Day 31

DAY THIRTY ONE

Scripture Study: Helaman 15-16, 3 Nephi 1-4
Scripture Mark & Ponder: 3 Nephi 1:14
Scripture Thought for the Day: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." (1 Corinthians 2:14-15)
Thought for the Day: "Deep and enduring testimonies grow and strengthen as they are daily nurtured. They increase as they are hared." (Marvin J. Ashton)

Day 30

DAY THIRTY

Scripture Study: Helaman 10-14
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Helaman 10: 4-5
Scripture Thought for the Day: "...... faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6)
Thought for the Day: Faith in God cannot of course be anything other than personal. It must be yours; it must be mine; and to be effective, must spring from the mind and heart. Every man will do well to pray with Emerson: "O'God, make me willing to do thy will." (David 0. McKay)

Day 29

DAY TWENTY NINE

Scripture Study: Helaman 1-9
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Helaman 5:12
Scripture Thought for the Day: "And if thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day. Nevertheless, thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times" (D&C 59:9-11)
Thought for the Day: "Seek not for greatness, but for truth, and you will find both."

Day 28

DAY TWENTY EIGHT

Scripture Study: Alma 59-63
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 62:51
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Quench not the Spirit." (I Thessalonians 5:19)
Thought for the Day: "Success in life depends upon staying power. The reason for failure in most cases is lack of perseverance. Men get tired and give up."

Day 27

DAY TWENTY SEVEN

Scripture Study: Alma 55-58
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 58:11
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Yea, they had been taught by their mothers." (Alma 56:47)
Thought for the Day: "Faith is to the soul, as sunshine is to the earth." (David 0. McKay)

Day 26

DAY TWENTY SIX

Scripture Study: Alma 51-54
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 51:21
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Be faithful until I come, for I come quickly; and my reward is with me to recompense every man according as his work shall be." (D&C 112:34)
Thought for the Day: "The degree of faith possessed by any man depends not upon the extent of his knowledge but upon the certainty of his knowledge, which leads its possessor to works corresponding to his knowledge. Thus a man of great knowledge may have weak faith, while one of limited information may have a strong faith. (Joseph Smith)
Optional Study: Study from the topical guide and other reference material, all you can find on the subject of LOVE. Share your LOVE with someone this day.

Day 25

DAY TWENTY FIVE

Scripture Study: Alma 45 -50
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 46:12
Scripture Thought for the Day: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Meekness, temperance; against such there is no law." (Galations 5:22-23)
Thought for the Day: "I wish the people to understand that they have no interest apart from the Lord our God. The moment you have a divided interest, that moment you sever yourselves from eternal principles." (Brigham Young)

Day 24

DAY TWENTY FOUR

Scripture Study: Alma 42-44
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 42:23
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father." (D&C 15:6) Thought for the Day: " The proper example is all important. Let us be what we profess to be. There is no satisfactory substitute." (Ezra Taft Benson)

Bear your testimony to others. Share special experiences that have occurred during the 40 Days Closer to Jesus Christ Book of Mormon study.

Day 23

DAY TWENTY THREE

Scripture Study: Alma 37-41
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 37:6-7
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." (Ephesians 6:16)
Thought for the Day: "Implied FAITH and confidence in God is for you and me to do everything we can to sustain and preserve ourselves; and the community that works together, heart and hand, to accomplish this, their efforts will be like the efforts of one man." (Brigham Young)

Day 22

DAY TWENTY TWO

Scripture Study: Alma 30-36
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 32:21
Scripture Thought for the Day: "And again, I say unto you, I give unto you a commandment that every man, both elder, priest, teacher, and also member, go to with his might, with the labor of his hands, to prepare and accomplish the things which I have commanded, And let your preaching be the warning voice, every man to his neighbor, in mildness and meekness." (D&C 38:40-41)
Thought for the Day: "When you have done the best you can, be satisfied and don't took back. Rather than berate yourself for what you didn't do, congratulate yourself for what you did," (M. Russell Ballard)

Day 21

DAY TWENTY ONE

Scripture Study: Alma 25-29
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 25:16
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)
Thought for the Day: "In our ante mortal state we walked by sight. Then we knew God. We lived with him. He was our Father, and our teacher. This earth life was intended as a place where we might learn to walk just a little way by faith." (Sterling W. Sill)
Optional Study: Study from the topical guide and other reference material, all you can find on the subject of PRAYER.

