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Sunday, May 06, 2012

Scripture study

I have taken to heart the importance of taking notes while studying the scriptures. My problem lies in trying to keep it streamlined and uncomplicated.

this is the stack that sits ready for study, you will notice that it doesn't even include my scriptures, I like to use digital scriptures because it is so much easier to look up the cross references. Previously I have tried taking digital notes, but I find that I prefer taking real notes, using different color pens. This process helps me focus better. Plus I love pens and I love colors. 

Not all of these books are for scripture study, they were just all the books sitting in a pile that I have used in the past few days for various things I'm working on. There really are only two that I use regularly for study.


Nice selection of pens, fine tip, medium tip, ball point. The highlighters work well for marking the Ensign.



This used to be my one and only study journal, well the one I've used the past couple years (I really don't take that many notes). If I was more consistent in my studying (and always taking notes, which I don't always) this book would have been filled by now. I've learned a lot from reading TheRedHeadedHostess.com in which she teaches how to take notes, but mostly I am inspired by the pictures she posts, and by all her lovely pens. I've been working on trying to find my own groove of what works well for me.
 I like the overall idea of trying to keep things simple and have been using just the one journal, but I didn't like not being able to separate out scripture study chronologically verses by topic as well as separating studying talks and conference.


Which is why I made this journal right before this last conference where I have a tab for each of the speakers during conference where I took notes and then left the following page empty so I could have a space to write new notes when I went back to study that talk. I try to study one talk a week so that by the time conference comes around again I've reread each talk once. So I only do this once a week.

I learned a note taking technique to try to mostly write the thoughts I have and not so much the exact words the speaker says and also to put notations to the side, like the circle that indicates a "to do" item or the ! is something to really focus on.


I get the two conference editions of the Ensign so that Jeremy and I each have our own. It is so nice that they have that option to purchase the Ensign that way.

Over the years I have tried and tried to become more consistent in scripture study and each time I fail and then get back to it, I get stronger each time and get a little bit better. Sometimes it is just that I read a few verses (with possibly many a day in between of never quite getting around to it) and other times I will spend an hour or more and take notes and write down my thoughts. Someday I hope to achieve a consistency and balance between these two extremes. So although the notes and the journals may seem like an over kill they really help me focus and help me "feast" upon the words of Christ, because I am not just reading them trying to get done with scripture reading, but I am really thinking about what and why and how it applies to me and what I need to be doing or changing.

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