While not serving a mission, I learned more about myself, my Heavenly Father, and the places he is leading me. As waves of missionaries return home, lots of things have changed, such as housing, dating, school enrollment, and marriage. President Thomas S. Monson’s 2012 general conference announcement lowering the ages… Continue reading
We often feel like there’s no time for meaningful scripture study. Even when there is time, we may be lost as to how to make the most of it. Joseph Fielding McConkie—son of Bruce R. McConkie, grandson of Joseph Fielding Smith, and longtime professor of ancient scripture at BYU—tells of… Continue reading
“God is never hidden, yet sometimes we are, covered by a pavilion of motivations that draw us away from God and make him seem distant and inaccessible.” As members of the Church, we often feel that although we are keeping the commandments, going to the temple, and praying regularly, we… Continue reading
Often we are reminded that we are connected to the prophets of old, but how? And why does that matter? If you’ve ever tuned out at the words “seed of Abraham,” this article is for you. With modern-day advances in technology, transportation, and daily living, and the centuries that separate… Continue reading
The Apostle Paul can help us learn to teach more like the Savior taught. Members of the LDS Church have numberless opportunities to teach, whether it’s as missionaries, in Sunday School, at home, or with friends. In the Ensign article “The Apostle Paul as Master Teacher,” Frank F. Judd Jr. and John Hilton… Continue reading
A sister missionary learns that just because God was blessing someone else doesn’t mean he was not blessing her. In “Why Was I Not Being Blessed?”, featured in the September 2015 Ensign, Becky Young Fawcett discusses a concern facing many new missionaries—and many of the rest of us—today. When she… Continue reading
We know that our bodies are gifts from God and that we are made in his image. So why is it so hard to love our bodies? In “The Body, a Sacred Gift,” published in the Ensign and Liahona, Diane Spangler reports that 63 percent of women and 50 percent… Continue reading
Do you want to feel the Spirit more fully? It’s possible, and the answer is pretty simple. One of the largest problems returned missionaries face is finding a way to feel the Spirit as strongly as they did on their missions. One young man asked Elder Don R. Clarke, a… Continue reading
If you have doubts about your gospel knowledge or testimony, remember that you knew the truth before this life—you just have to remember it. In a recently published article in the New Era, Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the First Quorum of the Seventy tells us how we can gain more… Continue reading
Elder Dallin H. Oaks teaches that the best way to live the gospel is through consistent, dedicated effort. In 1952, Illinois governor Adlai E. Stevenson gave a speech in which he said patriotism “is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” Elder… Continue reading
