I loved this touching story my sister Desirée shared of how the Lord answered her prayer as she suffered with a kidney stone. I loved how an idea of what to pray for was given to her and that she followed that prompting. I truly believe that God is with us in our trials and answers our prayers when we act in faith. Desirée Bushman Johnson’s story Last Sunday I was just about to load the kids into the car... Read more
My cousin Todd Bushman reminded our family that today, September 21, 2023, marks the 200th anniversary of Angel Moroni’s first visits to Joseph Smith. Here are Todd’s thoughts and insights: 200th anniversary of Moroni’s first visit to Joseph Smith is September 21 & 22, 1823 Ever since the 200th anniversary of the First Vision, I’ve been excited to start going through the various milestones of the Restoration of the Gospel in their 200th anniversaries, and we are finally at the... Read more
“…he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.” 2 Nephi 26:33 This is a well-known and repeated concept in scripture. I’ve always interpreted the phrase “and all are alike unto God” to mean that God views, treats, and loves everyone equally. Divine love... Read more
My husband and I love riding motorcycles out on an open road. I love observing the intricate correlation of things as I ride. None of these things are as observable while riding cocooned in a car, but on a bike, the interconnectedness all around me is so evident. Air I feel the chill clinging to the air until it’s suddenly gone with rising temperature. I feel the sun’s warmth through my clothes. We rode directly east this morning and the... Read more
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
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