In The Beginning...

Months of effort, driven by the Spirit, burdened by glorious purpose, 52 pages, 400+ commandments and blessings later, and I was selfishly keeping it to myself.

But let me start from the beginning.

Like many young adults of my religion I set aside two years of my life when I turned 19 to go and preach the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I served my "mission" in the Micronesian Islands (the Micronesia Guam Mission) and returned around a year ago. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. A few of the highlights were the frequent use of machetes, the island foods, and watching lives change as people accepted the restored gospel pf Jesus Christ.

A few years before my mission I received a priesthood blessing in which I was counseled to study a book of scripture called The Doctrine and Covenants. By way of introduction, when Jesus Christ restored His church through the prophet Joseph Smith then, as you might guess, Joseph had many questions about the Lords will concerning His church. To start a church is one matter, but to restore the true church of Jesus Christ with all the ordinances, priesthoods, offices, and organizations that existed in the primitive church is another matter altogether. Joseph had many questions and frequently went to the Lord in prayer to learn His will concerning various matters. The Doctrine and Covenants (also called the D&C for short) is a record of the revelations that God gave to the prophet Joseph Smith.

I'll be the first to admit that the Doctrine and Covenants was not typically my scriptural book of choice. I frequently read out of the Book of Mormon and the Bible (both Old and New Testaments), but I hadn't made much of a study of the Doctrine and Covenants. As I sat on my bed one day thinking of how I should approach my study of the D&C I remembered something that my mom enjoyed doing while she read the scriptures. Look for the "if-then" statements. Frequently in the scriptures we find these little "If you keep the commandments then you will prosper in the land" type statements. I decided to read through the Doctrine and Covenants looking for all those commandments tied to blessings that the Lord gives us. I was 18 at the time.

At first it started out more casual than anything. I would be reading through verse after verse, occasionally zoning out as is typical of adolescents reading the scriptures, and then zoning back in and having to reread the last half-page or so to make sure I hadn't missed commandment tied to a blessing. When I found one I would record it in my study journal and then move on. But then something started to happen.

I started to get excited.

I was only a few sections into the D&C and I already had a few pages worth of commandments linked to blessings. An idea started to form in my mind. What if I were to find every "if-then" statement in the D&C and then write it all up? How many would there be? And so I dove in and started meticulously recording every C&B (Commandment and Blessing) that I could find. Little did i know just how big of a project I had started.

It started slow with about 15-20 minutes of study a day, writing my findings in my study journal and then transferring them into the computer in a table to make it more legible. But the further along I got the more excited I got as well. I began to feel that I was doing something unique and special. I felt the Spirit urging me along a little at a time helping me to keep pushing on month after month.

Finally after months and months of effort I was done. 52 typed pages, over 400 commandments and blessings. It was a huge effort and finally I was done. And it has amazed me ever since what I did with all this work next.

Nothing.

I didn't do anything with it.

A few months after finishing I left on my mission and the file of commandments and blessings sat on the computer collecting virtual dust for two years. Until now.

I have been back from my mission for over a year now. After some prayerful searching I have decided to start finding the commandments and blessings in the Book of Mormon, but what of these C&B from the D&C? Do I write a book? There's certainly enough unique material to do that. Do I publish it online for free? That'd be fine, but lets be honest, nobody's gonna read all 52 pages of these. It wouldn't be effective. So why not a blog?

I have some unique insights and thoughts from this extensive study that I want to share. It will be much more applicable and I will be able to share my personal experiences and testimony as well. 

Well you've made it all the way through this first post of the why and what for this Commandments and Blessings blog. I have a link here that will take you to my original work and compilation of the Commandments and Blessings of the Doctrine and Covenants

Enjoy!

Andrew