A Prayer of Faith

I just got an email from one of my visiting teachers, with a link to this video. It is about both how to and how not to do your visiting teaching and is both heartwarming and hilarious.

It appears that the video link is not available anymore. We are working to find another active link to share with you.

My children were watching it with me, and, at the point where it moves from hilarious to heartwarming, there’s a picture of the Savior visible. When he saw it, my darling three-year-old little boy whispered in the most gentle and reverently loving voice, “That’s Jesus; we *always* remember Jesus.”

Out of the mouths of babes, my sisters. In regard to Visiting Teaching or otherwise, we should always remember Jesus.

Elder Richard G. Scott, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, gave a talk called “The Atonement Can Secure Your Peace and Happiness” in the October 2006 General Conference.

Have you noticed how much a theme peace is in General Conference talks? Having peace enables us to go on to other things that we need to do. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Irene, one of our guest writers, for this piece.

I have been looking at 1 Nephi 1:1- “[H]aving seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days….”

I was astonished to see that the footnotes for “afflictions” send me to the Topical Guide under the heading of “Blessings” and “Gifts of God.” The whole phrase, as quoted, has to be taken together. I started making a list of my afflictions and suffering and how I have been highly favored of the Lord in the process of them or as a result of them. I felt truly humbled. I was able to go on for pages writing them down and I came to the conclusion that I could have gone on and on. What a wonderful new perspective for me! Read the rest of this entry »

I found an amazing article in the September 1980 Ensign that talks about the significance of the geography of Israel, the promised land, in the Old Testament (and, in fact, all the scriptures). The article, by D. Kelly Ogden, is titled “The Testing Ground for the Covenant People.”

Geography isn’t something we think much about when we study the scriptures, yet maps are bound with our scriptures, and knowing where the towns and cities are located and what the lay of the land is and what type of climate is there can open up some of the scriptural writings to our understanding. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, President Packer gave a wonderful talk about Lehi’s vision of the tree of life. (I love President Packer!) He counseled his listeners to “read [Lehi’s dream] carefully; then read it again.” (Isn’t it amazing how we can read scriptures over and over again and still learn new things? It’s one reason that I know the scriptures are true, because of their endless layers of meaning.)

I’ve read this dream countless times. But clearly President Packer has let us know that there is much to be gleaned from this account. I’d like to share two insights (not mine) that have recently helped me appreciate and learn more from Lehi’s dream.

Take, for example, one word that President Packer focuses on. It’s not what you might expect. Read the rest of this entry »