Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the January/February issue of LDS Living magazine. The theme for the issue was teaching and learning the gospel, especially in the home.
I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was six. I fell behind in school, and my teacher suggested I repeat second grade. My parents prayed about it, and my mom felt really uneasy about the idea of holding me back. So instead, she began to pray for inspiration on how to keep me in third grade. Her answer was to read the Book of Mormon with me every day.
I hated it. Reading was so intensely frustrating for me. I wanted to chuck the book across the room. Sometimes it would take me 10 minutes to sound out a word and 45 minutes to read a verse. Even after sounding out a simple word like “the,” I would forget it by the time we got to it again. Some nights I’d have meltdowns and be inconsolable. I know my mom got so frustrated as well, but she would always encourage me to read just one more word. (She actually started learning Korean so she could better understand what it felt like trying to read a totally new alphabet.) We read out of a large-print Book of Mormon every day. And we believe that is the only reason I was able to keep up with third grade.
After third grade, we went to a new psychologist, who said I would never get past a sixth-grade reading level and that it would be better if I was homeschooled. My mom homeschooled me for part of fourth grade, but I caught up and decided to go back to school. For years, I worked really hard through intensive tutoring, and by eighth grade, reading finally started to feel not so stressful.
It was also in eighth grade that I connected with a scripture for the first time. Seventh grade was during the pandemic, and it was really rough to feel so isolated. I also didn’t feel like I fit in with the other girls at school; I was the only Polynesian in my grade, and my learning disability made me feel different.
Then I came across a scripture that started a change in my life. I found it through a game my older sister made up: you pick a random book of scripture in the Gospel Library app, then pick a random chapter, then a random verse. I did that and landed on Matthew 5:16, which says, “Let your light so shine before men.” My mind went to a friend at church and how much light she shines and how that makes her so wonderful to be around. I decided I wanted to be like that. So I started complimenting my friends more and pushed myself to talk to new people. It didn’t happen right away, but I gradually became so much happier. I felt like I had discovered a scripture no one else knew—and was meant just for me.
Today I’m a senior in high school and plan to go to college in the fall; I read way beyond what the psychologist said I would. The little girl who once wanted to throw scriptures across the room now keeps a list of favorite verses on her phone. I’ve learned I really do have light to shine to the world— and I’m just getting started.
For more inspiring content, check out the articles below:
▶ Pres. Nelson’s 3 tips for successful New Year’s resolutions
▶ The ‘Come, Follow Me’ goal I should have set years ago (that you might want to copy)
▶ The Doctrine and Covenants verse Elder Kearon finds ‘enormously comforting’
