52 Books in 52 Weeks - Book 1: The Pearl of Great Price

I've been inspired by a couple of bloggy friends who made a goal last year to read 52 books in 52 weeks. (Check out my former visiting teachee's complete 2009 books, and this list on scattered apples.)

As I made a massive list of goals for this year, I tossed this reading goal in there, along with all sorts of other well-intentioned to-dos that have already fallen by the wayside (daily practicing, exercise, writing, sewing, fruit consumption, no sleeping in, etc.). But this is the only goal I feel serious about taking on, and so far it's going well.

I'd like to report on the final list at the end of the year, but I thought I could post my thoughts about my reads as I go along. That is, if you don't mind.



Book 1: The Pearl of Great Price
I have some lofty goals this year as far as daily scripture study goes as I accepted a calling in my ward to teach Sunday School this year. (FYI, I am Mormon.) Unlike other teaching callings at church, teaching the youth (I scored with the 15-year-old group) entails teaching every week, not rotating monthly or bi-weekly with other teachers. So it's just me and a group of between 10 and 15 teenagers, depending on how many younger girls come who may or may not have crushes on boys in my class. Wink.

This year we're studying the Old Testament. I feel good to say that when I was in high school, while I wasn't permitted to attend church weekly or keep a Book of Mormon, I read the entire Bible cover to cover. But the Old Testament is a serious doozy, so I haven't attempted it since, but this will be a good year to do it again.

So last week I read the Pearl of Great Price (included in our study of the Old Testament) which is a compilation of Joseph Smith's translation (JST) of the Old Testament, including the following books:

Moses - An extract of Genesis JST, with more insight into the creation of the world, the journey of Adam and Eve and their posterity, Cain and Abel and the move "east of Eden," Enoch's establishment of the city of Zion, etc. Moses ends just before the Great Flood. This was fascinating to me, especially as I'm currently reading Steinbeck's East of Eden, which expands on themes and relationships from this account.

Abraham - A translation from Egyptian papyri with writings of the patriarch Abraham, including explanations of three facsimiles (one here below), including more about the creation, the foreordination of Christ and the prophets before the earth was, etc.



Joseph Smith - Matthew - An excerpt from the translation of the New Testament with Christ's discourses on the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Coming.

Joseph Smith - History - An account I treasure, this is an extract from Joseph Smith's detailed account of the First Vision. Joseph Smith was 14 when he longed to know which Church was true. This is how old I was when I finished reading the Book of Mormon for the first time in my search for true religion, so I feel a connection with Joseph Smith and his journey to find the same truth. This history goes into detail about Joseph meeting Christ and God the Father first hand, his meetings with the Angel Moroni, and his discovery of the gold plates that he would translate into the Book of Mormon. This is a fascinating account that prompts a lot of introspection.

The Articles of Faith - This includes 13 verses outlining the basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The one that always sticks out to me is verse 11: "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

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I'm now almost through the book of Genesis. Despite the fact that the Old Testament is more than 1,000 pages long, I will try to count it as only one book of the 52.