Reading Challenge: The Book of Mormon in 90 Days

I received an invitation on Facebook today to take the challenge Summer 2010 - reading the Book of Mormon in 90 days.  The event began on June first.  Though I didn’'t get the invitation until today, I’m not going to let that stop me.  It’s just 6 pages or 2 1/2 chapters a day.  As fast a reader as I am, I’ll catch up fast.  As I write this, I’ve just finished reading the title page – which gives a very brief summary of what is contained in the Book of Mormon, the introduction – a longer summary/testimony of what is coming - and the testimony of the three witnesses.  Yet to come are the testimony of the eight witnesses and the testimony of Joseph Smith, the translator of the Book of Mormon and prophet chosen by God to restore His Church in the latter days.

Anyone interested in taking the challenge but do not have a copy of the Book of Mormon can find the paperback ($2.50) or hardback ($3.00) missionary copy at LDSCatalog.com, available in a multitude of languages, along with all other scriptures available to us.  Or you could even read along online at scriptures.lds.org.  There’s even a reading chart bookmark available at lds.about.com to keep track of your progress.

No matter how many times a person reads the Book of Mormon in his or her lifetime, something new is always discovered.  For example, just a few years ago when I was reading the Book of Mormon – I don’t recall if it was for a specific challenge or if I was just reading it on my own – I was drawn to Mosiah 4:9, a verse I had read countless times before, yet this time it caught my eye with its power and has been one favorite – if not the favorite – verse from the Book of Mormon.

“Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.”

God is our creator.  He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful, All-Loving.  He has infinite understanding of the destiny of His children.  Mankind has a finite understanding, more limited in what we know.  So we must trust in our Father in Heaven, continually strive to live worthy to have His Holy Spirit with us as our companion throughout life, pray to Him with all the energy of heart, take upon us the name of Christ, His Son and our Savior and Redeemer through baptism by immersion through proper priesthood authority and endure to the end, having faith continually and seeking for help in all our doings.

As I read the Book of Mormon this summer, I’ll do my best to blog about what my eyes are opened to, the things I understand as I read.  Mind, this is only my understanding.  I don’t profess to be a scholar of the Book of Mormon, nor to know everything there is to know or understand about this book.  You are only reading the testimony and continued learning of one who has read this book multiple times, will never tire of it, and knows for herself that The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is true, that it was translated by the gift and power of God, and that the fullness of the Gospel has been restored to the earth once more, never to be taken away again to leave the world in confusion.