50: Christmas (December 21–27)

0:00:01.0 Tammy: Okay, here we go. Welcome to Sunday on Monday. And this is a very exciting episode. It's something different than we've ever done before, and I can't help but think of that scripture that says, "Where one or two are gathered in my name, that we're guaranteed that the Spirit will be there." And I think that is going to be true for today, because we have more than one or two, we have eight or nine gathered in His name. We have called back several of our guests throughout the year to join us today to talk about what they learned and what the Book of Mormon was like, and studying it this year, and what their takeaways were. We have Jalyn. Hi, Jalyn.

0:00:35.2 Jalyn Peterson: Hello. Nice to be here.

0:00:35.7 Tammy: We have Sharon Staples.

0:00:37.7 Sharon Staples: Hi, everybody.

0:00:37.9 Tammy: Aliah Hall.

0:00:40.0 Aliah Hall: Hello.

0:00:40.1 Tammy: Sharmaine Howell.

0:00:41.8 Sharmaine Howell: Hey there.

0:00:43.3 Tammy: We have Marcos Orozcos.

0:00:45.7 Marcos Orozcos: Hey.

0:00:46.4 Tammy: He gave us the peace sign. Tamu Smith. Hi, Tamu.

0:00:49.6 Tamu Smith: Hello.

0:00:50.7 Tammy: We have Tyler Collet, and I'm gonna say it, and his moustache. Hi, Tyler.

0:00:54.2 Tyler Collet: Hey, everybody.

0:00:56.0 Tammy: And we have Abe Mills. Hi, Abe!

0:00:58.4 Abe Mills: Hey, Tammy, glad to be with you guys.

0:01:01.4 Tammy: We're gonna go ahead and just start. So everyone just kinda tell us, what was it like studying the Book of Mormon this year? Was it different than in past years? Maybe some things you've learned. Marcos, let's start with you.

0:01:11.9 MO: I'm a convert. I converted about... February, it'll be five years. So I've never read the Book of Mormon. I'd started it, I'd go about four books and then I put it to the side, I start it again, go forward. And so I'm a Primary teacher for 10-year-olds, and I told them that this year, I would read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover.

0:01:31.9 Tammy: I remember that.

0:01:33.0 MO: So we have been, as a family, reading it, and we're on the Book of Mormon or I think it is, so Mormon... Which one is the last one?

0:01:43.2 Tammy: Moroni.

0:01:43.6 MO: The Book of Moroni. Okay, and so I haven't actually finished it, but we will, but like I said, can't compare it to anything else. I always hear in a sacrament meeting where people say that the Book of Mormon, I believe in it, and I couldn't say whether I do or not, at the time, now I've read it and I do believe in it. And it's changed my life and my family, 'cause we're doing it as a family, and...

0:02:09.5 Aliah: That's awesome.

0:02:10.8 Sharmaine: I love that.

0:02:11.7 Jalyn: Marcos, did you notice as your family studied that, what was the atmosphere in the home? Did it change the atmosphere in your house at all?

0:02:21.4 MO: It did. My kids are so excited to do study. Not to get off the subject or anything, well, they had to drag me into church when I was a kid, Catholic church, so seeing my children that they wanna actually read the Book of Mormon is exciting and exciting for me 'cause I've never done it before. And so yeah, the love, and the warmth, and just seeing my... My kids are excited. We're all excited.

0:02:48.3 Tammy: Your face tells it all, that grin you just had. I love that. I hope people get to see that 'cause that's pretty awesome. Thank you, Marcos. Abe, tell us what your takeaways were from this year.

0:03:00.8 AM: So my takeaway from this year is... There're so many, but if I was gonna take... I had three takeaways, I won't take a long time on all of them, but one is that... First of all, sometimes we don't quite get what God is trying to do, and this takes us back to when Alma was trying to preach the Gospel to those people in Ammonihah, basically, it does not work out, but then he hears the voice of God telling him to go back, and then ultimately is led to Amulek's house, and he and Amulek become this great power teaching duo. To me, that just reminds me that you never know, when God tells you to do something, you go and try to do it the way that you think it needs to be done, but God has His way and His purposes to all things. And so it's important to not get discouraged when something doesn't quite work out exactly as you planned it to work out.

