… once they were assembled, she gathered her strength, sat up in bed and told them once again how much she loved each of them. She then said, as best I can recall from what Carol has told me, “You need to get Christ in your life. He is real, for I have seen Him.”
About twenty years ago I served in a unique position in the church. My calling was “Melchizedek Priesthood Leader.” Because our little ward was so small, the Stake President had placed all priesthood holders in the ward into one group. In effect, he combined the Elder’s Quorum and the High Priests Group and put me …
Richard Bushman is a highly respected historian who probably understands the beginnings of Mormonism as well as or better than anyone else. Besides being the co-general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers, he chairs the board of directors of the Mormon Scholars Foundation. He knows early church history.
One of the most important duties we have in this life is to learn how to interpret the impressions of the Holy Ghost. This gift needs to be exercised and developed until we can go before the Lord with confidence and ask in faith for what we want. Sometimes it takes years to fully master.
What a wonderful day it is to consider together our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I’m grateful to partake of the sacrament with you and to renew my covenant to remember him and to follow him. I’m not sure that I really understood the significance of that covenant when I first took it upon myself …
One of the ways to share the gospel online is to create a profile on Mormon.org and the answer the personal questions found there about how you live the gospel.
The ordinances introduce us but the endowment is not complete until we have come into the heavenly presence and have been instructed in the things of eternity.
If you have read a few of my past essays, you may have noted that one of my favorite subjects is revelation, and specifically personal revelation. It is only within the last few years since I started blogging that I have come to realize revelation is a controversial subject even among members of the church. …
I write a letter to a reader answering his questions about the burning of the bosom and of my experience at Ricks College
One of the delightful parts of a stake temple night is the opportunity to be taught by a member of the temple presidency. I once asked my stake president about divine manifastations in the temple.
In 1978, civil war broke out in Nicaragua, just after I left the country. My Mission President went from Costa Rica to Managua to help the missionaries get out of the country. As he was literally leaving the chapel where he had told the missionaries to gather, the Sandinistas came running in from the other door …
In the priesthood session of the April 2003 General Conference, President Hinckley delivered a landmark address on the subject of loyalty. In his remarks he said, “Each of us has to face the truth of the matter—either the church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church …
Except for a year off for good behavior to teach Primary, I have been participating in ward leadership meetings every Sunday morning for the past twenty-five years. Sixteen of those years included Bishopric meetings, either as an Executive Secretary, a Ward Clerk, or a Bishop’s Counselor. I don’t know why I’ve been so blessed but …
What they don’t tell you about Bishopric meetings Read More »
I could have sworn that I already wrote this essay but realized after some digging that the main points were developed as part of a long dialog with my Evangelical friend in the comments section of several of my early articles. I also thought about entitling this, “Why we say ‘I know’ and not ‘I …
I have been intrigued by Blake Ostler’s 2007 FAIR conference presentation entitled, “Spiritual Experiences as the Basis for Belief and Commitment.” I have read it several times and have decided that Blake is on to something that I would like to develop further. As you can see I have modified his title a little bit …
I was first introduced to this scripture in seminary as we studied church history. I was impressed with the basic promise of the Lord to Joseph and Sidney that he would inspire them and back up what they said when they spoke. “That’s wonderful for them,” I thought at the time. I’m glad the Lord …
In the LDS church we often think of a spiritual experience as a dream or a vision or a distinct impression to take some action or a warning to avoid some course of action. These are the kinds of experiences that many church leaders have shared over the years as evidence of God’s interest in …