Have Hope: The Light Will Come

brilliant light shines at the end of a row of white columns

I thought this new calling would be my worst nightmare. Instead, it was exactly what I needed.  The first few years of college were hard for me. Really hard. Three years into college, I still found myself struggling. It wasn’t just schoolwork. I felt strangely drained. My workload was what… Continue reading

The Three Pillars of Eternity: Creation, Fall, and Atonement

space dust

By learning about these three great events of the plan of salvation, we can better understand God’s eternal plan for us. In a 1981 Brigham Young University devotional, Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85), then serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, teaches about the “three pillars of… Continue reading

When Evil Increases, So Does God’s Help

pink and purple sunset

The more darkness grows, the more God will help us if we rely on him.  It’s not easy to be a person of faith in our day, let alone to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. With the moral decline of society and the growing opposition against religion, it is easy… Continue reading

How Do I Know if I’m Good Enough?

an image of a woman looking out a window at a city

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your spiritual confidence before God?” —Jörg Klebingat  We have all surely asked ourselves at some point, “How do I know if God is pleased with what I’m doing?” We know the commandments, but no matter how hard we strive… Continue reading

Applying the Savior’s Atonement to My Own Life

Hand in the dark.

I realized that I had been so focused on working to take the gospel to other people that I had forgotten to let the gospel work in me. Early in my mission to Tennessee, my companion shared with me part of Sister Linda K. Burton’s address from the October 2012 General… Continue reading

How Burdens Can Become Blessings

an image of a man kneeling down with a dog in his lap

Through faith and patience, we can learn how the burdens of today can become the blessings of tomorrow. Experiencing an overload? Obligations, illnesses, decisions—each of us carries a load. Sometimes our loads seemingly become too heavy to bear. But Elder L. Whitney Clayton shows us that our burdens don’t have to… Continue reading

Judging to Save, Not Destroy

an image of a group of people sitting on a wall looking at a boat

As future leaders of the rising generation, we must learn how to judge in Christ’s way, which is “merciful, loving, and redemptive, not condemning.” When speaking to young adults, President Russell M. Nelson has said, “you are the future leaders of the Lord’s Church!” It is thus our sacred opportunity to… Continue reading

Overwhelmed by Church Expectations

an image of a man and woman sitting on a blanket on a mountain

The story of the rich young ruler can help us understand that Church standards are not requirements from the Church, but rather encouragement from the Lord. In young adulthood, many of us struggle to hold on to our faith. There are many things that people question when their faith falters,… Continue reading

Our Guiding Mistakes

Uneven rocky stairs leading up the side of a mountain.

Because of the Savior, we have infinite opportunities to learn from our mistakes. We all make mistakes. But this fact is not a mistake in the plan of salvation for humankind. In his talk “Until Seventy Times Seven,” Elder Lynn G. Robbins explains that “repentance isn’t [God’s] backup plan in… Continue reading

You Don’t Have to Fake It to Make It

Man looking in the mirror

When we face uncertainty, the Lord doesn’t expect us to pretend to know what we’re doing.  When my mom was called to be our ward choir director, she felt insecure because she had no experience. The previous choir director told her, “Fake it ’til you make it. Don’t show any… Continue reading