my study journal--by subject

Today I thought I'd post a little about one of the ways that I study the gospel.

the study journal: by subject

For this journal, I just took a notebook that I had that I felt was big enough but small enough. Next I counted the number of pages in the book and reserved the first 3 or so pages for a table of contents. I numbered the pages and made a table of contents page so I could find subjects quickly. 

Next, I determined what some of the content pages would be. When I started this notebook, I wanted it to be a way to collect information that I learned in church, conferences, or in personal studies I was having so deciding on subjects was important to me. Some subjects I took right from Preach My Gospel, others from the For Strength of Youth pamphlet, and finally, other subjects I felt I wanted to understand better such as leadership, learning, teaching, effective study, patriarchal blessings, sin/disobedience, desire, testimony, and work. 

             

Next, I went through and labeled all the pages correspondingly, leaving some empty initially until I determined what subjects I wanted to study. I determined a general layout for each page. On the left, the top three lines were for a definition, next a section on scriptures that teach this doctrine or principle, at the bottom, a section for favorite quotes. On the other page, (note that they are all an open double page layout) is room for my personal thoughts, examples, insights, illustrations, stories, pictures, and testimony. Sometimes I glue things in or add sticky notes with a reference to something I want to go back to at some point to add to the content. 

Below is an example of my study on Jesus Christ. On this page, I even recorded what some of my favorite hymns are about the Savior since I love the music. I also included a picture I took in the garden of gethsemane. 

So that's basically it. I want to just say that being able to have this tool in my studies. I still don't have something written on every subject and that's not the point. It's been fun to see where my studies take me to and fro. I love being able to focus on something and return to it later when I have a new or different perspective depending on how things in my life have changed.