Deliver cookies and visit; widows, sick, visiting teacher sisters, and/or husband’s home teaching families. (Alma 34:28)

Day 20

DAY TWENTY

Scripture Study: Alma 20-24
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 22:14
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." (Jacob 4:10)
Thought for the Day: "Faith is more potent in human endeavor even than judgment or experience." (David O. McKay)

Day 19

DAY NINETEEN

Scripture Study: Alma 15-19
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 16:16
Scripture Thought for the Day: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous." (1 John 5:3)
Thought for the Day: "We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not figures on a dial. We should count time by heartthrobs. He most lives who thinks most - feels the noblest - acts the best."

Day 18

DAY EIGHTEEN

Scripture Study: Alma 11-14
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 11:40
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from Heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever." (D&C 121:45-46)
Thought for the Day: "Faith is the force of life." (Leo Tolstoy)

Day 17

DAY SEVENTEEN

Scripture Study: Alma 6-10
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 6:6
Scripture Thought for the Day: "As all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books of wisdom; seek ye learning, even by study and also by faith." (D&C 88:118)
Thought for the Day: "FAITH comes by hearing the word of God, through the testimony of the servants of God; that testimony is always attended by the spirit of prophecy and revelation." (Joseph Smith)

Day 16

DAY SIXTEEN

Scripture Study: Alma 1-5
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Alma 1:4
Scripture Thought for the Day: "And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care." (D&C 12:8)
Thought for the Day: "All great ages have been ages of belief. I mean, when there was any extraordinary power of performance, when great national movements began, when arts appeared, when heroes existed, when poems were made, the human soul was in earnest." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Day 15

DAY FIFTEEN

Scripture Study: Mosiah 23-29
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Mosiah 23:18
Scripture Thought for the Day: "And ye may know that He is, by the power of the Holy Ghost: wherefore, I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for He worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow and forever." (Moroni 10:7)
Thought for the Day: "A world without a Sabbath would be like a man without a smile, like summer without flowers and like a homestead without a garden. It is the most joyous day of the whole week." Plan in advance for study interferences. If necessary, play catch up. Refer to the Day 8 Thomas Edison quote.

Make a date with your spouse and go to the temple - just the two of you. Discuss the family in the celestial room. Over dinner make some new commitments to each other.

Day 14

DAY FOURTEEN

Scripture Study: Mosiah 16-22
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Mosiah 21:4
Scripture Thought for the Day: "...for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased, wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain." (Moroni 7:37)
Thought for the Day: "The time will come when no man or woman will be able to stand on borrowed light. We must have a firm understanding and testimony of our own."

Day 13

DAY THIRTEEN

Scripture Study: Mosiah 10-15

Scripture Mark & Ponder: Mosiah 15:31

Scripture Thought for the Day: "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers." (D&C 112:10)

Thought for the Day: "A great deal has also been said about giving your life for the work, not in death but in living day by day. It is so easy sometimes to die; it is hard sometimes to live the principles for which we stand...I believe it is far more important to live for our faith than to die for our faith." (Mark E. Petersen)

Day 12

DAY TWELVE

Scripture Study: Mosiah 4-9

Scripture Mark & Ponder: Mosiah 4:11

Scripture Thought for the Day: "And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchanging Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles." (Mormon 9:19)

Thought for the Day: "The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence, but in the mastery of his passions." (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Optional Study: Study from the topical guide and other reference material, all you can find on the subject of CHARITY.

Day 11

DAY ELEVEN

Scripture Study: Words of Mormon, Mosiah 1-3
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Mosiah 2:17
Scripture Thought for the Day: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." (Romans 1:16)
Thought for the Day: "Who can resist the power possessed by the Latter-Day Saints in their faith? And the stronger our faith, the more mighty are the bonds of our strength." (Brigham Young)

Day 10

DAY TEN

Scripture Study: Jacob 6-7, Enos, Jarom, Omni

Scripture Mark & Ponder: Jarom 1:11

Scripture Thought for the Day: "And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Ether 4:14)

Thought for the Day: "In our preexistent state, in the day of the great council, we made a certain agreement with the Almighty. The Lord proposed a plan, conceived by Him. We accepted it. Since the plan is intended for all men, we became party to the salvation of every person under that plan. We agreed, right then and there, to be not only saviors for ourselves, but measurably, saviors for the whole human family. We went into a partnership with the Lord. The working out of the plan became then not merely the Father's work, and the Savior's work, but also our work. The least of us, the humblest, is in partnership with the Almighty in achieving the purpose of the eternal plan of salvation." (Elder John A.Widtsoe)

Day 9

DAY NINE

Scripture Study: Jacob 1-5
Scripture Mark & Ponder: Jacob 2:10
Scripture Thought for the Day: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)
Thought for the Day: "Latter-day Saints are obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God." (Boyd K. Packer)

Day 8

DAY EIGHT

Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 22-33
Scripture Mark & Ponder: 2 Nephi 28:8
Scripture Thought for the Day: "Therefore come unto me and be ye saved.." (3 Nephi 12:20)
Thought for the Day: "I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work," (Thomas Edison)

Day 7

DAY SEVEN

Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 13-21

Scripture Mark & Ponder: 2 Nephi 9:28-29

Scripture Thought for the Day: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

Thought for the Day: "FAITH is a divine gift to all men to receive, if only their attitude and life will permit its reception."

