Day 45

Day 45

Read: Alma 14-16

 Mark: Alma 14:10-11

“The right question to ask is not why good people have trials, but how shall good people respond when they are tried?”

~ Elder Marion D. Hanks

 

“Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long suffering and self-mastery.  The sufferings of our Savior were part of his education.”

~ President Spencer W. Kimball

 

How do you respond to adversity?

Day 44

9/16

Day 44

Read: Alma 12-13

 Mark: Alma 13:2-4

 “God has saved for the final inning some of His strongest and most valiant children…Make no mistake about it – you are a marked generation.  There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time than there is of us…The final outcome is certain – the forces of righteousness will finally win.  But what remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future, will stand in this battle – and how tall we will stand.  Will we be true to…our foreordained mission?

~ President Ezra Taft Benson

 

To what callings do you think you’ve been foreordained?

Day 43

Day 43

GET BACK ON SCHEDULE

Use your reading chart to find the chapters you still need to read to be caught up through:

Alma 11

or

 

If you’re up to date with your reading,

take time to study:

 Alma 5

 

What are some of the questions Alma asks in order to ponder the process of becoming converted or reborn?

Day 42

9/14

Day 42

Read: Alma 10-11

 Mark: Alma 11:42-44

 “What a comfort to know that all who have been disadvantaged in life from birth defects, from mortal injuries, from disease, or from the natural deterioration of old age will be resurrected in ‘proper and perfect frame.’”

~ Elder Dallin H. Oaks

 

How does it bring you hope knowing that because of Christ we will all live again?

Day 41

9/13

Day 41

Read: Alma 7-9

Mark: Alma 7:11-12

“To succor means to ‘run to.’  I testify that in my fears and in my infirmities the Savior has surely run to me. I will never be able to thank Him enough for such personal kindness

 and such loving care.”

~ Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

 

Why is it helpful to remember that the Savior knows what it’s like to have your problems?

Day 40

9/12

Day 40

Read: Alma 5-6

 Mark: Alma 5:14, 26

“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”

~ President Ezra Taft Benson

 

What would someone see in your countenance?

Day 39

9/11

Day 39

Read: Alma 2-4

 Mark: Alma 2:18, 28

 “Safety can’t be won by tanks and guns and airplanes and atomic bombs.  There is only one place of safety and that is in the realm of the Almighty God that he gives to those who keep his commandments and listen to his voice.”

~ President Harold B. Lee

 

Why were the Nephites strengthened by the Lord?  How can we receive the Lord’s help in the challenges we face?

Day 38

9/10

Day 38

Read: Mosiah 29 – Alma 1

Mark: Alma 1:6, 16

 “The Nephite prophets repeatedly identified the wearing of costly clothing with apostasy and failure

to live by gospel standards.”

~ Elder Bruce R. McConkie

 

What might your way of dressing say about you?

Day 37

9/9

Day 37

Read: Mosiah 26-28

 Mark: 26:29-30

 

“You always need to confess your sins to the Lord. If they are serious transgressions, such as immorality, they need to be confessed to a bishop or stake president. Please understand that confession is not repentance. It is an essential step, but is not of itself adequate. Partial confession by mentioning lesser mistakes will not help you resolve a more serious, undisclosed transgression. Essential to forgiveness is a willingness to fully disclose to the Lord and, where necessary, His priesthood judge all that you have done.”

~ Elder Richard G. Scott

 

Why is confession an essential part of repentance?

Day 36

9/8

Day 36

GET BACK ON SCHEDULE

Use your reading chart to find the chapters you still need to read to be caught up through:

Mosiah 25

or

 

If you’re up to date with your reading,

take time to study:

 Mosiah 14-15

 

Abinadi quoted Isaiah to testify of the Savior.  What did Isaiah teach about Christ?  What can you learn about the Savior from Abinadi’s testimony?

Day 35

9/7

Day 35

Read: Mosiah 24-25

Mark: Mosiah 24:14-15

 “We should seek to be happy and cheerful and not allow Satan to overcome us with discouragement, despair, or depression.”

~ Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

 

“The Lord…loves us…, comforts and strengthens us, and enables us to bear our afflictions with patience and fortitude.”

~ Elder George Q. Cannon

 

How can we submit more cheerfully to the will of the Lord?

Day 34

9/6

Day 34

Read: Mosiah 21-23

 Mark: Mosiah 23:21-22

 

“Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.”

~ President Thomas S. Monson

 

When is it most difficult for you to be patient? 

Why is patience important?

Day 33

9/5

Day 33

Read: Mosiah 18-20

Mark: 18:8-10

 “We show by our behavior what we believe. Surely we are standing as witnesses of God when we sustain his living prophets, especially when we know what it means to sustain. We will abide by the direction and counsel of the prophets. We indeed become witnesses when we make this solemn covenant.”

~ Sister Janette Hales Beckham

 

What commitments are part of our baptismal covenant?

