Our ward Young Men and Young Women participated in an amazing event in January of 2010. It was a Book of Mormon Read-a-Thon in which they read the entire Book of Mormon, out loud, on Friday and Saturday. They met at the church-house at 4:00 on Friday, read until 11:00 that night, reconvened at 7:00 Saturday morning, and finished the book at 11:30 Saturday night. Two microphones were set up for the readers to switch off. All the couches and easy chairs in the church foyers were brought into the cultural hall and arranged in a circle, plus some recliners, bean bags, and patio chairs from home. The reading never stopped for even 10 seconds except to bless the food before meals. A chalkboard was set up front to make any announcements, such as "We are ready for more readers to line up." Ward members brought all the meals for the kids, which were set up on long tables.
My husband made a Dutch oven dinner for Saturday night. The kids picked up their food, returned to their chairs, and ate while they continued following along in their scriptures. A young mom in the ward with a gift for speaking really fast was asked to read all the Isaiah chapters (haha, but really...). Snacks were brought in by ward members. Different ward adults came in and spelled off the kids in the reading to add interest. I came and read for a little while Saturday night. A little exercise equipment was available in the back of the cultural hall for kids who needed to move a bit (a stepping stair, for one thing), but for the most part, the kids were very quiet and followed along in their books. When you read it that fast, you see the patterns repeating so quickly, and you follow the story line well. It's a different experience than normal individual reading.
