Family Goal Completed

Last year, in September, we started reading the Book of Mormon every day. We figured we try and get through it as a family. In January, the Stake Presidency challenged the stake with the goal of reading the Book of Mormon. So we kept going.

Every night, we'd pass the book around. Everyone would read.(Bonus blessing: everyones reading fluency improved like crazy!) Whatever we read, we'd color in with a crayon. Different colors all year.

Sometimes we would fall behind. Sometimes Mom and Dad were too tired. Sometimes the kids had to remind us to read. Sometimes we would listen to an audio version if we were traveling long distances, or on our way to church. Sometimes just because, sometimes because we needed to catch up. We read the last chapter on Christmas Eve.

What we ended up with was a really colorful Book of Mormon (why did we choose pocket size?! That thing was small and hard to read!), three kids who can say they read the book of Mormon cover to cover before they are 12 and who, 2 parents who can say it is possible to accomplish a reading like this with small children, and a pretty good bedtime routine.

But mostly we ended up with a family of individuals who can say they understand the conflict between the Lamanites and Nephites and other ancient inhabitants of the Americas a little better. A family who talked more about the importance of family records and the dangers of the pride cycle. And first and foremost, a family who can testify that the Book of Mormon truly is another Testament of Jesus Christ. That it's main focus is to bring people to him and his teachings. I think we've felt that.

We have so much more to learn and grow. We've only scratched the surface of what we can learn from it's pages. But it's a pretty good foundation and start for our family.