I can think of only a handful of books that I've read more than once.  I've read many, many books in my lifetime, but only a few are so good that they merit more than one reading.

I'm on my 31st reading of the Book of Mormon.  There are three reasons why.  One, is because our prophets have instructed us to read from it daily.  Two, is because I get spiritual nourishment from it that I can't get elsewhere.  Three, is because the book gets better, and I get more out of it with each reading.

I have read the Old Testament from beginning to end only twice.  On at least two other occasions I set out to read the whole book, but quit when I was halfway through.

I love the Old Testament.  Everyone should be acquainted with the stories found therein.  But the Old Testament doesn't feed my spirit like the Book of Mormon does.  On the two occasions when I abandoned my reading plan halfway through the book, I did so because I sensed a serious decline in my spirituality.  On those occasions I went back to the Book of Mormon and immediately recovered the lost ground.

I've read the New Testament from beginning to end ten times, most recently just this year.  I particularly love the four gospels, the Book of Acts, and the writings of Peter, John, and the Book of James.  I struggle with the writings of Paul.  His writings constitute one-third of the book.  He has many, many good things scattered throughout his writings, but they're still a struggle.  I love the New Testament, but I was grateful when I finished it this last time so that I could get back to the Book of Mormon.

I recall being astounded to hear that Spencer W. Kimball had read the Book of Mormon 74 times.  I understand now why he did.

I was also astounded early one January when I went home teaching and heard Carolyn Leggett say that she planned to read the Book of Mormon three times in the coming year.  I went home, added up the 239 chapters in the Book of Mormon, and calculated that reading just two chapters per day in the Book of Mormon would accomplish that goal.  I made that my goal, too, and finished my third reading that year on Joseph Smith's birthday—December 23.

When our eldest child was seven, he and I set out to read the book together so that he could say that he'd read the Book of Mormon before he was baptized.  We did it.

I started the same project with his sister who was just younger than he.  He was so excited about the Book of Mormon and about what we'd done that he began reading the book to his brother—my third child.  Every night he'd lie in his top bunk and read to his brother who was in the lower bunk before they'd go to sleep.  Katie and I would be reading in the next room.  It became a race to see which team would finish first.  Ultimately we read the last three chapters of Moroni all together.

The boy in the top bunk went on to read the Book of Mormon half-a-dozen times before he went on his mission.  It was on his mission, as he read the Book of Mormon again and again, that he realized he could read the book once for every year of his life.  He caught himself up.  He's now 37-years-old, and is still on schedule.  He'll eventually beat President Kimball's record.

I can still see the expression on my wife's face when I made an announcement to her.  I'd just come to a realization about something that astounded me.  Because of statements that each of our 10 children—married and unmarried—had recently made, I went to my wife and said, "Do you realize that every one of our children is reading the Book of Mormon every day!?"  She sat down heavily in a chair, put her hand to her breast, and said, "You don't know what this does to me!"  Because I'd just experienced the same sensation, I was able to reply, "Oh, yes, I do."

Our youngest is 13-years-old.  Having just finished reading the Pearl of Great Price, he's ready to begin his 6th or 7th reading of the Book of Mormon.  Fortunate will be the mission president who gets him in another six years.  Fortunate will be those whom he teaches.  Fortunate will be his wife and children.  Fortunate will be his employer, his neighbors, and those to whom he'll minister in his church callings.  The Book of Mormon adds flavor to every area of life.  It's a flavor and outlook that can be obtained in no other way.

 

 

A talk I composed in my mind as I traveled to the temple last week.

 

28 September 2008