Progressing Through God’s Perfect Plan

Last updated on: February 23, 2022 at 7:05 pm By Jennifer Platt

Sometimes I wish I knew more about who I was premortally. I wonder about my “first lessons,” including how they prepared me for my current experiences. Glimpses and Reaffirmation Sometimes I have glimpses—familiar moments of divinity when I’m worshiping in the temple, studying the scriptures and holding my soul still. My patriarchal blessing feels like a window to my premortal faithfulness. I’d like to think that this ultimate Father’s blessing is reminding me of who I was. I love the... Read more

“He Will Find You

Last updated on: February 16, 2022 at 6:41 pm By Sharon Black

Years ago I was blessed with a particular sacred insight that I turn to repeatedly for its relevance in my life. A Dark Night The surgery had not been serious; I would be going home in four or five days. But the night following it was disturbing. I had been blessed to have had very little experience with hospitals—with their periods of isolation, strange and uncomfortable beds, restrictive IVs strangely felt without pain, along with drugged dizziness, and immobility. Any... Read more

Broken Chains, Safe Connection

Last updated on: February 9, 2022 at 5:34 pm By Brad Wilcox

Why do children willingly submit to pain for a game called Red Rover? Two teams grasp hands as unbroken lines facing each other. Chains in a Game Team A chooses a strong member of Team B and calls out in unison, “Red rover, red rover, send (insert name) right over!” The challenged player runs toward Team B, determined to break through a tightly clasped pair of hands. The Team B player who breaks through returns to Team B with... Read more

Sacred Connections

Last updated on: February 2, 2022 at 7:34 pm By Eric D. Richards

We are living in a time of broken connections. The COVID pandemic has separated extended families, beloved neighbors, school groups, work colleagues, close-knit ward members, and others we miss terribly. Zoom has enabled a wide variety of meetings and instructional opportunities, but isolation wears us down when we cannot connect as feeling, sharing individuals. As we emerge slowly from COVID, we cherish the renewed connections, which we honor as opportunities to live Christ’s second great commandment: to love and serve... Read more

Sunrise to Sunrise

Last updated on: January 26, 2022 at 5:31 pm By Hilary Weeks

Sunrise to Sunrise—I count my days by bright, joyful dawns. I savor each precious moment as it turns to a memory, a habit, a way of life with those I love. Mountains, Rivers and Salmon My earliest sunrises were in Anchorage, Alaska—my childhood home. I loved the long summer days, the towering mountains and the expanse of ocean. My dad took advantage of the salmon-filled rivers, and we went fishing more often than we went to the movies. Our freezer... Read more

Our Center, Our Rock, Our Foundation

Last updated on: January 19, 2022 at 9:33 pm By John Hilton

Lines and circles are drawn on chalkboards or whiteboards all over the world to represent the Plan of Salvation. Some include a lot of detailed information—not all necessarily scriptural or accurate. Missing Center But among all those lines and circles, something is often missing—Jesus Christ. Jesus is at the center of the plan, but some of our visual depictions leave Jesus out. Thinking about how Christ is sometimes left out of Plan of Salvation drawings makes me wonder if sometimes... Read more

Covenants: Agreements With Love

Last updated on: January 12, 2022 at 10:19 am By Brad Wilcox

“ I do not want to get baptized or go to the temple, because I don’t want to make promises and then fail to keep them. These words seem reasonable, humble, and well intentioned. But they demonstrate an incomplete view of covenants that may prevent us from being blessed by our potential relationship with Jesus Christ. A Covenant With Another A covenant is often defined as a two-way promise, but this definition misleads by its worldly applications. Philosopher Truman Madsen and... Read more

Those Who Mourn, Those Who Seek: Forever Blessed in Christ

Last updated on: January 3, 2022 at 9:12 pm By Sharon Black

Those Who Mourn, Those Who Seek: Forever Blessed in Christ It was a small inconspicuous box, easily obscured by the more garish Christmas items demanding attention—like so many of the most important things in life. Inside the box was a tiny pendant on a chain, representing the tree of life bearing the fruit of God’s love. This tree of life is a little different: tiny figures of a woman and... Read more

Gathering Israel in the New Year

Last updated on: December 29, 2021 at 11:56 pm By Jennifer Platt

My family sets up nearly twenty nativities each Christmas. It’s our favorite way to decorate. Nativity scenes act as powerful symbols of the holy birth, showing different individuals and groups of people who worshipped the Christ child. We also love reminiscing about the places where we gathered the nativities or people who gave them to us. My heart is drawn back to faraway places like Israel. Botswana. Ethiopia. Mexico. The Philippines. Or to closer places. My mother’s sewing room. Even... Read more

The Christmas Carolers

Last updated on: December 22, 2021 at 4:11 pm By Abe Mills

Merry Christmas to you and yours, wherever you may be! When I think about the impact of the Christmas season on my life, there are a handful of experiences that stand out. One of the most memorable experiences happened when my family and I lived in Michigan. A Grouchy Neighbor Anyone who has lived in Michigan knows that there are two things you can be sure of in the winter season there. It’s going to be frigid, and there’s going... Read more