Reading Scriptures

Just before the start of 2008, our bishopric challenged our ward to read The Book of Mormon by April 15, an average of 5 pages per day. On days Melvin doesn't work (and other days when we have our act together), we read together. We aren't often organized enough to read together in the early afternoon, so during the week I often read by myself.

In an effort to read before I get too caught up in a number of other activities and before I'm tired enough to fall asleep mid-paragraph, I've started to do my scripture reading while feeding Sterling for the last time before I put him to bed. (In case you didn't know, while nursing is a good time to read. Otherwise you're just sitting there. Just make sure you put the book on the correct side first.)

Dallin has begun to read with me lately. He likes to climb out of his bed half a dozen times before falling asleep at night. It's like a little game he plays: sneak out into the living room, give Mom a mischievious little grin, go with her back to his room, repeat in five minutes (or sooner). When he comes out and sees me reading my scriptures, he runs to get "his." He comes back into the living room carrying Melvin's pocket-sized Spanish hymnal, sits down near me on the couch, and starts to "read." He seems to know that I can't get mad at him for being out of his bed if he's reading scriptures. He's right. It's pretty cute and I love that he wants to participate.

I've just received several emails about participating in The Hinckley Challenge - reading The Book of Mormon in 97 days to honor our late prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley, and his love of the scriptures. I think it's a great idea. We're already in the middle of Mosiah, so I'm not going to start over, but I might try to pick up the pace a little bit and finish in 97 days. (Our current schedule puts us at finishing it in 106 days.) If you haven't heard about The Hinckley Challenge, you can check it out at http://www.hinckleychallenge.com/. Happy reading!