15 August 2023. Heather Powell is gone. I just found out that Heather Kay Sabadin Powell, one of the most influential people in my life, passed away suddenly over the weekend. She lived in Spokane, Washington, and a niece I’d never met messaged me the news. As I sat with this new reality, I thought of how Heather came to mind repeatedly Sunday morning and throughout the day. Think of her. Remember her. I had glimpses of her in my... Read more
After church, an invitation to go walking turned into a decision to meet in the middle of the night to chase the Perseid meteors. Neither of our husbands were necessarily interested, so we happily took advantage of each other’s interest. I had a busy afternoon and my friend said she’d find a good place for us to go. At 11:00 pm, she pulled up at my house. As I walked out the door, I grumbled about the very overcast sky. ... Read more
I’ve heard so often from scriptures and prophets: the Lord will bless you with miracles. And suddenly, unexpectedly, a miracle occured in our family. It’s astounding, never before imagined in my wildest dreams. While telling the story to my aunt, I mentioned President Russell M. Nelson’s general conference promises and how I focused on those as I began intentionally worshipping in the temple. She asked for the quote I mentioned, and I realized the conference talk promises spanned the years... Read more
I had the fun opportunity to share some thoughts about women in scripture at Girls Camp. How awesome is it that the youth leaders preparing for camp made space in the busy schedule for daily scripture study, reflection, and a class on women in the scriptures! Last year they asked me to speak about scripture study, and I used women in the scriptures for all my examples, so felt delighted that the youth wanted to continue that topic again. As... Read more
June 27 marks the 179th anniversary of Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s martyrdom in Carthage Jail. The “Road to Carthage” discusses the sad tale. Our current Sunday night family book group book is Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. As June 27th approached, several meaningful quotes came to mind and I decided to honor one of my greatest heroes by sharing some of the most generally hopeful and inspiring (to me) quotes in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Other sections... Read more
We are all wounded, bruised, and battered as we traverse mortality. A mundane task helped me see woundedness from a more objective perspective. Wounded As I finished peeling my second potato, I put it with the first and picked up another lovely brown russet potato. I began peeling. The first swipe on the potato revealed some dark bruises. I hadn’t seen any indication that the potato was bruised at all. As I continue peeling around the potato, bruises peppered that... Read more
Adversity by Sister Sydney Parmelee I’m Sister Parmelee. Growing up, my family always had a saying, “You can do hard things.” Now whether that was used when talking about taking out the trash or waking up for school in the morning, it has become such a focus in my life especially on my mission. Adversity is a part of our life. We’ve been studying and teaching the plan of salvation a lot and what is so cool is remembering... Read more
Discipleship Through Adversity by Sister Emma Webb I have enjoyed every bit of my mission, the happy moments as well as the hard moments where I’ve grown the most. And that’s what I want to share today, those hard moments that we all face and how we can maintain our discipleship. It can be a tough thing at times or a lot of the time, but I hope by the end of this meeting you will all feel added strength... Read more
The New Testament Come Follow Me lessons have recently focused on many of the parables Jesus taught to his apostles and disciples during his mortal ministry. Those same parables have helped each of us learn lessons that are easily applied into our lives. I would like to expound on a little known, and recently learned, parable that I refer to as the Parable of the Jell-O. The Parable of the Jell-O by Daylen Bushman There was in our neighborhood a... Read more
I read the following story about strengthening bridges in my family book group’s book (The Second Coming of the Lord by Gerald Lund). I wondered if I would fortify spiritual bridges or just give up in the face of such obvious opposition. Could I rely on the Lord for strength and ideas of how to make a way? Fortify Spiritual Bridges Gerald Lund shared the following story: “A Christian missionary couple was called to Africa to serve deep in the... Read more
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