Benefits of Reading the Book of Mormon
Sister Marriott recalls reading a quote by President Marion G. Romney that inspired her to read the Book of Mormon daily with her children in an effort to calm the chaos in her home following the birth of her 11th child.
"At that moment, David arrived home from work," Sister Marriott said. "As he came through the back door into the kitchen, I held out the quote to him and said, in a voice shaking with emotion, 'I want this!'"
Within the week, the Marriotts began reading the Book of Mormon with their children every day during breakfast. "The pace was so snail-like that it took us seven years to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover as a family," Sister Marriott recalls.
"There was something powerful at work during breakfast," Sister Marriott writes. "The hardback Book of Mormon collected remnants of breakfasts over the years — a gleam of syrup, a hardened spot of milk, a streak suggesting eggs. I love the historical record our stained book cover bears. It says, 'I am loved, I am used, I am part of the fabric of this family — tattered, yes, but valued.'"
When he was in high school, Sister Marriott's son Daniel was asked to give a talk in stake conference. He insisted that he prepare his talk on his own so when he began his talk by announcing that it took his family seven years to read the Book of Mormon, Sister Marriott said she wanted to jump up and screech, "What do you expect from a family of 13 at the breakfast table!" But after saying he didn't really remember any specific verses read, he shared a testimony that made his parents' efforts worthwhile.
"'What I do remember is that every single morning my dad reached for the Book of Mormon as we ate,'" Sister Marriott writes recalling her son's words. "'And somehow I knew in my little-boy heart that this book was really important to my dad. Now it is important to me.' I cried. There it was. Consistent daily family scripture reading, no matter how slow, is an undeniable witness of faith in the word of God."
From a Deseret News Article about Sister Marriott's book "Seek This Jesus."