I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last March I was preparing for Relief Society by reading the lesson to be discussed that day. It was in the President Kimball manual, and the lesson was called "Discovering the Scriptures for Ourselves". The first section of the lesson is a story told by President Kimball of when he attended a meeting and a speaker asked "How many of you have read the Bible through?" He shares his guilt as he thought about how he had read many books, but never read that holy book. After the meeting he went straight home and started to read, beginning with Genesis chapter 1. As I read this part of the lesson I felt prompted to set a goal for myself. I set the goal to read the entire standard works of the Church (The Old and New Testaments, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price) before my birthday in 2008. I had just over a year. I wanted to share the feelings that President Kimball had.

"What a satisfaction it was to me to realize I had read the Bible through from beginning to end! And what exultation of spirit! And what joy in the over-all picture I had recieved of its contents!"

I started immediately with Genesis on March 18, 2007 and today, March 5, 2008 I finished the Pearl of Great Price. I can honestly and truly say I feel as President Kimball did. I have joy in the over-all picture that I have seen. I have read the separate books of scripture before, in seminary or in religion classes at BYU, but I have never read them in this way, one after the other. I enjoyed seeing how each book so closely relates to the others, how the gospel is truly the same now as it was before the world was. Also, I know the purpose of the scriptures is to teach and testify of Christ, and yet I was still struck each day as I read and He was truly the center of what was written. The stories I have learned since childhood unfolded to me it a way that was unlike any other experience. They blended together as I read in a way that made each of them more clear.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed the Old Testament more than I thought I would, and all of the books of scripture were wonderful, but when I finished the New Testament and began the Book of Mormon it was with a great thrill. I felt like I was visiting with an old friend. It was all so familiar to me, and yet I learned much as I read that sacred and holy book once again. The scriptures are truly amazing and I have gratitude in my heart that I could read and be blessed with the Spirit so that I could learn from them.