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In part two of “The Power of the Pencil,” Cindy Young teaches how annotating scriptures—writing short notes, single words, tags, or questions in the margins—can turn passive reading into active study. She explains tagging story sections at the top of pages to quickly find and review specific scripture stories, and highlights this week’s reading in Exodus 14–18, including the Red Sea crossing and manna. Cindy shares simple annotation ideas such as writing “WOW,” naming unnamed principles like faith or courage, using digital tags for quick annotating, and writing questions beside underlined phrases, using Exodus 14:13 (“stand still”) as an example. She encourages starting small, suggests sticky notes, bookmarks, and wide-margin editions, and points viewers to a free worksheet on her website.

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Don't forget the parable of the snowball: listening to someone else talk about the gospel is like having snowballs thrown at you. Reading the scriptures is like making your own snowball. Taking the time to search, ponder, and pray about what you've read is like rolling the snowball around and around so that it grows and grows. So don't just listen to me - please go read for yourself so your knowledge and testimony can grow and grow!!

Come Follow Me Old Testament
Beginners Guide to Scripture Study
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Book of Mormon
Doctrine and Covenants
CFM 2026
Teens, Youth, Kids, Family
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Cindy Young introduces part one of her “Power of the Pencil” series on Primarily Scripture, explaining that while some people choose not to mark their scriptures, marking can help turn reading into studying by increasing interaction, retention, and recall. She shares childhood experiences with a red pencil, then gives beginner-friendly ways to start: use multiple colored pencils (with or without a strict color-coding system), switch colors to track ideas, and mark selectively by underlining or highlighting key words and phrases rather than whole verses. She also suggests using symbols like hearts, stars, and question marks to note love of God, memorization candidates, and questions to ponder over time, emphasizing that marking methods can change and should prioritize spiritual learning over aesthetics.

To see the video with Elder Bednar’s advice for marking scriptures: Gospel Library App > Books and Lessons > Seminary > Old Testament Student Manual > Scripture Study Skills > Annotating Scriptures > 2nd video down, under Marking Scriptures

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Don't forget the parable of the snowball: listening to someone else talk about the gospel is like having snowballs thrown at you. Reading the scriptures is like making your own snowball. Taking the time to search, ponder, and pray about what you've read is like rolling the snowball around and around so that it grows and grows. So don't just listen to me - please go read for yourself so your knowledge and testimony can grow and grow!!

Come Follow Me Old Testament
Beginners Guide to Scripture Study
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Book of Mormon
Doctrine and Covenants
CFM 2026
Teens, Youth, Kids, Family
Primary
LDS
Latter Day Saint
Young Women
Young Men
Temple
Aaronic Priesthood
Scripture Study
Study Tips

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In this final part of her Understanding the Scriptures series, Cindy Young explains three types of scripture passages you’ll encounter—informational, stories, and sermons—how to identify them, and how to approach each. Informational sections (like genealogies, land descriptions, and laws) can be list-heavy and difficult, so she suggests skimming or even skipping long informational chapters if you’re not ready for a deep dive. Stories are easiest to follow, so she recommends retelling the events, looking for messages and character choices, noticing sequence, and applying principles to your life. Sermons focus on doctrine, commandments, warnings, and promises from prophets or the Lord, so she advises looking for truths taught, personal application, and what they teach about Jesus Christ. Come back next month to learn all about how using a pencil can enhance your scripture study.

Support the show

And if you've found this helpful, then please Subscribe, Follow, Like, Share, and leave a review. =o)

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Don't forget the parable of the snowball: listening to someone else talk about the gospel is like having snowballs thrown at you. Reading the scriptures is like making your own snowball. Taking the time to search, ponder, and pray about what you've read is like rolling the snowball around and around so that it grows and grows. So don't just listen to me - please go read for yourself so your knowledge and testimony can grow and grow!!

Come Follow Me Old Testament
Beginners Guide to Scripture Study
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Book of Mormon
Doctrine and Covenants
CFM 2026
Teens, Youth, Kids, Family
Primary
LDS
Latter Day Saint
Young Women
Young Men
Temple
Aaronic Priesthood
Scripture Study
Study Tips