“Reading the Scriptures despite My Dyslexia,” Ensign, Aug. 2013, 33

Reading the Scriptures despite My Dyslexia

Name withheld

When I was 21, I met the sister missionaries, and they gave me a Book of Mormon and invited me to read it. I am dyslexic, so I said I couldn’t read. But they said I should try anyway. I was annoyed that they didn’t understand my condition, but I agreed to at least try. I knew they weren’t asking for their personal gain, so I obeyed.

At first I read only because the missionaries asked me to and I knew they thought the Book of Mormon would help me. And it did. I joined the Church soon after they gave me my first copy of the Book of Mormon. I have read it every day since then for the past 16 years.

For the first five years, I couldn’t understand any of the words I saw in the scriptures, but I read a line or two each day. Eventually I read the entire standard works as well as Jesus the Christ by Elder James E. Talmage. Although I can now understand only small pieces of what I read, I am glad I have continued to read the scriptures. I believe that when I am resurrected, everything I have read will come flooding back into my mind. So even though it might seem futile to read a book that I will never completely understand in this life, I still keep the commandment to read daily because I want to be obedient. Besides, I have found that regular scripture reading gives me the opportunity to be taught by the Spirit.

I have also listened to audio recordings of the scriptures. At night, after saying a prayer and reading the scriptures, I listened to the recordings as I fell asleep. By listening to the scriptures as well as trying to read them, I was able to get to know the scriptures really well. I have also listened to general conference and devotionals online so that I could hear the prophets talk about the gospel.

Daily scripture study is part of living the gospel, so I work at it. I didn’t join the Church to be half active; I joined to be fully active. Even though it’s hard, I read the scriptures every day because the prophets have asked us to. There is no point in hearing a commandment and not doing it.

“Perseverance is essential to us in learning and living the principles of the gospel and … will determine our progress as we strive to reach exaltation,” taught Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (“Never Give Up,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 10).