0:03:57.6 AM: The second thing is that when we go back and we look at Alma, when he talks to Corianton, this is kind of eye-opening to me that here you have a person that was getting in trouble by his dad, he was trying to tell him to repent, but the thing that I learned from this chapter was, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy." And I look at that and I go, "Okay, how many people have I wanted to dish out revenge or that I wanted to get justice... " And this really opened my eyes that it may not be that we receive mercy from that person, but if we are merciful to people then the Lord will be merciful with us. And when we think about what Jesus did for us, He took upon Himself our sins to save us, and I don't think anybody could show more mercy than that; that was something that really stuck out to me and it's the way that I need to act is, to be more merciful to those around me.

0:04:58.2 AM: And the last thing is hope for a better world. And this kind of ties into the mercy thing, because I feel like there's a lot of negative things that have been said about our world lately and the lives that we're living lately. And I think that we can still find joy even with our current situations, because if we believe in Jesus Christ, we can hope for a better world, Ether 12:4, right? "Whoso believeth in God, might with surety, hope for a better world." And I think that that better world comes by us following what Christ has taught us, and I believe, like I said, one of those things is for us to be merciful to each other. And so all of these things tie in together neatly and what a better time of year to discuss it than Christmas, right now, which is where we remember our Savior Jesus Christ and his birth, and what an amazing effect that has had on all of our lives and the lives of countless other people who we do not know. And I find that to be amazing. But what a year, what a year, in so many different ways. And I believe there're so many great things that have come out of this year.

0:06:15.7 AH: I think for me... I don't know. If anybody's listened to any of my episodes, everybody who knows me knows that I'm an extreme introvert. And so I prefer to be alone [chuckle] and I prefer to do things on my own. But being able to meet with all of you and with Tam and be able to listen to the podcast and share thoughts on Facebook and on Instagram has just been really meaningful, powerful to me, and it reminded me of Moroni's chapter 6. In verses five and six, it says, "And the church did meet together oft to fast and to pray and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their soul. And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine and to remember the Lord Jesus Christ," and I think that sums up this whole year of reading the Book of Mormon with all of you fine folks, is that we got to meet together oft to read the Book of Mormon and to talk about the welfare of our souls. And that has been balm to my soul was to meet with saints and to hear other people's testimonies and to hear other people's takes on the Book of Mormon, and what they thought, what impressed them and questions they had, and all of the things that we did, and all of the fun that we've had, has been a tremendous boon for me.

0:07:40.8 SH: I totally echo that, Aliah.

0:07:42.3 Tammy: Thanks, Aliah.

0:07:43.3 SH: I love that and just to add on to that a little bit, 'cause I totally agree. I actually think that COVID was a blessing for this podcast because we were able to reach out all over the place, all over the world, and I just think it's really cool to feel that this gospel isn't just Utah gospel or church. It is all over the world and we're all in this together. We're studying it together, hearing that perspective from everywhere. We're all saints gathering together.

0:08:12.5 JP: In that same vein, I feel like I was more engaged in studying the Book of Mormon. I've studied the book of Mormon in the past, right? And sometimes... Tam, you'll bring this up sometimes on podcasts of like, "Yeah, yeah, we read it" and then we move on, right?

0:08:24.8 Tammy: Mm-hmm.

0:08:25.4 JP: But I think this year where church was shut down for a while and you couldn't meet, I found myself just clinging on to the things we were studying and learning in a different way, because for me, that was the sole focus of gospel study this year, throughout most of the year, as you couldn't show up to sacrament meeting and do all that. And plus, I think studying it for 10 minute-segments, [chuckle] you're not as tired as that second hour in church where you're like [chuckle] "I wanna go home."

[laughter]

0:08:58.7 JP: Yeah, so you can like...

0:09:00.8 Tammy: Aliah applauds.

0:09:00.9 JP: Yeah, and then additionally, you having the knowledge of Hebrew, that really enhanced my understanding and changed some of the ways I viewed some of those scriptures. So more applicable and more attentive study, I think than in times past.

0:09:16.6 Tammy: Absolutely.

