The Beauty and Value in Messiness

an image of a church with a cross on top of it

Life is messy. Luckily, there is holiness in the mess. In her essay titled “This Holy Mess,” Sharlee Glenn shared an experience she had while in Italy. Glenn’s tour guide said something that struck her as they were rushing to make it to mass: “Hurry!… We can’t be late for… Continue reading

Choose Joy—Choose Repentance

an image of a person holding a sparkler in their hands

The choice to forsake sin and repent may be hard, but it will bring joy. Some people struggle with charity. Some people struggle with purity. But as a kid, Elder Dale G. Renlund struggled with lighting firecrackers before sacrament meetings. In his talk “Repentance: A Joyful Choice,” Elder Renlund describes how, when he… Continue reading

Force Quit the Things Freezing Your Life

Person typing at Mac computer

Repentance can be a joyful choice when we choose to regulate our lives with the task manager provided by God. Have you ever encountered the frustrating experience of an unresponsive computer? If you have, you probably know that pressing Control-Alt-Delete on a PC (or Command-Option-Escape on a Mac) is the… Continue reading

No Scars Remain

an image of a woman with glasses and a hoodie on

Christ wants to heal our spirits completely—all we have to do is repent.  When my six-year-old brother broke his arm, he immediately thought, I bet Dad can fix it! My dad is not a doctor, but in my brother’s mind, he can do anything. While my brother was a little… Continue reading

Having His Spirit With Us: 4 Ways to Help Us Always Be Repentant

an image of a woman sitting on a rock looking at the sunset

How can we use repentance and the Atonement daily, even when we don’t think we’ve sinned? When we think of repentance, we often think of making mistakes, taking the sacrament, righting our wrongs, and becoming clean again. But it’s much more than that. Repentance shouldn’t just be used when we… Continue reading

Fear of Failure, Fear of Success

an image of a man kneeling on his knees in the leaves

There’s no need to fear repentance. We all need to repent. But sometimes we don’t repent, even when we know we should. Why is that? In “7 Things We Fear about Repentance: And Why We Shouldn’t,” an article published in the Liahona and New Era, David A. Edwards suggests that… Continue reading

Lost and Found

Sheep on a mountain covered with fog

When all hope seems lost, where can we turn? When we feel we are too damaged to return to the fold, how can our Father in Heaven lovingly repair our broken spirits? Most of us are familiar with the parable of the lost sheep. It is typically used as an… Continue reading

Martin Harris: An Example of Repentance

Martin Harris home

Although Martin Harris was not a perfect man, his example shows us that when we approach our mistakes with humility, we can partake of God’s gift of repentance. Martin Harris (1783–1875) was a decorated war hero, a civic leader, a successful farmer, and an excellent father. He became a central… Continue reading

How Christ’s Atonement Applies to Body Image

an image of a woman is smiling in front of a mirror

We’ve been taught to treat our bodies as sacred gifts from God. But what help has God promised us when we struggle to love our bodies and ourselves? We’ve all had those days—or maybe even months or years—when we just aren’t happy with how we look. Maybe we wish we… Continue reading

Let Your Future Be Bright

Yellow sunflower field

Sometimes the most difficult thing about change is letting go of our past mistakes and allowing ourselves to be better. People change. Although this statement is true, we don’t always act like it is. Sometimes we dwell on our mistakes. Sometimes we hold on to our regrets. Sometimes other people… Continue reading