In what ways do you try to keep those commitments?

Day 32

9/4

Day 32

Read: Mosiah 15-17

Mark: Mosiah 17:11-12

 

“You don’t need to compromise your standards to be accepted by good friends. The more obedient you are…the more the Lord can help you overcome temptation.  You can also help others because they will feel your strength. Let them know about your standards by consistently living them…No one intends to make serious mistakes. They come when you compromise your standards to be more accepted by others. You be the strong one. You be the leader. Choose good friends and resist peer pressure together.”

~ Elder Richard G. Scott

 

Why did King Noah not resist the pressure from the evil priests?  What helps you to resist peer pressure?

Day 31

9/3

Day 31

Read: Mosiah 12-14

 Mark: Mosiah 13:15

 “When I was a little boy… I came home from school one day, threw my books on the table, and took the name of the Lord in vain in expressing my relief that school was out for the day.  My mother heard me. She was shocked. She took me by the hand and led me to the bathroom…then proceeded to wash my mouth out with that terrible soap…and then said, ‘Don’t let me ever hear such words from your lips again.’  The taste was terrible. The reprimand was worse. I have never forgotten it, and I hope that I have never used the Lord’s name in vain since that time.”

~ President Gordon B. Hinckley

 

How can we keep the Lord’s name sacred?

Day 30

9/2

Day 30

Read: Mosiah 9-11

Mark: Mosiah 9:17, 10:10-11

“The enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity. I testify and witness that the enabling power of

the Savior’s Atonement is real.”

~ Elder David A. Bednar

 

In what ways do we depend on our own strength?  How can we more fully receive the strength of the Lord?

Day 29

9/1

Day 29

GET BACK ON SCHEDULE

Use your reading chart to find the chapters you still need to read to be caught up through:

Mosiah 8

or

 

If you’re up to date with your reading,

take time to study:

 Mosiah 3-4

 

Once we’ve felt the Lord’s forgiveness, how do we retain the remission of our sins?

Day 28

8/31

Day 28

Read: Mosiah 5-8

Mark: Mosiah 5:2, 7

 

“No one can be born again without baptism, but the immersion of water and the laying on of hands to confer the Holy Ghost do not of themselves guarantee that a person has been or will be born again.  The new birth takes place only for those who actually enjoy the Gift or companionship of the Holy Ghost, only for those who are fully converted, who have given themselves without restraint to the Lord.”

~ Elder Bruce R. McConkie

 

How can you more fully give yourself to the Lord to experience the mighty change of heart?

Day 27

8/31

Day 27

Read: Mosiah 3-4

 Mark: Mosiah 4:30

 “Work at keeping your thoughts clean by thinking of something good.  The mind can think of only one thing at a time. Use that fact to crowd out ugly thoughts.  Above all, don’t feed thoughts by reading or watching things that are wrong. If you don’t control your thoughts, Satan will keep tempting you until you eventually act them out.”

~ Elder Richard G. Scott

 

What helps you most to control your thoughts?

Day 26

8/30

Day 26

Read: Mosiah 1-2

Mark: Mosiah 2:17

 “Our focus should be on righteousness, not recognition; on service, not status.  The faithful visiting teacher, who quietly goes about her work month after month, is just as important to the work of the Lord as those who occupy what some see as more prominent positions in the Church.  Visibility does not equate to value…When we understand why we serve we will not worry about where we serve.”

~ President Howard W. Hunter

 

How often do you serve?

Day 25

8/29

Day 25

Read: Jarom – Words of Mormon

Mark: Jarom 1:5

“We have become a nation of pleasure seeking sabbath breakers… What fits the purpose of the Sabbath?  Activities that contribute to greater spirituality…I don’t believe that it is possible to keep our spirituality on a high plane by spending our

Sabbaths on the beach, on the golf course…or in our own homes…looking at television.”

~ President Ezra Taft Benson

 

How can you more fully keep the Sabbath day holy?

Day 24

8/28

Day 24

Read: Jacob 6 - Enos

Mark: Enos 1:4

 

"How many of you, with or without serious transgressions, have ever prayed all day and into the night?  Have you ever wept and prayed for many hours?  How many of you have prayed

for five hours? for one? for thirty minutes? for ten?”

~ President Spencer W. Kimball

 

How often do you cry unto the Lord in mighty prayer? 

How can you make prayer more meaningful?

Day 23

Day 23

Read: Jacob 5

 Mark: Jacob 5:61-62

 

“Give me a young man who has kept himself morally clean and has faithfully attended his Church meetings. Give me a young man who has magnified his priesthood and has earned the Duty to God Award and is an Eagle Scout. Give me a young man who is a seminary graduate and has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon. Give me such a young man, and I will give you a young man who can perform miracles for the Lord in the mission field and throughout his life.”

~ President Ezra Taft Benson

 

How can you prepare now to labor diligently in the Lord’s vineyard?