Book of Mormon Poll

[skalenfehl]

How many times have you read and/or listened to the Book or Mormon on audio? Feel free to share your thoughts, insights, whether your reading is casual or prayerful. What have you learned from it? What have you learned about yourself? We as a church are studying the Book of Mormon this year. May we prayerfully seek to understand why the Book of Mormon is the new covenant and why we, as a church, are still under condemnation and what we can do to have "greater things made manifest unto us."

Edit: I guess I don't know how to create a poll or it was disabled. I, personally, have only read it about a dozen times in my life. I find this sorely inadequate and am seeking to rectify this. I am pleased to note that I am currently exploring it for the third time this year so far and as of today am on 2 Nephi 3.

Edited February 25, 2012 by skalenfehl

[Vort]

I have read the Book of Mormon about 30 times, all but three of those in English, and have listened to it once. It has changed my view on scripture, on religion, on prayer, on spirituality, and on life. Though I have done many, many foolish things, I have done some wise things, too, such as marry my wife. Reading the Book of Mormon through with my wife at least once every year is one of those wise things.

[skalenfehl]

Thank you, Vort for sharing. That means a lot to me. I want to share an article that everyone should prayerfully read, who are members of the church. Let us be faithful in reading the Book of Mormon continually. And maybe some day soon, we can have the sealed portion of the plates given to us.

LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion

And please read what Christ taught about us in the latter days when he visited the Nephites and taught them:

3 Nephi

7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.

8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.

9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.

10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.

11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.

[Dravin]

I'll be honest I don't really keep track. I'd have to make a concerted effort unless it was based on something like, "I average twice a year so... 5 years active means 10 times." I can't think of any particular reason other than some sort of claim to authority or bragging rights for myself to keep track of it. Note that I am speaking of myself, I am not saying that those who do know how many times are motivated by bragging or use as an authoritative cudgel.

[skalenfehl]

Thank you, Dravin. That is also a good point. When I have read the Book of Mormon two hundred times, it will surely not be because I want to sound a trumpet and it is not the reason for this thread, of course. And certainly not to judge anyone. But we are latter day saints. The Book of Mormon must be central to our lives. It has occurred to me that the Book of Mormon is the least discussed subject on this website, though I could be wrong. But if I am right, then there is definitely something wrong. I only hope this creates enough of an awareness and that more members come forward and put their light on a candle out from under a bushel.

[Dravin]

It has occurred to me that the Book of Mormon is the least discussed subject on this website, though I could be wrong. But if I am right, then there is definitely something wrong.

How are you quantifying a discussed topic? If someone starts a thread talking about the Savior and people quote the Book of Mormon in their answers is that talking about the Book of Mormon? One doesn't have to have a thread entitled, "Importance of Book of Mormon for LDS?" for the Book of Mormon to come up.

Edited February 26, 2012 by Dravin

[skalenfehl]

Good point, thank you. I apologize for sounding judgmental. I'm a passionate man. But the question is simple, really. And if people are answering questions that are found in the Book of Mormon, then it stands to reason that they have read it partially, once, twice or much more. I am simply curious as to how often and what it means to those readers. I wish to learn from you. It is an honest question. I still hope to hear from others, but if not, that is ok, too.

[Guest]

Reading with our children means going pretty slowly. It takes us closer to 2 years to get all the way through. I kind of like it, though, because we take it verse by verse and discuss more than we did before we had children.

In my personal study I haven't really counted. One of my favorite times through was when Pres. Hinckley asked one August that we read from start to finish by the end of the year. I got way behind and read most of it in December. Reading it through in big chunks like I would a great novel was a different experience. I got a clearer mental picture of things as they happened. I'd like to do that again.

[skalenfehl]

Thank you, Eowyn. When I was little, my parents bought a big set of Illustrated Books of the Book of Mormon. Looking at all the pictures made it more impressionable for me as a boy. I know your children will always remember the times they read the scriptures with you. I'll never forget every Monday how we kids gave my mom a hard time during family home evenings, but I've never forgotten that we did have them and I do remember the lessons that she prepared.

[darrel]

We have been counseled to "sup daily" from the scriptures. in the last three years, I have read the Book of Mormon five times, the Old Testament 1 time, the New Testament 2 times, the D&C 3 times, and the Pearl of Great Price 3 times. I have also read the Articles of Faith and Jesus The Christ in that time. My goal is to try to finish all standard works each year. I also try to supplement my reading with "Good Books" on doctrine and inspirational topics.

If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.

[Guest]

That's good to hear, skalenfehl. Sometimes FHE with young kids feels like an exercise in futility.

[Tyler90AZ]

You can never read The Book of Mormon enough times. Sadly, I have only read it once.

[HEthePrimate]

How many times have you read and/or listened to the Book or Mormon on audio? Feel free to share your thoughts, insights, whether your reading is casual or prayerful. What have you learned from it? What have you learned about yourself? We as a church are studying the Book of Mormon this year.

I don't know how many times I've read the BoM--stopped counting about two decades ago. Besides, I don't think how many times one reads the BoM to be important--what matters is paying heed to the message from God found in The Book of Mormon.

