Book of Mormon Study Skills

 

 

This study guide breaks the Book of Mormon into 12 sections—each about 70 pages of reading per week, roughly 10 pages per day.

 

Seven Hints for Spiritual Success:

 

1.      Decide to make time each day for spiritual growth. 

• True spiritual growth does not come from focusing on the critical activities, nor the leisure activities, and certainly not from wasteful activities, but rather on important activities.  Critical activites are crucial, and often deadline driven events (your job, an illness, a family emergency).  Leisure and true recreation is important, in proportion, but mindless pursuits (mindless TV, computer games, gossiping, etc.,) should be avoided at all costs.  Important activities usually take a back seat to critical activities because they don’t have a deadline.  Important activities are those such as spending quality time with your companion or family, exercise, self-improvement activities, a priesthood visit, a phone call to a friend with spiritual/emotional need.  These are vital to life,  but  are activites often pushed aside for the daily grind of life.   Rarely will anyone ever force you to do this type of activity—but your spiritual life depends on them!
• Scripture study is one of these important activities that no one will force us to do.  But your spiritual growth is important.   For it to happen, one has to MAKE IT happen.  Put a daily plan in place to do something important for yourself.
• Begin each session with prayer.  Remember to ask God for His spirit’s presence, wisdom, understanding. 

 

2.      Develop a discipline to keep your study regular. 

• Make a specific time for 15 minutes of regular study daily. For instance, if evening home life is too busy from working all day, use your lunch break to eat and make time for study.  Another option would be to get up 20 minutes earlier each morning to find quiet time to study. 
• Cut out T.V. and time wasting distractions from your life. Free-time will appear from nowhere.
• If a person reads about 10 pages a day, he or she can read the entire Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and covenants in about 9 months time!  Less than one year, to easily read what many never read in a lifetime.

 

3.      Pray for a testimony of the truth.  Not once, but ALWAYS.

• This hint is for everyone, not just people contemplating their baptismal covenant.  The Book of Mormon makes a clear spiritual truth known in the book of Moroni.  If anyone will ask God in sincerity if these words are His words (i.e. that they are true), God has promised to show the truth to anyone who will openly and honestly ask.  ( see Moroni 10:5)  But everyone needs the continual affirmation of the scripture’s truth—that’s what spiritual growth through study really is:  the process of God continually showing light and truth to His people through the power of the Holy Ghost.  The promise Moroni makes is extended to every person no matter what their station in life, church, priesthood office, etc.

 

4.      Read from the 1908 version of the Book of Mormon, or Restored Covenant Edition, if possible.  

• The 1908 is the authorized version of the RLDS church.
• The 1966 version omits several important forms of speech that contribute to the Hebrew authenticity of the original text.
• Utah Mormon Book of Mormon uses different chapter/verse divisions.

 

 

 

5.      Use a highlighter and/or pen to mark your scriptures.

• Scriptures bring spiritual meaning to your life—many people enjoy highlighting scriptures that bring personal meaning in the moment they are discovered.  These are useful to find later for spiritual strength and witnessing.
• Write cross references in the margins if you care to.  The Book of Mormon is another testimony of Jesus that perfectly meshes with the stories and lessons of the Bible.  Often,  a reader will find truth in one book only to later discover the same truth in the other book.  Cross-referencing helps to solidify our testimony.

 

6.      Keep a notebook handy

• Write these down spiritual understanding as it “hits you.”
• Spiritual study opens spiritual understanding.  Sometimes our thoughts while “in the spirit” are on a higher plane of understanding.  It helps to write these understandings down as they occur for future cohesive understanding.

 

7.      Decide to tell some one something you learned.

• Researchers have proven that orally communicating thoughts and understandings increases retention of the one who shares the ideas.  You can actually understand scripture better if you tell someone else about it!
• One of the best ways to learn is to take the stories and try to explain them to a child.  If what you relate makes sense to them too,
• Sharing scripture with others is one of the best and fastest ways to commit the principles and verses to memory, and one of the best ways to share your witness of Jesus Christ.
• Share life-giving principles.
• Share the history, the lives, the emotions of the people who lived in this land.
• Share the promises and prophesies that God has not forgotten his people.  The scattered will be gathered, and He will return and bless the land.