Gospel Study Journals

Finally a post that isn't about my baby :) Although she's adorable and much loved around our house I have a lot of things I want to share about on my blog and the first thing is my scripture journals.
I love studying the gospel! Each time I read the Book of Mormon, talks from Apostles, and other church material I gain a deeper appreciation for our Savior. I have noticed over the years that when I write down what I am studying I remember it a lot better. Not only do I remember it a lot better but I internalize the message and really think about it.
My first set of journals are note taking journals:

I have done this method since 2011. I use notebooks from deseret book which cost me around $8. I always have one of these notebooks in my scripture bag. Now that I have Claire I just bring the diaper bag to church but I still put a notebook in the diaper bag every Sunday.
Since serving a mission I have learned how important sacrament meeting can really be to us. My mission president taught us that answers to our questions can be answered in sacrament meeting just like they can be during general conference. I take notes during general conference so I thought I should apply that same principle and start taking notes during my Sunday meetings. Here is an example of notes I took during a sacrament meeting:

Here are notes that I took during general conference:

I also do the same thing with sunday school and relief society. : I only get to go to sunday school/ relief society every other week because the other sundays I am in primary. Relief Society is the hour we meet as women of the church 18 and older and we discuss gospel topics. Because I can't go as often I would like, meaning every sunday, taking notes helps me to get the most out of the meetings.
I take notes by writing down highlights from the meetings and then my own thoughts as well. Sometimes the notes happen in forms of lists, or scriptures, or doodles.

Another method  I have for note taking is through marking my scriptures.

Most of the time while I am reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon I write my thoughts that come to mind in the margins of the chapter.

 As you can see it can get kind of messy but I really love it. I just get these blue Book of Mormons from Deseret book for $3.00 so I start with a fresh copy every time. I love to do this because each time I read the Book of Mormon I am in a different stage of my life and I find that the passages help me deal with what is going on at that time. Right now I am so focused on being a mom and raising a strong daughter that anything to do with families in the Book of Mormon I am paying close attention to.
Another way I mark my scriptures in a fresh copy is by writing my own summary titles at the top of each page. After I read a page in the Book of Mormon I will summarize it in the top margin like this:

I like to do this because it helps me remember what I read and I can refer to the top page really easily. Lastly another quick way I mark my scriptures is by color code and the page ends up looking like this:

 I will do another blog post soon on marking scriptures but at least you have a general idea of what I do. Sometimes I even combine all three methods into one.

Sharing the gospel is something I want to do more of so if you don't like these types of posts sorry, just keep scrolling ;)

XO
Caitlin