Scripture Study Monday - Method

Two lessons at church influenced the way I study the scriptures. One teacher asked if we regularly check the news online at work. Of course. Then he asked why we can find 15 minutes to check the news and find it difficult to find 15 minutes to study the scriptures. So I made a goal that when I go to work, before I check my personal email, before I check the news and before I do anything to this blog, I spend about 15-30 minutes studying scriptures.

The other lesson that influenced the way I study the scriptures was a guy who simply printed a page from his own scripture study notes and handed it out to the class. I base a lot of my scripture study on his method of note taking.

I have a list of topics to choose from. I also have a template for new topics. I create a new word document for each topic. When I am reading the scriptures and find a verse or section or conference quote that seems interesting, I copy and paste it into the appropriate word doc (adversity example). All of my scripture study is done online and my notes are stored on my thumb drive. (The links above are saved on Google Docs. I don’t save all my notes on Google Docs, because sometimes I don’t have an internet connection)

I like studying online because I can copy and paste into my own notes without retyping, and I save a lot of time by clicking on the links instead of manually looking up cross references. I also really enjoy looking up special topics in the conference talks and Ensign articles. I find that writing down my thoughts, questions and testimony as I study is a huge benefit.