How do you fit it all in? Feel like I am failing already

[autismmum]

I am just starting my LDS journey over last couple of months. Have been living the WOW since then and reading my way through the Book of Mormon and trying to work through the booklets the missionaries give out ( haven't spoken to them yet though got them from LDS shop). I have so much to learn and there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!
We have a son who has autism and s lot of my time is spent with him. I really want to learn and I know that you all are expected to do scripture study and prayer everyday...how do you get it all to fit?
It is getting me down a bit as I feel like I am failing myself and God. The Book of Mormon is a hard old thing to work through and takes a long time if you are actually to understand it properly.
Other converts....how long did it take you to get through all this and actually understand it all?

[skalenfehl]

It can be a life long process. While developing faith and a firm hope in coming to Christ can be relatively quick (as quickly as we are willing to be obedient to the principles that we study), understanding all the points of doctrine from the creation to the atonement, etc takes years. Christ learned line upon line and precept upon precept and so do we learn here a little, there a little.

Do not be preoccupied with gaining "knowledge" so quickly. While we are only saved as fast as we can gain knowledge, even church scholars, so far that I am aware, have not declared having been visited by angels or received the Second Comforter. Such is the accomplishment of mere fishermen and farm boys and thus is a promise that anyone can achieve the same. Be patient, prayerful and obedient as fast as you gain light. It will come.

[changed]

As a convert I did the same thing - tried to cram it all in / do it all / know it all - wanted to have it all down and understood before I was baptized, then learned that was an impossible task. Someone told me "you don't have to eat the whole cake to know it tastes good!" which is true. Once you feel the spirit, and know it is true, the rest are details.

Mosiah 4:27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

I read a chapter of scriptures every morning, and then another verse or two with the kids at night before bedtime (young kids, want to make it fun for them). Say prayers, go to church, go to the temple once a month, just keep to the basics, keep it simple, step after step, line upon line, with time to ponder and act on it as you go.

Congrats on joining the church!! I know it is a lot to get used to, but once you get in a routine you'll start to see the point in all of it, and you will be grateful for the guidance you receive.

[norah63]

One thing that has always been of help for me is to practice praise.
The Lord inhabits the praises of His people.
So to offer up a sacrafice of praise, brings Him close. Even when we don't feel like it is the best of times to praise, because it replaces those doubts with better thoughts.

[bytor2112]

Originally Posted by norah63

One thing that has always been of help for me is to practice praise.
The Lord inhabits the praises of His people.
So to offer up a sacrafice of praise, brings Him close. Even when we don't feel like it is the best of times to praise, because it replaces those doubts with better thoughts.

What does this even mean....seriously??? By praise...do you mean prayer? Do you mean singing songs that invite the Holy Spirit? A sacrifice of praise means..........?

[tubaloth]

Alma 37:6-7

[shine7]

Praise, to me, means being thankful in your heart to God



congratulations on your choice
it is a lot to take in and really just takes time putting one step in front of the other

"feeling down" can be a trap, so be prayerful......go to God in prayer and let Him know how/when you feel
overwhelmed.......ask Him for the next step and ask that you will recognize that next step

it is a PROCESS
and don't feel bad if you 'backpeddle' here and there.....just keep pressing onward as you can, prayerfully
Your spirit already knows what you are 'relearning' here on earth, so trust in God and keep goin' forward

praying for you....

I have learned that even reading the scriptures for 5 minutes and praying everyday brings the spirit...and
as your time is limited, God will make every experience a progress for you.....Just keep reading in the
Book of Mormon, and ask the Holy Ghost to help you understand it for this layer of your journey.....you
will find that each time you read through it, your understanding will increase......again, a PROCESS.....I
remember when the Book of Mormon was sooo hard to understand, and after many years of reading/studying
it, makes it easier to 'get' the language of the scriptures......no matter what, the scriptures are God talking
to you spirit to spirit, giving you line upon line and precept upon precept, one step at a time

[log2]

Originally Posted by autismmum

We have a son who has autism and s lot of my time is spent with him. I really want to learn and I know that you all are expected to do scripture study and prayer everyday...how do you get it all to fit?
It is getting me down a bit as I feel like I am failing myself and God. The Book of Mormon is a hard old thing to work through and takes a long time if you are actually to understand it properly.
Other converts....how long did it take you to get through all this and actually understand it all?

If I may make a suggestion, don't focus so much on the outward performances such as scripture study if you don't feel it's helping. Instead, focus on putting your whole heart and soul into your prayers and coming into communion with your Father. Scripture is not what you read, but what the Spirit gives you, either independently or as you read - therefore, pray with all your heart to receive the Spirit of God. Then see where you feel your priorities should be.

[MorningStar]

Do a really short scripture study like 5 verses and if you feel like you can do more, then do more. That's what we're doing with our kids right now. Sometimes we get through a chapter and sometimes we don't. You could also listen to the scriptures on CD while you're driving or something like that.

[anatess]

I didn't even read the scriptures from cover to cover. My husband and I would read it together before going to bed and I'd fall asleep on the first paragraph. I'm used to reading the Catholic Bible where everything is in regular English, so I can read it kinda like a novel. The Book of Mormon got me so confused - first off, English is only my 3rd language - and so the Book of Mormon was like learning a 4th language.

What I did was read the magazines - the Ensign mostly - and read the talks and then read each and every scripture that is referenced in the talk. Then it became a lot easier to understand what the scripture was saying. I moved on to the Gospel Principles and Gospel Doctrine manual after a while and read all the scripture references there too... then I went through all the Primary books (the children manuals are really cool!).

But, in any case, I felt the truth of the Book of Mormon and the Apostasy like I got hit by lightning - before I read the entire thing. The rest is just feeling the Spirit one infinitisimal step at a time. I've been a Mormon for over 10 years and I'm still doing infinitisimal steps... but hey, in the story about the Turtle and the Hare, the Turtle made it to the finish line ahead of the Hare, so I take comfort in that.