90 DAY BOOK OF MORMON READING CHALLENGE & WHAT I LEARNED FROM ELDER KAY

Last month in our mission council, President Mann and our mission leaders decided to challenge each missionary in our mission to read the Book of Mormon together in 90 days.  (This is a suggestion made in "Preach My Gospel", Chapter 5 about the Book of Mormon.) While reading, we also invited the missionaries to underline the following things:

1.  Blue:  each reference to Jesus Christ (any of His names or pronouns referring to Him)
2.  Green:  each reference to the Doctrine of Christ
3.  Red:  each reference to obedience
4.  Yellow:  Christ's words (spoken by Him, or by prophets when they say, "Thus saith the Lord").

And then we gave our missionaries the option of choosing another theme to mark with a different color.

I posted the mission calendar on our mission Facebook page (Mexico City Southeast LDS Mission) and I was surprised at how many families commented that they were going to join us in reading and studying the Book of Mormon in 90 days.  A mother of one of our missionaries even said that their 9 year old son said he wanted to join in and read the Book of Mormon for the first time.  I was thrilled!

Since beginning this reading calendar two weeks ago, I have been able to ask many missionaries about their experience reading the Book of Mormon.  I have been so pleased to hear their positive comments about this group goal.  Many of them challenged their families to join them reading the Book of Mormon as well.

One of our missionaries, Elder Kay, told me his parents and siblings back home were joining us in this project too.  He says the whole family reads one of the assigned chapters together, and then each family member reads the other assigned chapters on their own each day.  I thought this was a great idea.

Elder Kay also went onto tell me that at the very beginning of his mission, he heard a training done by Elder David A. Bednar, where Elder Bednar says he gets a new clean paperback copy of the Book of Mormon and marks it specifically to answer a personal question.  He does this over and over again, answering various questions.  After hearing that idea, Elder Kay chose to do the very same thing in his study of the Book of Mormon on this mission.

He got a clean paperback copy of the Book of Mormon and wrote a question inside the front cover, "What is my purpose in this life?" and then as he read he underlined everything that answered that question.  In the blank pages at the end of the Book of Mormon, he noted his favorite scriptures that answered that question for him and then he wrote what he found to be the answers to that question.  He also wrote his testimony of the truth of what he learned and felt while reading and responding to the question.

And after he did it one time - he did it three more times so far here in the mission.  So he got a second clean copy of the Book of Mormon and wrote the question "How can I find peace and joy?"  And then the third time, "How can I better use the Atonement in my life?" and the fourth time, "How can I stay away from temptation and sin?".  And now his fifth reading of the Book of Mormon with the whole mission, he told me he will mark all the things the mission is marking, but also marking answers to his current question, "How can I be a better missionary throughout my life?"

He says on his desk in his apartment he has the four completed copies of the Book of Mormon with his answers, all lined up ready to review and use.  He says it is his goal to carry on this practice throughout his life and he hopes that one day he will have a whole shelf in his own home with all his copies of the Book of Mormon marked for each important question in his life!  What a great goal!

And this is the work, testimony and practice of a young missionary who is 20 years old.  What a testimony!  What a framework for his life!  What a worthy goal to always be a disciple of Jesus Christ!

I can tell you, every day I learn so many inspirational things from these missionaries here in the great Mexico City Southeast Mission.  What a royal generation--they are truly the "Hope of Israel"

***********************************VIVA MEXICO*********************************

                                         

These are the Primary children in Barrio Villada, Estaca LaPerla.  Today was their Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting - which was just wonderful.  There were a few more little boys who didn't make it into the photo.  

Mexicans are very loving people. When you go to church, women and children greet each other with hugs and kisses on the cheek.  Men greet with hugs and a pats on the back.  It is warm, welcoming and wonderful!   No one can go away from a Mexican church meeting unnoticed, forgotten or unloved!  Truly!  Mexicans are loving and generous to everyone.  

The two little girls arm in arm on the front row sang a duet together with their arms around each other and when they walked back to their seats they held hands.  It was the sweetest thing!

       
In Mexico frequently eggs are sold like this in a plastic bag by the kilo. Eggs are not refrigerated even in the big grocery stores.  Eggs are quite economical.  Quite often boiled eggs are included as a side dish  at any meal - more often than we would use them in the United States.

President Mann and I love all our missionaries!  I just had to include this photo of him carrying Hermana Diaz's (very heavy) pink backpack for her in the airport as she completed her mission and was returning home to the Dominican Republic.