Lively Scripture Study—by Topic

It all began one Sunday when my husband came home from a meeting with a study sheet on the Millennium. He was anxious to share it with us, and the whole family became involved in a lively, informative discussion.

The success of this discussion gave us an idea for perking up our often sleepy family scripture study time. Every now and then, for variety in our regular study, we pick a subject and have each family member examine that subject during the week in his personal study time. Each of us writes down five questions about the topic, then on Sunday, we discuss the topic as a family.

The first week we chose the topic of “Zion”. During the week as we studied, we shared our findings with each other. We asked questions when stumped and shared new insights. That Sunday all the family came to scripture study with their scriptures and questions in hand ready to test the rest of us. We found that only a few questions were duplicated, even though we all used the same books as references.

We also found that in our individual preparation we had each been so involved in our own questions that we had overlooked some of the basic and important aspects of the subject. Often we could not answer the others’ challenges. Again we had an exciting gospel discussion. Every family member participated. And we didn’t have our usual problem of Mom and Dad trying to pry a discussion out of children who were only half paying attention.

After the discussion we typed the questions and references on a sheet of paper and placed them in a notebook. There we can use them in preparing talks and lessons and in our personal study.

Using this method as a break in our regular study has kept us challenged and enthusiastic. It has also helped us understand the importance of regularly studying the scriptures. Sandi Heywood, Eagar, Arizona

Illustrated by Carol Stevens