Scripture

"The holy scriptures contain no proclamation more relevant, no responsibility more binding, no instruction more direct than the injunction given by the resurrected Lord as He appeared in Galilee to the eleven disciples." Thomas S. Monson, Come, All Ye Sons of God, General Conference, April 2013

"Since making the correct decisions is essential to attain your goals in life, consider how they should be made. There are two patterns for making decisions: the first I will call decisions based upon circumstance; the second, decisions based upon eternal truth." Thomas S. Monson, Come, All Ye Sons of God, General Conference, April 2013

"Let me provide but one reference which has immediate application to our lives. In the Book of Mormon, the 17th chapter of Alma, we read the account of Alma’s joy as he once more saw the sons of Mosiah and noted their steadfastness in the cause of truth." Thomas S. Monson, Come, All Ye Sons of God, General Conference, April 2013

"One of the underlying premises of Lehi’s vision is that faithful members must hold fast to the rod of iron to keep them on the strait and narrow path leading to the tree of life. It is essential for members to read, ponder, and study the scriptures." Quentin L. Cook, In Tune with the Music of Faith, General Conference, April 2012

"Through study and prayer he gained a spiritual witness and was baptized. So what one famous humorist saw as an object of ridicule, a scholar recognized as profound evidence of the truth of the Book of Mormon, which was confirmed to him by the Spirit." Quentin L. Cook, In Tune with the Music of Faith, General Conference, April 2012

"...our youngest son and his wife are reading the scriptures with their young family. Two out of their four children are not old enough to read. For the five-year-old, they have five finger signals to which he responds in order for him to participate fully in the family scripture reading. The signal for finger 1 is for him to repeat, “And it came to pass” whenever it appears in the Book of Mormon. I have to admit that I love the fact that the phrase appears so often. Incidentally, for the interest of young families, finger signal 2 is “And thus we see”; fingers 3, 4, and 5 are chosen by the parents based on the words contained in the chapter they are reading." Quentin L. Cook, In Tune with the Music of Faith, General Conference, April 2012

"We can be delivered from the ways of evil and wickedness by turning to the teachings of the holy scriptures." L. Tom Perry, The Power of Deliverance, General Conference, Oct. 2011

"Throughout the ages, Father in Heaven has inspired select men and women to find, through the guidance of the Holy Ghost, solutions to life’s most perplexing problems. He has inspired those authorized servants to record those solutions as a type of handbook for those of His children who have faith in His plan of happiness and in His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. We have ready access to this guidance through the treasure we call the standard works—that is, the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price." Richard G. Scott, The Power of Scripture, General Conference Oct. 2011

"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high. They can become the key to open the channel to communion with our Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ." Richard G. Scott, The Power of Scripture, General Conference Oct. 2011

"Scriptures can communicate different meanings at different times in our life, according to our needs. A scripture that we may have read many times can take on nuances of meaning that are refreshing and insightful when we face a new challenge in life." Richard G. Scott, The Power of Scripture, General Conference Oct. 2011

I love the scriptures very much, though in doing this assignment I have had to reflect with some guilt on my study habits in recent times. On my mission, that was all we needed or wanted to study. Since then, there have been and continue to be countless distractions. I need to learn to steer away from these, and fix my eyes on the goal of spiritual progress. I had a plan for reading the Book of Mormon a number of times, searching each time for instances of a specific principle. I want to start doing that this year.