General Conference Book Club Week 8:
“The Blessing of Scripture” by Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Elder Christofferson summarizes the history of scripture and how blessed we are to have such a great quantity of holy words within our reach, more so than any previous generation.
“The central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ—faith that They exist; faith in the Father’s plan for our immortality and eternal life; faith in the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which animates this plan of happiness; faith to make the gospel of Jesus Christ our way of life; and faith to come to know ‘the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He has] sent’ (John 17:3).”
This talk makes me grateful for the abundance of truth and guidance that sits right on my nightstand table. It makes me realize how much more I can do with what I’ve been given. What does Elder Christofferson’s talk say to you?
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Diapers and Divinity 
So, I’ve been meaning to participate in these discussions for a while but haven’t gotten around to it. But this talk coincided with some inspiration received at the temple yesterday, which just confirms what I need to do this summer.
Because we’re in the middle of a move, we pulled the kids out of school early, and will still have four weeks until school gets out where we’re moving to. I have found myself with limited patience for my kids already and have been wondering how in the world I am going to survive all summer with them, particularly with no friends for them or me to get us through (at least for now).
And so I went to the temple, and was blessed by an unexpected answer. I realized that the reason why I always feel at my rope’s end is because I’m not spending the time I should in “filling my bucket.” I have neglected TRUE scripture study, and thus don’t have the grounding spiritual base which allows me to approach my day with more stability.
And so, particularly after this talk, I am more determined to treat the scriptures as the blessing they are and allow them to do something as simple as help me get through the repeated whinings and complainings found in my day.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this talk, last week we had a stake Relief Society activity on Learning to Love Learning. One of the things that they challenged us to do was to read the Book Of Mormon before the end of the year, this was a great talk to read as I started reading the BOM again. Thanks again for doing this!
This is a wonderful talk. I didn’t read it until this morning and while it is Memorial Day and for the military. It was a reminder of those others who died that we will have freedom to worship and those who died trying to worship freely. We have it easier in the senses that we don’t have a military mob coming after us and running us from our homes because of how we worship. I need to work on showing my gratitude to the early saints and others like the example in the talk.
I can’t believe the opposition that Tyndale and others had in trying to get the scriptures into the hands of the public. I loved his vision of the farmer holding the scriptures, and how that was fulfilled in ways he could have never imagined by the prophet Joseph Smith.
It’s truly a miracle that God’s plan of salvation, answers to every possible human question, and the ingredients of the formula for temporal and eternal happiness are all bound up in a few small books that are as easy to reach for as a drink of water. We live in blessed times.
I agree with you, Stephanie. It surprises me so much that Tyndale faced such oppposition. It makes me realize how much I have taken have multiple sets of scriptures nearby, always, for granted.
As my family begins the Sciptures For Kids summer reading challenge, I appreciate when Elder Christofferson said, “Study the scriptures carefully, deliberately. Ponder and pray over them. Scriptures are revelation, and they will bring added revelation.”