I've learned a number of things from the BoM, but the one that sticks out for me right now is the "Nephite Cycle," where the Nephites are blessed, but then become prideful, look down on and despise others (especially the poor and weak) and persecute them, and then God chastises/humbles the Nephites for that. That is an extremely timely message for our day.

May we prayerfully seek to understand why the Book of Mormon is the new covenant and why we, as a church, are still under condemnation and what we can do to have "greater things made manifest unto us."

Is the Church still under condemnation for that? I remember President Benson saying that, but that was 25 years ago. Maybe it still is, and if so, it's probably because of where we, as a Church, are in the Nephite Cycle mentioned above.

Peace,

HEP

[Backroads]

I think I've read it about 7 times...

[JudoMinja]

From cover to cover, I've only read the entire Book of Mormon a few times. I'd like to do better about that, because like Eowyn, I've found that when I do read it all the way through, especially in large chunks like reading a novel, I tend to pick up on things I would not otherwise and get a real good feel for the "big picture" message. I also know that the prophets are advising us to do just such a cover-to-cover read every year and I feel bad for not doing so.

However, I do "sup" from the scriptures every day, and tend to do more topical studies. I read "from" the Book of Mormon everyday, as well as the other scriptures, because I like to search for particular things that are on my mind and really dig into certain topics. With this, I feel I get a very rich study of the gospel, since I will also pull from talks, past words of prophets, ensign articles, and so on in order to go really in depth on whatever is on my mind.

Since I tend to study this way, I can't really pinpoint a number of times I've read anything in particular, but I feel I am very familiar with my scriptures and where I can find verses on certain topics. This actually helped just the other day when I overheard some members at church in between sacrament meetings trying to remember where they could find the passage about putting on the armor of god for a talk. I knew off the top of my head that it was in Ephesians, and with a quick glance at chapter titles was able to direct them to what they were looking for.

I've also found that I tend to come back to the same or similar topics over and over again, always approaching it from a slightly different angle and reading some of the same passages over and over again. With this, I always pick up on something new and gain deeper and greater insights than what I'd had before when reading the same passage. I love studying my scriptures, and I know my life is better for it. I feel stronger, more focused, and more spiritually minded because I strive to understand deep and simple topics and always want to learn something new that I hadn't noticed before in the hopes that I can share my knowledge and understanding with others and do a better job teaching when I am asked to cover a class or give a talk.

[skalenfehl]

Thanks, everyone. I just wanted to create a greater awareness and maybe spark more interest since we're studying this book this year in church. I'm fortunate to be a Sunday School teacher so I get to teach the Book of Mormon. I also notice the Nephite cycle. It happened throughout the book and it seemed more like a series of cleansings, the more I think about it, especially the way converts would migrate to friendly lands, leaving the apostate lands behind to eventually become destroyed and/or corrupt. And it makes me all the more mindful of the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees in Jacob 5, which alludes to the Nephite/Lamanite branch in the Isrealite tree. And Eowyn, you're children won't forget. Keep doing what you're doing!!

:)

[RescueMom]

I've read it several times, never counted though. Last year when I started reading it again in August I set a goal to be done by December, which I did. However, in or about 3rd Nephi I started doing something completely different, I started to write a journal of my feelings and observations of what I had read. Which lead me to a whole different field of study. So this year I started over from the beginning. I am now writing in my journal of the experiences, feelings and thoughts I have for what I read...I also end up digging a lot deeper than just the BoM on the issues, such as finding modern revelation from our Prophets today that correlate with the BoM and how they all tie together. Just Monday I was reading a part of 2nd Nephi, which took me on a journey to D&C 11 and then to a article in the Ensign and back to Isaiah, so after two hours of really studying one chapter in 2nd Nephi I have several pages of journal entries that are specific to me and my thoughts.

I have found it really helps me to do this. It will take me a while to do this, but I am not just reading the BoM to add gold stars by my name to say I did it.

I agree about the Nephite cycles, they are very important for us to study now, right now, right here. They are screaming warnings at us today.

[clevermoniker]

I'll be honest I don't really keep track. I'd have to make a concerted effort unless it was based on something like, "I average twice a year so... 5 years active means 10 times." I can't think of any particular reason other than some sort of claim to authority or bragging rights for myself to keep track of it. Note that I am speaking of myself, I am not saying that those who do know how many times are motivated by bragging or use as an authoritative cudgel.

I honestly do not know how much of a benefit there is to just reading the entire thing. I've read it cover to cover several times. I've read the bible cover to cove twice. For me, I tend to get more out of them both when I am studying the scriptures, and not reading them. Searching for information on a particular topic, or just following all of the different references to see where they lead.

The "Story" of the book of mormon is more fluff than anything else, and that's what a cover-to-cover reading gives you. The real substance requires some digging.

[Dravin]

I honestly do not know how much of a benefit there is to just reading the entire thing. I've read it cover to cover several times. I've read the bible cover to cove twice. For me, I tend to get more out of them both when I am studying the scriptures, and not reading them. Searching for information on a particular topic, or just following all of the different references to see where they lead.

That's a very valid point about using cover to cover as a method of gauging how much studying one has done.