Jacob 6-7

Today's Reading:  Jacob 6-7
Ponder & Mark:  Jacob 6:12

2 Nephi 19-23

Today's Reading:  2 Nephi 19-23
Mark & Ponder:  2 Nephi 21:12

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

~ Joseph Smith

What part do you play in these prophecies?

2 Nephi 14-18

Today's Reading:  2 Nephi 14-18
Ponder & Mark:  15:20-21

“Today’s popular entertainment often makes what is evil and wrong look enjoyable and right. Let us remember the Lord’s counsel: ‘Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.’ Pornography, though billed by Satan as entertainment, is a deeply poisonous, deceptive snake that lies coiled up in magazines, the Internet, and the television.”

~ Elder David E. Sorensen

What helps you to see things for what they really are?

2 Nephi 10-13

Today's Reading:  2 Nephi 10-13
Mark & Ponder:  2 Nephi 12:2-3

“I can visualize an army of righteous youth prepared and worthy to attend the temple. I can see families sealed together for eternity. I can see youth who understand what it means to be ‘saviours … on mount Zion.’  I can see youth whose hearts are turned to their fathers.  And I can envision youth growing up in such a way that they will come forth from the temples filled with strength to resist worldly pressures. I can see a generation of youth who will ‘stand … in holy places, and be not moved.’

~ Sister Elaine S. Dalton

Why do you think Isaiah compares the temple to a mountain?

2 Nephi 8-9

Read:  2 Nephi 8-9
Mark & Ponder:  2 Nephi 9:50-51

“Keeping everything in balance can be a real problem …Often the lack of clear direction and goals can waste away our time and energy and contribute to imbalance in our lives. …Our main goal should be to seek “immortality and eternal life.”  With this as our goal, why not eliminate from our lives the things that clamor for and consume our thoughts, feelings, and energies without contributing to our reaching that goal?”

~ Elder M. Russell Ballard

How do you spend your time, money and energy?

2 Nephi 4-7

Read:  2 Nephi 4-7
Mark & Ponder:  2 Nephi 4:15-16

“No father, no son, no mother, no daughter should get so busy that he or she does not have time to study the scriptures and the words of modern prophets. None of us should get so busy that we crowd out contemplation and praying.”

~President Spencer W. Kimball

What is it that brings a person to love the scriptures?

2 Nephi 2-3

Today's Reading:  2 Nephi 2 - 3
Ponder & Mark:  2 Nephi 2:25, 27-28

“Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.”

~ Joseph Smith

What brings you true happiness?

1 Nephi 22 & 2 Nephi 1

Today's Reading:  1 Nephi 22 & 2 Nephi 1
Ponder & Mark:  1 Nephi 22:26

“If Satan could but capture our minds, he would have won the battle and the war. He can only do this if we let him. If we refuse to walk with him, he will have no power over us, for God gave us our free agency and Satan cannot take it away. So what I am suggesting is that we refuse to even walk on the same street with Satan. In other words, not only should we avoid evil, we should avoid the very appearance of evil.”

~ Bishop Victor L. Brown

How can Satan be bound in his efforts to influence you?

1 Nephi 19-21

Today's Reading:  1 Nephi 19-21
Ponder & Mark:  1 Nephi 19:23

“May I commend you faithful Saints who are striving to flood the earth and your lives with the Book of Mormon. Not only must we move forward in a monumental manner more copies of the Book of Mormon, but we must move boldly forward into our own lives and throughout the earth more of its marvelous messages.  This sacred volume was written for us—for our day. Its scriptures are to be likened unto ourselves.”

~ President Ezra Taft Benson

How do the things you read in the scriptures relate to your life?

1 Nephi 17-18

Today's Reading: 1 Nephi 17 - 18

Ponder & Mark: 1 Nephi 17:45

“Inspiration comes more as a feeling than as a sound…We do not have the words (even the scriptures do not have the words) which perfectly describe the Spirit. The scriptures generally use the word ‘voice,’ which does not exactly fit. These delicate, refined spiritual communications are not seen with our eyes, nor heard with our ears. And even though it is described as a voice, it is a voice that one feels, more than one hears.”

~ President Boyd K. Packer

What things have you felt while reading or praying?

1 Nephi 15-16

Today's Reading: 1 Nephi 15-16
Mark: 1 Nephi 15: 23-24

“If there is any one thing most needed in this time of tumult and frustration, when men and women and youth and young adults are desperately seeking for answers to the problems which afflict mankind, it is an ‘iron rod’ as a safe guide along the straight path on the way to eternal life.”

~ President Harold B. Lee

1 Nephi 13 - 14

Today's Reading:  1 Nephi 13 - 14
Ponder & Mark:  1 Nephi 14:14

“This great American nation the Almighty raised up by the power of his omnipotent hand, that it might be possible in the latter days for the kingdom of God to be established in the earth.”

~ President Joseph F. Smith

Nephi saw that “other books” would come forth through the gentiles.  What important things would the “other books” do?  What are those “other books”?

1 Nephi 11-12

Today's Reading:  1 Nephi 11-12
Ponder & Mark:  1 Nephi 11:20-23

“You need time to meditate and ponder, to think, to wonder at the great plan of happiness that the Lord has outlined for His children. You need to read the scriptures….I heard President David O. McKay say to the members of the Twelve on one occasion, ‘Brethren, we do not spend enough time meditating.’”

~ President Gordon B. Hinckley

How often do you take time to ponder, to meditate on  things that are  important?

1 Nephi 6-10

Today's Reading:  1 Nephi 6-10
Ponder & Mark:  1 Nephi 10:17-19

“The intensity of our desire to share the gospel is a great indicator of the extent of our personal conversion.”

~ Elder Dallin H. Oaks

What was Nephi’s response when the people in the strange building mocked him and the others who were partaking of the fruit?  Why?

1 Nephi 3-5

Today's Reading:  1 Nephi 3-5
Ponder & Mark Scripture:  1 Nephi 3:7

“I have learned not to put question marks but to use exclamation points when calls are issued through inspired channels of priesthood government.”

~ Elder Russell M. Nelson

Why did Laman and Lemuel murmur?  Why did Nephi support his father?  What determines whether you are a murmurer or a supporter of the Lord’s work and His prophets?

Welcome!

I am starting this blog so that I can stay focused on reading the Book of Mormon in 99 Days and also to encourage others to do the same.  I hope that as we read the Book of Mormon together we will feel closer to Heavenly Father, the Savior and each other.  Please comment with your own reflections of the scriptures and your testimony!!