I'm back in the saddle again...

I have been transferred to the Pocatello (Poky, don't ask) seminary as the principal and my life has been very hectic, but today in our lesson we learned about how to study the scriptures and get more out of them in our personal reading and as a class.

President Thomas S. Monson said that we should have three goals as gospel learners. The three are as follows, we should think about, feel something about, and do so something about what we are learning as students of the gospel. I have a goal as a teacher to prepare lessons that promote thinking, feeling, and doing. I hope each of us as students have those same goals.

In order to get the most of our study of the scriptures, we must do the following three things, in this order.

#1--Begin with the foundation of discovering the Background and Setting of the scriptures you are reading. This can also be called the Context and Content. You can do this by asking who is speaking, who are they speaking to, and what is happening in the story/account (content)?
Reading the chapter summary, reading the surrounding text, and using footnotes and cross-references can help build this foundation. See Helaman 5:12.

#2--The second thing you need to do is Identify and seek to Understand the Doctrines and Principles that are taught in the scriptures you are reading. Elder Richard G. Scott said, "Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety circumstances" Ensign, Nov. 1993, 86.
Some things in the scriptures are like lighted road signs at night that point the way to doctrines and principles. Some of these include, Wherefore/Therefore statements, and thus we see's, passages that use the word "because" which suggests cause and effect. There are others, but these will do for now.
Here are some questions you can ask to help you find the principles and doctrines that are hiding in the text of a story. What is the message of this story? What did the writer intend for us to learn from this story? What truths are taught in this passage of scripture?
Discovering these nuggets of truth can be likened to the walls of your scripture study house.

#3--The final part of your scripture scripture study house is done by putting on the roof. This is done when you apply Doctrines and Principles in your life. President Boyd K. Packer said, "True doctrine understood, changes attitudes and behavior...That is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel" Ensign, Nov. 1986, 17.
As we seek personal conversion, we must know something, we must feel something, and we must do something (see John 17:3). Applying what we have learned completes the process. Some questions we may ask ourselves to help us apply what we have studied are, What does the Lord want me to do with this knowledge? What difference can this make in my life? What can I start or stop doing now to live my life a little better? How will my life be better if I do this?

Happy studying!