A Prayer of Faith

This essay was written by Valerie, one of our guest writers.

O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish (2 Nephi 9:28).

Growing up, I was always told that religion was for those who are weak, those who couldn’t do anything else but rely on God for His mercy. My dad is among those who think that only the weak believe in religion. God was for those who didn’t do well at school. I prayed to God every time I came across academic difficulties; He was my last resort. If everything else failed, there was always the possibility for a divine miracle. I continued believing this until I came across Elder Eyring’s talk entitled “Education for Real Life.” Read the rest of this entry »

This article was written by Mary A., one of our guest writers.

In the October 2003 General Conference, Elder Jeffery R. Holland gave a talk that has stayed with me, even as it resonated with me at the time. Its title was “The Grandeur of God” and in it, Elder Holland spoke of coming to know our Heavenly Father and to love Him. Read the rest of this entry »

Having grown up without the Church, or anything like it in my life, I place a great deal of value, and even a slight twinge of envy or two, on the programs for the children and youth. I recently discovered, though, that my daughter did not share in my appreciation. It came to my attention that she had been having some problems behaving in Primary—for some time, in fact. She, apparently, had often been disruptive in class, trying to distract the other girls by joking around or flipping the lights on and off. She’d even been difficult in Sharing Time, refusing to sing songs and even insisting on sitting on the floor.

I must confess that I was somewhat appalled at the news, and I have never been a mother to remain silent in the face of what I consider unacceptable behavior. So, one afternoon, I sat my daughter down on the couch for a quick discussion of the situation. Read the rest of this entry »

This past Sunday, we had our stake/regional conferences (the kind beamed to buildings in the region). President Monson, Elder Wirthlin and Elder Samuelson were our visiting leaders.

I wanted to share something simple but meaningful from Elder Wirthlin’s talk on enduring trials. To paraphrase, he said that rather than ask, “Why me?” we should instead ask, “What now?”

(Incidentally, when I called a friend of mine that afternoon, I could tell she had yet another migraine. I told her I was sorry and she simply said, “What now?” It took me a minute to make the connection. She is an example to me as one who endures her trials gracefully.)

I love short, simple statements like Elder Wirthlin’s to add to my reservoir of reminders - things to tell myself when I’m wont to wallow in self-pity.

What do you have tucked in your mental/spiritual reservoir that help you in difficult times?

Most of President Packer’s recent General Conference address was comprised of scriptures from Alma 39-42, where Alma is counseling and teaching his son, Corianton. The somewhat unique style of his talk caught my attention, as did something President Packer said near the end:

“The account of this loving father and a wayward son, drawn from the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, is a type, a pattern, an example.”

Read the rest of this entry »

By JKS

Teach me to walk in the light of his love;
Teach me to pray to my Father above;
Teach me to know of the things that are right;
Teach me, teach me to walk in the light.

“Teach Me to Walk in the Light,” Children’s Songbook, p.177

My brother recently mentioned that he and his wife had been discussing how to teach their son to pray. His wife wanted to have one parent say the words that their son would then repeat. My brother’s opinion, however, was that perhaps a child should wait until he really understands prayer and can pray on his own. As I like to think of myself as being a “wiser” older sister, and his only older sibling with children, I went ahead and gave him my two cents. Read the rest of this entry »

I have often compared my testimony to a bucket being filled a drop at a time. I have never really had a once-in-a-lifetime “I know it is true” epiphany — yet, I know with an unshakable assurance that the gospel is true. Drops are added to my bucket with every experience I have with the Spirit. Most of those experiences are simple: A talk or a lesson touches me; I’m moved by a hymn; I gain a new insight while reading my scriptures. Nearly thirty years of such experiences have left me with a testimony that is my most prized possession.

When I was young, however, I was bothered at times that I had no special, one-time experience that I thought I needed to be able to say I really knew the Church is true. I think I was especially bothered that I had gone through the “steps” of “Moroni’s promise” (read, ponder, and pray) and not “received an answer” (as if, perhaps, it was something to accomplish, some concrete event to check off my list). After all, some people did have such experiences — and, I confess, I envied them. (I confess that sometimes I still do!) Read the rest of this entry »

This will be the last article we will have from Téa for a while, as she has decided it is time for a sabbatical. We will miss, you Téa! Thank you for your contributions!

Saturday morning, 5 April 1997, began like any other morning in my pregnancy–I woke up, stretched slowly, nibbled on crackers and did my best not to vomit.

When my nausea abated, I continued my morning routine and we headed down to the parking garage. We’d accepted an invitation to spend the day watching General Conference with my husband’s brother and family who lived south of Salt Lake City.

As my husband drove our little Mazda truck north on I-15, the engine vibrations and occasional bumps sent my stomach churning again. I found it harder than normal to hear to the radio between the crackling speakers and my queasiness. We were listening to the already underway morning session of the conference—late again, I thought as I looked out at traffic. Read the rest of this entry »

Article by Kathatina Betz Birch
Ensign, July 2006

Birch describes the sometimes bleak reality of mission life starting with the description of a day that included all that the title of her article entails. She was faced with a feeling that she “was doomed to failure as a missionary, and hadn’t even been in Germany two months yet.”

She was inspired by an article by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Inconvenient Messiah,” and quotes, “…All but a prophetic few must go about God’s work in very quiet, very unspectacular ways. And as you labor to know him, and to know that he knows you; as you invest your time—and inconvenience—in quiet, unassuming service, you will indeed find that ‘his angels [have] charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up’ (Matthew 4:6). It may not come quickly. It probably won’t come quickly, but there is purpose in the time it takes. Cherish your spiritual burdens because God will converse with you through them and will use you to do his work if you will carry them well.” Read the rest of this entry »

From the time I was a child, foreign languages fascinated me. After dabbling in Latin and Spanish in high school, I decided to take on the challenge of Russian at BYU. Soon after beginning my study, I began to have an intense desire to visit Russia—to see for myself the land of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, which was then under the iron rule of Communism. This was back in the early 1960’s, when the Soviet Union under Khrushchev routinely issued dire threats to the free world, but welcomed the chance to earn dollars by conducting carefully chaperoned showcase tours for Americans.

I was thrilled when BYU announced that they would be participating for the first time in a Russian summer study program. I immediately applied, was accepted, and started saving money for the trip. I obtained a passport. My whole family sacrificed to help fund my study abroad experience, and I was elated at the opportunity to realize my dream.

Suddenly, only a few weeks before I was due to travel, I was shocked to hear that the Board of Trustees (at that time consisting of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve) had cancelled BYU’s participation in the program. Although the Board gave no reason for the cancellation, we were told it was not saying that it was unsafe to go, nor that no BYU students should go to Russia. Faculty members would help any of us who so desired to apply for open places at the other universities participating in the program. I had to decide immediately whether to go, or to abandon my dream—at least temporarily. Read the rest of this entry »