Day one - 1st Nephi 1-3 (6/8/09)

I was trying to find this quote I thought would be good and found this article. Thought you might enjoy it - it's brief and has good points about feasting! Bonus - I found the quote so if you don't want to read this article be sure to go down to the bottom and read the quote/advice from Pres. Hinckley.

Fat-free Feasting
Bonnie D. Parkin, “Fat-free Feasting,” New Era, Nov 1996, 33
Adapted from an address given in the general Young Women meeting, March 25, 1995.“Feast upon the words of Christ” (2 Ne. 32:3), and the more you gain, the better off you are.
I want to tell you a secret. I love to eat. Don’t you? When food has the perfect herbs, when it’s cooked just right, when it’s served like a work of sculpture, I’m in heaven. I can gain weight just reading a menu.

And did you know that the Lord doesn’t expect us to diet? Trust me! Turn to 2 Nephi 9:51. Now look at the very last line. It says, “Let your soul delight in fatness.” [2 Ne. 9:51] But feast on what? Chocolate?

Look closely: Feast on his word. When was the last time you feasted on the word? Did you know that feasting could be so guilt-free?

One of the joyous parts of my calling in the Young Women is feasting with our presidency. We begin our meeting by studying the scriptures. President Beckham starts us out by saying, “Does anyone have a scripture?” Someone always does. We look up cross-references, scour the Topical Guide, apply ideas to our own lives, and we think about you.

This savoring the scriptures invites the Spirit. It’s a bonding time, when, in addition to a red pencil, we share our hearts, our understanding, our desires. We become more united, more able to serve you. Are you doing this kind of feasting in your Beehive, Mia Maid, and Laurel presidency meetings? Young Men, are you feasting on the scriptures in your deacons, teachers, and priests quorum presidency meetings? Try beginning those meetings with a thought from the scriptures. I think you’ll be surprised at the spirit scripture sharing will bring.

I wasn’t very good at studying the scriptures when I was young. I wish I had been! Not until I was living in Seattle, Washington, did a friend and I realize we were hungering to know what spiritual women in our ward knew. We wanted righteous children, “taught by their mothers” to be believing (Alma 56:47). And like a good dinner, the gospel becomes more exciting sharing it with a friend. I had Louise Nelson. We feasted together.

I remember sitting on an old worn couch reading scripture stories to my sons. As we studied, a power began to permeate our lives. I learned that Ruth left her family to join the believers, that Sariah reared children in the wilderness, that Esther risked her life to save others, and that, most important, Mary bore a son in a straw-filled stable and laid him in a manger. I learned that God worked miracles in the lives of others, and he could work wonders in mine too.

I discovered the scriptures later than some. But I discovered them.
And now, as when reading a good menu, I still hunger for their wise words. Why not gain some spiritual weight?

It’s not always easy, and there are things I still don’t understand. But when I look past all that, craving the Lord’s companionship, the scriptures infuse my spirit with the Spirit. They will do the same for you. They will enlighten you, lift you, comfort you, strengthen you. They will envelop you in a warm blanket of heavenly love. How do I know? Because they do that for me. It is Heavenly Father’s promise to us. It is eating at the Lord’s table.

Beloved friends, I invite you to experiment upon the word, to feast. As Jesus said: “Search the scriptures; … they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

“I would like to urge every man and woman … and every boy and girl who is old enough to again read the Book of Mormon during this coming year. This was written for the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. There is nothing we could do of greater importance than to have fortified in our individual lives an unshakable conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Living Son of the Living God. And, my brothers and sisters, that is the purpose of the coming forth of this remarkable and wonderful book. May I suggest that you read it again and take a pencil, a red one if you have one, and put a little check mark every time there is a reference to Jesus Christ in that book. And there will come to you a very real conviction as you do so that this is in very deed another witness for the Lord Jesus Christ” (Corpus Christi, Texas, regional conference, 7 Jan. 1996). - Gordon B. Hinckley

Feel free to post in the comments any ideas you have from today's reading. Even though people joke that these are the most read chapters in the Book of Mormon I got something new out of reading it today. I'll post it in the comments....

P.S. one last treasure - these discussions from BYU are really interesting and they might help you understand the book better. Here's the link.
http://www.byub.org/bookofmormon/
I have thoroughly enjoyed the two different New Testament discussion groups and I'm sure the Book of Mormon one will be equally great!