The Story of the Dutch Potato Project

potatoes

Loving your enemies is more than a catchphrase. In the video That We Might Be One: The Story of the Dutch Potato Project, we see the great sacrifice Church members in Holland made for members of the Church in Germany following World War II. After the war, food was scarce. The Dutch people… Continue reading

Graduating Life with Honors

Decisions to take the higher road can make us feel disadvantaged; but when in doubt, consider what the Anti-Nephi-Lehies did.  In the Book of Mormon, Aaron presents his account of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies—a people who, when they had come to a knowledge of their Savior, promised never to lift their swords… Continue reading

How Do I Know if I’m Good Enough?

“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

Judging Others—Just Stop It

people walking in a city.

“When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following: Stop it!”  Judging others—we all do it, whether we like to admit it or not. In a world full of people who are very different from you, it can be hard… 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

Will Forgiveness Come?

Because we sometimes feel ashamed of the need to repent, we forget that the Savior wants to forgive us. There is a common perception that asking for forgiveness is something to be ashamed of. Repenting of our sins can seem daunting. We imagine ourselves kneeling before the throne of grace,… Continue reading

Finding Peace While Pursuing Perfection

How do you know when you’re forgiven? In many LDS homes, a favorite activity for teaching children about repentance involves food coloring. In this object lesson, parents bring out a glass of water and add a few drops of food coloring to it, tainting the water to represent what happens… Continue reading

Forgiveness: The 490th Time’s the Charm

Forgiveness brings peace to an aching soul. Bitterness can gnaw at our hearts for many reasons: insult, offense, sin, guilt. Perhaps we have failed to let go of a grudge. Perhaps we are coming up on the 490th round of forgiveness. Perhaps it is our own mistakes that we need… Continue reading

A Perfect Gospel with Imperfect People

Don’t give up on a perfect God just because of imperfect disciples. In his talk “Come, Join with Us,” Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles states, “The Church would be perfect only if it were run by perfect beings. God is perfect, and his doctrine… Continue reading

Not Feeling the Spirit? It Might Be for One of These Two Reasons

Man in red sweatshirt walks along a road

What keeps us from always feeling the Spirit? Recently, I was reading emails and letters that I wrote while I was a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I remembered how I felt as I wrote them—and how I felt all the time when I… Continue reading