Garden Grove As the Saints headed westward, Church leaders decided to create a long-term camp at Garden Grove, which was 128 miles from Nauvoo. Parley P. Pratt recorded All things being harmonized and put in order, the camps moved on. Arriving at a place on a branch of Grand River we encamped for a while, having travelled much in the midst of great and continued rains, mud and mire. Here we enclosed and planted a public farm of many hundred... Read more
After visiting Adam-ondi-Ahman, we drove to Far West. I timed our arrival at sunset. I wanted to be on the temple site after dark as we talked about the fulfillment of a dated prophecy—meeting to continue the foundation of the Far West Temple. The Saints had been driven from the state and a few people gathered in the very early hours of April 26th to see that prophecy fulfilled. Our ancestor was there. We circled our camp chairs in the... Read more
My parents, siblings, families, and I made a pilgrimage to Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa to walk in our ancestor’s footsteps and learn more about their lives. Rush Creek in Clay County, Missouri was our first ancestral stop. A deadly cholera outbreak wreaked havoc on Zion’s Camp at Rush Creek and Sidney Gilbert’s adjacent farm. The healthy moved the sick into the Gilbert’s home. When the men died, they were carried back to Rush Creek and buried. Ultimately, cholera claimed 13... Read more
Do Mormons believe in Jesus? Yes! Jesus Christ of Nazareth is our Lord and Savior. We believe New Testamental accounts of Jesus Christ’s life and ministry. We believe that He suffered and died for our sins in Gethsemane and on Calvary’s cross. We believe He resurrected from the tomb, and because He lives again, so can we. Thirteen Articles of Faith give a basic summary of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes referred to as... Read more
In 2 Kings 17, Assyria carries away captive the northern 10 tribes of Israel. Most of the chapter recounts why and how they forsook Jehovah and removed Him from their midst. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. I fixated on “worshipped all the host of heaven.” I looked up the etymology of the word host. The definitions of host were army, war, warfare. I actually didn’t... Read more
As my summer to-do list keeps growing exponentially, I decided to take a minute in my impending overwhelm to take some deep breaths and objectively look at the tasks on my list. While I couldn’t delete anything from that list, that moment of quiet contemplation helped me in optimizing the to-do list. I remembered why each item mattered to me and gave a quiet reassurance that by taking one step at a time and casting my burdens on the Lord,... Read more
After an epic showdown with idolatrous priests, the prophet Elijah learned that Queen Jezebel intended to kill him. Finding that something the soul needs in the wilderness. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a... Read more
Last week I got to teach 100 young women aged 11-18 about scripture study and revelation. Leaders at camp divided the girls into four classes based on age and each class length was an hour and a half, providing ample opportunity to really dive into various aspects of the whys and hows of scripture study and revelation. I assumed the girls had sat through many classes and talks about why you have to study your scriptures (because I have,) so after praying... Read more
For me, the Book of Judges records the most troubling scripture stories, including the most horrible story that most revolts my soul. As I read Judges 19 again this week, I paused. It records a gruesome story of a woman who had left her husband and went to her father’s house, but returned with her husband when he came and spoke friendly things to her again. On the way to their home, while staying overnight in a strange town, she... Read more
Old Testament giants have fascinated me since my first hearing of David’s faith and slingshot defeating gigantic Goliath. During later readings of the Old Testament, I met giants with other names like Og of Bashan and Sihon, the Anakim, the Nephilim, and even Lamhi, Goliah’s brother, slain by Elhanan. I never found any real answers to my giant questions until the internet provided opportunities for new understanding. And when the Church’s online search came online, I found Hugh Nibley’s 12-part... Read more
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