At the beginning of 1988, 7-year-old Seantylle Marie Andersen, a member of the Sharon 2nd Ward in Orem, Utah, decided she wanted to read the Book of Mormon before her 8th birthday on Sept. 26. "It's good to have the Book of Mormon read before you get baptized," the petite brown-eyed girl explained, "because then you know more about the Church."
She shared her goal with her parents, Carl and Shari. Her father gave her an old set of his scriptures to read and both parents occasionally read with her. "But she read most of it herself," Anderson said. "We just helped her through the more difficult parts."Andersen also took a few minutes to read Moroni 10:3-5 with his daughter, explaining what it meant and encouraging her to pray about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
And Seantylle did. "I started praying while I was reading and kept praying until I finished the book. Because I prayed and asked, I know the Book of Mormon is true and I know Heavenly Father is alive because my heart felt warm," she testified solemnly.
Seantylle didn't quite get the Book of Mormon read before her birthday, but she finished it the day after her baptism. She read the last few chapters in the new scriptures her parents had given her for a birthday present.
Her favorite parts were the book of Enos, "because it was only one chapter long and I understood it," and the book of Alma, "because it was full of adventures."
Seantylle plans on continuing to read and pray about the scriptures, because she knows that testimonies need to be continually strengthened. Her explanation is simple. "If you're not reading the scriptures, you can't really pray about them."