Favorite Scripture Challenge

by Katy White

A couple of weeks ago, my oldest sister tagged me on Instagram as part of a "Favorite Scripture Challenge." If you haven't already seen this challenge going around social media, I hope you either see it soon or start it in your neck of the virtual woods. You can say MMW & Friends challenged you. :) The rules are simple. Take a picture of your favorite scripture and share the reason why. That's it. :)

I'll admit that this challenge was exceptionally difficult to accomplish. Narrowing down a favorite scripture is like narrowing down a favorite type of Lindt truffle. They're all so different, and I crave their sometimes life-sustaining relief-slash-joy-slash-deliciousness for completely different reasons. Do I need hazelnut? Caramel? Mint? It all depends on the mood and the type of day I'm having. Just like with the scriptures.

Today, I'm going to share with you one a different scripture than I answered when I did the challenge originally, and the next time I post and challenge my friends, I'll share another one, still.

I love this scripture, and I love the hope that the Savior promises us. I consider myself to be a confident person. I've even posted about how much I love myself, for heaven's sake. But sometimes, I have a question that I can't answer on my own. Sometimes, I find myself at a crossroads, or worse, at a dead end where--mysteriously--the way out has vanished. Sometimes, I feel lost and lonely and overwhelmed and like I'm being pulled in too many directions, and I don't know which way is up.

At those times, I have the simplest and best possible solution: to look to my Savior. He is the way up. He is the light at the end of every tunnel. He is the silver lining to every dark cloud. He loves me, and he wants to guide me back, no matter how wrong the turn. So regardless of how badly the world (Satan) tries to obscure my path, I can look to him always and know that I will make it safely home.

He is my light.


So, MMW and Friends, consider yourselves challenged. Post a favorite scripture to your Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr--wherever!--and challenge your friends to do the same. Just flood the world with good. And in the meantime, be sure to respond with your scripture in the comments. :)


   

Search, Ponder, and Pray

by Katy White

Becky is in the great outdoors right now, so she asked me to write for her today! As I've thought about what to post, one thought has come to my mind again and again: the need we each have to search the scriptures, ponder them, and pray about them.

Over the last several months in the LDS church, there has been a lot of controversy and doubt over doctrine from a small group within the church, as CJ posted earlier this week. When questions come up, I've found that I tend to drop my usual scripture study habits and study the heck out of the issue being discussed. As I've done that over recent issues, I've found that I feel...heavy. Sad. Not uplifted. I may read four or five conference talks on a subject. I find that this reading serves to "back up" what I already know to be true in my heart or to refute what I feel I know to be wrong. (I would imagine most people experience this, whether they call it confirmation or confirmation bias!)

As I was rolling around in the muck and mire recently, I prayed to feel uplifted again in my study. I prayed to feel the Spirit. As I prayed, the answer came to me that in all my study lately, I haven't been reading from the one source I've been commanded to read from: the Book of Mormon.

I quickly repented of that oversight and returned my daily study to this holy, excellent, inspired book. As a result, I found the answers I was looking for there, as well as the applications to my life and to our day. It was all in there. Especially the Spirit I longed for.

Have you had an experience like this? Have you found yourself reading or studying without receiving the insight and inspiration you seek? What do you do to make your scripture study as meaningful as it can be?

How My Son Learned to Enjoy the Scriptures

When I started reading the scriptures to my son, I'd read only a verse or two. His mind was on more important things like pulling on his baby sister's limbs and what can I eat next? After our very succinct scripture reading, I'd repeat the verses in a way a four year-old might understand. (After awhile, he caught on and started interrupting my reading with, "Yes, but what does it MEAN?)

Lately I've found a great online tool that has sparked his interest in the scriptures much better than his boring mom ever did. Remember the scripture storybooks we read as children? There are now narrated videos on lds.org you can watch with the storybook pictures. My son loves it. He's always excited to watch another, and he's learning his stories.

Now this fascination with scripture stories is a blessing to see, but er...it's not so much Moses or Nephi or Captain Moroni that he cares for.

No. It's the...

River of Blood!
Goliath!
Laman and Lemuel!
Evil King Noah!
Korihor!

You get the picture. Whenever I pick out a new story, he asks, "Are there BAD GUYS in it?" Yes, my son only cares for the bad guys in the scriptures, and I can only hope it is not because he wants to emulate them.

Whatever gets him reading the scriptures, right?

(You can also find pages from the storybooks at the same link. Really, if you get started you will find an explosion of tools for your children on lds.org. Some of you may already know this, but as a not-yet seasoned mom, the children's side of our church's website is still pretty new and exciting to me.)