Book of Mormon Journaling: Introductory Pages (December 30-January 5)

Week 1 (December 30-January 5, 2020) of Come, Follow Me consists of the introductory pages, including the title page and testimonies.

Fun fact: I have a facsimile (a copy, not an original) of the original 1830 printing of The Book of Mormon. In that edition, the testimonies were printed in the back.

Title Page 1

My journal edition has two title pages.

On the first title page I included a quote from President Nelson's October 2017 conference talk, "The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?" In it, he tells of a time he gave a copy to an African tribal king he met in Ghana, who responded, "You could have given me diamonds or rubies but nothing is more precious to me than this additional knowledge about the Lord Jesus Christ."
After practicing on scratch paper, I penciled in a couple of diamonds, then traced the diamonds with a light marker (periwinkle Mildliner).

Title Page 2

On the next page (what people usually mean when they refer to the Book of Mormon title page) I highlighted "JESUS is the CHRIST" in red. In the margins, I wrote a quote from President Benson from a November 1987 Ensign article, "Come unto Christ." 
"The honest seeker after truth can gain a testimony that Jesus is the Christ as he prayerfully ponders the inspired words of The Book of Mormon."
I used Micron pens in red, blue, and black.

The Testimony of the Three Witnesses

In the margin I wrote, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established," D&C 6:28. In small print by the signatures I wrote, "Like the signers of the Declaration of Independence, these men risked their safety, property, and reputation. They signed with honor." Then I added a reflective question: "What would I sign my honor to?"

The Testimony of the Eight Witnesses

In the margin I wrote a quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Nothing in our history and nothing in our message cuts to the chase faster than our uncompromising declaration that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. On this issue we draw a line in the sand," ("True or False," New Era, June 1995, 66).
I drew a simple beach on the bottom of the page. The waves are alternating wiggly lines of wide-tipped blue and aqua Mildliner highlighters. The sand is a light brown colored pencil. I used a brown Micron pen to draw a wiggly line in the sand, and used more Micron pens to make lists of what is on which side of the sand.

The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith

The quote I chose came from Elder David A. Bednar's April 2019 conference talk, "Prepared to Obtain Every Needful Thing." I love that it includes, "search, ponder, and pray." I chose to write those words in green to help them stand out:

"As a child, Joseph Smith learned of God from his family. His efforts to discover God's will for him caused Joseph to search for the truth among many different Christian denominations, ponder diligently the scriptures, and pray sincerely to God. . . . Joseph's experience provides a powerful pattern of learning that each of us should emulate. We too need to learn for ourselves."

I penciled an outline of angel Moroni. I colored his skin with a brown colored pencil, then outlined his robe and hair with a gray Mildliner highlighter. Using a yellow Mildliner highlighter and a straight-edge gave the appearance of rays of light from heaven. Moroni was rather inconspicuous at this point, so I outlined him with yellow highlighter as well.

Then there's the quilt. 

While the idea was simple, it certainly took longer than I expected it to. And when I finished, my mom looked at me quizzically and asked why it was there. "You know, Joseph is in bed . . . or maybe beside it. It's his quilt."

Sigh. I thought it was a good idea before I spent all the effort making it. I guess it would have made more sense if I had included Joseph somewhere in the picture, but I think that would have interfered more with the quote. 

I used a pencil, straight-edge, and a circle stencil to plan my quilt. I colored in each block with colored pencil, then used fine-tip highlighters for the stitches.