Come, Follow Me 2024: January 8-14
How many times have you read these chapters? How many times have you started the Book of Mormon, read into 2 Nephi, then slowed down through the difficult Isaiah chapters, then given up for a while, then decided to read the Book of Mormon and started again? And when you start again, do you ever feel like you’ve read these chapters so many times it’s hard to feel excited about it?
How do we push through when we feel that boredom start to creep in?
Repetition can lead to mastery
“It is well known that after repetition learning, memory performance can be enhanced and maintained for a long time.”1 As we read the same thing over and over, we will remember it better. But repetition helps us do more than just remember.
“[T]here is power in repetition. Often, repetition is the only possible path to mastery. Playing the same chord sequence again and again, so that we really learn it and really own it, is a necessity. How many times will a budding concert pianist play a sonata before a major competition? How many times did Cezanne stare at and paint his mountain? How many times must a soldier disassemble his weapon and reassemble it before he can do it blindfolded? Many, many, many times.”2
When we want to improve a skill, don’t we often depend on repetition? As we contemplate why we study the scriptures, we are trying to do more than just learn and remember facts. We want to take those principles and live them, and to do that, we need to repeat not only our study, but we need to practice what we learn. The ultimate mastery is to learn by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost, so in that sense, scripture study is an opportunity to practice receiving revelation in a controlled environment.
How can we avoid boredom in repetition?
Ok, so repetition might be good for us. But how can we make it more interesting?
One writer has suggested that to prevent bordom in repetitive tasks, we can “add a unique element,” or “combine multiple repetitive tasks so they can be done together,” or “break larger tasks into smaller ones and plan breaks or rewards at key milestones.”3
It’s the same book, so when you read it, try doing something new or different.
Personally, I started creating a marking system where I made a list of topics I wanted to look for, and I chose a different color for each topic. Each time I read the Book of Mormon, I create a new marking system so it helps me to find something new. These are some of my most recent marking systems:
- The Sacrament: Blue (covenant to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ), red (covenant to always remember him), green (covenant to keep his commandments), and yellow (the promise that we may always have his Spirit to be with us)
- The covenants we make in the endowment: Blue (law of obedience), red (law of sacrifice), green (law of the gospel), orange (law of chastity), yellow (law of consecration)
- The new Preach My Gospel Manual (this is the one I’m doing this year): Blue (Lesson 1, the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ), Yellow (Lesson 2, the Plan of Salvation), Green (Lesson 3, the Gospel of Jesus Christ), Red (Lesson 4, Becoming Lifelong Disciples of Jesus Christ)
Before I start reading the scriptures again, I buy a blank set of scriptures (I prefer to read paper), then ponder for a while about what I might need to learn, and choose a marking system. Having a blank set, and seeing my progress of what I’ve marked, provides motivation for me as I see my progress. It has been a great way for me to feel motivated, and each time I read the scriptures it feels like an entirely new experience.
If you are struggling, try something different. A soft cover Book of Mormon is $2 at the distribution center. So maybe buy a new book, and start with a blank slate. Think of a marking system with a theme you want to learn, and start coloring in your book.
Elder David A. Bednar explained an interesting way he studied the “gathering”:
“I identified and made copies of every scripture in the standard works that included any form of the word gather. I next read each scripture, looking for connections, patterns, and themes. . . .
“As I reviewed the scriptures about gathering, I marked verses with similar phrases or points of emphasis, using a colored pencil. By the time I had read all of the scriptures, some of the verses were marked in red, some were marked in green, and some were marked in other colors.
“Now, here comes the part that may make you laugh. I next used my scissors to cut out the scriptures I had copied and sorted them into piles by color. The process produced a large pile of scriptures marked with red, a large pile of scriptures marked with green, and so forth. I then sorted the scriptures within each large pile into smaller piles. As a first grader I must have really liked cutting with scissors and putting things into piles!”4
Personally, I have never considered cutting verses out of the scriptures. But this shows the creativity that we can use to study differently. So try something different.
What have I learned in these verses?