0:09:19.3 TS: I am a little bit like Marcos. Although I've read the Book of Mormon, kinda sorta, there's some parts that I skipped because it makes me sleepy. Don't tell President Hinckley, 'cause I used to be signing off things that I read it when he was "Read the Book of Mormon," but anyway, and I've also actually been the Sunday School teacher... I'm probably gonna get released after this, it's cool, whatever...

[laughter]

0:09:49.2 TS: And so I share too much. But just to cover to cover, to read it, this is my first time ever doing that. Anyway, recently just reading in Ether 1, where it talks about the brother of Jared and how he cried unto the Lord and how the Lord had compassion. And I think that this year, for me, I know that it has been a constant cry unto the Lord or complaint unto the Lord. I say cry, He probably says complain, but seeing the compassion that not only that He has for me, but also one of my big issues, 'cause I am that person that was like, when they said, "Two-hour church," I was like, "No, we're having a third hour, we're just skipping out on the Lord? Like what's happening? We should have more," but I'm clearly not in the majority on that.

[laughter]

0:10:46.9 Tammy: You want all day church though. Let's be honest, with the potluck in the middle of it and...

0:10:51.1 TS: Look... Can we do that?

0:10:51.3 Tammy: I know, I know.

[laughter]

0:10:55.6 JP: We did, a long time ago. You missed out on it.

[laughter]

0:10:58.7 Tammy: Yeah.

0:11:00.1 TS: I know, I wasn't here...

[overlapping conversation]

0:11:03.3 AH: When my son was in the hospital, we went to the branch at Primary Children's and they have half-an-hour church, and I was like, "I feel the Spirit. That's good."

[laughter]

0:11:15.3 Tammy: That was like done and done.

0:11:16.6 AH: If we cut the song out, we could probably get out of here in 15. [laughter]

0:11:22.7 Tammy: That's awesome.

0:11:22.7 TS: And then there's me, I'm like, that's like a snack. When we gonna have the food, like the dinner part, like two-hour church is a snack, but I also grew up Pentecostal with all day, all week, every day, all the time church.

0:11:37.9 Tammy: Mm-hmm. Thank you, Tamu, that's awesome. [chuckle]

0:11:41.0 SS: Okay, I had a couple of takeaways. One was side effects of reading the Book of Mormon. Usually, when I get a new prescription, I ask the doctor, "Okay, this is a good prescription that's gonna fix this. What are the side effects?" And sometimes there are perks and sometimes there are not so many perks. But two perks from reading the Book of Mormon this year are obedience and one is discipline. When the prophets have told us to read the Book of Mormon over the years, obeying that counsel has allowed me to appreciate the principle of obedience and it's allowed me to apply it in other areas of my life. So I am more obedient in my daily activities, and listening to the counsel and instruction that I receive. And the second one was discipline. Am I disciplined enough to actually do it, to read daily, to study and ponder and pray?

0:12:31.0 SS: And I have found that because of my investment in the Book of Mormon this year, I have become disciplined and it's, again, it has spilled over into my life. I'm more disciplined in my exercising. I'm disciplined in my eating habits. I'm disciplined in service, so those are two side effects that I did not expect from reading the Book of Mormon, in addition to actually reading and what it had. Then the other thing...

0:13:00.2 AH: I need you to come over to my house and... [laughter]

[overlapping conversation]

0:13:08.5 SS: I was able to internalize those two principles, which I think are significant, at least for me in my life. And then the third thing was, "Can the Book of Mormon stand alone?" If I were to find it on the roadside, and I did not know that there was a Joseph Smith, I did not know that there was a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I did not know about the priesthood, I did not know about modern prophets, I did not know about the gathering of Israel. Could I read that book and be converted and convinced that Jesus is the Christ? And having read it this year, I asked myself, "Is the doctrine true? Does it ring true to me?" Yes. Are the principles true? Are they eternal? Yes. Is there a testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ? Yes.

