A Christmas Gift for Jesus: Memorize "The Living Christ"

I was inspired recently by a talk given by Sister Neill F. Marriott. She said:

This summer I had the privilege of attending an encampment of 900 young women in Alaska. ... They came to the camp spiritually prepared, having read the Book of Mormon and having memorized “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.” On the third night of camp, all 900 young women stood together and recited the entire document word for word.

The Spirit filled the vast hall, and I yearned to join in. But I couldn’t. I hadn’t paid the price of memorization. ... My hope is to offer the Savior a Christmas gift this year of having “The Living Christ” memorized and securely held in my heart by December 25th. 

Her experience kept ringing in my mind. I thought how wonderful it would be to memorize "The Living Christ," but it seemed so formidable. I didn't know it I could do it, let alone ask my family to. I started looking around for ideas of how others have done it.

I seriously love the internet. There are so many overachievers out there whose ideas I can piggyback on. In my searching I came across the very thing I thought would work best at BookofMormondiscovery.com.  (I get no kickbacks for this, I just really liked her program.) The author has made this incredible packet of free resources to help people memorize "The Living Christ." She has a picture of her family and her kids are even really little and THEY did it. Surely I and my teenagers could do this!

I printed out the helps I thought would work best for my family. I challenged my husband and kids to do this with me, and they accepted with varying degrees of commitment that were completely age-appropriate. We just finished Week 1, and I am really enjoying this experience. There truly has been a better feeling in our home.

My purpose in posting this is to make a public goal and be accountable for reporting regularly. I also hope that my experience can inspire someone else, just as Neill Marriott inspired me. I will post weekly with the helps we are using.

I can think of no better way to approach Christmas this year than preparing for 12 weeks to learn of the Savior, His life, and His attributes. By memorizing "The Living Christ" I can truly feel as if I could kneel at His manger and offer my best gift, my heart.

Join me.

https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/36035_000_25_livingchrist.pdf