One of my daughters returned home last week from serving as a full-time missionary in Brazil. As we have heard about her experiences and seen first-hand her enthusiasm to continue sharing the gospel with others, I've asked myself this question: What can I do to be a better missionary? To answer this question, I've thought... Continue Reading →
What Can I Do to Feel More Joy?
When Ammon and his three brothers were reunited with their good friend Alma after fourteen years of separation, they were all filled with joy. Ammon, however, had an unusually dramatic reaction to this meeting: He was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell...to the... Continue Reading →
What Should I Be Thankful For?
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States. In preparation for that holiday, I have been thinking about some of the things I am thankful for. Here are some ideas that occurred to me as I studied the Book of Mormon today: I'm grateful to be alive (Mosiah 2:20-21, Mosiah 7:12). I'm grateful for food and... Continue Reading →
What Can We Learn from the Women in the Book of Mormon?
Today, I have been pondering the lessons I have learned from some of the women in the Book of Mormon. Here are a few of those lessons: "Now I know of a surety..." Sariah trusted the revelations received by her husband, Lehi. She, along with the rest of the family, abandoned her home in Jerusalem... Continue Reading →
What Does It Mean to Pour Out Your Soul to God?
Several times in the Book of Mormon, people pray with such intensity that they are described as "pouring out [their] whole [souls] unto God." After Enos's sins were forgiven, he "began to feel a desire for the welfare of...the Nephites." As a result, he says, "I did pour out my whole soul unto God for... Continue Reading →
How Can I Be a Better Father?
Today is Father's Day, and I'm thinking about what I can do to be a better father. Here are ten principles the Book of Mormon teaches about being an effective father: 1. Give your children assignments, and trust that they can complete them. Behold I have dreamed a dream, in the which the Lord hath... Continue Reading →
How Does God Communicate with Us?
After writing two days ago about the importance of firsthand spiritual knowledge, and after writing yesterday about the role of prophets in helping us to grow closer to God, I was thinking today about the variety of ways that God sends us messages. Here are some examples: Dreams and visions — The Book of Mormon opens... Continue Reading →
What Does It Mean for Jesus to Be Our “Redeemer?”
The Hebrew word "go'el" is sometimes translated "redeemer" and sometimes "near kinsman." When we enter a covenant relationship with Jesus, He becomes the "near kinsman" who will deliver us from bondage, even bondage of our own making.
What Is the Relationship Between Baptism and Membership in the Church?
As we discussed yesterday, the earliest references to baptism in the Book of Mormon focus on the baptism of Jesus Christ (which would happen 600 years later). Nephi teaches us that we should be baptized to follow His example (2 Nephi 31). Four hundred and fifty years later, the prophet Alma teaches the people about... Continue Reading →
Their Hearts Had Been Changed – Alma 19:33
33 And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil. (Alma 19:33) When Alma the Younger recovered... Continue Reading →