Family Book of Mormon Study

Our family has set a goal to read the Book of Mormon together, and try to keep up with the Sunday School reading schedule. We are using Bookcraft's The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families as our family version. This edition has footnotes, pictures, colored symbolic indicators and commentary that provide insight into what is being said in the verses on those pages. Our children have been following along pretty well, and the pictures help to keep the younger ones more involved. I have actually been surprised at how engaged Emma and Sam have been some evenings, sitting on Rebecca's lap as she reads. Most nights they run around, but they will loop back in to see the pictures on each page.

The commentary and definitions provided in the footnotes have also given our family discussion points. For example, Jacob's favorite scripture verse is 1 Nephi 2:15, "And my father dwelt in a tent." The footnote in this book references Hugh Nibley, and he says that the ancient Near East considered dwelling in a tent a great honor because it symbolized closeness and trusting in God; the father's tent was also the center of the community. Nephi points out his father's tent in Chapter 3 & 16, too, and when we read those passages, we stopped and recognized the significance of the reference, part because it tells of the different circumstances that Lehi's family was living in, but also because Nephi recognized that his father was a prophet of God.

One of the other things that I like to do while reading scriptures is to like them unto us (1 Nephi 19:23) and find the common message in the stories being told. Last week, we had endured an hour of "murmuring" from our children in reference to the meal that was prepared--a new recipe of mashed potato soup with roasted butternut squash puree. Jacob was particularly vocal and uncompromising in his complaining, it was very unpleasant. (Thanks, Mom, for cursing me with children just like me). Following dinner, I read 2 Nephi 2, and here is Lehi trying to tell his children how important it is to be grateful for being in the promised land. As I read this chapter, I inserted ideas for things we in our family should be grateful, such as a bounty of good foods and a mother that is a good cook. At the very least, our kids listened intently trying to discern my insertions, the mood lightened, and I gained greater empathy for Lehi and my parents with the struggles with their children.