SUMMARY of SUNDAY, May 17th Lesson

We had the wonderful opportunity to be taught in Relief Society today by Sister Paula Cox, our stake Relief Society president. She taught Lesson #8 and Lesson #9 from the Ezra Taft Benson manual. Both lessons focus on the incredible blessings of the Book of Mormon and how we can better access those blessings in our families and personal lives.

Sister Cox began by sharing this beautiful and power testimony of the Book of Mormon given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in a recent general conference talk. (Click on the link above to watch this Mormon Message.)

Here are some of the highlights from the lesson today.

• Read Moroni 10:4. "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost." What does this scripture teach us about gaining our OWN testimony and witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon? It isn't enough for us to just READ the words...what else do we need to do?

• Each of us are on our own spiritual journeys. Each of us have different life circumstances and different needs. We need not compare ourselves to each other with regards to how well we think we know or don't know the scriptures, how much we read, or how we read. Our goal is to evaluate where we are, what we are able to do, and to keep moving forward in our efforts to "feast on the scriptures" and to help our families to read the scriptures. 

• Cyndi Cox shared an interesting insight from 1 Nephi, Chapter 8. Read the account of Lehi's dream.  Notice there are 3 different groups of people mentioned by the prophet Lehi...those who find the iron rod and grasp it tightly, those who hold to the rod and then let go and fall away, and those who never even reach for the iron rod. How does the account of these different types of people in Lehi's dream relate to our efforts and dedication to studying and living the word of God found in the scriptures?

• Developing a habit of reading and studying the scriptures is a process that occurs step by step in our lives. We need to celebrate the small successes and recognize that this important habit may look different and continue to evolve through the many different phases of our lives. The important thing is that we are DOING it, making time for it, and helping our families to develop and maintain this habit.

CHALLENGE: Sister Cox challenged each of us to "flood our lives" with the Book of Mormon.  

That may mean something different and have a different "look" in each of our individual lives. How do you seek to "flood your life" with the Book of Mormon? What strategies have worked for you in establishing personal or family scripture study?

Please share in the COMMENT section below! And please add any other comments or thoughts you had today in Relief Society that were important to you!