FAIR's Rising Generation

Personal scripture studying on a daily basis can be a difficult habit to form and cultivate. In the past, I didn’t always stay consistent. Some days I would read. While other days I would let the distractions of the world consume my life. Putting off something so important for things that are comparably worthless. At one point, I began to put off studying completely, until I forgot to study altogether. Over the next month and a half my life sunk from the level of “doing all right” to “struggling in misery.” I made a lot of poor choices. Thankfully, my parents noticed my miserable circumstance and pulled me aside. I’m so grateful for their concern for me, just a quick ten minute talk with them set me straight. I renewed my goal to read at one chapter of scriptures a day and promised myself that I would never go to sleep at night without reading at least a verse. So far, I think I’ve been able to keep that promise to myself.

Last August, disaster struck! While I was helping deliver the sacrament to someone, I set my scriptures down while setting up. After we were done, I forgot that I had even brought them in with me, being that I was feeling quite fatigued at the time. It wasn’t till my friend was dropping me off at home that I realized that they were missing! Figuring that they were just at the church building I wasn’t too worried. Later that day, I received a call informing me that I had left my scriptures at the member’s house that I delivered the sacrament to. I was glad to know that my scriptures were safe, but with my scriptures now absent from me, I felt a deep longing to have them back, along with that I felt a voracious hunger to read them. One that I had to satisfy. I grabbed another set that was in my room and began to feed my soul. It was two weeks before I got them back, and when I had compared where I was then to where I was when I lost my scriptures, I found that I had read a bit more than thirty chapters! Then it occurred to me: I had read an average of over two chapters a day. And I loved it! After that, it didn’t take very long for me to finish, and when I started from the beginning the next day, I promised myself to increase my daily minimum scripture study from one chapter to two.

So this it my challenge to you: Increase your personal scripture studies and set a goal of minimum scripture study per day. A chapter a day doesn’t take much more than ten minutes, plus a little more for pondering time. Also, seminary doesn’t count towards this, It should be personal.

Here’s some quick stats:

There are 239 chapters in the Book Of Mormon. You will finish the Book Of Mormon one and a half times a year if you read a chapter per day.

1/day = 1.5 times a year.

2/day = 3 times a year

So on and so forth.

I truly hope that you will rise to my challenge. Because from my personal experiences, I’ve been rather disappointed by my fellow peers knowledge of the scriptures. Let me tell you a quick story: Last year in May, I finished the Book of Mormon for the sixth time– At least I think it was the sixth. I announced this in my Sunday school class when my teacher asked what had happened to us throughout the week that was noteworthy. Everyone in the class, including the teacher, was amazed. Through some discussion on this, I found out, and was, as the scriptures say, “exceedingly astonished” that almost all of my peers had never actually read through the entire Book of Mormon. Many of them said that they had read through most of it in bits and pieces by attending seminary. It was then that I realized why I had most of the answers in Sunday school and Priesthood meeting, (yeah, I was “that guy,”) despite the fact I never once attended a single morning of seminary. (Due to my insomnia, in case you were wondering.)

It is vitally important to study the scriptures. We as the Rising Generation, mentioned in the scriptures and so often by the prophets, must become better versed in the canon of the gospel in order to stand up to the temptations, trials, and tribulations of these latter days. President Spencer W. Kimball addressed our parents several times as youth and young adults, saying: “Study the scriptures. Thus you may gain strength through the understanding of eternal things. …We want our sisters to be scholars of the scriptures as well as our men.” And “Home is where we become experts and scholars in gospel righteousness, learning and living gospel truths together.” I have to thank my parents for heeding this counsel from the prophet. Ever since I can remember, my parents have gathered us together nightly to have family pray and scripture study. I attribute this as one of the reasons I had a greater knowledge of the scriptures, as well as why my siblings and I get along so well. I know this is true, because when my mom started up morning family scripture studies when I was about fourteen, we all got along better. And whenever we would skip or forget our morning studies, our home was more contentious.

I implore you to study daily, and leave my leave my testimony of the scriptures with you. I know that they are true. I testify that they are. Read them. Study them. Search them. Pray to know that they are true. As you study them, they will become dear to you. Share them with others. As you do these things, it will form into one of the most important habits you can ever develop, and you will feel an extra protection about you with an ever increasing measure faith.

–Tommy Lugaresi (As of this publication, I have read the Book of Mormon at least eight times; Having just finished reading it in this month of January.”)