I finished!

In our Church we have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, along with our Articles of Faith and Joseph Smith's History compiled into what we call the standard works. The topical guide is like the index of indexes, going alphabetically through each topic in the above books of scriptures, each topic having all the references listed. I clicked on each verse listed under each reference, unless I already knew it. I paid extra special attention to Isaiah and the Gospels in the New Testament. The topical guide is long! Without the verses, which would lengthen it 100 times, it has more pages than the New Testament.

It took me almost three years to go through the entire topical guide, if I am remembering the starting date right. There were days, especially at the beginning and the end, when I spent hours and hours, a lot of those actually. There were a few days I missed entirely, and many when I only read one or two references from only one of the topics. I kept going, excited always for the next word or to get to the next letter by a certain date, or just basking in something so Good after a long day. The thing I learned, more than anything, is I that belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. All the work that was done to compile the topical guide, all the years, all the focus, is about and on Christ. The topic, "Jesus Christ" makes up 18 and a half pages of references. Of course if you look up each and every one, that is more like 1800 pages...but that's not all. Virtually every other topic I read also points to Christ. We worship Him.
 The next biggest thing I learned is how little I know. The more I learn the more I realize I want and need to learn, both in my head and in my heart; it's about the connection. It is as He said, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little." I hope to continue to study, every day, for as long as I am.