Welcome!

Hello Ladies,

Welcome to our book club blog! Today my purpose is to give you a little explanation of what it is I'm trying to do, and why I'm trying to do it. So to start us out, I'm trying to set up a weekly book club to help us get more out of our Book of Mormon studies. I'm hoping we can meet in the church (where our kids can run around in a separate room) once a week to discuss our thoughts feelings, and insights from our weekly studies. Assignments on specific chapters will be given out each week so we are all on the same page and can better discuss our readings, and yummy snacks may occasionally be provided!

The reason behind putting this together is two-fold. Number one, I'm getting REALLY bored with my scripture study. I tend to be a one time reader. I loved the Harry Potter series but I only read each book once and plan to keep it that way. So its only natural that re-reading the Book of Mormon again and again gets a little trying on my attention span. However, I've found over the years that listening to the insights of others sparks interest in my studies. It's amazing what a new set of eyes and experience can bring to the table, and I often find myself surprised that I missed whatever it was that other people discovered. I'm hoping that by sharing thoughts with a group of people, I will be able to, once again, rediscover my love of the scriptures and their many secrets!

The second reason for starting this club is because I AM LONELY! I grew up in Utah where all my ward members lived on the same block as me and it was easy to make friends. Chicago has been a different beast. I feel secluded and apart from everyone in our ward. I also just went from a calling in the Young Women's Organization to one in the Primary, furthering my separation from adults my age who share similar life situations. I'm hoping that this club can help ALL of us to feel like we are a part of something and that we all have friends who are there for us, who know what we are going through, and who share the same love of the Gospel with each other.

I hope that each of you will strongly consider this invitation to be a part of my BOM book club and that if you really don't think you can fit it in to your busy schedules, you will at least drop by this blog occasionally to see what others have shared about our meetings as well as the scriptures.

Sincerely,

Naomi Hanks

P.S. I think I am going to tentatively schedule our first meeting for Friday, September 16th, at 10:00 AM in the Woodridge Ward Building. If you are planning to come, please read the BOM Introduction, The Testimony of Three Witnesses, The Testimony of Eight Witnesses, The Testimony of The Prophet Joseph Smith, and the Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon before you come. I will bring some yummo snacks and hopefully we will be able to enjoy an hour of good food, company, and conversation!