Stefanie Ackerson, May, Affirmations Journal

My goal for May was to develop a more meaningful routine of daily scripture study with an affirmations journal.  One of my good friends from my college days (who also happened to be my visiting teacher and Relief Society president for a time) once challenged me to do this and it was the most meaningful year of scripture study I've ever had.  I wanted to do it again this year.  I started on it a little bit earlier in the year, but May was going to be the month I really dedicated myself to it and reported on how I’m doing.

The first thing I had to do was buy a fresh new copy of the Book of Mormon, a cute notebook for my journal, and a multi-colored marking pencil.  I like to color-coordinate my entries based on which of my roles I am writing about as I try to apply the scriptures to my own life.  I have many different roles, including wife, daughter, sister, friend, as well as roles related to my job and church callings.  I also decided to include my role as simply a daughter of God to include characteristics and traits that I am striving to develop to bring me closer to my Savior.

The thing that makes an affirmations journal different from a regular scripture journal is that you write about the principles you read about in statements of faith about yourself.  As my college friend put it, "We can bring about great things in our lives by using statements of faith."  In Preach My Gospel (pg. 117) it reads, "Hope is trust in God's promises, faith that if we act now [express faith now], the desired blessings [and outcomes] will be fulfilled in the future."  Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy!

So when I read my scriptures, as I come across principles or characteristics I am striving to develop, I write a statement about myself as if I already demonstrate that principle or characteristic in my own life.  For example, one scripture I came across was in 1 Nephi 19:3.  Here is the scripture as I marked it and my accompanying entry in my affirmations journal:

Here are some more pictures of other pages in my scriptures and journal to give you an idea of how it works for me:

One of my favorite inspirational quotes is pasted into the front cover of my scripture journal (see picture above).  I still miss a day of studying now and again when life gets crazy, but I'm studying more and more and that's progress for me!