Yesterday, I gave away my last two copies of the Book of Mormon to complete my personal challenge to give away 30 copies of the Book of Mormon in 30 days.
It all started with a conversation about Twilight, actually. Some friends of mine were talking about it, so I waited for my chance to chime in (read brag about) the fact that my S-I-L Renae was college roommates with the author of those books. Stephenie Meyer even named one of the characters after Renae, although I think it's spelled differently in the books. Where did they go to school? BYU. And yes, the author of Twilight is a Mormon. My friend's eyes got kinda big on that one.
This lead my friend to open up about questions she had about the church, and revealing her connection to it. When she indicated that she always wanted to know more about our beliefs, I was only too happy to hand her the gift bag with an Ensign and Book of Mormon in it that I had in my car. I was very happy to share a Book of Mormon with this friend, and I did not see it coming at all. The Lord can truly use anything to bring his children to him...even through kooky stories about vampires. (And no this is not an endorsement of Twilight, so I'd better not get any nasty-grams about vamps on this one!)
Anyway, I took the final copy of the Book of Mormon to another good friend of mine who had messaged me on FB saying she was going through a little rough patch. I ran over to her house in the rain, and our kids played while we had our own Mommy play date. It was fun, and I was happy to see my final two copies go to such beloved friends.
And then...just like that...I was finished. I shared 30 copies of The Book of Mormon with 30 friends in 30 days! Wow. I wish I could relate to you every amazing way that the spirit lead me this month, but I'm afraid I can't. Just know that he did.
It's pure poetry that on the day after I finished giving out my last Book of Mormon, the new set of scriptures that I ordered arrived! What a fitting memento of this special month.
And what an amazing month we've had together in The Book of Mormon Forum!
If you were unable to participate as you would have liked this month, never you fear!
The Book of Mormon Forum will continue to function as a network of bloggers who desire to share their testimonies of this sacred book online. We will host monthly blog hops where you can link-up your own posts about The Book of Mormon and continue to encourage each other in our efforts. Grab a button if you'd like to help spread the word, and email me if you'd like to join the ranks of "Forum-ites"!
Now to announce the winners of this week's Book of Mormon Blog Hop Giveaway
The giveaway for this blog hop has been provided by the Etsy Shop
Express Yourself Vinyl
Express Yourself Vinyl
The three winners of the following "I know the Scriptures are True" lip balm
are Marissa: Stake Conference Post
Tiffany: Of Small and Simple Things
Catania: How to Study the Book of Mormon
Winners, please email me your mailing address so you can receive your thank your gift!
I think I might be finding balance again. I'm sad that I missed the celebration but checked in periodically. My own changes have happened as I have thought about the forum what needs to change in my personal behavior to share my beliefs and bring myself closer to the Savior to understand his atonement and grace better in my life. Best to you!
ReplyDeletethanks for your beautiful testimony, your kind encouragement and great example.
ReplyDeleteWill never fear and never give up just like what you said so i am still in!!
You are so amazing. I'm almost speechless. Almost.
ReplyDeleteYou are such an inspiration! Thank you for what you do and for your wonderful blog!
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed that you accomplished this goal, Jocelyn, and you didn't even wait till the last day!
ReplyDelete(I suspect this tells me something about the way you visit teach, too...) You are probably a supervisor's dream!
;)
That is so amazing. You are an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI meant to do more posts this last week but it got away from me so I am very happy it is going to continue...
super! I'm so excited that you shared thirty Books of Mormon...I may try to make something like that a goal for next year. I need to do a better job.
ReplyDeleteWere all of the people you shared BofM's with friends? Were some strangers? I wish I knew more about the experience in general. It is just really cool.
Thanks for hosting the blog forum. I'm glad that it will be perpetuating beyond this month!
-chococatania
Beautiful. I wish I would have been able to join in more this time. Maybe soon (I am hoping January) I can make that goal of giving away BOM's to my friends. What a beautiful goal. You truly are an inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, they were so uplifting.
ReplyDeleteYou are so awesome!! Great job on giving out your Books of Mormon this month, and taking us partially along for the journey. =) And thanks for setting up the Book of Mormon Forum so we can connect with other lovers of the Book of Mormon and share our united testimony on-line! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS.=)
ReplyDeleteIt was an amazing month. I enjoyed reading all the posts and writing some of my own, it helped my study of the BoM
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Congratulations on reaching your goal. That's so exciting. Thanks for letting us share in the blessings, and increase our testimonies of the Book of Mormon. It's been amazing!
ReplyDeleteI'm so proud of you. Really.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing!
ReplyDeletegood work, I'm with you on the b of m blog-will add your image to my blog today and find time to say something soon about it...thanks
ReplyDeleteWow! Way to go Jocelyn! You are an inspiration to so many, especially me.
ReplyDeleteWell, there aren't many more ways I can think of than have already been used to say how awesome this accomplished goal is, but there it is--and way to go! As those people with whom you have shared your testimony have undoubtedly been touched by it, so have I. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, it is remarkable indeed how the Lord can and does use anything to do His work. All three of the (current) Twilight movies came out during my mission, and that actually helped us get into more doors than one. I would have never expected it to, but I am a witness that Twilight works. Still can't bring myself to watch it, though. :-P
Way to go! That is seriously awesome that you've given away that many books! And... I have to add -- my tennis partner from college (Ricks) is SIL's with the Twilight author, too!! Small world. Haha, what claims to fame!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I think that's really cool that you were able to do that.
ReplyDeleteCongrats!!! And thanks for sharing some of your journey with us.
ReplyDelete