0:13:52.5 SS: So without everything else, without the prophet, without the modern day church, without anything, if I were just to pick up that book and read it, especially 3 Nephi, chapter 11, where just at the beginning of the subtitle, it says that, in this chapter, "The Father testifies of His Beloved Son. Christ appears and proclaims His Atonement. The people feel the wound marks in His hands and feet and side. They cry Hosanna." And just reading that one chapter, I would know that Jesus is the Christ, and so I'm very grateful for the book and everything in it, its doctrines, its principles, its message, it's inviting me to come unto Christ, and I just concentrate on the book more now and and not so much on the frou-frou. Was Joseph 14 or 14 and a half when he saw the vision? Was the grove in bloom or was it not in bloom? When did the saints come west? And that's important and it's significant. And all that's significant and important and sustains me and whatever. But the book alone, if I only had that, that would be enough for me to believe in my Savior and do all that I can to return to Him.

0:15:09.7 SH: Amen, Sharon.

0:15:10.5 Tammy: Amen, Sharon.

0:15:10.6 TS: Amen.

0:15:11.1 AH: Wow.

0:15:11.6 SS: Those are my takeaways.

0:15:16.1 TS: And now, we can close. Alright then.

0:15:21.0 Tammy: Tyler, what do you got? Any thoughts?

0:15:22.7 TC: What do you follow with that?

0:15:24.1 Tammy: I know. Don't. We end there.

[overlapping conversation]

0:15:27.5 TC: Yeah. We end there.

0:15:27.6 AH: We try to go towards the beginning.

0:15:29.8 Tammy: Name of Jesus Christ, amen.

0:15:30.5 TC: Done. To me, I've been a member my whole life, had several opportunities to read the Book of Mormon. I've never actually really, cover to cover, read the Book of Mormon, I just haven't. I've read portions and then time goes by and then I read more portions, and that's just how it's continued in my life, but by the Sunday on Monday program, it's allowed, at least the opportunity for my family, to sit down at dinner and we just follow along, and then that's given me some hope, as far as reading cover-to-cover. But I've kind of committed to myself, for next year, to kinda go into my own little studying and as far as kind of diving deeper into the Book of Mormon for myself. So that's one of the things that I intend to do. And then I guess one of my biggest takeaways for this whole program is that, "You know what? All in all, I'm doing okay. My family is doing okay." We're not perfect, we can certainly be perfect in trying to do our best every day, that means a lot to me, to be able to just, next day, just do a little bit better, and then the following day, just do a little bit better. And I've heard many of you on this podcast and I wanna thank each of you for being on here, because not just myself, but my family has benefited from what you all have said. Your word, your spirit, it really helped our family move forward and become stronger, and I really appreciate it.

0:17:15.2 Tammy: That's awesome, Tyler. Thank you for sharing those. Those are great takeaways. Looking at all your faces, there's no doubt in my mind that God and Jesus Christ are in the details of this podcast, and every one of you and your voices and the way that you've contributed to studying the Book of Mormon this year. My takeaway from this year is that, that God is in the details, and Tamu, when you said that He has compassion on us because we complain or cry, either way you wanna determine that, He has had compassion on us, for sure. And I have felt the Spirit in every episode. When two or three are gathered in His name, there is a guarantee that the Spirit will be there, and it has been there. And I have loved studying the Gospel with you guys, it's been such an incredible year. I cannot believe we're gonna do another year. That's what's crazy to me. When we're getting ready to do Doctrine and Covenants, I'm like, "Oh, we're gonna do that." And now I'm thinking down the road to, "Wait a minute, that's one year to Old Testament. I can't wait for Old Testament. This is gonna be fun." But even going back to when people say how much they appreciate the Hebrew, I can't help but think how God is in the details of that, that six years ago, Sharon came up to me at church and said, "You wanna study Hebrew with me," out of nowhere, and that changed my life, Sharon, and it's been such...

0:18:30.0 SS: Well, you've changed my life, and I appreciate that you've done this and you've brought in many voices, from every walk of life, testifying that Jesus is the Christ and the Gospel is true and the Book of Mormon's true. And I'm eternally grateful to you for that, Tammy, thank you so much.

0:18:44.6 TS: Amen.

0:18:44.6 SS: Thank you.

0:18:45.0 JP: Yeah, amen, amen. And one of my biggest takeaways is that how truly, through this whole year, I felt like every time we had a chapter, it was just like, "Oh my gosh, it feels like that's what the world is in right now. That's exactly what we're experiencing."

