Recently this miracle where I heard and felt the Holy Ghost’s whisperings that I recorded in a journal entry came to mind. The journal entry recorded some of the angst, stress, and fear I felt during that particular “crisis.” I was amazed at the peace that came when I decided to listen to the Holy Ghost’s whisperings. By following the prophet’s admonition to “refine our ability to recognize the whisperings of the Holy Ghost,” we can be guided through turbulent... Read more
Growing Your Testimony in Christ by Austin Bushman I am Austin Bushman. My parents are Daylen and Scarlet. I have got the best immediate family and extended family in the world because they taught me while I was young to believe in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement. I love my parents and I have come to realize so much more of what they did for me and my love for them has been enhanced on the mission. [In December,... Read more
In the preface of his gospel, Luke addressed “most excellent Theophilus.” Theophilus seemed like a pretty Greek name to me. I glossed over it assuming I couldn’t know who Theophilus was because he isn’t found in the scriptures beyond Luke’s mention in Luke and Acts. But as I began a new reading of Luke 1, I found some clues about Theophilus. Several theories exist about who Theophilus is. Two, in particular, fascinated me. Theophilus ben Ananus Theophilus ben Ananus served as... Read more
It wasn’t the first time I felt mortified because of an expectation gone awry, but these circumstances made the sting really sting. A friend asked me to play the hymns for their grandfather’s funeral. Anthony and I have known this family for 20 years, and I felt honored to pay my respects this way. When I arrived at the church, I found a large, dilapidated hymnal missing its binding. I preferred the size of that book to my smaller hymnal,... Read more
Have you ever felt immobilized by fear and lack of conviction? I have. It’s usually not a comfortable place to be; however, I’ve noticed that state of mind can become a comfort zone. I appreciated these thoughts my brother Dannen shared with me about being aware of the “security of not doing, the security of not being,” of being willing to go, know, and be. Compilation of Thoughts about the effects of being Immobilized by Fear and Lack of Conviction... Read more
“Thanksgiving in and for the Gospel” by Destinee Bushman I have prayed that each of us may hear the sweet voice of the Spirit. My thoughts have taken a different turn than I expected so I hope that He will relay this message in a clear way to your minds and open hearts. Review and Revise I am thankful for and feel blessed to have such a beautiful holiday set aside in our religious and secular world – Thanksgiving –... Read more
In continuing my efforts to understand the Lord emphasizing our relationship as being in and through, (click on this link for Part I In and Through: In a Lions Den and a Fiery Furnace), I followed the thought to look at Jonah. Initially, I’d just expected to review Jonah’s experience in the fish. But I was drawn to other parts of his story—in a ship, in the waves, in the fish, in Ninevah, in the shadow he sought from the heat.... Read more
Prisons and Perspectives by Kurt S. Johnson How many of you, of your own free will and choice, would willingly decide to use one-third of your yearly time off work, not to go to Disneyland or the beach, but to pack up your entire family in a car and travel over 2,000 miles, crossing through 8 states, with gas prices close to $5 dollars per gallon, with a toddler needing to stop for a potty break seemly every thirty minutes,... Read more
Happy November! I love exploring the root meanings of words in the scriptures, and the Greek definitions of thankfulness are some of my favorites. Translators used thanks and thankfulness when translating several different words from Greek to English. Two of the coolest root word definitions (to me) are for eucharistos and chariti (found on BibleHub.com.) Eucaristos essentially means “to be grateful, express gratitude towards, to say grace at a meal, to give thanks, thanksgiving.” Today Eucharist is the ritual commemoration... Read more
We all find ourselves in life’s crucibles—at the hand of others, as a part of life, or sometimes because of our own choices. Those refining times in a fiery furnace reveal so much about who we are and can help us determine our spiritual trajectory. Next to the Savior’s atoning sacrifice, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego’s crucible story is my all-time favorite. I imagine them standing in a huge throng before the 90-foot version of Nebuchadnezzar. They’d gathered by order of... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In