Day 6 Thoughts

So I can choose to be happy. If I do the work required of me I shall be happy and be fulfilled. If I do not do the work I may fail or be slow and the work may become more difficult. Oh I need to do the work.

Day 6

Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 8-12

Scripture Mark & Ponder: 2 Nephi 2:27

Scripture Thought for the Day: "I the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise," (D&C 82:10)

Thought for the Day: The best way to get rested is to speed up. When we get ahead of our work we love it and it becomes easy. When it gets ahead of us, we hate it and it becomes difficult. A winner at the end of a race is never tired; he's ready to go again. The tired businessman is the man whose business is not successful."

Day 5 Thoughts

This reminds me of a video I just saw



Even if the story is not true,
Do have I this much faith?

Day 5

Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 3-7

Scripture to mark and ponder: 2 Nephi 3:23

Scripture for the day:

“For the brother of Jered said unto the Mountain Zerin, Remove, and it was remove. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore, thou workest after men have faith.” (Esther 12:30)

Thought for the day:

“We come to an end find a beginning. Ofen we worry about arriving at an end with too little faith in what follow.”

—–Don Quixote

OPTIONAL: Study from the Topical Guide and other reference material all you can find on the subject of Faith.

Day 4 Thoughts

Word for the day be Positive. I do tend to few only my short comings. I will have to revisit this and try to write in my good qualities.

Day 4

Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 20-22; 2 Nephi 1-2

Scripture to mark and ponder: 2 Nephi 2:11

Scripture for the day:

“Jesus said unto them: Verily I say unto you;if you have faith, and doubt not ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done.”

Thought for the day:

“Let us...not be too long-suffering with our own shortcomings.”

—–Neal A. Maxwell

Day 3 Thoughts

Sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough for my family. We have regular FHE but I always think they should be more. I realize my kids are young and that one day they will have a stronger understanding of the gospel. I always start to do scripture study with them but we always seem to drift away from that. I need to be more diligent in this. I need to make it a priority in our day!

Day 3

Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 16-19

Scripture to mark and ponder: 1 Nephi 19:23

Scripture for the day:

“If a man love me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14;23)

Thought for the day:

“Families who prayerfully prepare and consistently hold their weekly Home Evening, and work together during the week to apply the lessons in their lived, will be blessed. There will be better feelings between husband and wife, between parents and children, and among children. In such homes, the Spirit of the Lord will be made manifest…”

—–David O. McKay

Day 2 thoughts

I really like the quote for today

“Character is the ability to carry out a decision after the emotion of making the decision is past.”

What makes a person decide to do something. I try to help people as much as I can but I almost always complain to myself or others after the fact. Why did I do that. Why can't I just say no to people. Does it really "count" if you have issues with what your are doing to "help" someone else.

Day 2

Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 11-15

Scripture to mark and ponder: 1 Nephi 15:34

Scripture for the day:

“I say unto thee, put your trust in the Spirit which leadeth to do good—–yea to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit. Verily, verily, I say unto you. I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy. And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive.” (D&C 11:12-14)

Thought for the day:

“Character is the ability to carry out a decision after the emotion of making the decision is past.”

Day 1 Thoughts

1 Nephi 3:7
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I ^awill go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no ^bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall ^cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

What a great scripture. This is a scripture that I turn to quite often. How can we succeed in life with out the knowledge that a way is prepared for us? Sometime a lot is asked of us but if we remember that the Lord is with us we can do those things that are asked of us. Sometimes this is hard to remember at least for me.

Day 1

Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 1-10

Scripture to mark and ponder: 1 Nephi 3:7

Scripture for the day:

“Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.” (D&C 8:2)

Thought for the day:

“It is the right and privilege of every man, every woman, and every child who has reached the years of accountability, to enjoy the spirit of revelation and to be possessed of the spirit of inspiration in the discharge of their duties as members of the Church.”

—Joseph F. Smith