I bring this up because I know lurkers can easily dismiss some of us as never really having a testimony, or never being committed to scripture reading, etc.

So, listen up, lurkers. I read my scriptures every day without missing for 12 years. I would sometimes wake-up at night with a feeling of anxiety and panic wondering if I had forgotten.

I kept my scriptures on my pillow so I would never forget.

When I went on vacation, my scriptures were the first thing I packed.

Sometimes I would read twice a day just in case.

I'm so glad to be free of that mental bondage. Anyone else?

Wow, I don't even remember, but it was years. I never missed saying at least one prayer per day in at least 25 years. Usually I said more than one. The scripture reading was probably at least for that long as well.

Daily, from the fall of 1979 to the spring of 1981.

Less frequently before and after that period.
Rarely at all these days.

UD

Probably a good 15 years or so. I'm sure I missed days.

honestly - when they called upon me to read in sunday school or priesthood...But make no mistake - I was there TBMing all the way...Daily reading of scriptures is for those who needed a daily reminder of their faith - i was so far above that in my righteousness and peter-hood.

I once had some TBM friends that stayed with me for a week while they were on vacation.

He made sure that we all knew he read his scriptures every day at the kitchen table. He read from 7am to 8am.

If I served breakfast he stayed at the table and read. He didn't eat until his reading time was done.

Even as TBM's ourself, we thought he was weird and extreme. He was a train wreck in spite of all of his reading.

He couldn't go anywhere further than 30 minutes from our house without having a panic attack. Apparently he was lacking inner peace.

What's really funny though is that Mormonism tries desperately to tell you that scriptures don't actually mean what they say.

So you can read your scriptures all you like. But once you take the blinders off and really read the "holy books," you'll be shocked and amazed at what you learn.

Elohim really hates dark skinned folk (which he made), as well as loving genocide.

Good god, Elohim loves genocide.

You are correct, Raptor Jesus. Numbers, chapter 31 approves and codifies genocide. It's brutal- a whole chapter on slaughtering human beings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2013 07:09PM by donbagley.

For so long, off and on since I was about ten. From twenty on, daily, not just reading, I did serious studying. Reading all the other standard works ( Jesus the christ, Marvelous Work & a Wonder, History of the Church, etc.) too, cross referencing, the whole bit. Still have all the multi-colored scriptures with note cards. I fasted, prayed, the whole schtick. Wasted so much time it makes me sick.

I read the B of M through at least 8 times, the Bible all the way through twice (the New Testament many more times), the P of GP 6 times, D & C 6 times, at minimum for all of them. Yes, I read really fast, but I also retain; therein lies part of the problem. The discrepancies became really apparent, between works and when compared to various doctrinal theses ( and yes, I spoke to priesthood leaders many times when I had concerns. Most of them didn't even have a clue what I was talking about, they were that informed and educated.). I know Mormon Doctrine pretty well and I feel pretty damn confident about that statement and in saying it is all a bunch of BS.

It was such a joke. The only ones who took it seriously were my TBM hubby and our youngest, who, at about four, could not read yet, but loved to make a show of "reading" by running a single finger along under a line of print. (I dare say that she got as much out of it this way as anybody else did!)

The older kids and I were all perilously bored and sleepy, trying to hide resentment at being pried out of bed for this nonsense when we could have been catching a few more minutes of sleep.

It was hideously difficult to try to focus well enough to say something intelligent about what had been read. I usually got by with a few standard comments: "Gosh, that was a brave thing to do!" or "I'm not sure I could have done that!"

I never made it all the way through the BoM in 17 years of membership. I've read some remarkably dull books in my time, but none came anywhere near the BoM.

I think that is an accurate description. My one and only attempt at reading the BoM was when I was 13 years old. I read it for all of 15 minutes and decided it was a nonsensical tome.

I was reading every day with my wife and kids for about 3 months straight when I made the decision to leave. On my mission I read the BoM twice in Englisha and once in Portuguese. I read the NT on my mission. I've been reading from the New Testament every day since January (left TSCC on 1/28/13).
I was also reading "The History of The Prophet Joseph Smith as Told By His Mother". It was that book that made me question. Joseph Smith Senior's dream was too similar to Lehi's dream. Joseph telling stories about the ancient inhabitants of the Americas way before his "first vision". It was all a little too hard to believe.

I read the Book of Mormon a couple of times at least, and the bible cover to cover twice. I can't honestly say I ever found it enjoyable, or enlightening. Probably THE best way to fall away from the church is to read the scriptures, they are basically ridiculous.

Anyone with that mindset isn't worth the worry in my opinion.

Same answer to "How many consecutive days..."

I wasn't always consistent reading every day but I read scriptures a lot. I've read the book of Mormon somewhere around 55 times, the Old Testament all the way through and both the NT and D&C several times.

I also read a lot of spiritual books - Jesus the Christ 3 times, Articles of Faith a couple times, the full McKonkie series, and many more.

The more I read and studied them the less I could believe them. Thoughtfully reading and studying was supposed to strengthen my testimony; instead it eroded it.

Each attempt lasted about 2 days.

2 years......while on my mission.

Not even one.
Not even on my mission.

But I will confess to a string of months here and there.

0....never got past about page 5 in the BofM.....waaaaay too boring to bother with....

Ron Burr