Scripture Power!

Here is a really cool article of a kid named Rooma Terooatea who decided to give the scriptures a chance!
Why Not?
Why would a teen choose to spend two hours every Thursday night studying the scriptures with his mom? A year ago Rooma Terooatea of Tahiti probably would have wondered the same thing.
Now he might ask why a teen would choose not to.
During three years of seminary, Rooma had never really paid attention when his teachers assigned scriptures to read for the next lesson. “I didn’t want to read them,” he says. “The scriptures really didn’t jump out at me.”

Rooma didn’t really want to study the scriptures. And he didn’t have to. But when he chose to, his life changed.

But he wondered why Church leaders in his ward and stake always used the scriptures in their talks and lessons. He watched his leaders. He noticed how easy it was for his stake president to quote from the scriptures.
So when the Faaa Tahiti Stake divided the seminary students into teams to hold scripture mastery competitions throughout his last year of seminary, Rooma decided to give the scriptures a chance.
That’s when his weekly study sessions with his mother began. Each Thursday night they studied together for the class competition the next day, learning where important verses are and even memorizing many of them.
And that’s when things began to change for Rooma. His scripture study strengthened his relationship with his mom. He started to see the parallels between what the scriptures teach and what is happening in the world today. As he prayed about what he was reading, he realized it was of God.
It also helped him lead his team to victory in the stake scripture mastery championship.
Rooma recognizes in the blessings he’s received a lesson he learned in his studying. “In Mosiah 2:24 King Benjamin taught that when we choose to do what the Lord asks, we are blessed immediately,” says Rooma. One of the greatest blessings he has received is that “after studying the scriptures this year, I know that the Book of Mormon is true.”


“Crash courses are not nearly so effective as the day-to-day reading and application of the scriptures in our lives. Become acquainted with the lessons the scriptures teach. . . . Study them as though they were speaking to you, for such is the truth. . . .
“. . . If you will study the scriptures diligently, your power to avoid temptation and to receive direction of the Holy Ghost in all you do will be increased” (Thomas S. Monson, “Be Your Best Self,” Liahona and