Faithfully Acting on Revelation

Scriptures surrounded by yellow flowers

Faith is what allows us to hear the Lord’s voice and act on his will. I packed my backpack for the first day of class after changing my major for the third time. I felt excited to begin the semester, convinced I had finally found my calling. However, as the… Continue reading

God Is Love

a storm rolls over the ocean

God can seem like an impersonal, unknowable being in the sky. But we can find peace during our hardest times as we seek to understand him as our Father, who loves us individually. My pre-teenage concept of God was perhaps a little irreverent, but it nonetheless sculpted my dutiful, strained relationship with… Continue reading

Sexual Purity: Why It Matters

Picture of two wedding rings on a rock

Sexual purity is ordained of God; learning the doctrine can help us understand why. With the world’s changing views of marriage and sex, it can be easy to lose sight of why chastity is so important—and why keeping sexual intimacy within marriage between a man and a woman is part of… Continue reading

How Prophets Help Us Differentiate Skunks from Kitty Cats

an image of a couple of skunks walking around a tree

The adversary tries to make good appear evil and evil appear good, but if we listen to our prophets, we won’t be fooled.  In his conference address “Deceive Me Not,” Elder Gary E. Stevenson tells the story of his sons who wanted to go outside to play at their great-uncle’s… Continue reading

The Faith to Become Divine

Young Man Looking Out Window

Sometimes we feel that our hard-exercised faith is not yielding the blessings we desperately need. But the Lord is not abandoning us—he’s offering us an opportunity to become divine. A few weeks ago, my husband and I anxiously waited to hear whether he would receive a job offer for a… Continue reading

Finding Hope in Jesus Christ

Young man smiling in a field.

No matter how dark or difficult life becomes, there is always hope through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Have you ever felt like life has gone so wrong it could never be set right? Has something ever felt so hard or so painful that you weren’t sure you would survive? In… Continue reading

Authentic, Happy, and Beautiful: The Virtues of Cheerful Discipleship

an image of a young boy holding a ice cream cone

Although everyone feels sad or angry at times, we can color our days with more happy moments as we stay on the gospel path. In the talk “Three Sisters,” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf tells the story of three sisters: one sad, one mad, and one glad. He notes that at times,… Continue reading

Learning to Lift Where You Stand

an image of a group of people riding a subway train

If you’re doing what God has asked you to do, you’re doing enough. I’ve been in college for a while now—years on years of working part-time and studying full-time. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have the added responsibilities of fulfilling callings in… Continue reading

A Perfect Priesthood for Imperfect People

an image of a space shuttle is flying through the clouds

I couldn’t understand how God could trust part of his limitless power to such limited, fallible people—until I learned how the priesthood and the Atonement are inextricably connected. When I was in the MTC, I sometimes struggled to understand how much was expected of me as a representative of Jesus Christ and how wide… Continue reading

Improving Your Family by Improving Yourself

an image of a bride and groom looking at each other

Happy marriages and families don’t happen overnight. They’re built through personal daily acts of compassion, selflessness, and love. Marriage isn’t easy, and families aren’t perfect, no matter how much we wish they were. Although we like to believe that family life will always be blissful, that’s not how life—or marriage—works. Difficulties… Continue reading