I might be crazy but....

I am going to read the entire Standards Works. How long will it take? It should take about a 1 1/2 years to read all of it. Why the sudden craziness? Well at institute on Wednesday we started a new course of study: scripture study. We were talking about what scripture is and why we have the standard works. The question was then posed how many have read the standards work all the way through? The more I thought about it I have when attending seminary but even then I don't think it covers all 1,579 chapters in all the books. So Rachelle and I decided that we wanted to do this challenge: read the Standards Works in 18 months. Perfect timing because of my mission. I will be gone for that long. It seems like a huge task but when you break it down like Elder McConkie did it doesn't seem so bad. In October 1959 in a conference report Elder McConkie said the following:

"Now in our day we have the standard works of the Church. We have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. There are in these four books a total of 1,579 chapters. I think it would not be too much to say that we could with propriety, day in and day out, consistently, read three chapters in one or the other of these works: and if we pursued such a course, we would read all of the Gospels in less than a month. We would read the entire New Testament in three months. We would read the Old Testament in ten months, and the whole Bible in thirteen months. We would go through the Book of Mormon in two and two-thirds months, the Doctrine and Covenants in a month and a half, and the Pearl of Great Price in five days. Taken altogether, we would read all the standard works in less than eighteen months and be ready to start over again."

I thought this was amazing and am challenging myself to do it. Rachelle is going to join me in this challenge and if anyone else wants to join us you can. I am looking forward to it and to see what all I gain from this experience as well as being on a mission. I leave in 2 weeks and am all mixed of emotions but know that this is what I am supposed to do.