July 6, 2011

Are there any insights from studying the scriptures or attending conferences you would like to pass on to your children?

I have had a recent experience that I have come to wish that I had done much earlier in my life. For some reason there isn’t a lot of emphasis put on reading the Old Testament. In the mission field we studies the scriptures everyday and had a daily reading schedule that included the New testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. It never included the Old Testament. So for the last few years I have wanted to read the Old Testament from start to finish and finally decided to do it. I now understand why it isn’t pushed but I have enjoyed the experience as it has given me a new perspective on the historical part of the history of the Jews and Israel. It has not been easy since I cannot place many of the places where the history is taking place and it is very hard to understand the relationships of how the prophesies are given and what they mean but in the long run I have gained a greater appreciation for the Bible and those stories that we do hear all the time. I can now place those stories in the Bible and know a little more of the history surrounding them. I am almost done and mat never read it from beginning to end again but am glad that I have done it at least once. I have a greater appreciation now though for latter-day prophets that can give us help just as the ones did in the bible but hopefully we will listen better to our prophets than the children of Israel did to theirs. My insights that have come from reading the Old Testament then is that we have our guidance form prophets just as they did so please use them in your life and follow their teachings.