I’ve
already written a couple of entries to this blog, but I didn’t want to publish
it to my friends until I’d written an introductory explanation of what I’m
doing. I’m not going to take it
personally if no one reads this blog, because I’m writing it primarily for me. If someone else reads it and somehow benefits—that’s
even better. J But it originally came to be as a tool for me
in my personal scripture study.
Over
the summer, I was pondering what I can do to improve my study habits. On my mission there was always more to study
than there was time to study it in, and now it’s sometimes hard to decide how
to fill my daily goal of 30 minutes with something really meaningful. I noticed that usually I would just read
something I’d read countless times before in the same way I’d always read it,
and learn nothing besides the same things I always learned. I knew from experience that there was a
better way, and that my study could come to mean so much more to me than
that. I decided it was time to start
putting more effort into my study, and direct that time more purposefully and
intentionally.
I
admire my dad for his study habits. He
always seems to be learning something new and real from the scriptures. I noticed that he had compiled several study
projects. Most recently, for example, he
published a declaration of his beliefs about Jesus Christ for all of his
friends to see. He searched out scriptures
that defined the attributes of the Christ that he believed in, and wrote
segments about each of these attributes.
When he was done with this project, he had a beautiful, printed,
finished product to show for it—something he could keep, share, and refer to
forever after. What a valuable resource
he had created!
Pondering
this study technique, I approached Dad one day and asked him about his
scripture study projects. He showed me
some I’d seen before and a bunch I didn’t even know about. He had created his own detailed harmony of
the gospels’ descriptions of the last week of Christ’s life. He had written about various specific topical
studies, examining all of the resources available to him to learn about these
things in depth.
I was
inspired. I began to talk to Dad about how
I could try this study method and how it could be beneficial to me. I loved the idea of working hard with an end
in mind, and creating a study tool that I would want to keep and refer back to
throughout my life. I brainstormed a few
projects and got to work.
The
first project I undertook was a chart of the people, places, and events of the
Book of Mormon. I realized I had read it
dozens of times but still didn’t have the big picture in my head of how all the
stories fit together. This project is
still in progress. I’m very excited
about how it’s going so far—it challenges me and has already helped me to
better understand the book that I love so much.
This
could then be called the second of my study projects. About a year ago I felt prompted to start a
list of the scriptures that had really come to mean something to me. I titled the list “Soul Treasures”, because
these scriptures had at different points in my life spoken to my soul, playing
a part in my personal development and often providing beautiful answers to my
prayers. Some of these stories are in my
journal, but I liked the idea of writing about each of them specifically, and
describing what I’ve learned from these sacred experiences. I hope that if you decide to take the time to
read them, you can understand a little better why I am what I am, and how much
my faith really means to me. Thanks for
checking it out!
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