0:18:58.8 TS: Amen.

0:19:00.4 JP: Yeah, I just couldn't believe how the Book of Mormon is really written for our day, how it just is so applicable, and I've never felt that before in my life. You always hear, it's written for your day, but you're like, "Yeah, but that's the day somewhere down there. That's not my day."

0:19:18.2 Tammy: We're waiting for that to happen.

0:19:21.1 JP: Yeah, we're waiting, and now I just feel like... Talk about inspired and God being in the details, 'cause without this and going through that, I think just me personally, experience everything we've experienced in the world throughout this year, I found so much solace in the Book of Mormon and like, "Oh, these people went through way worse than us, and here's how they dealt with it, and here's how we can deal with it." And I think had I not had that, I'd probably be... I'd be a basket case. I don't know how people are making it without having that kind of knowledge of, "This is all part of the plan, it's all been prophesied and God is in charge and He's gonna take care of it, because He is in the details.

0:20:01.4 AH: I'd like to follow that with... 'Cause I think it's interesting that the only episode that I did in person was with Jalyn, and the moment I walked into the room, I was like, "This lady, I needed to know her."

0:20:15.6 JP: Same. Same.

0:20:18.5 AH: I was like, she hit like, "I, her, yes. All this. This is all right." And then every time that Tam called and was like, "Hey, do you wanna be on this episode?" And I was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." And then I'd read what we were... And I was like, "Heavenly Father, seriously?" 'Cause I'm hard-headed. I don't know about all of you, you guys are soft spirits, but I am a hard-headed spirit. And Heavenly Father never can just send me a subtle message. I'm not about the subtleties. He's a tender voice? No. He's like, "Aliah, read this!" And he knows I won't do it. So he had to call Tam and be like, "Have Aliah go on this episode 'cause I need her to read these scriptures, because she's hard-headed."

[overlapping conversation]

0:21:11.0 Tammy: That's so funny.

0:21:12.4 AH: And so every time I would read and I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, this is exactly what I needed to be reading right now." And I've reread the Book of Mormon dozens and dozens of times. When I went into the MTC, I was shocked and appalled that nobody else in my district had read the Book of Mormon, and I was like, "I'm on my 25th time." I don't know. I'm that person.

[laughter]

0:21:37.0 Tammy: I love that face. "You didn't know Christ came to America? What's your problem?"

0:21:42.1 AH: No... I was like, I don't know.

0:21:45.7 Tammy: Nope, didn't know that. Didn't know that.

0:21:45.7 AH: Yeah. But the Doctrine and Covenants, yeah. I think I've read two sections, so I am so looking forward to next year...

0:21:50.2 Tammy: Oh, you're in for a treat. Oh yeah.

0:21:52.0 AH: I am an Old Testament girl. I love the Book of Mormon. The Doctrine and Covenants, I'm like... I don't know.

0:22:00.4 Tammy: Mm-mm.

0:22:00.6 AH: So I'm a little, yeah. Like... Mm-mm.

0:22:02.1 Tammy: Oh, yeah. It's gonna be a good year.

0:22:05.1 AH: I'm excited to get into the Doctrine and Covenants with all of you. I'm excited to see why everybody thinks it's so great.

0:22:15.3 Tammy: Absolutely. That's fair.

0:22:17.7 AH: So that I can be like, "Yeah, I read the Doctrine and Covenants, maybe."

0:22:24.8 Tammy: You're gonna love it this year. It's gonna be fun.

0:22:26.0 AH: How exciting.

0:22:27.5 TS: I actually love the Doctrine and Covenants.

0:22:30.0 AH: Yay, Tamu.

0:22:30.1 Tammy: Oh, I'm so glad.

0:22:35.9 TS: Yes, I do. Hook me up. And so I also wanted to mention too, I have some friends that have... I grew up with in California. They long left the church, but with COVID happening, and I would send them... Just say, "Hey, you should listen to this. This is good to listen to while you drive." And not that anybody has completely and totally come back to church, but they actually have started following along with the Sunday on Monday, and we have conversations about it. Marcos's episode was amazing for a really good friend of mine and her and her husband. You're touching people that have long left and were not thinking about... It wasn't even a thought to them about, "Maybe I should see what the... " I know we're not Mormon anymore, but for them we are... "Maybe I should see what the Mormons are doing." And just to be able to send them the episodes and have them participate. And then it has helped change the dynamics of our friendship and our conversations.

