March Madness Week #1

"Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program [re-reading the Book of Mormon], regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God."- President Gordon B. Hinckley (“A Testimony Vibrant and True,” Ensign, Aug 2005, 2–6)

Okay, here we goooooo! Tomorrow is the 1st day of March and the beginning of our March Madness Challenge. I decided to post the reading schedules the day before each schedule starts, so I'll post them every Sunday for the month of March. And in case you haven't decided if you want to participate you can take a look at the schedule to give you an idea of how much reading you will have to do each day. It's not easy, but it's definitely doable if you make it a priority. Also, reading a novel in one month isn't that big of deal, so why not the Book of Mormon?

I love that reading so much at a time makes The Book of Mormon feel like a real book, not just a collection of quotes like it can feel if you just read a couple verses a day. Reading it so quickly you get a real appreciation for the plot of the book. You actually remember who all these groups of people are whose history you are reading because you don't have time to forget from day to day what you read about. I think you get a lot more out of the book as a whole.

Did you know Book magazine ranked the Book of Mormon as one of the "20 Books That Changed America" along with books like Common Sense and The Grapes of Wrath. An article in the Ensign this month talks about the the growth in distribution of the Book of Mormon. By March the church expects to have printed 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon! It is currently being published in 82 languages and is available online at lds.org in 16 languages.

So without further ado, here is the reading schedule for the first week of March Madness:

March 1: 1 Nephi 1-10:7
March 2: 1 Nephi 10:8-16:32
March 3: 1 Nephi 16:33-2 Nephi 1:24
March 4: 2 Nephi 1:25-9:28
March 5: 2 Nephi 9:29-19:11
March 6: 2 Nephi 19:12-27:31
March 7: 2 Nephi 27:32- Jacob 5:15

I want to hear back from everyone next Sunday to see how it's going, and you can expect to hear from me. Ready, set, read!