Book of Mormon with large margins (you can find one here) when the Come Follow Me program shifted to that book in 2024. And boy, I loved that thing. Once again, like I did with the New Testament, I lugged it all over the world with me and wrote all kinds of insights in those margins. Which made them turn sacred to me.
My biggest epiphany from reading the Book of Mormon last year
Among so many other things, I was struck over and over again about how humility fixes everything. There are so many stories about those ancient civilizations who, over and over again, learn to humble themselves and turn to God. And when they do, they are so much happier.
I talked about this on my last We Believe devotional back here.
I could go on and on about all the things I learned, but for now I’ll just say that I finally finished, all the margins filled in, on our flight to Hawaii for Christmas.
It felt like that constant companion of a book had become such a good friend.
On to the Doctrine and Covenants
For 2025 we are studying the Doctrine and Covenants. And boy, do I have a lot to learn in this book!
This is a trickier one for me, so I’m excited to turn my heart to it and delve in to grasp a deeper understanding. I went a bought my new copy to mark up and read this year:
I’m hoping it will become my “friend” too.
If anyone has any great study suggestions, share away!
Not being LDS I don’t really know anything about this book. I’d love to know why it is trickier for you? I know that’s a personal question but as I’ve never really connected to any books of scripture I’d be really interested to know what makes this harder going (for you) than the bible or the book of Mormon.
Good question. I think it’s trickier for me because it just feels different. It’s more modern, lots of different revelations to keep track of and history to sort through. Maybe it just hasn’t become my “friend” yet as the other books have. So I’m here for it and excited to dive in. I’m planning to read “Saints” as a companion to try to understand it all a little deeper. Every time I read something, even if it’s the same thing I’ve read before, there’s so much to learn, don’t you think? And my mindset makes a difference too. So I’m going in with a ready heart.
Thanks Shawni! I hope you get a lot out of studying it this year.
Oh I’ve loved the Saints books! They’re so well done and were so helpful to me as someone who converted and knew nothing about church history until my 20s.
Oh I’m glad to hear this. I read most of the first volume years ago but then stopped. Excited to pick it up again.
xoxo
Why is it trickier? I thought it Would be easier as it’s modern day revelation?
See above, thanks for the question, good for me to think through.
xoxo
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/doctrine-and-covenants-historical-resources-2025?lang=eng
Surely you have read it and heard versus from it dozens of times by now. Surely you are doing fine with it.
I came across this article from Dr. Anthony Sweat at BYU at the beginning of the year and loved his ideas of what to look for in the Doctrine and Covenants. It is helping me discover this book in a new way. https://rsc.byu.edu/doctrine-covenants-insights/hear-him