0:23:46.9 Tammy: That's awesome, Tamu. Wow, that's amazing. God is just so good and your faces are proof of that.

0:23:56.9 TS: All the time.

[overlapping conversation]

0:23:57.6 Tammy: Just our witness that God really does care. He cares about the cute mom with five kids. He cares about the adult, Sharon, who never been married, who has a PhD, who's brilliant. All of you have considerably added to this year's discussion.

0:24:16.1 TS: Thank you.

0:24:16.2 SH: That makes me think of one of the verses that I... Was one of my takeaways this year, and it was when you showed us the thesis of the Book of Mormon, Tam. It's 1 Nephi, Chapter 1, at the end of Verse 20, and it says, "I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." And I just love that through the whole Book of Mormon, that's what we see over and over is His tender mercies, and He just wants to show us, "I will be there for you."

0:24:53.8 TS: All the time, yes, amen.

0:24:53.9 SH: "You do your part. You do your part, I'm here." And I just love that at the book end of it, when the brother of Jared, he was a man who was amazing, and he also struggled. He sat on the beach for four years and didn't do anything, so I'm like, "Yes, I have... some hope.

0:25:11.2 Tammy: Totally.

0:25:11.3 SH: I can sit on the beach every once in a while, and I can still have hope for myself.

0:25:15.1 Tammy: Yes.

0:25:15.2 SH: Parts of this year, I do feel like I was sitting on the beach, and I wasn't as diligent and obedient as I should have been, Sharon, at reading through the scriptures. But then I read about the brother of Jared and I read how he was chastised, or whatever it was, and he came back and he just kept trying. He just kept doing the little things. He kept praying, he kept asking the Father, and then I just loved how his faith couldn't hold him back from seeing everything. This guy who sat on the beach for four years saw everything. He saw God and I loved that in Ether 3, Verse 18, it says, "And he ministered unto him," talking about Jesus, ministering his brother Jared, "Even as her ministered unto the Nephites, and all this that this man might know that he was God." So He'll come to one man, or He'll come to a whole group of Nephites and show Himself. And just gives me hope that God is good. He will come to me, He will be there for me individually, just as He is for all of us, across the whole world, and I have just so loved remembering that throughout this whole year that He is good and he loves me, and if I get in this book, I will learn of him.

0:26:32.7 SS: Right on.

0:26:33.4 SH: Amen.

[overlapping conversation]

0:26:36.1 SS: Yeah. That's great.

0:26:36.6 Tammy: That's a great way to end our discussion. Thank you so much, everyone, for joining us today. This, this was awesome. I just love you, I love you all so much. I love what we've done this year with the Book of Mormon, I love the Book of Mormon, I love Jesus Christ, I love my Heavenly Father, and every episode is as a witness that we are God's favorite, He really does love us the most, and He wants us to return to Him and He's doing everything in His power to make sure that we do. And I think when we do our part, we will, absolutely. And so that's what I'm so thankful for this year, and I'm never gonna stop saying you're God's favorite, 'cause I believe it with all of my heart. And so I'm thankful to all of you, and I leave this with you who are listening, we leave this message with you, in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

0:27:22.8 SSharon: Amen.

0:27:24.3 TS: Amen.

0:27:24.8 Tammy: And of course, this year would not be the same without your takeaways. So to celebrate everything that we've learned together as a study group, I've asked some people who have messaged me throughout the year that I've really gotten to know well, to share their takeaways. So first, we have Sheradon from Dubai. Hi, Sheradon. Here's her takeaway.

0:27:44.7 Sheradon: Hi everybody, my name is Sheradon and I live in Dubai. When I look back at this year, my biggest takeaway is God's will will be done. This has come about, because a couple months ago, I had messaged Tammy about a question that I had, concerning why we pray for God's will to be done, even though it will ultimately be done anyway. But I realized throughout this year, that there are certain things that wouldn't be given to us if we didn't pray for them. There are so many blessings and miracles that are waiting for us if we just pray and ask, and I don't think I had really realized that before.

