President Boyd K. Packer passed away on Friday. It was a sad day for us as members of the church, but I'm sure a happy reunion for him with Elder Perry, and other former church leaders, and family members. I will miss his counsel and words of wisdom.
Among the projects he was involved in was the effort in the 1970's and early 1980's to publish a LDS edition of the scriptures. I watched an interesting documentary about it this morning on BYUTV. Until that project, there was no such thing as a Topical Guide, or LDS Bible Dictionary, or cross-references. It was much more difficult to become well-versed in all of the standard works, or to correlate them to each other. It really brought home to me the great blessing it was in my life to be born and hitting my teenage years right at the time the new scriptures were being made available.
I was given my own set in 1981, on my 12th birthday. That set got me through high school, seminary, college, and my mission, and far in to adulthood. By the time I replaced them several years ago with a new set, they were dog-eared, and all marked up, and ready to fall apart. But from them I developed a love for reading the scriptures, and especially the Book of Mormon.
Nowadays, I read my scriptures on my mobile devices using the Gospel Library app. I finally figured out how to highlight scriptures in the app, and have enjoyed reading them again with fresh eyes. I continually learn and gain new perspectives, and a greater understanding of Heavenly Father and the Savior, and the plan of salvation.
Watching that program this morning, I saw the wisdom of the project, and the timing of it. It made me doubly grateful for inspired church leaders, like President Packer, who worked to make this blessing available to us.
Among the projects he was involved in was the effort in the 1970's and early 1980's to publish a LDS edition of the scriptures. I watched an interesting documentary about it this morning on BYUTV. Until that project, there was no such thing as a Topical Guide, or LDS Bible Dictionary, or cross-references. It was much more difficult to become well-versed in all of the standard works, or to correlate them to each other. It really brought home to me the great blessing it was in my life to be born and hitting my teenage years right at the time the new scriptures were being made available.
I was given my own set in 1981, on my 12th birthday. That set got me through high school, seminary, college, and my mission, and far in to adulthood. By the time I replaced them several years ago with a new set, they were dog-eared, and all marked up, and ready to fall apart. But from them I developed a love for reading the scriptures, and especially the Book of Mormon.
Nowadays, I read my scriptures on my mobile devices using the Gospel Library app. I finally figured out how to highlight scriptures in the app, and have enjoyed reading them again with fresh eyes. I continually learn and gain new perspectives, and a greater understanding of Heavenly Father and the Savior, and the plan of salvation.
Watching that program this morning, I saw the wisdom of the project, and the timing of it. It made me doubly grateful for inspired church leaders, like President Packer, who worked to make this blessing available to us.
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