1 Nephi 1-5 contain some of my all-time favorite verses. Here are some of my thoughts:
- 1 Nephi 1:20, “I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.” A major theme of the Book of Mormon is the enabling power of the atonement of Jesus Christ.5 As we read Nephi’s writings (1 and 2 Nephi), we see story after story of how people were strengthened as they exercised faith in Christ and worked to accomplish the things the Lord had asked them to do.
- 1 Nephi 2:3, “And it came to pass that [Lehi] was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him.” Nephi is not simply being redundant. He is not saying, “he was obedient so he was obedient.” Instead, Nephi is saying that his father had the trait or attribute of obedience. That was his nature, so when the Lord commanded him, because he was obedient, he always did what the Lord asked. Obedience is not just something we should do, it is an attribute that we should develop.
- 1 Nephi 2:20-21, “[I]inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper . . . . And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.” We often see blessings paired with the consequences of disobedience. In this case, “prospering” is paired opposite “being cut off from the presence of the Lord.” So what does it mean to “prosper”? I don’t think it means temporal prosperity. President Dallin H. Oaks said, “Those who believe in what has been called the theology of prosperity are suffering from the deceitfulness of riches. The possession of wealth or significant income is not a mark of heavenly favor, and their absence is not evidence of heavenly disfavor.”6 So if the blessing of “prosper” is not wealth or significant income, and if its opposite is being cut off from the presence of the Lord, what is it? This is a major theme of the Book of Mormon, so it is worthwhile to ponder the meaning of this promise.
- 1 Nephi 3:28-31, Laman and Lemuel “smote” Nephi and Sam “with a rod,” and after an angel visited them and said, “ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands,” but after the angel left, Laman and Lemuel said, “How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?” Why did they still doubt even after seeing an angel? This demonstrates that a desire for “proof” will never result in our conversion. Think of all the people who didn’t believe in the Savior during his mortal ministry. They saw him face to face, they witnessed his miracles, but didn’t believe. Think of the sign of his birth in the Americas, a day and a night and a day with no darkness, after which, “there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those signs and wonders which they had seen.” 3 Nephi 1:22. The only way to be converted is through the power of the Holy Ghost. See Matthew 16:13-17.
- 1 Nephi 4:6, “And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” Faith is and always has been the first principle of the gospel. We are led step by step, and we need to trust the guidance we receive through the Holy Ghost.
- 1 Nephi 5:1-8, why did Nephi mention that his mother complained? I think this shows the humanity of these people. The scriptures so often show us amazing things (such as when Elijah called down fire from heaven, 1 Kings 18:17-40), and in this story we hear a faithful woman complaining. But she is not criticized or condemned. She was not rebuked. Instead, she was comforted (see 1 Nephi 5:6). She was was humble, and so once she saw evidence that the Lord was guiding her family, she allowed herself to be comforted and she rejoiced “exceedingly.” We are humans, subject to frailties, and so we all likely complain from time to time. But we need to learn to look for the Lord’s blessings. We need to be humble and willing to see the hand of the Lord in our lives.
These are just a few things I love in these chapters. What have you learned?
References
- Zhan, Lexia et al. “Effects of Repetition Learning on Associative Recognition Over Time: Role of the Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex.” Frontiers in human neuroscience vol. 12 277. 11 Jul. 2018, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00277, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6050388/. ↩︎
- Eric R. Maisel Ph.D., “Is Repetition the Key to Daily Practice-or Its Killer?”, Psychology Today Website, September 18, 2020, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rethinking-mental-health/202009/is-repetition-the-key-daily-practice-or-its-killer. ↩︎
- Healthline.com, “Preventing boredom,” https://www.healthline.com/health/boredom. ↩︎
- David. A. Bednar, “A Reservoir of Living Water,” BYU Speeches, February 4, 2007, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-a-bednar/reservoir-living-water/. ↩︎
- David A. Bednar, “In the Strength of the Lord,” BYU Speeches, October 23, 2001, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-a-bednar/strength-lord/. ↩︎
- Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “The Parable of the Sower,” Ensign, May 2015, 34, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2015/05/saturday-morning-session/the-parable-of-the-sower?lang=eng&id=p14#p14. ↩︎