0:28:37.7 Sheradon: When I pray for things and acknowledge that God's will be done, I can accept whatever miracles he has for me. Even though they may not be the miracle that I want, I can trust that they will be the miracle that I need. And I learned that the trials that we go through in this life can also be the miracle that we are needing and wanting to help us grow, and become more like our Savior. And as I look back in my life, it's eye-opening to see those things that have changed my life because of the trials that I have been through, and I'm happy to say that I know that because of the trials that I have been through and the things that I have shared because of those trials, I know it has helped other people. And that just brings me so much joy. My biggest takeaway this year, is just that I will trust in God, I will believe, and I will have faith that His will will be done.

0:29:57.6 Tammy: Oh my gosh, I love questions. I love so much that Sheradon was able to find her answers about prayer this year, through the scriptures and what we studied together. Now, next is my friend Regina from Italy, and I have loved corresponding with her. I mentioned in one of the episodes that she shared a picture with me, it was a beautiful picture of a saint in a Cathedral in Italy, that had a tear jar on a staff. How cool is that? And so I asked her to share her beautiful testimony of the Book of Mormon.

0:30:25.6 Regina: My name is Regina Sherwood Farazi. I live in Italy. I think that this year's Book of Mormon study has increased my trust in Jesus the Christ to be at my side, to help me through trials and to help me to heal, mature and progress towards eternal life, with our heavenly parents and an eternal family. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

0:31:06.5 Tammy: How much did you love Regina's testimony of the Book of Mormon? Oh my gosh, I loved that. And I have loved seeing your testimonies too, throughout this year, testifying of its truthfulness. And lastly, we have my friend, Kellie Speth, and she's a seminary teacher from Wyoming. And here's what Kelli has to share.

0:31:24.1 Kellie: My name is Kellie Speth, I live in Casper, Wyoming, and I'm a seminary teacher. I was excited to teach the Book of Mormon to these students, but then I was a little intimidated because I'm all, "How do I make this... How do I make it enjoyable for them and so that they can get a connection to Christ and understand how to love Him and recognize Him throughout the whole Scriptures?" And it wasn't until I started to get to 2 Nephi, that I was really starting to look for extra help, extra help outside of the seminary manual, the institute manual. I had downloaded several books off of Deseret Bookshelf, just looking for ways to help understand Isaiah, because I really didn't want to just read the chapter headings with the kids and be like, "Some of you may get this, some of you may not understand it, but we're just gonna kinda skip over it because I don't understand it." And it wasn't until... I actually, I can't remember how I stumbled upon Sunday on Monday, but I have the Deseret Bookshelf app, I'm always in it, looking for books, and somehow, we came upon it and somebody was like, "It explained 2 Nephi so great and I love Isaiah." And I was like, "Wait a second, what?" So I downloaded it, listened to it, and my mind was blown at how cool Isaiah is, and being able to start to understand Isaiah and love Isaiah, and understanding little bits in the Scriptures that I had never seen before.

0:32:54.8 Kellie: And so the Book of Mormon came alive. My headings around my scriptures are colored in and marked up, and I've got quotes all sitting in, and then stories that Tammy's brought in for her life, I mean, there was an instant connection, because things that she was saying, that she was feeling were things that I was feeling and things that I had struggled with, and how we need to help these seminary students, not just seminary students, everybody, come to the Book of Mormon and feel the love that is in the Book of Mormon and how much our Heavenly Father loves us, and how much these kids need to know that Heavenly Father loves them and that they are not lost. These Sunday on Mondays have completely changed me and have completely changed at the Book of Mormon. The quotes that are brought in, the people and the stories that are shared, I love it, and I cannot wait to study the Doctrine and Covenants.

0:34:03.2 Tammy: Me either. You guys, next year is going to be so awesome, not because it just means that one more year until we study the Old Testament, which I'm super excited about, but it's gonna be awesome because your takeaways and insights are what makes Sunday on Monday so great. And I'm really excited to see what you have to say next year. So thank you, everyone, and Merry Christmas!