Four Words Can Transform Life’s Journey

butterfly on leaf

As we follow four important words in Alma 34:32, the purpose of life can become clearer, and our journey through life can become easier. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with all that living the gospel entails. The long list of to-do’s can distract us from the true purpose of life.… Continue reading

Unplugging: How Literature Brings Us Closer to God

an image of a stack of pink books sitting on top of a wooden floor

Taking time away from computer, phone, and television screens gives us the stillness we need to find refinement and come to know our Heavenly Parents.  Many missionaries have a hard time giving up Facebook, phones, and computer time for eighteen months to two years. For my friend, the difficult sacrifice was books.… Continue reading

Failure Is Part of Success

Girl doing tree pose on rock outcropping.

The things I thought were failures in my life were actually my best opportunities to grow—and God didn’t love me any less for them.    We all have those moments when something we have heard our entire lives finally clicks, really sinking into our minds and hearts. I had that… Continue reading

Finding Strength in Healing

Broken heart hanging on wire

It’s easy to assume that our broken situation is our only situation and that asking for help is a sign of weakness. What if we restructured these assumptions to see asking for help as a source of strength and healing? Seeking help can feel difficult in a world full of… Continue reading

Doers of the Word: Coming to Know God

an image of a couple of women standing next to each other

Coming to know God is an important part of our conversion and path to eternal life, but how can we know someone we haven’t even met? The Bible famously declares that eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3). However, most of us won’t have life-altering experiences like Peter, Mary, Moses,… Continue reading

5 Daily Reminders

A woman sitting on a hill looking toward the bright sun.

We have all felt at times like we are inadequate and should just give up, but the Savior knows each of us and knows that we are worth enough to die for. We all have so many things that we have to juggle on a daily basis that we sometimes… Continue reading

Growing Toward the Light

an image of a bird perched on a branch in a tree

Plants grow and thrive in sunlight. We grow and thrive in the light of Christ. I love to be surrounded by green, growing, living things; I often find comfort in the thriving plant life in the outdoors. Unfortunately, I don’t have much of a green thumb, and I haven’t had… Continue reading

Anthropological Linguistics and the Gospel

an image of a church with two towers and a clock on the front

What do anthropological linguistics and Amazonian Ecuador have to do with Christ’s restored gospel? Although we may claim, in the words of the beloved hymn, to “stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers” us, it is often too easy to take the spiritual and theological riches of the restored… Continue reading

“Jesus Wept”

Person on the end of a pier

Life can be unfair, painful, and uncertain. When we or our loved ones find ourselves in those times of grief or frustration, we can rely on the Savior and his perfect example of empathy. In his BYU devotional, “Hard Sayings and Safe Spaces: Making Room for Struggle as Well as… Continue reading

Preserving the Sanctity of Marriage in Modern Times

The Plan of Salvation: Temple Marraige

In today’s world, marriage is being attacked and ridiculed; we should restore its importance now more than ever. Marriage doesn’t have the same importance today as it once did. The narrative around marriage tends to lean in one of two directions: One is toward a twisted picture of misery and… Continue reading