Book of Mormon 60 Day Challenge: Day 2

1 Nephi 6-10

     Unlike the first days reading, this reading included multiple stories, much like the book itself. First, Nephi and his brothers must once more return to Jerusalem to pick up a good family friend and his daughters so they can be married and what not. Then, Laman and Lemuel rebel against Nephi and bind him, but because of his great faith, Nephi breaks the bounds. This is where I found my principle for today, but we will come back to that. Once they return to Lehi in the wilderness, it is revealed that Lehi has had a vision. So the vision of the Tree of Life is within this reading. This story is really cool and I love the lesson of the Tree of Life but I have heard and studied it so many times that I really don't feel the need to focus on that story, especially when I found a principle that I think is much more important to me today. So I guess we've come full circle...onto my principle for today!

If I exercise faith in God, then I can "break the bounds" of men

This principle is one that I think many people already know deep down but can easily forget about. Breaking bounds seems like something that would be out of date now and totally not applicable today but a bound is simply something that binds you or holds you back. There are so many modern day bounds that maybe don't even seem like a bound. One example is language. Harsh language is something that almost every single person I associate myself with uses, it is just a part of the social norm, and I am not excluded from maybe slipping up in this category. This is a struggle that so many people face but so few attempt to change and by either refraining from using this language or trying very hard to not, you are exercising faith in God and his will that that language isn't used. By showing this faith, even in the small things, you are inviting the spirit into your life and having Him as a constant companion makes avoiding the bad things even easier. Breaking the bounds of men (not in some crazy feminist "down with men" way, mankind in general) allows for our hearts and minds to be more open and susceptible to the spirit and its teachings, which will without a doubt make it easier to continue to do so as time progresses. Showing faith in God, even in the smallest things can be so difficult sometimes but when we do there is no end to the blessings we will receive.

Book of Mormon 60 Day Reading Challenge: Day 1

1 Nephi 1-5

     The first section of reading for this challenge is the first 5 chapters of 1 Nephi. This kind of seems like a lot of reading but it really isn't too bad and it all encompasses one story.

     This section starts of the book so it starts with an introduction that basically every mormon knows. "I Nephi having been born of goodly parents...yada yada yada" but even though I have read the first chapter about a million times I still think its important to read. Obviously this would be an important chapter because it's the very first one and so many people read it so many times. So I pushed through and read the whole 5 chapters. This is the story of Nephi and his brithers getting the plates from Laban so I was pretty familiar already but one thing that I do when reading scriptures is I look for one principle that I want to focus on, sometimes I know what I am looking for beforehand but other times I just let inspiration come to me, and then I try to find that principle throughout the story. The principle that I found while doing this reading was: 

If I keep the commandments of the Lord, even when they seem crazy or hard, then I will be blessed. 

This seems like a no brainer but keeping all of the commandments is something that I struggle with daily. Yeah, there are the big 10 that are super easy to follow, don't kill, don't steal, etc., but what about the smaller, everyday commandments? Only have one piercing in each ear, obey the word of wisdom, be careful with your language. These smaller commandments are so hard to follow because Satan uses the small things to break into your heart. Obeying the commandments is meant to be a blessing and meant to improve you overall, which in the long run they do, but short term it is extremely difficult to maybe see some of your friends out doing the things you know you should not and then they all have a fun time without you. Keeping the commandments is something that is crucial to our eternal well-being and I know that. It is something that I can sometimes struggle with because I am growing and that is how God's plan is formulated. It isn't supposed to be easy to get into the Celestial kingdom, but it is totally possible. Keeping the commandments is forming a habit of doing what God wants and believing that it will turn out well. Like Nephi there are days where there is no doubt in my mind that I should just do what God says, but there are also days where I can be like Laman and Lemuel, constantly questioning God's motives and why I should listen to what He has to say. This is humanity, and it is normal to question things, but it is important that what we do question we still obey because God knows what is best and by listening to Him we will become strong and powerful beings.

Book of Mormon 60 Day Reading Challenge

The Personal Progress program is a program within the LDS church that improves skills and relationships that women and girls sometimes overlook. This program is similar to the scouting program and is often forgotten or overshadowed but is still very important. It teaches not only gospel doctrines but also introduces girls ages 12-18 to skills and activities they might not have been involved in before. One requirement before completing the Personal Progress program is reading the entire Book of Mormon. This is one of the only things I have not done and as I just graduated high school I have the summer to do so. In order to finish I am participating in a 60 day Book of Mormon reading challenge. Reading a book in 60 days honestly doesn't seem too bad, it ends up only being around 5 chapters a day, which for a former APLIT and APLANG student isn't all that much. I am hopeful that because of this challenge I will finally be able to finish such an important book and that by documenting it on this blog I will be forced into learning something along the way.

Welcome!

     Well...what is there to say? I am an 18 year old who has literally just entered the adult world, having never actually worked a day in my life and being totally afraid to start college. I am terrified of dinosaurs, elevators, and corn fields, and I absolutely will not watch a scary movie of my own free will, but I do enjoy reading and I am 100% dedicated to the arts and theatre. I live my life how I think I should and seem to be pretty happy about it so I don't think I will change much as I enter college but that all depends on who I meet and what experiences I have. I am a firm believer that experiences shape who a person is and how they behave and I like to think of my self as an optimist. I am left handed and if you ask me about it I can give you a whole speech on why this world is made to make me suffer and how I am at a serious disadvantage being a southpaw.
     What do I plan to do with this blog? Hopefully it will turn into something that I can look back on and see my college experience and, cross your fingers, not regret too much when I have kids. I figure in such a technological world it is valuable to document what I do with my life and its easy to put it out there via my laptop. I think that this is a good way to share my story and keep it as somewhat of a journal system but still not replace the handwritten. We have been given this great gift of technology so why not use it?
     Basically, welcome to my blog. It's probably super boring but I am not doing this to please anybody besides myself so I don't care if you like it or not.